Run Wild (Escape with a Scoundrel) - By Shelly Thacker Page 0,32

eyes. Her instinct for self-preservation was every bit as strong as his. She had proven that last night in gaol, when she had tried to sacrifice him to save herself.

Clenching his jaw, he lifted his gaze to her once more, muttering oaths under his breath. It was bad enough that he had to consider her fate while they were chained together. Now he also had to consider her fate once they managed to get the chain off.

He cursed God for throwing her into his path. For forcing him to make a choice he did not want to make.

For once again placing an innocent at his mercy.

A surge of hot, bitter guilt choked him. He blinked hard, seeing again the image that tormented him so often: of a young boy’s accusing eyes... of that innocent face in the midst of a blazing, sinking pirate ship... of the pistol shot that rang out, echoing through his memory again and again.

After that night, he had vowed to never take another life. He had dared hope that six years as a law-abiding citizen might have changed him.

But that hope had died today with Swinton and Leach, had been left shattered in the clearing with their broken bodies. The beast within him hadn’t been conquered. It had merely been lying dormant. Waiting for a chance to leap forth and kill again.

He couldn’t control his violent nature. Couldn’t trust himself.

And now he was wearing a pistol again. Tucked neatly into his belt at his back. Already, it had become such a natural part of him that he barely even noticed it.

A man like him, he thought with a bitter glance heavenward, shouldn’t be allowed within a hundred miles of anything or anyone innocent.

Miss Delafield came to a sudden halt in front of him, freezing like a startled deer. “Look!” she whispered, pointing into the distance. “What is that?”

Nicholas stopped beside her, trying to right his chaotic thoughts, squinting into the shadows. “I don’t see—”

He saw it before he could finish the sentence. Several yards ahead on the left. A flash of light that winked on and then off.

“Damnation.” He grabbed the girl, yanking her with him as he jumped behind a fat evergreen, the chain clattering.

Had it been a lantern? A torch? Could their pursuers have closed in already? Burrowed deep into the prickly branches, he waited for a shout or a gunshot. He could feel the girl trembling beside him, her shoulder pressed against his.

But he heard nothing. Not so much as a single footfall. After a moment, he chanced a quick look, glancing at the spot where the light had appeared. And he saw it again.

But this time he realized what it was. “It’s nothing.” He heard the relief in his own voice. “Just a ray of sunlight striking some sort of glass.”

“Glass?” she whispered. “What sort of glass could there be out here in the middle of Cannock Chase?”

“I intend to find out. You stay here and I’ll—” He cut himself off, realizing the order he had started to give was impossible.

“Wherever you go, I go, remember?” she asked dryly, moving her foot to rattle the chain.

How could he have forgotten?

Easily, he thought with a rueful grimace. It was damned contrary to his nature—not to mention bloody inconvenient—to be one half of a pair. “Let’s at least try to keep it quiet, your ladyship.” Crouching down, he stepped out of the evergreen.

Then slowly, cautiously, together, they moved in for a closer look.

Chapter 8

Only when they came within a few yards of the unsteady light did Nicholas realize what he was looking at. The glass was part of a window, in a structure of some kind, so well-hidden by fallen trees and underbrush that its walls appeared to be part of the forest itself.

He chose a vantage point behind a nearby stand of bushes, drawing Miss Delafield down with him as he hunched over to study the place. “A woodsman’s cabin, perhaps.” He kept his voice barely audible. “Or a criminal’s hideout.”

“Do you think it’s occupied?”

Nicholas didn’t answer at first. He weighed the risks of encountering the occupants against the lure of shelter, a place to rest for the night, perhaps even food. “No one seems to have noticed us yet. And God knows we’ve made enough noise.” He shot a glare at the chain.

“Well then...” She bit her bottom lip, eyes on the cabin. “I say let’s go and see what’s inside. I’m tired and thirsty and starving and...” She gave up trying