Page 7 of A Lady’s Guide to Witchcraft

Oh, Petal, what have you done?

“I won’t talk,” Briar said.

Lightning flashed over them. Ethan’s eyes gleamed silver in response, like water. Her mother would have ensnared him by now, convinced him he was desperately in love. Her sister might have done the same without saying a single word, she was that beautiful. In fact, this was not the first abduction attempt. Petal’s beauty came with a heavy price to pay. One that was unjust and uncompromising. She’d said it more than once—being a rabbit girl would be better. One could hide, disappear.

And Briar might not be a rabbit girl, but she knew about blending in. And she was resourceful, with more than her share of the Foxglove stubbornness. She would save her sister.

Even if she had to kidnap herself to do it.

“We’re likely to drown out here,” she added, crisply. “So you may as well take me away.”

“Take you away?” Ethan repeated.

She lifted her wrists, pressing them together.

He stared at her blankly.

“I imagine this is how one ties someone’s hands?” she asked. “I’ve never had occasion to try it before.”

“Sweetheart,” he said softly, sternly, “do you have any idea what you’re asking me?”

She swallowed, refusing to take the bait. She might be sprawled on the ground in a damp dress in a most suggestive way, but she was Miss Briar Foxglove. She could be naked and no one would notice.

Although someone might want to inform Ethan Swansea of that little fact.

Because he looked interested. Which was absurd. Moreover, he didn’t look interested in a way that raised her hackles or made her want to kick him solidly in the kneecaps.

That was some trick.

She cleared her throat. “You’re not very good at this, are you?”

His eyes narrowed. His accent thickened. “Beg pardon?”

“Kidnapping a woman.” She reached out to pat his arm. Mistake. He was warm and strong under her fingers. “It’s all right—that speaks to your character, I suppose.”

She wasn’t entirely certain the woman with the pistol wasn’t going to make herself sick choking on all that laughter.

Ethan scowled. “Just get her on the horse, Anais.”

“Aye, Captain,” she chortled.

In the end, it was the giant with the tattooed face who helped her into the saddle. He was very gentle and polite. “Thank you, sir,” Briar said. He had an angel’s smile, utterly at odds with his cache of weapons and scars. His teeth were very white against his light-brown skin. He didn’t tie her wrists together either.

She was barely seated when Ethan swung up behind her. Tension thrummed through her. “Stop flirting with Maleko,” Ethan said drily. “He won’t help you.”

As if flirting was a weapon that she was likely to use with any degree of success. She might be a Foxglove, but she wasn’t Petal. She wasn’t her mother, Rose. Even her name said it all: Briar. A sharp, nettlesome thorn in the garden.

She lifted her chin. She could feel him watching her, his cheek grazing her ear, his breath touching her hair. He was warm and solid and sinewy for all of his bulk. The rain was cold and she barely resisted the urge to snuggle back into his warmth.

Snuggling your captor was probably frowned upon.

What the hell was wrong with her?

Meanwhile, every moment they wasted here in the shadow of the cottage put Petal in danger. “Have you ever abducted anyone before?” she asked.

He half smiled. “Yes.”

“Oh.” Well, this was the Dragon, after all. She ought to have known better.

“Why? Are you faltering, little flower?”

“No, you just seem to be taking an awful lot of time,” she pointed out, trying to ignore the very interesting things his voice in her ear did to her thighs. If she had to needle him into action, she would. So she nudged the horse with her heels, quick and demanding. She’d never really ridden a horse before.

The horse took off, nearly unseating Ethan in the process.

His arms tightened around her, his breath rasping in her ear. “What the bloody hell?”

She had flummoxed the infamous Captain Ethan Swansea, Dragon of Dragons.

That was something, at least.

Even if it might well be the very last thing she ever did.