A Terrible Misunderstanding (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 6)

To her dismay and confusion, once he was about five feet away, the man stopped and, temporarily at least, stood perfectly still. Rather than answer her, he stared straight at her. He was so motionless he might have been one of the trees that surrounded them, but he wasn’t because the trees swayed in the wind while he didn’t.

Was he trying to panic her into flight? Was he waiting for someone else to join them? Clara wished she knew. She also wished she had the strength to chance a quick look around the garden, but the stranger was far too close, and most probably waiting for her to be distracted so he could lunge toward her.

While she waited to see what he would do, Clara studied the distance between him and the trees lining the garden. There was more of a gap to his left than his right. She might just be able to squeeze through it, if she used her weapon and took advantage of him being momentarily distracted by the deluge of icy water. It was her only hope of salvation. For a moment, Clara wasn’t at all sure her feet would be able to move. She was so very cold she physically shook, but the fierce shaking that had overwhelmed every fibre of her being was most probably driven more by the rampant fear that threatened to suffocate her. She eyed the well beside her, and immediately side-stepped away from it.

It was the wrong thing to do. The second she moved, the man lunged toward her. At the same time, another shadow emerged from the trees and surged toward them. With a small squeak of surprise, Clara swung her bucket at the stranger whose fingers tugged at the thick folds of her cloak. Frigid water deluged them both but thankfully made the stranger pause. His blistering curses were fierce as he tried to wipe water out of his eyes, and in doing so inadvertently removed the hood from his head.

Clara gasped again when she saw a bold head atop spiteful eyes which were narrowed malevolently at her. The first impression she had of him was that he was muscular and mean.

And he is not here because he has anything to do with the Star Elite.

Instinct urged her to flee; to get back to the house and run. With her bucket now half empty, Clara had lost some of her weaponry but she used what she did have and threw what was left at the stranger before she tried to dart around him.

“Get away from me,” she screamed when the stranger side-stepped to position himself directly in front of her again.

“You are coming with me.” The stranger grabbed her cloak and tugged harder, blatantly ignoring the second man now running toward them.

“What are you doing? Get off me?” she screamed only for her voice to be snatched by the wind.

Clara swung her now empty bucket at her assailant and was met with a bitter curse when it landed against him with a resounding thwack. To make her terror complete, rain began to lash down, temporarily blinding her clear view of the garden.

“Get off me. I am not going with you.” Her panicked gaze flew to the second figure. She could only hope and pray that he wasn’t the thug’s accomplice because she didn’t stand a chance of breaking free of the pair of them.

“Help!” she screamed as loudly as she could.

“Shut up,” the man snarled.

He grabbed a firmer hold on her cloak and proceeded to drag her toward the trees. Clara, digging her heels into the soft grass, slapped at his hands over and over, trying desperately to force him to release the material so she could run for the house. But her slight frame was no match for the might of the heavy-set stranger, who used his weight to force her to follow him. He grunted and cursed as his boots slipped on the soaking wet grass, but was resolutely determined, and succeeded, in dragging her toward the trees.

“Help!” Clara screamed again.

She gasped when a flurry of movement flickered in the corner of her eye. To her astonishment, the latest arrival in the garden launched himself at the stranger. Seconds later, the man’s hold on her cloak was released with such swiftness that made Clara stumble backward. She landed on her bottom on the soft grass with a small ‘oomph’ of surprise. For a moment, all she could do was sit there. Even through the noise of the rain, Clara could hear the hideous sound of fists pounding flesh, grunts, and groans as the men wrestled, kicked, punched, and struggled to defeat each other. Eventually, Clara managed to get her sluggish mind to work properly again and realised that she had to make use of their distraction to race for the safety of the house. With a wary eye on them, she tried to lurch clumsily to her feet only for the thug to notice her. He slammed a heavy fist against Niall’s stomach which made Niall double over. With Niall struggling to stand up, the thug turned his attention on Clara.

“Where do you think you are going?” he snarled, charging toward her.

“What do you want with me? Who are you? I said no!” Clara tried to run, but her booted feet slid in the mud and her legs became entangled in her dress. With a cry, she realised she was unable to move fast enough to avoid her attacker when he made another grab for her. Clara desperately tried to scramble out of the way anyway.

“Get up,” the thug commanded as he tugged fiercely on her arm.

She gasped when a sodden Niall appeared as if by magic before her. Like a Knight in shining armour, he grabbed the stouter man by the collar and landed several heavy punches on him that briefly rendered the thug helpless. The thug seemed to realise that he was going to lose the fight and so resorted to defending himself. When Niall looked at Clara to order her inside, the thug took advantage of his momentary distraction to stumble off toward the bushes, still clutching his aching stomach.

“Get up,” Niall ordered coldly, his face hard and emotionless. “Get up and go inside.”

Clara dutifully scrambled to get away from t

he threat he now posed. When he loomed over her as he was Niall too was a total stranger and no less sinister than the thug. There was something about this side of Niall that was harsh, almost brutal. Gone was the softer version of him she had met earlier. In his place was a ruthless fighter; a brutal opponent who would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. Whether it was the shadows that made him more sinister, or the lethal look in his eye Clara couldn’t quite be sure, but this Niall was overwhelming. He was certainly not a man to be defied right now. Even so, she started to slap at his hands when he reached down to pick her up only to find that she couldn’t fight him off either.

“Come on. Let’s get you inside,” Niall murmured, purposefully softening his tone so he didn’t scare her anymore. Clara looked absolutely terrified and it made him furious, not least because she looked just as scared of him as she had been of the thug.

Clara wanted to ignore him but was barraged with an overwhelming connection to Niall that made her want to trust him. Despite her situation, she was aware of the instant thrill of attraction that heightened the tension between them and made her shiver even more; this time with the force of the barely concealed emotion which ruthlessly slammed into her with devastating effect. She knew in that instant that nothing in her life would ever be the same again. She knew in that moment that she would never forget Niall. No matter what happened, Niall would haunt her. He was, without question, the man of her dreams.

“Are you all right? Did he hurt you?” Niall demanded.

Clara shook her head. “What does he want with me? You are here for him, aren’t you? My father sent you, didn’t he?”

“Just get inside, Clara,” Niall growled, in no mood to explain himself to her. He was painfully aware that with each passing moment he was with Clara, the thug, his quarry, was getting away.

Clara stubbornly refused to budge. Now that she knew that Niall was one of her father’s men she wasn’t so afraid of him anymore. Instead, she was downright curious.