PIPPA HAD NEVER been kissed before, and she’d never imagined it would be like this. People in books didn’t kiss surrounded by onions and olives.
And books left out many details.
The only way she could describe Captain Duroy’s kiss is that it was something akin to a fish grabbing a worm. Her mouth was the worm . . . and she didn’t know if she liked it.
She pressed her lips together.
He slid his tongue along them as if asking her to open to him.
The contact shocked her. She pulled away.
He had his hand at the small of her back so she couldn’t move very far without hitting her head on some sausage hanging from the shelf. He pulled her back to him. Her breasts flattened against his chest, and she found it hard to breathe. He was so tall, so commanding. So handsome.
His lips next to her ear, he said, “You are not supposed to kiss someone with your lips all pressed together as if you are tasting something disagreeable.”
“I wouldn’t know,” she said, heat rising into her cheeks.
“Well, I’m trying to educate you.”
She looked up at him. “Why would you want to do that?”
He smiled. “To take your mind off your fear. Keep your courage, Miss Nelson. You’ve been brave so far. Don’t give up yet.”
“But what if they find us?”
“They won’t.”
He sounded so certain that she let herself believe.
And he had called her brave.
No one had ever done that. Usually, she’d been referred to as a nuisance.
But he didn’t kiss her again, and her active mind started wondering what it was she should learn. And how could she ask him to teach her?
Instead, Captain Duroy was more interested in the French. “I understand some of what they are saying, but not enough to keep up with them. Do you understand everything?”
She nodded.
“Tell me.”
Pippa started interpreting, ferreting information from amongst the talk of women, teasing of others’ foibles, and general complaints. They were apparently delivering supplies of ammunition to troops coming up from Italy. They were to meet the troops on the morrow in a village called Bejar. Pippa didn’t understand what it all meant, but the captain did.
To her relief, the soldiers finally left.
That’s when she realized exactly how close she was standing to Captain Duroy and that she had grabbed his sleeve and had been holding tight.
She released her hold. “I’m sorry,” she murmured and started to open the door.
He caught her hand and turned her around to face him. “Don’t run,” he said.
“Run?”
The captain shook his head as if annoyed with her. “It is all right to be human,” he said. “And it is acceptable to be afraid when the situation warrants it.”
“You weren’t afraid.”
“Why do you think I kissed you?” he said. “I had to take my mind off my fear with something I wanted to do.”
He didn’t wait for her reaction to that startling pronouncement but opened the door and let them both out. He kept hold of her hand.
“Still,” she said as she followed him, “there are ways a gentlewoman must behave.” She was far too aware of him. He smelled of the fresh air and a spicy scent uniquely his own.
“Especially the gentlewomen dressed in breeches,” he remarked, looking around the hallway corner to be certain it was safe to leave their haven.
She felt herself blush. “Even in breeches,” she remarked, gently pulling her hand from his.
Captain Duroy cocked an eyebrow. “Rubbish,” he answered.
Pippa opened her mouth to be offended, but then realized she didn’t know what to say. She did believe most of the rules of society were rubbish. Certainly they didn’t have a place here.
“You aren’t like the other men of my acquaintance,” she admitted before she could stop herself.
“Men can be free thinkers, too,” he tossed over his shoulder as he walked down the hallway.
“No, I believe you may be unique,” she murmured, and he shot her a grin.
“There is hope for you yet, Miss Nelson.” He opened the front door just as the innkeeper poked his head around the corner and then walked into the tap room. The man started cursing.
“What is he saying?” Captain Duroy asked.
“The soldiers didn’t pay him. He’s calling them names.”
“Tell him I agree with him,” the captain ordered as he reached for his money purse. “I’ll pay their bill.”
“You will?”
He frowned. “If I have enough.”
“I have some.” She began to remove her money bag from the cord around her neck.
“Save your money,” he ordered. “You may need it.”
“And you won’t? Why? What are you planning to do?”
“I’m going to destroy the ammunition on that supply train.” He gave the money to the innkeeper, who immediately began praising him for his generosity.
But Pippa was stunned. “You plan on doing this yourself?”
The captain nodded, the set of his mouth telling her he wasn’t jesting. “What is the innkeeper saying now?”
Pippa shook her head, trying to bring herself back to her Spanish. “He appreciates what you’ve done.”
“Good,” Captain Duroy said. “Tell him I expect him to take care of you as if you were his own daughter until I return.”
“What?” Pippa looked incredulously at him. “Do you plan to leave me here?”
“Until I return. Or until the English come through here. I want you safe.”
But Pippa had other plans. “You are not leaving me here. I will go with you.”
He shook his head. “Absolutely not.” He started to walk toward the door.
Pippa rushed to put herself in his path. “You will not leave without me.”
“I must. What I’m going to do is dangerous.”
“So you will go out there and do it alone? You mustn’t. You can’t. It’s madness.”
“It’s my duty.”
He would have gone around her, but Pippa was made of stern stuff. She pressed her hand against his chest. “They stole my horse. I am going after her.”
“I shall try and bring her to you.” He again attempted to go forward. Pippa wouldn’t let him.
“We go together,” she said. “It is what the British do. I cannot stay here cooling my heels when I could be of some service to you.”
“Miss Nelson—” he started in a placating voice.
She cut him off. “Don’t patronize me, Captain. As a family member of a British envoy, I am considered part of the military.”
“I doubt that—”
“I don’t.” She softened her tone. “Let me help you, please. I know very little about what you have in mind, but you will need an extra pair of hands, to hold your horse if nothing else. Or to tell the world what you set out to do if you fail.”
She’d caught his attention then. “I won’t fail,” he assured her.
“We go together,” she answered.
He drew a breath and then released it, muttering something about willful females before saying, “Come along then.”
Pippa happily complied.
The lads who had watched his horse had served him well. They told Pippa that the French had been taking whatever they wished from the villagers, but the boys had hidden Valiant in the church and he’d not been discovered.
Since Captain Duroy had given all his money to the innkeeper, Pippa proudly paid the lads for their resourcefulness. This time he didn’t tell her to keep her money.
Within moments, they were on their way in the direction of Bejar.
It wasn’t hard to follow the supply train. The French were confident. They had controlled Spain for too long to believe they needed to look over their shoulder.
“Do we have a plan?” Pippa asked as they rode. She sat behind them on the horse, her arms around his waist.
“None yet,” he said, “other than to destroy all their ammunition. Without it, the French can’t attack us from the rear.”
“How will you move close to it?”
“I will have to think of a diversion,” he said.
Tired, Pippa laid her head against his back. He didn’t seem to mind, and it felt good to be here with him.
Suddenly, Pippa understood what it meant to belong somewhere. She’d known Captain Duroy for less than forty-eight hours, and yet she found peace by his side.
“Do you know,” she said, her voice low as she reasoned this all out in her mind, “that kiss we had, it was nothing like what I’ve read about in books. The authors don’t explain the details.”
There was a beat of silence, and then he said, “Then remind me that I need to show you the details. I wouldn’t want you to miss the experience.”
Her heart skipped a funny beat. “I think that sort of kiss might be more interesting than any I’ve read about in books,” she admitted.
“Trust me, Miss Nelson, before this night is through, you shall discover there are many things in life more exhilarating than anything you can read in a book.”
Her cheek against his back, she could readily concede she had already discovered what he said was true.
WILLIAM KNEW IT was madness to bring Miss Nelson with him, except she had been right—he did need another person to help.
But also, he liked her. It felt good to have her with him. She didn’t complain and was game for anything. He also didn’t mind her body this close to his.
Perhaps he shouldn’t have kissed her. It had not been a good kiss at all, and yet he couldn’t stop thinking about it. Her honest innocence was refreshing.
Yes, he was still angry she had run away. That had been dangerous, foolish . . . and also showed her courage. He was not accustomed to thinking of women as having courage, but Miss Nelson was proving him wrong on several points.
And if he kept thinking about her, he’d see them both killed.
Destroying the ammunition in the French supply train was necessary. In truth, he might not survive this encounter, but he was a soldier first and foremost.
The French finally set up camp on a small plain. When William noticed that the dust and sounds of wagons and horses were growing closer, he reined in Valiant and moved well away from where the enemy would set up sentries. Tying his horse up, he and Miss Nelson enjoyed a quick meal of bread and cheese from the innkeeper.
He then set out to spy upon the French. Miss Nelson wanted to join him, but he made her stay behind.
Coming to a bluff, he crawled on his belly until he could look upon the French camp without being seen.
A second later, he heard a noise—a moment before Miss Nelson crawled on her belly beside him. “What shall we do?” she whispered.
“Don’t you do anything I order you to do?” he demanded.
A dimple flashed at him in her smile. “What fun would that be?”
And in that moment, William tumbled in love.
It was a very odd thing. He’d never felt it before. His mother had always told him that when he met the girl he was meant to meet, he would know. Her prophecy had sounded like nonsense to him. He’d desired many women, but had not had that moment when he said, this is the one—until now.
“I want you to be safe,” he said.
She nodded, her gaze shifting from him to the French encampment, which she studied like a seasoned mercenary. “I will be.”
“I don’t know that. You haven’t listened to one order I’ve given.”
Again she looked at him, and he thought she was adorable. The Spanish sun brought out her freckles, which seemed exactly right on her face. Perfect even.
He must be mad, because here they were in grave danger and he wanted to kiss her.
William blocked the idea from his mind. He should be wanting to strangle her.
He’d see them both killed if he didn’t stop mooning over her.
Beyond her head, he saw movement.
The top of a helmet showed itself from the other side of the bluff, and William knew they were seconds away from being discovered by the approaching soldier.