“You kiss very nicely,” she said against his neck when she came up for air.
“So do you,” he said, biting her chin.
He knew it wasn’t a good idea to continue, but he did. He kissed her until she giggled, and then he kissed her neck. She smelled like grass and sunshine, and newness. They didn’t kiss long. They both knew what they were doing was foolish. They walked on two different sides of the road. They weren’t children who couldn’t control their passions. They were both masters of control. They let each other go awkwardly and smiled while Charlotte patted her hair. She was pleasantly shy. He liked it.
“Michael?” she asked later, after the sun had come fully up and she sat beside him. “Why were you crying?”
“I wasn’t crying,” he corrected her firmly.
“A tear came out of your eye. That is crying.”
“One tear, Charlotte. Let’s not make more of it than it is.”
“All right then,” she smiled indulgently. “Why did a tear fall from your eye?”
“I don’t know.” He shrugged and shook his head. How could he tell her that every morning he was usually holding the barrel of a gun between his teeth? And that this morning, he was glad he’d never put a bullet in the gun?
“Well, I liked it.”
“Don’t get accustomed to it,” he muttered.
He looked at her face. “Charlotte, why are you grinning like a satisfied cat?”
“No reason. Come,” she said, rising to her feet. “We should get back before my father suspects something and sends you away.”
His good mood returned when he looked up at her and said, “You don’t want me to be sent away?”
“Of course not, silly. Is that not obvious? You are entertaining,” she added with a spark of humor in her eyes.
He smiled with her. He couldn’t help himself. He didn’t want to. “So are you.”
She quirked a brow at him, as if she wanted to figure something out, then her grin returned, and she held out her hand to help him up. He didn’t need it, but he accepted her offering just the same.
He bounded to his feet, close to her. In fact, his body touched hers in certain places. He angled his head and looked into her eyes. The golden light behind Charlotte cast her in what appeared like a halo around her. He felt the urge to laugh. She was no angel. But she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Even with her dark locks spilling around her shoulders like a tangled cloak, she was ravishing.
He coiled his arm around her waist and pulled her in. “It will be hard to keep my hands off you today.”
“Aye,” she agreed and pushed off him. “But we must exercise control over our desires. I know ’tis something you can do. I, too, can do it.”
“Okay.” He let her go. He understood. She didn’t want her father to find out. He didn’t want to be sent away either. He stepped away and headed toward the house—he hoped—he turned one last time to see the sun resting on the horizon with light, like arms of many shades of gold and red spread out across the vast expanse.
A new day.
*
“He said totell Lord Sutton that Gerald FitzSimmons of Croydon freed me from the clutches of the new lawman. But I’m sure I heard Lady Charlotte outside of the cell. She called out to FitzSimmons.”
Aye, she was a clever girl, and loyal unto death most likely. Sebastian Alexander, Baron of Surrey, rolled his eyes heavenward. Preston didn’t deserve her. Sebastian didn’t know any man alive who did. He liked to rile her up. She had a fiery temper, a truly fearless nature. She enjoyed doing things her father, the judge, would disapprove of. He smiled thinking of her. One day, he would usurp Preston and become the head of the Horsemen. Perhaps he’d also take Preston’s woman.
“What is to be done about this stranger?” deVille asked.
Sebastian didn’t know much about him. “He claimed to be a lawman and shot Lord Sutton in the leg.”
“I knew he was a danger,” deVille whispered and looked around as if the man were here and listening in somehow. Fool.
They would likely have to kill this lawman. Sebastian thought it was too bad. He may have liked this bold, fearless stranger who shot first and asked questions later, especially when it came to Lord Sutton, Preston Bristol III. But deVille was correct. The lawman was too dangerous to befriend or look up to. Whoever had the chance had to kill him.
He told deVille and gave the order to spread the word. The lawman must die. Next was Charlotte. Of course, he wouldn’t kill her. He hadn’t seen her at Preston’s. Surprising, since she was allowing Amanda to see to Sutton’s needs, which were many, according to Agnes, one of the scullery maids lucky enough to find herself in Sebastian’s bed from time to time.
