Runaway (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 4)

It was horrifying that nobody was rushing to her aid. She was being dragged protesting down the middle of a busy street in a bustling city and nobody was giving her even a second look. It was a surreal moment. She felt as though she didn’t exist. When it began to dawn on her that nobody was going to come to help her, Molly knew she had to find a way to get herself out of the mess she was in. But it was horrifying, and built her panic, when she couldn’t think of a single thing she could say or do to stop him from dragging her to – well, whatever it was he was dragging her to.

By the time she reached the end of the street, and it was clear he wanted them to cross to the large bank of warehouses on the opposite side of the road, Molly knew she had to do something. Desperation drove her to slam her heels down and lean back with all her meagre strength. But she was no match for the burly thug who was twice her size. He didn’t even break his stride. It was only when he moved forward to step off the pavement that she realised there could be no sentiment in her fight for freedom. This was war.

As the man stepped off the kerb, Molly studied the carriage that was trundling toward them. She physically shook with the horror of what she was about to do but couldn’t allow her conscience to rule her because it would bring about her death.

When the carriage was close enough, rather than tug him backward as he expected, she charged forward, darting out directly in front of the horses. Planting her boots firmly in the road, Molly then began to scre

am loudly and flail her arms about. The horses reared in terror at the startling movements she made in their faces. The thug cursed bitterly and tried to haul her away, but Molly stubbornly grabbed the horse’s bridle closest to her and refused to release it. The horse pulled its head up and it stepped back and began to prance about. Its strength was no match for the man, who struggled to get a firmer grip on Molly. Inadvertently, he released her. Molly took advantage of her momentary freedom and slithered agilely between the animals. Ignoring the coachman’s angry cries, Molly began to pray and then tried to decide how she was going to get herself out of this new mess.

Jasper raced toward the entrance of the yard, his gaze scanning the darkest shadows all around him. He couldn’t see or hear her anymore, but knew the woman had to be around somewhere.

“Do you see her?” Callum gasped when he stopped beside him.

“No,” Jasper growled. “She can’t just disappear.”

Both men began to scour the street. Callum turned one way and Jasper the other. Together they began to look for the screaming lady.

Jasper didn’t need to look far before he saw a disturbance at the end of the road. When the woman began to scream again, he signalled to Callum and set off after her. It was clear she was in dire trouble when he drew close and saw her standing, quite dainty and delicate, between two huge carriage horses who were dancing about in protest at her presence. She disappeared briefly when the horses bumped and shifted against her.

“Get out of there,” Jasper growled when he finally reached her.

He glared angrily at her, but she didn’t appear to have heard him above the snarls of the coachman and the man who had dragged her into this situation.

Molly, well aware that she was drawing a crowd, knew that if she was going to escape she had to do it now. When she turned to look at the stays and the confusing cobweb of reins securing the horses to the carriage, she realised that she was stuck.

“Just stand still. Everybody shut up and calm down,” Jasper ordered loudly.

He lifted his hands and threw a dark glare at the thug on the pavement. He knew the man was a criminal and had little, if anything, to do with the well-dressed young woman who was so determined to get away from him. Quietly, he placed a calming hand on the noses of the horses while his gaze met the terrified young woman stuck between them.

“Step slowly toward me,” he urged quietly.

Molly shook her head. She had no idea who this man was, but he was more terrifying than the thug waiting for her to reappear. The man before her was handsome but looked as if he had been in some sort of war. He was bloodied, cut and bruised practically everywhere, and so dirty and dishevelled she knew she couldn’t trust him. When their gazes met, her heart flipped but she forced herself to ignore it. Weakness could result in her death, she knew it.

“You have to get out of there. Slowly,” Jasper warned. He dug deep for his patience because he wanted to haul her out, but daren’t make any sudden moves in case the horses bolted and crushed her beneath the wheels of the carriage.

Molly forced herself to ignore how handsome the man was but couldn’t resist taking another lingering look at him. As her gaze raked him from head to toe, it landed on the torn material of his breeches, and highly polished and very expensive boots. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Molly wondered if she had completely misjudged who he was, but the state of him assured her she couldn’t be wrong. She couldn’t trust him.

“Not you.”

“What?” Jasper frowned when she mumbled something he couldn’t hear.

Molly shook her head.

“Just follow me,” he whispered. “Listen to me.”

Briefly, there was just the two of them, alone, together. Molly was drawn to the steady reassurance in his dark brown eyes. For a moment, she was tempted to do exactly as he told her. There was something entrancing about the slightly husky tone of his deep baritone voice that assured her that she could trust him. She wanted to, more than anything, but just couldn’t face the possibility that she might be placing her trust in the wrong person. If she got it wrong he would hand her over to the thug and she would probably die.

Slowly, Molly shook her head. “I can’t.”

“I know you are stuck, but if you step back over this here, I will hold the horses steady and you can get back out,” Jasper pointed to the low bar at his knees that held the horses together.

Molly shook her head again. “I am not coming out,” she whispered.

Again, her gaze fell to his knees. She knew then exactly what she had to do. The thought was horrifying, not least because if she didn’t succeed then she was going to die, here, tonight, alone in a busy street in the middle of London.

“He won’t hurt you,” Jasper assured her. He had no idea if he meant the horses who could kill her at any second, or the man standing waiting for her on the kerb.

“I don’t know you,” she replied.