Read Naughty in Nottinghamshire 02 - The Rogue Returns for Free Online

dangerous. More dangerous than he wanted to admit. “I said lower your gun.”
    “You givin’ order to the Midnight Rider?” Sam spat on the ground.
    “If you are the Midnight Rider, I am the king of England.” Roane was tense, alert. He was a leaf bent and waiting beneath a drop of dew, ready to spring into action.
    “I don’t like him, Billy.”
    “Neither do I,” Billy agreed.
    Billy and Sam stepped forward as one. The dewdrop rolled from the tip of the leaf. Roane uncoiled his muscles and launched himself at Helen.
    She cried out as he pushed her to the ground and rolled, covering her with his body. Both men, angry and impulsive, deployed their weapons without proper aim. The bullets were lost in the mud.
    Roane leapt to his feet and lunged forward. He punched the shorter man in the nose, then kicked him in the gut.
    Helen cried out and Roane spun toward her. Sam held a knife to her lovely white throat, but his hand was shaking. Roane stalked forward, his eyes on the attacker. He would not look at Helen, he would not look at the knife.
    “You cut her, Sam, and I will string you up in the trees and let the birds eat your entrails.”
    The man glanced at his friend still lying on the earth. Blood gushed from his nose and poured over his hands.
    “Give her to me,” Roane said the words as calmly as he could. Once again, Sam’s wide eyes looked to his companion on the ground and back again. Then, suddenly, he let loose a sharp grunt of pain.
    Helen knocked the knife from her throat and stumbled forward. Sam swore and folded over, holding his ballocks. He tried to stand tall, to wield the knife, but Helen must have knocked him good. He was red in the face, breathless from the pain. Roane quickly kicked the knife from the man’s hand and punched him in the gut, taking away what was left of his breath. Then he grabbed the knife from the mud and stood watch over the men.
    “There’s rope in my saddle bag. And a pistol.” He didn’t look at Helen as he gave the orders. “Get them quickly.”
    She ran across the meadow. Moments later she reappeared with the length of rope and his loaded gun. The sound of her sharp gasps sliced the quiet night.
    Roane held out his hand for the rope, still not looking at her. He shook with the need to fight the men, to finish what they had started. To see the fear in her eyes would be his undoing.
    He took three breaths and modulated his tone in a calm voice. “Buttercup, I need you to hold the gun. Keep it pointed at the men.”
    He felt her hesitation, but then she steadied the weapon in her shaking hands. Sensing the danger of the situation, neither man struggled as he bound their hands and feet.
    Satisfied the men were tied tight, Roane took the gun from Helen’s hands. “Wait for me by my mount,” he instructed, still not looking at her. His control was a precarious thing.
    When she was out of earshot, he palmed the knife in one hand, the gun in the other. “Who sent you?”
    Neither man said anything.
    Roane approached them, letting anger contort his features.
    “No one sent us,” Billy stammered. “We’ve been watching the gel. We knew she was up to something.”
    Roane flipped the hilt of the knife in his palm, considering. He could probably drag more information out of the men, but his priority was Helen. He needed to get her to safety before anyone else came.
    He ripped apart Sam’s dirty shirt and gagged the men. “I don’t want to see either of you again.”
    Calming his rage, he took their weapons, crossed the meadow and tossed the guns into the swift stream. The knife he kept. Finally, he went to find Helen.
    She was leaning against a tree by Zeus, everywhere trembling and pale. He grasped her shoulders and hauled her up against him, anchoring her to his chest. “Are you hurt?”
    “No.”
    “Good.”
    She nodded, then started trembling even worse. She was shaking in his arms like she’d just taken a cold plunge in harsh waters.
    “You were very