“I’m fine, Samuel. I’m fine,” she said, as he pressed her head against him. “There is much I need to say—”
Before Eliza could stop him, he cut off her words as he pulled her chin upward and kissed her mouth, grunting and moving his arms around her back in a way that made her stomach sick.
She squirmed, and tried to push away, but his mouth still covered hers and her words were mumbled. “Sa-uel—lease! Sto—!”
He kissed her harder. Panic surged through her muscles as she fought against him, hitting her fists against his solid chest.
Finally, he released her with an angry push. His clouded features hardened. “No, Eliza, I can’t stop!”
His chest heaved and his knuckles turned white as he clenched his fingers. “I have done nothing but search for you all these many weeks. I’ve worried day and night over you. I love you. You’re to be my wife! Will you not kiss me back?” He shook her by the shoulders. “What’s happened to you? What has Thomas done to you?”
His eyes searched her face then grew wide and flashed with venom. “Has he defiled you? I’ll kill him! Is that why you push me away? You think I won’t have you? It doesn’t make any difference to me, I’ll love you just the same—”
“No! No, Samuel, please. It’s nothing like that.” Her fingers trembled as she held tight to his biceps hoping he could read the sincerity in her eyes. “He’s done nothing to me. He’s protected us from the beginning—”
“He kidnapped you!” Samuel seized her
arms with iron fingers.
“He rescued us.” Eliza whispered, hoping Samuel would follow her example and quiet his voice. “The soldiers were coming, what else was he to do? I . . . we . . . there’s much to explain, all you need know is that Thomas got us to safety, Samuel. If we had been caught . . .” She looked away wondering if she should reveal all she knew. “Because of the threats placed upon his family it was necessary for us to stay in hiding until we knew all was safe.” She paused and reined in her remaining fears. “You should know plenty about that, Samuel. It was your doing.”
She held her breath, waiting to see how her declaration would be received.
Samuel’s face warped and he balked. “If you believe for a moment that I did anything less than my duty to the king you are mistaken.”
“Your duty?” Eliza spat, as bursts of indignation blasted in her chest. “It was your duty to threaten the lives of innocent people? And for what purpose?”
He lifted her to her toes, and bent his face only inches from hers. “It is my duty to defend the king by whatever means necessary. The members of that traitorous group will get nothing less than they deserve.”
“And what is that, Samuel? What do they deserve?” she said, thinking of not only Thomas, but of Father. What would Samuel have done to him?
Samuel didn’t answer. He set her down, his features melting. He brushed her cheek with the back of his hand. “Something’s happened to you, my love. That odious man has treated you wrongly, I have no doubt, and filled your mind with his vile rhetoric. I’m so sorry, Eliza. You must get away from here and back to your home where you can recover and begin to think properly again. I’m ready to take you away this instant.”
Eliza shook her head and tried to answer but he stopped her with his finger on her lips. His eyes narrowed and his wounded tone carried fire. “I saw him kissing you.”
The blood drained from her face and settled at her feet. The dark barn began to spin. “What?” she breathed.
“I saw you at the rally. I saw you running from him.”
Bile crept up her throat.
Samuel continued. “I tried to get to you, but Watson was there first. I followed you . . . I saw everything.” A pitiful hurt knit his face.
Oh, Dear Lord, what have I done
He came closer to her and stroked her arms. “I know you love me, Eliza. We’re meant for one another. I can only assume he’s forced himself upon you and that’s the reason you refuse me, but I don’t want you to worry. When you and I—”
“You’re wrong Samuel! He’s done nothing but help and protect me.”
He continued his gentleness, tracing her face with his eyes and stroking her arms. “I heard you’d been hurt—stabbed. Is that true? Did he do it because you tried to escape him?”
Eliza’s nerves pricked. How much did he know? How long had he been watching them?
“No . . . yes . . . no!” The words wouldn’t come quick enough. “I was hurt, very badly, but it wasn’t Thomas who did it. It was the sailors, we saw them . . .” She shook her head and waved her hands in front of her. “It’s too long to explain, but Thomas rescued me. Samuel, he saved my life!”
Samuel’s eyes brimmed with emotion. “And for that, I will always be grateful.”
His arms encircled her and he brushed his nose against her ear, his lips tracing along her jaw.