Read A Highwayman's Honor: (A Highland Highwayman Novella #1) for Free Online

lower, exposing a shoulder and she clutched it tighter.
    The commander’s eyes narrowed and she let him see her trembling lip, her shaking hands. When he took a step closer she let a terrified gasp escape her lips and brandished her dagger.
    He held out his hands. “I’m not going to hurt you, you silly girl. We’ll trouble you no further tonight. But this can’t go unanswered for. You may have been provoked but we can’t have people going about shooting at officers. What is your name?”
    “Mary Smith,” she said, giving him the most common name she could think of with her wits rattled as they were by sheer panic.
    He seemed about to speak again before his attention was drawn back to the moaning man in the courtyard. He sighed. “As you were obviously provoked, I will let the incident go. This time. I would suggest in the future calling for help before firing your weapon.”
    Elizabet nodded and curtsied and the commander motioned his men out. The second they were over the threshold, Elizabet rushed forward, slammed the door, and dropped the bar back in place. When she heard hoof beats riding away from the clearing, she allowed herself to slump against the door with relief.
    Jack rose from the water, dripping wet and desperate for air. She stayed put, dragging air into her own tortured lungs. She didn’t think she’d breathed the entire time the men were there, terrified that at any moment they’d discover Jack.
    That fear struck her as odd. She should have been running into their arms, not hiding the man who’d taken her. Or fighting the desire to run into his arms instead.
     
    * * *
     
    Jack stood in the tub and wrung himself out as best he could. His mind raced. He had, for all intents and purposes, kidnapped her. For good reason, yes. But he wouldn’t have been surprised had she thrown open the doors and welcomed them in. Instead…
    “You didn’t betray me,” he said.
    “No,” she murmured.
    “Why?” He stepped from the tub and pulled his shirt over his head, dropping it in a soaking heap on the floor. The mask he left in place, though the wet leather chafed against his skin.
    “I don’t know,” she answered.
    Her gaze dropped from his and followed the line of his naked chest. The water ran in rivulets down the hard planes of his stomach. He grabbed the cloth she was going to use to dry herself after her bath and rubbed it across his skin and hair. Her eyes followed each moment. She bit her lip, her breath growing shallow. He took his time drying off. The heat in her eyes as she watched sparked an answering desire in him.
    She glanced up and caught him watching. He smiled and her cheeks flamed bright red and she hastily looked away.
    “You don’t know?” he asked.
    She straightened, jutting her pert little chin into the air. “Betraying you wouldn’t have helped me much.”
    “They would have taken you home.”
    “You’ve said you’ll take me. I believe you. I’m not in any particular hurry.”
    Her words meant more to him than he expected. “You believe me?”
    “Of course,” she murmured. “You’ve not harmed me. You’ve actually gone to great lengths to see to my comfort. As far as I know, you haven’t lied to me. You promised to protect me. And you have. So yes. I believe you.”
    She was so beautiful standing there in the candlelight. In his whole life, he didn’t know if anyone had had as much faith in him as she did at that moment. He came toward her and she sucked in a breath when he reached out and brushed her hair from her face.
    “You’re trembling,” he said. His fingers lingered on her cheek. He stood close enough hardly a breath of space was between them. Heat rolled through him in waves, though he’d just spent several minutes emerged in a cold bath. The creamy white of her exposed skin where the blanket had slipped flushed pink.
    “I’m…” She looked up into his eyes. His thumb brushed across her lower lip and she shivered. “I’m…cold.”
    He