How could his back have become stiffer? It seemed that even the muscles in his throat were tightening. “Yes, of course,” he said.
“Good,” she answered, smiling. “Today
I thought we might go somewhere private and you might tell me what it is that a man and woman do to make babies. I do not want to go into my marriage as ignorant as your sisters. You are my friend and you must tell me everything.”
Rage melted the stiffness in Talis’s body. Turning in his saddle, he reined his horse to a halt and faced her, his face red. “You asked me to come all the way out here with you in weather that looks like a storm is about to break to tell you—to tell you about…about…” He was so angry he couldn’t speak.
“Oh, I see,” Callie said casually, kicking her horse forward. “You know even less than I do. I was not sure, since you spend your life with so many women.”
“I know everything!” he shouted, moving beside her. “I know all there is to know. But you…”
“Yes? What about me?”
What made him so very angry was the fact that she was half smiling at him, as though what she was saying was not the most horrible, the most despicable, the most—He broke off as he realized that she was teasing him, that there was no other man and she wasn’t actually thinking of marrying anyone other than him.
He smiled at her. “Lady Frances has taught me all that goes on between a man and woman. Do you not think she is beautiful?”
At that he had the satisfaction of seeing Callie’s face turn red with anger, then before he could stop her, she dug her heels into her horse’s flanks and set off at breakneck speed. He’d made sure that she was given a horse that was more suitable for children than an adult, while he had taken a huge black monster that Lord John had forbidden anyone to ride. Talis had disobeyed because he wanted to impress Callie—if that was possible.
Just as Callie’s horse went charging through the forest, a bolt of lightning split the sky and the heavens opened into a downpour. It was minutes before Talis could get his frightened horse under control and go after Callie.
When Talis found her, his heart leaped into his throat, for his first thought was that she was dead. She was lying lifeless on the ground under a tree, the rain not yet penetrating through the thick leaves. To Talis, she looked like an angel fallen from heaven. In the fall from her horse her hair had come unfastened and now it lay about her in a heavenly cloud; her cloak was open and her gown was torn at the neck, exposing one bare, creamy shoulder and the beautiful, perfect round of one breast. After having teased her for so long about her flat chest, he had been fascinated to watch over the last year as she had made up for lost time. Kipp was near her face, and when he looked up he seemed to be imploring Talis for help.
Talis was off his horse while it was still moving. “Callie!” he shouted, running to her and pulling her into his arms. “Callie, my love. Speak to me. Callie, I will die if you are hurt. Please, Callie, please.”
He was holding her body so close to his, her face pressed to his shoulder so hard that he barely heard her groan. When he knew she was alive, he felt his eyes fill with tears.
Pulling her face away from him, but still holding her so tightly she could hardly breathe, he stroked her cheek. “Callie,” was all he could whisper, then began to kiss her cheeks and forehead and hair in relief that she was still alive.
“I am hurt,” she managed to whisper.
“Hurt? I will take you back to the house. I will get the finest surgeon, the best—”
“My ankle. I am sure it is broken and my leg hurts. I do not think I can stand.”
“My horse—” He had started to tell her that he’d take her back on his horse, but the skittish creature was nowhere to be seen. However, Callie’s horse had been taught to stand and was—
“Where is your horse?”
“How would I know where my horse is?” she snapped.
Talis was still holding her, but he was looking about him with a frown. This was odd. He had purposefully chosen that horse for Callie because it was so safe. It was attached to humans and would never leave its rider stranded. In fact, one of the stable lads had joked that the horse could not be got rid of. So where was it?
“Oh, my foot, my foot,” Callie groaned. “It pains me. And my side and my head also hurt.”
The rain was coming down harder now and cold drops were penetrating the roof of the tree. With a squeal at getting hit in the eye by an icy droplet, Kipp scurried under the folds of Callie’s cloak. Talis knew that they would need to get home soon. He must find one of the damned horses and get Callie back to safety as soon as possible.
Carefully, he laid Callie down on the ground and started to get up to look for the horse.
She sat up on her elbows. “You are more interested in your horse than you are in me?”
“No,” he said hesitantly. “We need a horse to get back to Hadley Hall. I must—”
“You aren’t even going to look at my ankle?” At that she fell back against the ground in what could have been a faint.
Instantly, Talis was again beside her, again pulling her into his arms, and for a moment his mind whirled with thoughts. It seemed to make the most sense to find a horse and get back as soon as possible and have someone who knew more about injuries than he did look at Callie.
“Oh, Tally, it hurts so much,” she said, limp in his arms. Pliable. Helpless. Totally dependent upon him.