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

“You have to go through Little Laghorn. It is a small village about half a mile away from here. Beyond it are woods which will take you on a short-cut to the main road leading to Ribbleton.”

Ribbleton was where the Star Elite’s safe house was located.

Callum opened his mouth to ask Sir Hugo if he felt it was the right place to take her only to watch his boss mount his horse having seemingly decided to end the conversation. Before he left, Sir Hugo wheeled his horse around to face them.

“Go to Ribbleton,” Sir Hugo whispered. “No matter what it takes. You know what to do, Callum.”

Mallory stared at the man she knew as the stranger in the garden. Seeing him thus, encased in the shadows of the night, he wasn’t gentle and friendly. The stranger was tall, dark, and wickedly sinister. She was glad she hadn’t met him in the garden looking like he did now, or she wouldn’t have spoken to him at all. In fact, she would have run inside and locked the door because facing Hell was better than challenging this man.

“Are you not coming?” Callum asked, wheeling Horace around in the direction of the village.

“Not yet. I have to put another diversion in place but will catch you up.”

Callum rolled his eyes but before he could say anything, Sir Hugo disappeared into the trees.

“Keep looking over my shoulder. Tell me if you see any of the guards,” Callum whispered.

Mallory shivered when his warm breath brushed teasingly over her cheek. It created an awareness that was unlike anything she had ever experienced. Purely personal in nature, it had nothing to do with fear but everything to do with the wild fluttering of her betraying heart. She didn’t want to feel anything for this man, or any other for that matter. Mallory wanted her freedom. A man would only take that away. If she dallied, even with someone like Callum who was apt to move on, she would not only risk ruining her self-respect, but she might end up jumping from one problem to another.

I need to sort my life out first and decide whether I wish to marry before I contemplate any emotion that I might feel toward him.

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That was easier said than done, though, when she was pressed as intimately against him as she was. He was a stranger, yes, but he had already done more for her than anybody had in her life. He had saved her from her kidnapping tormentors, and kept her safe while being shot at and threatened. Now, he was doing everything possible to find her somewhere safe to stay. Nobody had ever done more.

That is still no reason why I should feel any hint of attraction toward him.

Callum was, after all, a total stranger to her. Until a few hours ago she hadn’t even known he had existed.

He might have a wife and several children waiting for him at home.

That thought was a stark reminder that she had to control her emotions, and not allow appreciation to be misconstrued as anything more.

“Do you see anyone?”

Mallory shook her head. “Everything has gone quiet.”

“Too quiet,” Callum conceded.

“I wonder if your friend has diverted their attention already,” Mallory murmured.

“I don’t see how he could have without us hearing it.”

Callum risked a glance back at the woods where they had met Sir Hugo but couldn’t see or hear anything. The entire area was deathly quiet.

“What do we do? We cannot just leave him.”

“He has told us to,” Callum bit out.

“He cannot face those guards on his own. They will kill him.”

“We have been told to go to the village and that is what we are going to do,” Callum replied bluntly. “We are not going back for him. He knows what he is doing.”

“But-”

“No ‘buts’, Mallory. We are not going back for him and that’s final,” Callum growled.

Mallory glared at him, but Callum didn’t even bother to look at her. Without jumping down there was little she could do except sit in disgruntled silence.