To Have A Heart (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 7)

The urge to ask the stranger who he was hovered on her lips. It was only the presence of the guard that compelled her to remain quiet – for now. While the minutes ticked by, Mallory once again contemplated the stranger who had appeared in the kitchen garden earlier that afternoon. He had said someone was coming to ‘fetch her’. Was this the man? Could she ask? Dare she ask him? What would she do if he told her he wasn’t?

Mallory shifted so the stranger wasn’t pressed so intimately against her only for the man to reflexively tighten his arms and narrow the distance she managed to create. With a sigh, Mallory succumbed to his silent command, and remained still.

Together, they watched a guard with a dog appear around the corner of the barn. He stopped and studied the open field beside the barn. When he was apparently satisfied that nothing was amiss, the guard retraced his steps. Rather than leave, though, the guard hesitated, as if sensing something was wrong. Thankfully, he looked over his shoulder, in the opposite direction to where Mallory and the stranger were standing.

“Wait. Stand still,” Callum breathed.

Despite the danger, a warning shiver slithered down Callum’s spine when the warmth of his breath slithered over them both. Callum mentally cursed but daren’t

move to ease himself away. He waited, silently willing the young, trembling woman in his arms to stand still for just a moment or two longer. If she moved, spoke, or even violently shivered, the dog would pick up on their scent and they would be seen. There was no more dangerous situation than the one they were facing right now. Within a heartbeat, everything could turn sinister and put them both in more danger than either of them had ever faced in their lives.

And here I am with my back facing the enemy.

Callum wished he could turn around to see what the guard was doing, but he had to hold the young woman in place just so that fear didn’t compel her to do something foolish – like move.

Thankfully, Mallory was able to pick up on the stranger’s aversion to being caught and remained perfectly motionless as she watched the guard turn to study the shadows that she and the stranger were standing in. Whatever he was looking for, the guard didn’t find in the shadows Mallory was standing in and so, with a quiet word to his dog, he ambled off.

Callum remained perfectly still for a few minutes, until he could be positive that the guard wasn’t hiding around the corner.

“I need you to follow every order I give you,” Callum breathed into the woman’s ear.

All I can do is hope and pray that she is Mallory and not one of the servants out for a secret rendezvous with her lover.

“What do you want with me?” Mallory’s voice trembled.

“Mallory.”

Her stomach lurched when she heard her name on his lips, but she couldn’t be sure if it was a good thing that he knew her name or not.

“Let go of me.”

Mallory tried to twist her wrists out of his tight hold, but he refused to release her. Her concern grew.

“Are you Mallory?” Callum demanded.

He wrestled her to a stand-still not least because she was making too much noise.

“Who are you?”

“I have been sent to get you out of here,” Callum breathed.

It was then that a dull thud from within the barn behind them warned them that they were not alone. If the horses were being disturbed the guards were probably able to hear them as well.

“We have to go,” Callum growled.

Mallory knew she had two choices; she could either trust this stranger and take a chance that he wasn’t going to drag her straight back to the house, or she could try to avoid both him and the guards. What she couldn’t do was place her trust in this stranger.

The last time someone did that they snatched me out of the life I had.

“Come on,” Callum hissed.

Mallory refused to budge and dug her heels in when he caught her wrist in a firm grip and tried to tug her away from the safety of the building.

“Wait! We will be seen from the house if we go that way.”

“We are going to be seen by every guard and patrol dog in the area if you keep hesitating,” Callum retorted.

He sighed heavily when he looked at her and saw reluctance on her face. He knew he was being harsh but struggled to find a way to get her to leave with him and follow his orders without telling her who he was.