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

The man watched the group of guards as Callum approached. When Callum reached him, the man stepped away from the shop doorway and began to walk down the road.

“Who is he?”

“Best not to ask, eh?”

They had no choice but to follow the man, who turned into a narrow cart track that led along the back of a long row of houses at right angles to the main road. Half-way down that track, the man waved them into the rear of a huge field beyond which was several acres of woodland.

“Go. You have about three minutes,” the man warned as Horace ambled past.

Callum nodded his thanks and nudged Horace into a fast walk.

“The gate’s shut,” Mallory said as she watched the man tie rope around the gate and knot it before he ambled off.

Within seconds, he had vanished into the back of one of the houses.

“They won’t have seen him,” Callum assured her. “He is safe. Melrose’s men will have to take a longer route to reach the woods now. Every second counts right now. Sir Hugo hasn’t bought us much time, but it might be enough.”

Once clear of the village, Callum nudged Horace into a canter.

“Keep an eye out for the guards,” he asked of Mallory.

Mallory nodded and did what he asked of her but was somewhat distracted this time, but not by the guards, or Melrose. She was distracted by him: Callum.

“Do you know, I don’t even know your surname,” she mused without thinking.

Callum’s brows shot up. “Do you think that now is the best time for a formal introduction?”

Mallory’s lips quirked. “Probably not.”

Callum rolled his eyes.

Mallory took the opportunity to get a good look at the enigma that was Callum, whatever his surname was.

He is handsome.

With dark brown, slightly curled hair, and dove grey eyes, Callum was handsome, startlingly so. His masculine countenance was made up of sharp edges and fine lines but only emphasised his natural good looks. His tanned complexion made it difficult to define his age but assured her that he spent a lot of time outside. Mallory suspected that he was somewhere in his mid-thirties, but from the small scars she could see on his chin, cheek, and brow, his life had been far from easy. As they rode toward the woods, Mallory was painfully aware of each shift and twitch of his lithe frame behind her. He was heavily muscled, of that there could be no doubt, but he wasn’t heavy-set. He was solid; well-built. While he had a somewhat menacing quality about him, Mallory wasn’t at all frightened in his presence. Callum was cool, collected, and steady in a crisis.

“What?” Callum demanded when he felt her staring at him. He lifted his brows and waited.

Their gazes clashed.

It took effort but he ignored the wild tug of attraction that pummelled him when he got his first good look at Mallory Reynolds. She was pretty; breathtakingly beautiful, some would say, but in an undefined way. With sable hair and emerald eyes, the porcelain curves of her cheeks and chin were smooth, sleek, well proportioned. There was nothing particularly remarkable about her. However, there was an etheric equality; an air of mystery about her that was captivating. It was as if she carried secrets but would only divulge them to those who earnt her favour.

She is utterly arresting.

To give himself something else to think about, Callum checked his gun for shot. But it didn’t work. He soon found his thoughts returning to her. He was tired, cold, and hungry, but ignored his physical discomforts because Mallory’s welfare was more important. He had to get her out of the biting morning chill, preferably before she was shot at anymore.

“Should we go in there?” Mallory asked as she studied the swaying trees they were approaching.

They looked dark and sinister to her.

“They could hide all sorts of attackers,” she hissed.

Callum knew they could still be ambushed. If he was Melrose, he would choose woods in which to ambush someone as well. But this was where Sir Hugo had told them to go and so they had to use it.

“Whatever happens, don’t go back to the village. Find somewhere to hide. Stay perfectly still until you are positive the guards have gone. It might take several hours, but that’s fine. They will mount a search but aren’t likely to search an area more than once.”

“What do I do if they send the dogs after me?”