But another danger lurked out there in the night shadows. It was as if a pair of eyes burned right through to her soul. She shivered. Urging her horse faster, she turned a corner. A singlerider came out from the shadows and blocked her path. She tried steering Thunder around the intruder, but the large, dark figure reached out and captured her reins, not allowing her to pass. She wanted to scream but didn’t want to draw undue attention, especially if her husband was doing traitorous activities tonight.
Tears stung her eyes. She smacked the stranger’s hands, but he managed to slow her horse. He scooped her off her mount and placed her on his lap. It was then she recognized the red coat of a soldier underneath his dark brown cape. She gasped.Captain Wilkes.His deep laughter echoed through the night as he tightened his arms.
“My dear Mrs. Worthington. What an honor it is to run into you this late in the evening.”
She found her voice. “Release me.” She pulled at his hands around her waist, but his hold was unbreakable.
“But it is I, the man who holds your heart. No need to fear, my dear.”
Alcohol-soaked breath blew across her face. She grimaced, and her stomach knotted, threatening nausea. “Indeed, I know who you are, which is why I’m afraid.”
He cupped her chin. She slapped at his hand, but it didn’t budge.
He nuzzled his face against her neck. “But, my dear, you have not been to see me in quite some time, and I grow weary of your games.”
“Unhand me, or I will… I will…”
“You will what? Scream?” His laughter rang through the night. Off in the distance, dogs barked. “Are you playing the reluctant maid with me again?”
Her heart lodged in her throat, making it painfully hard to breathe. How could she get out of this mess? Malcolm wasn’t around to save her this time, and because she was perched on the soldier’s lap while his disgusting clutches held her prisoner,she had no choice but to comply. Camilla must become her sister—the very same woman this drunken fool believed her to be.
She forced her body to relax against his, and within seconds, his grip eased. He kissed her neck, just underneath her ear. She cringed.
“I have missed you,” he mumbled.
“I have been rather busy.” Her voice shook, but she kept it husky, playing his game until he could release her enough for her to escape.
“I want you to come home with me.”
She gritted her teeth to keep from openly displaying her disgust and losing the contents of her stomach. “Tonight is out of the question.”
“Why? You are wearing the same clothes and you are headed in the same direction as when you previously visited me. What is different about tonight?”
Camilla scrambled to think of what to say. “Uh, well… I’m being followed.”
His body stiffened, and his head snapped up as he scanned the area. “Followed? By whom?”
“I don’t know. Perhaps my husband or one of his servants.”
He looked around them once more. “Then we must get you inside somewhere quick.”
“No.” Panic threatened to engulf her sanity. “I must return home.”
He kissed her neck again. “I can protect you, my dear. I’m not afraid of your husband or his servants.”
How could she answer that one?Think harder, Camilla.Suddenly, she recalled his words when she met him out of the town not too long ago. She cleared her throat. “But my main purpose is to gain my husband’s trust so I have information to report to you. Is it not?”
He sighed, and his foul breath blew into her face. “Quite right, my dear.”
She forced herself to smile as she studied his shadowed face. Hopefully, he was too drunk to remember this in the morning. With a shaky hand and a great deal of effort, she reached out and touched his face tenderly. “I’m closer to gaining my husband’s trust. Once I accomplish that, I’m certain I will have more information for you.”
“I’ll put him away in prison, I assure you. Then we can be together the way we planned.” He relaxed and she sighed, but a deeper fear gripped her heart. Would the soldiers find incriminating evidence to arrest Malcolm? Obviously, someone was setting him up. She must do all she could to stop it.
From up the road, the clip-clop of horses’ hooves echoed in the silence, though the fog shrouded the oncoming rider. She must get off Captain Wilkes’s lap before being spotted. News like this would destroy Malcolm, especially now. “Please, let me down,” she whispered.
“One last kiss, my dear.” He leaned forward, lips puckered.
There was no other choice. She would give him one, and hopefully, do it quick enough that she could escape his hold.
