Prince of Ravenscar (Sherbrooke Brides 11)

She closed her hands over his. “Really? I’m all that? What is a baggage, I’ve always wondered.”

“But you understand brazen, do you not? And taming?”

“Brazen is nothing, but taming? Goodness, no, what does that mean? Does it involve whips?”

“Don’t mock me, Sophie. I might stake you out beside Roxanne, because I imagine that is what Devlin is doing to your elderly aunt at this very moment.”

“No, impossible. Roxanne is wily, not to mention she is very strong. Devlin doesn’t have a chance of besting her.”

A black satyr brow shot up. “A wager? Say, five pounds?”

“Done,” she said, and shook his hand. They left the horses eating lake grass and walked back to the home wood.

They heard shouts, laughter, then dead silence.

They stepped into a small clearing to see Roxanne on her back on the ground, Devlin’s black coat beneath her, Devlin holding her wrists over her head.

Roxanne was laughing even as she jerked and pulled. “Let me go this instant, Devlin, or I swear I will annihilate you. I will leave you tied down in the sunlight for a fortnight.”

“That would give me an inflammation of the lung, given it will rain thirteen of the fourteen days.”

“Very well, I will throw you into a moat if I find a castle. Is there one hereabout? Does Ravenscar have a moat?”

“No,” Devlin said, released her wrists, and rose. He looked down at her, his arms crossed over his chest. He began to laugh. “I bested you very quickly, Roxanne. You tried your poor womanly best, but you didn’t stand a chance, not against such a man as I. Do you admit I am your superior?”

“My superior? What does that mean? You’re fast?”

“Fast and strong, admit it; I had you on your back in an instant.”

“I don’t believe this,” Sophie said, and raced to Roxanne, who was now sitting up.

“You’re sitting on the ground. How can that be? Goodness, Devlin’s coat is even under you. However did that happen? Roxanne, how did you allow this? I made a wager with Julian! You have lost me five pounds.”

Sophie gave Roxanne her hand and pulled her to her feet. “Five pounds, Roxanne. Perhaps I should have left you on the ground.”

“I think it’s time for a bit of retribution,” Roxanne said, and jumped on Devlin. The momentum drove him to his knees, then, because he wasn’t stupid, he twisted and fell onto his back, dragging Roxanne down to sprawl on top of him.

There was a moment of silence, then, “Help me, Julian. She will surely kill me, mayhap bite my neck, for she is endlessly curious. Look, she is eyeing my neck, licking her lips.”

Julian, laughing, lifted Roxanne off Devlin, set her beside Sophie, and stepped back. He held up his hands. “Don’t either of you attack me, for I am innocent of any wrongdoing. Devlin, get up, you look ridiculous lying there, squinting at the sunlight pouring through the tree branches.”

Devlin jumped to his feet, found his hat on the ground, placed it reverently back on his head, and breathed a sigh of relief. “You’re right. I felt such heat against my skin, building, building. It quite scared me to my toes.”

Julian held out his hand to Sophie. “Five pounds, if you please.”

Sophie looked at Roxanne, who was brushing leaves off her riding skirt. “How could you let him take you down? I told Julian you were strong—”

“You were proved wrong.” Julian held out his hand, then eyed her. “Are you telling me that you are suffering penury or you don’t carry money on your person?”

“Neither. Both.”

“A gentleman always pays on a debt of honor, my child.”

“I will pay you, for I have honor, probably more than I deserve.”

Roxanne was pulling twigs fro

m her unraveling braid, spilling bright red hair down her back and over her shoulders. She said, “Devlin was listening for my footsteps. When I stopped and turned to see where he was, he ducked behind a lovely maple. Mayhap I walked back a bit, to make sure he wasn’t close, and he grabbed me from behind, threw me over his shoulder, and dumped me on the ground. In short, he ambushed me.”