A forced laugh and then, “God no. Far too young for me.” Greys tapped his walking stick jauntily. “And unsophisticated.”
But then he frowned. Their arrival at the entrance to the park prevented Mantis from probing further. He needed to train all his wits on their surroundings now. This section of the park offered all the seclusion a would-be attacker could dream of.
Mantis and Greys turned onto the dirt trail.
Spying a forested area, Mantis couldn’t help but recall Felicity seated on the bench in the woods, her head thrown back while he’d pleasured her intimately. Which then had him remembering how she’d looked with her hands pressed against the tree, her back arched, vulnerable, trusting… the sounds she made leading up to her completion… and the sighs afterward…
Even though he’d taken a few occasions to visit her father’s house and sit with her, a concerning distance had wedged itself between them.
She said she trusted him, but he’d seen the doubt in her eyes. And seeing that doubt stirred doubts of his own.
She never would have consented to marry him if circumstances hadn’t compelled her. She’d insisted she no longer pined for Westerley, but had she only been saying that because it was what he wanted to hear?
She wanted him. He didn’t doubt that. And God knew he wanted her.
They’d pretended to be a love match for her parents, and somehow, he’d found himself believing all of it.
Damn his eyes. He needed time alone with her—time to simply enjoy her without worrying about some blighter waiting around the corner intent upon plunging a knife in his heart.
And he would have that time. Tonight was their prewedding ball and tomorrow the wedding. If somehow they failed today, he would load up a caravan of carriages and whisk his new bride and their unborn child to his country estate the day after.
Along with a handful of outriders.
Armed.
“Up ahead at two o’clock,” Greys commented, and Mantis shoved all thoughts of her away. Now was not the time to lose focus.
“Another at five,” Mantis spoke between clenched teeth.
He and Greys had other fellows around them as well. Two of Blackheart’s men, and of course, Spencer, Chase, and Blackheart himself.
The next turn would place he and Greys in an even more isolated setting. Mantis forced himself to appear relaxed.
But he was ready.
The two of them strolled casually into the darkened section of the path, and less than five seconds after ducking into the shade, heavy footsteps set off a scurry of chaos.
A rope dropped over his head from behind. Mantis caught hold of the rough fibers before they could tighten around his neck, but he couldn’t shake the man as easily as he’d have liked.
Mantis was a sizeable man, but the person behind him was even larger. And stronger. Both of which Mantis would use against him.
Crossing his left arm over his right, he bent forward, effectively using the bastard’s own momentum to throw him onto the ground at his feet.
Beside him, Greys brandished his cane and sent a second villain fleeing.
Blackheart was scuffling higher up the side of the hill, and in a similar move to the one Mantis had used on his attacker, flipped the criminal, and would have sent him tumbling down the hill alone if only his opponent had been so obliging as to loosen his grip on Blackheart’s coat.
The two landed not three feet away. Mantis winced at the cracking sound.
Unfortunately, their sudden appearance was enough of a distraction for the man he’d nearly neutralized to land a fist in his gut, temporarily robbing him of air, and then whip out another weapon.
The second knife hovered, but Mantis grabbed hold of the man’s wrist and squeezed.
When a gunshot sounded behind him, Mantis didn’t allow himself to be distracted.
Because, by God, he’d promised Felicity she would not be forced to raise their child alone.
A hand wrapped around his neck, but Mantis kicked back, sweeping his attacker's legs out from under him.
