Bride for a Night

For now nothing mattered beyond the feel of Gabriel’s arms wrapped around her and the wild beat of his heart against her back.

Keeping her eyes closed, Talia oddly thought of her grandmother, and how she would have assured Talia to live in the moment.

They were, after all, two people alone in the world, brought together by a quirk of fate and yet, somehow destined to have arrived at this precise place.

Why try to deny what was meant to be?

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

LEAVING TALIA TO wash and change into her clean gown, Gabriel crept through the countryside, not returning until he had managed to steal a horse from a small village not far from the main road.

Not that the plodding farm animal offered the speed he would have wished for, but the beast was sure-footed, and even with the burden of both Gabriel and Talia, he managed a steady pace that had them arriving at the coast just south of Calais well before dusk.

Halting long enough to vault to the ground, Gabriel took the reins and led the animal along the narrow path that led to the water.

“Are you certain your ship will be waiting?” Talia demanded, her face pale with weariness, although her spine remained stiff with the determination that made him smile.

His beautiful, courageous gypsy.

&nb

sp; Of course, her newly exposed spirit was not entirely a blessing.

One might expect that after their breathtaking intimacy she would prove to be far more compliant and eager to please him. It was, after all, the behavior he had become accustomed to in his mistresses.

Talia, however, had spent the first of the journey chastising him for stealing a horse from a poor French family who were no doubt deeply suffering the loss and the second half sunk in her own thoughts, her manner so distant it made him long to drag her from the horse and crush her in his arms until she was once again moaning in eager anticipation of his touch.

He could not explain why, but it annoyed him that she was capable of putting a distance between them. She was his wife. She should belong to him completely.

Aggravated by his ridiculous thoughts, Gabriel forced himself to concentrate on far more important matters.

“Yes, it will be waiting,” he assured her. “Despite my commands that my crew return to England should I be captured, I am quite certain they will have refused to leave without me.”

“You should be honored by such loyalty,” she murmured.

He grimaced, not for the first time considering Hugo’s reaction to their arrival.

“I am, under most circumstances.” He grimaced. “But I fear I should warn you that one of my companions might not be entirely welcoming.”

She swayed in the saddle, so tired she could barely sit upright.

“Which companion?”

He protectively moved to catch her should she fall. “Hugo, Lord Rothwell.”

“He is your associate?”

“We have been friends since our days at school.” His gaze scanned the thickening trees that lined the path, his steps slowing. They were too close to escape to walk into a trap now. “Actually Hugo has always been more a brother to me than Harry.”

“No doubt you both had more in common.”

“True.” He sent her a startled glance. Few people understood his close relationship with Hugo. Certainly not his mother, who constantly complained that he should be devoting his time and attention to his brother. “We were both our father’s heirs and expected to behave in a manner befitting our stations. Not always an easy task for two high-spirited boys who wished to join in the antics of the other students.”

“Yes.” A sudden bitterness edged her voice. “Fathers can often have unreasonable expectations of their children.”

His hand reached to touch her leg, meeting her gaze with a silent promise.

“Silas Dobson will never be allowed to bully you again,” he swore, already having planned to speak with Dobson the moment they returned to England. The man would understand that he was not to go near Talia unless Gabriel was at her side. “I can assure you of that.”