He nodded approvingly and pulled the bag down to survey the contents. He pocketed one of the daggers and handed one to her. “Keep this on you,” he advised. “We might have need of it.”
He took the pistol and tucked it in his breeches then tied the ammunition pouch to his belt.
Isabella held out half the sandwich the woman had given her in town. “Here, eat this.”
He accepted the sandwich and quickly wolfed it down. “You ready?” he asked as he secured their supplies back on the horse.
She nodded and he quickly lifted her up into the saddle.
Seconds later, they urged their horses to a trot and melted into the trees leading further west.
“If we press on, we can reach Dover by tonight,” he said after several minutes. “We will stop and rest the horses twice more and hope they can last the remainder of the trip. We can trade them in Dover for food or more supplies.”
Isabella wiggled her toe in her boot, feeling the map at the end. Though she regretted the loss of her signet ring, she knew it had aided her return to Leaudor.
As the afternoon stretched on, she grew wearier in the saddle. Her muscles ached from the day before, and the insides of her legs were chafed and raw.
When they stopped to allow the horses to drink and rest, her relief was great. But all too soon, Merrick urged her back on her horse, and she settled gingerly into the saddle.
By the second time they rested the horses, Isabella feared she would be unable to remount at all. Her legs felt numb from her waist to her toes and they shook discernibly. As she stood staring at the saddle, she felt sick to her stomach. Her fatigue had seeped into every crevice of her body, and she could not go on. Not another mile.
Warm hands curled around her shoulders, and she moaned aloud as they began massaging the stiff muscles in her neck. Tears pricked her eyelids, her weariness making speaking impossible.
“We must go on,” Merrick murmured behind her. His tone carried a great deal of sympathy.
“I can’t,” she whispered, her voice cracking with the effort.
Suddenly she was lifted up in his strong arms. He placed her gently into the saddle but still every muscle in her body screamed in protest. She bit her lip, unwilling to make more of a ninny out of herself than she already had.
As Merrick took out ahead of her, she nudged her horse forward, tears slipping down her cheeks as the rocking motion tortured parts of her body she daren’t speak of.
Dover couldn’t come too soon.
It was past midnight when they reached the outskirts of the harbor town. They were a sorry couple, their horses plodding along, the two of them slumped in the saddles.
Merrick looked back at her and motioned for her to draw abreast of him. She complied and looked over expectantly at him.
“We’ll stop off at the inn. You can go to a room while I poke around and see what I can find out about possible passage to Leaudor.”
In her current state, she didn’t so much as utter a single protest. If he wanted to forego sleep, she wasn’t going to argue. Neither would she insist on accompanying him. A lot of help she would be to him anyway in her near state of unconsciousness.
She nodded her head, unable to even voice her agreement.
“One other thing,” he said somewhat reluctantly. “I think it best if we pose as husband and wife. We don’t want to draw any unwanted attention or raise any eyebrows. We can only hope your attire is overlooked.”
Again she nodded.
“It will mean we share a room,” he said after a pause. “And a cabin on the ship.”
That awakened her.
How could she possibly share a room with a man who made her have crazy thoughts? Shameless longings, and even worse, vivid images of precisely what she would like to do to him. In exacting detail.
She closed her eyes briefly, trying to rein in her untoward thoughts. If he could approach the situation with such calm fortitude, then certainly she could as well. She didn’t see him reacting ridiculously to the arrangement.
“Good thinking,” she finally choked out.
Never before had she been so grateful for the cover of darkness. Her cheeks were aflame, and she likely resembled the boiled lobster that was her favorite meal.
