Runaway (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 4)

Molly blinked owlishly at the man hovering protectively over her. She had never felt so foolish in her life; foolish and awkward. There was little she could say about her own stupidity, and that was what she had been, to herself but also to him and his colleagues; stupid. Falling into the river had been an incredibly stupid thing to do. One that had put not just her life in incredible danger but the men’s as well. Her mind couldn’t work beyond the fact that she could very easily have killed him. She knew that when she did eventually shake off the icy chill that had taken hold of every inch of her being, she would apologise.

Jasper stared blankly at the riverbank. It was damned hard to get his mind to work at all. Until he looked at Molly and their gazes met.

“Are you all right?” he whispered, relieved that she was now awake.

Around them, his colleagues worked with several locals to get the boat to the shore. Men stood on the riverbank holding blankets. A carriage was already pulling to a stop in readiness to take them somewhere drier.

“I think so,” Molly whispered. “Why did you do that?”

“Because there is no way in Hell that I am going to allow anything in this damned city to drive someone like you to do something so desperate,” Jasper replied.

“But you could have been killed,” she argued.

“I am no hero,” Jasper warned with a grin. “If I thought you were going to drown me then I would have let you go.”

Molly smiled, despite the guilt she carried. She knew he was lying. His actions had proven it. He had been determined to rescue her, even if she hadn’t wanted rescuing.

Jasper watched the activities on the riverbank. It was quite striking that only an hour ago he had been quietly contemplating leaving the Star Elite. The long, dark and lonely nights trawling the back streets of London for thugs, thieves, cut-throats and undesirables who usually crept out during the night-time hours had started to take its toll. While his friends and co-workers would always be a part of his life, Jasper wanted something – more. More time to himself. More ability to enjoy some of the daytime hours rather than having to sleep through them. More time to be able to make his own choices in life rather than be forced to go where the job took him. More importantly than anything else, he wanted less danger. He didn’t want to end his nine and twenty years in some seedy back alley with his throat cut by a knife he had missed, or a mistimed blink of an eye. He wanted to live, damned it. He wanted a life.

It appears with someone like her, Jasper mused as he looked back down at the woman in his arms and felt an emotion he had never expected to feel begin to take root in his chest. Molly felt so right pressed against him that all he could do was hold her closer.

“What do you mean ‘someone like me’? You don’t know me,” Molly murmured after several long moments of tense silence.

She struggled to hear him through the loud hissing noise in her ears when he began to speak. All she could do was stare at his lips as they moved. Despite the noise, the world and the still raging river behind them had faded into the deeper recesses of her conscious. Inwardly, she would be ver

y glad if she never set eyes on the damned Thames ever again. Lying scandalously in this stranger’s arms as she was, though, it was difficult to find the will to move or care about anything other than him - Jasper. This was the safest she had felt since her arrival in the city a few long and horrifying weeks ago, but it wasn’t just his protection that drew her. It was him. His quiet strength. His fierce determination. His good looks. Everything about him called to something deep within her. She couldn’t deny it or ignore it because it had been strong enough in the river to make her put his life, his welfare, before hers and she wasn’t a heroine. His welfare had mattered more than anything to her. Now that she came to consider it a little more closely, it had nothing to do with the guilt of being responsible for another person’s death that made her release him. She had let him go purely because she had wanted to protect him. He mattered. In a strange kind of way even that was difficult to comprehend and brought her a conflicting set of emotions she knew she had to consider more closely just as soon as she was alone. Right now, she focused on what he was saying to her.

“You are young, innocent, and could have died in that river,” Jasper replied as if she didn’t know that already. “What are you running from?”

Molly blinked at him. It was difficult to know what to tell him, not least because she had no idea who she was running from.

“I don’t know what he wanted from me,” she said honestly and stopped to smile her thanks at Oliver, who was draping blankets over their shoulders.

“He seemed very determined to get you,” Oliver murmured.

“I don’t know why. I don’t have anything or know who he is.” Molly blinked. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a huge well of tears sprang to life. She glanced about them at the tiny boat they were in. “Oh, dear.”

“What?” Jasper prompted when he couldn’t stand the sight of that solitary tear trickling down her beautiful face any longer. He wiped it off, but it was swiftly replaced by two more. “What is it?”

“I have lost my bag,” she whispered. It had only been small, and hadn’t contained very much at all, but the odd coin or two that were inside it were precious to her. She couldn’t afford to lose a single penny if she had any hope of surviving this terrifying life she lived.

“Did you have your house key in it?” Jasper asked. “We can still get you in to your house if you have lost your key.”

Molly frowned at him. She wasn’t at all sure she wanted to get back into the tiny room she had managed to find in the hovel of a lodging house. It was dank, decrepit, and the most miserable place she had ever seen in her life, but it was all she could afford.

Jasper saw the reticence in her eye and knew she still didn’t trust them.

“You two need to get out of here,” Oliver growled.

“Did you find him?” Jasper asked Oliver. Their gazes met. Oliver slowly shook his head.

“Kieran and Niall are looking. He slunk off just as soon as you hit the water.”

Jasper looked back at the woman in his arms. His gut warned him that she could be trusted. Not only had her behaviour been about as innocent as it could be, but there was no secrecy in her direct gaze, or hesitancy in her declarations that she knew nothing of the man who had chased her thus far. As yet, nobody had any idea what the man wanted with her, but Jasper knew he was more than just an opportunist thug.

“Let’s get you two out of here. If you sit here any longer you are going to be frozen to the spot.” Oliver helped Molly to her feet.

The reluctance that slammed into Jasper when he was forced to release her was enough to leave him staring thoughtfully the carriage waiting to take them to safety. He wanted nothing more than to sweep her into its warmth, but he didn’t have the energy to. Instead, he followed closely behind Oliver, who guided her into the warm confines of their transportation.