“This is kidnapping,” she muttered.
“Yes, disgraceful, I know. But what could I do? You were all wet and cold.”
“So are you, now,” she pointed out.
“Ah, but a misery shared is a misery halved. Not that I’m the least bit miserable,” he added.
Neither was Callie. She felt warm and, strangely, almost safe—despite the fact that she was on a horse. And forced into an intimate position with a man she’d never met.
It was most…unsettling, the feeling of his thigh under her bottom, shifting with each movement of the horse, hard and muscular. And the heat and hardness of his chest against her…breast. And his arms, bracketing her body, so warm and strong and intimate.
But his big, strong body threw out the warmth her body craved and she was cold, so very cold. Gradually, almost against her will, she pressed herself closer to him, her frozen body greedily soaking up the heat and the strength of him.
Her cheek rested against the fine linen of his shirt. He smelled of horse and cologne and leather and wood smoke…and the skin of a man…
She fancied she could hear his heart beating, a steady, soothing thump, thump, thump…
It was strange, she thought; Rupert had smelled of horse and cologne and leather, too, but it was very different.
Stop it! she told herself. This kind of stupid imagining, this stupid longing for something she knew she couldn’t have, had made her miserable in the past. She was older and wiser now. She would make her own happiness, not depend on others—on men—for it.
She was in England and would be safe with Tibby very soon. This…weaknesswas just because she was cold and wet and tired. And because he was big and warm and strong.
That was the trouble. Because he was bigger and stronger, he’d got his own way. As men always did. Men never listened. Callie had had enough of it. Once she got to Tibby’s she’d never have to take orders from a man again.
“Are you warmer, now?” he said. His voice was deep and the rumble of it reverberated in his chest, against her cheek.
“Yes,” she said, and her conscience forced her to add, “Thank you.”
“Nicky,” he said in a louder voice, “We’re going to go faster, so hold on tight.”
Callie heard a muffled assent from Nicky. He didn’t sound worried. But then the horse lengthened its strides and she closed her eyes and clung on tight, trying not to see the flashing hooves in her mind, concentrating on the man who held her so securely, even though the rest of the world was bouncing up and down…
“We’re here,” the deep voice said in her ear sometime later. “Are you awake?”
Callie opened her eyes and stared up at him.“Awake?”she exclaimed incredulously. “Of course I’m awake!”
“Really?” She saw a flash of white teeth as he grinned. She turned her head to see where “here” was.
It was a substantial house, built of stone and rising to three stories, with dormer windows set into a slate roof. A single wisp of smoke curled lazily from one of many chimneys.
They rode under a decorative stone arch into a cobbled courtyard. A large black dog ran out barking but its barks turned to wriggles of silent pleasure as it recognized its master.
“Where are we?” she demanded, stiffening. “I thought…This isn’t Lulworth.”
“I didn’t say I’d take you to Lulworth. It’s too far on a night like this and even Trojan has his limits.”
“Then where—”
“Welcome to my home,” he said.
Two
His home.
Whoever had built the house had liked light, Callie thought; the front of the house was almost all windows. As they rounded the side, heading for the stables, she saw a huge octagonal bay window rising almost the entire height of the wall. It would no doubt flood with sunshine during the day.
Now, the house was dark and still, except for a single lantern left burning around the back. Through the icy drizzle, the golden glimmer of light looked homey and welcoming, but they made straight for the arched entrance of the stables.
