“Hurry,” her stranger barked again.
Her stranger?
What was she thinking? Brina shook the thought away as ridiculous.
“Maybe you’re not a thief, but a swindler or someoneequally dishonorable. You certainly didn’t tie yourself to that chair, sir.”
He made a growling noise that left her no doubt he was nail-spitting mad at being in such a desperate position.
“You obviously did something, and you must be dangerous. You look strong and…” She felt a fluttering in her chest at the thought of just how strong he did look with his shirt parted at his throat and his trousers molding to his hips and legs in a most fitting manner. “Anyway, as if it would take several men to get the best of you.”
“Yes, but unfortunately only one devious woman,” he muttered past clenched teeth.
“A woman?” Brina’s cheeks warmed and her heart started pounding again. She could barely get her breath. Still, she stepped closer and nudged the exceedingly well-tailored waistcoat with the toe of her dainty slipper. “Well, she must have had good reason.”
“That is a matter of opinion,” he grumbled and renewed his struggle against the fastenings that held his wrists. “I told you I don’t have time for this.”
She considered him, tapping her finger to her lips, as if he’d said nothing at all. “Are you going after the woman who tied you?”
He sucked in an exasperated gulp of breath. “Certainly not. If you must know before you will give me assistance, I am going after my foolish cousin. He is about to ruin his life, and I must stop him. Now, can we get on with this?”
Brina studied him more carefully, searching what she could see of his countenance in hopes of determining the truthfulness of his words. She had to admit, she was fascinated by his predicament. After drawing in a deep breath, she released it slowly. He wanted very badly to be freed, and it was within her power to do that for him.
Oddly, she didn’t feel threatened, and it wasn’t because he was tied. Despite his gruffness, she felt drawn to him in a way she didn’t understand. And frankly, that he’d captured her full attention at all was unusual. She’d been a widow almost five years and, in that time, hadn’t given any gentleman a second glance. In truth, she’d simply never expected to be attracted to a man again. And by no means, one who was bound to a chair, brash as the day was long, and barking orders at her like a general directing his soldiers.
But there was something that pulled her in to his situation and made her want to be a part of it, if only for a short time, and even though he looked much like the drawings she’d seen of plundering pirates. She couldn’t conceive of the possibility that she’d ever have the opportunity to be so close to a rake again. Certainly not to aid one.
How could she walk away without giving this further thought? Too, if she freed him, she could lock herself inside until it was time to meet her aunt.
“Before I decide whether to help you, tell me what dreadful thing your cousin is going to do?”
“He’s running off to get married,” he said with a hasty scoff and a stomp of his bare foot. “Would you please untie me now so I can save him?”
Curiosity struck again. “What do you have against marriage, sir?”
He blew out a deep sigh of impatience before flatly stating, “In general, nothing. When it comes to my impressionable and impulsive cousin, everything. His father should never have allowed him to come to Paris unattended. Or worse, expected me to look after him once he arrived.”
It was Brina’s turn to scoff at the man, and she quickly did so. “I happen to believe in love, sir.”
A breath hissed through his teeth. “Love has nothing to do with this. It’s his name, prestige, and money the woman is after. Specifically, his family’s money and name.”
Brina noticed the discarded clothing again and something occurred to her. A gasp caught in her throat. He must, indeed, be a rake and of the highest order. And he expected her to help him.
“You said you were tied up by a woman. Were you seducing your cousin’s fiancée?” she exclaimed in an unladylike volume.
“What?” he asked on another sizzling breath of exasperation. “I wasn’t seducing anyone. Hell’s teeth. The woman in question was seducing me. And no, it was not his fiancée. Her older, wiser sister. The minx was stalling me so I wouldn’t find out about the elopement until it was too late to stop the young buck. There may still be time if you will do the right thing and untie me so I can go after them. I have been a guest in the chateau many times and know of a hidden passage that will lead me out to the grounds quickly.”
Hidden passages that led outside?
That aroused her interest even more. Brina wavered. By his own admission of how he became tied, she knew he wasn’t a respectable man. There wasn’t a reason in the world she should feel any sense of responsibility to help him, but she believed the story about his cousin. And that was what made the difference. More than most, she could understand someone wanting to protect their loved ones and keep them from making a mistake that would alter their life forever. Brina had almost made one that certainly would have changed hers.
Her gaze drifted down to the open neck of his shirt. The cadence of her breathing changed again. What she didn’t want to think further about was the manner inwhich he became tied or how he looked in his state of half-dress. He was stirring desires in her that she couldn’t possibly entertain. Such a thing wasn’t for ladies to dwell on.
Not even a widow.
However, she felt a little amusement knowing it was a woman who’d gotten the best of him—no matter the reasons or means.
Nerve-racking silence stretched between them while she contemplated what to do.
