Irish proverb
Elise struggled to her feet. The sleeves of all three dresses had been torn down her left shoulder. She wobbled a moment and then, as Tommy lifted his branch to club Kit, she launched herself for his arm. She grabbed hold as tight as she could, feeling quite ineffectual considering the man’s size and strength. He threw her off.
However, Elise was not alone. As Tommy swore and tried to elbow her away, Tamsyn attacked, sinking her teeth into the man’s calf. Tommy howled in pain. He turned, ready to use his weapon on the dog, but Kit was up now.
“Tommy,” he said.
Confused by pain, the giant spun toward the sound of his name, and Kit punched him a good one right in the nose.
Tommy screamed in outrage. This gave thevery excited Tamsyn the chance to circle around and bite his other calf.
Nor did Kit let up. He struck Tommy in the jaw, and he kept punching until Tommy’s head snapped back with enough force Elise could imagine it flying off. His eyes closed. For a second, Tommy teetered, and then his legs buckled, and the big man went down. And there he lay.
Elise stared in wonder. “Is he—?” She paused before finishing, “Alive?”
“I’m certain he is,” Kit answered. He stood ready to fight if Tommy moved. “That bastard is a tough one.”
It was Tamsyn who sniffed their opponent. She looked up at them and wagged her tail as if to say they were safe.
Unfortunately, footsteps could be heard running through the woods toward them. Panicked, Elise copied Tommy and picked up a branch from the ground. Kit took a protective position in front of her just as Simon stomped upon the scene.
His gaze went right to his son.“Tommy.”He flew to his son and bent over the still body. Elise stepped forward and whacked him in the head with all her might. He dropped, landing right on top of Tommy.
Kit did not waste a moment. He swept his hat up from the ground. “Come,” he said, throwing his arm around her. “We’re leaving.”
“My cloak?” She tried to go toward the cottage. He pulled her back.
“Wemustleave, Elise.”
“But my money.” All she had, the coins that were to pay her way to Ireland, was in the pocket of that cloak.
“Elise.”
This time, she didn’t argue. He was right. They might not be able to defeat Tommy and Simon a second time. Together, with Tamsyn running ahead of them, they raced from the scene of their battle.
It was obvious Kit was hurt. His jaw was tight as if he clenched against pain. Elise understood. Her shoulder ached where she’d fallen, and she feared she would have a bruise on the morrow. Even Tamsyn seemed to favor her right leg.
However, the three of them managed to make good progress. Elise and Kit didn’t speak. It took all of their energy to breathe. She put one blistered foot in front of the other, focusing on Kit and allowing him to lead her—until she realized they were traveling deeper into the woods. She slowed her step. “Shouldn’t we go to the road?”
“That is where they will expect us to go,” was the terse reply.
“But where are we?”
“Safe.”
Did she agree? She didn’t know. She was hungry, thirsty, and, now that her excitement was wearing off, exhausted. It was all she could do to keep moving.
When they reached a stream, Kit allowed them to stop. “We can rest here. Have a drink.”
A drink. She fell to her knees on the mossy bank without a thought to staining her skirt.
Tamsyn was already lapping away. Elise realized that through everything, she still wore her gloves. She almost laughed at the absurdity of it.
“Drink,” Kit ordered. He’d removed his own gloves and was cupping water up to his mouth—that is when she noticed he’d shaved.
She stared, shocked by the change. He washandsome. Oh, he’d been good-looking before in a rough way, but this was... different. Kit appeared younger than she had supposed. The hard clean-shaven jaw also made him seem a tad more dangerous. Here was a man who commanded attention, who could have whatever he wanted.
He must have felt her staring because his head turned to look at her. Their gazes held. Did he know what she was thinking? That she found him attractive?
