Page 23 of Good Duke Gone Far

Her eyes followed Quinn’s backside as he marched ahead. Even amidst her exhaustion, she could still find the energy to appreciate such a well-endowed man. At least, from what her limited experience had shown her, she believed him to be so.

“Well, well. How are you this fine day, milady?” A gritty voice interrupted her act of gratitude.

“I’m fine, thank you.”

The man shone a smile missing a few teeth. His clothes were nice enough. Cleaner than hers, unfortunately. He lifted his cap.

“Looks that way. I do say, you missed the show. If and that you were trying to make it in time. Everyone arrived a day early, and the roads have been dead since then. And finally last night we were all rewarded for our efforts. We just had one of the finest fights this village has ever seen…” he rambled on for a few minutes while Kat scoured the road ahead in search of Quinn. Of all the times to leave her alone, he had to choose now.

The silence made Kat check in on the rambler.

It didn’t seem he needed a reply, thankfully, since she had none at hand. He just continued on, “That’s a mighty fine horse you have there.”

“Yes, he is.” She almost left it there, but then couldn’t help needling the man with limited adjectives. “Mightyfine, indeed.”

His eyes narrowed. And he sidestepped to place himself directly in her way. “Oh, but what’s that I hear? This horse doesn’t seem to be toofine. Is she having trouble breathing? I know a fine establishment that can see her and get her right as rain. Here, I’ll just–” the rambler with the gritty voice reached for the reins.

Muffin stepped backward. Kat turned her back on the inn to follow the horse and regain control of the situation.

“I don’t think she likes that. I’m fine–” oh, she didn’t mean to say it that time, but now the rambler thought she was insulting him.

“I’ll just take her to my–” Kat tried again.

“No need. I’ll help you.” The rambler grabbed her wrist.

“Ow!” Leapt from her lips. How had she found herself in such a precarious position so quickly being left alone. Perhaps she was foolish to think she didn’t need Quinn’s protection. Oh, where was that devil of a man?

The vise-like grip around her wrist tightened, and the man stepped closer. Kat’s heart wanted to drill itself out of her body.

“Get your hands off my wife,” came a low growl. Was it a growl? It sure as hell sounded like one to Kat’s ears.

But then she examined the growl and realized it contained words. Words likehands, andoff, and,wife?Kat’s heart thumped profusely in her chest, less looking to aimlessly drill itself free now, and more looking for the sound of safety in the air. But her legs felt like two pillars of salt. Like the Lot’s wife kind of pillars of salt.

Instantly the gritty voice turned to molasses. “Yessss, sirrrr. I was just here helping your wife attend to your sick horse.”

“She said she was fine. Unhand her.”

It seemed only Quinn was avidly aware of the grip the man had on her wrist. Even Kat had momentarily forgotten. In a second, the man dropped her hand.

“If I see you within fifty feet of her, you’ll wish you hadn’t woken up this morning.”

Kat’s feet were grounded in place. She needed to do something with herself. With her hands. Her body. If she tried to reach for Muffin’s lead, she would fall over. So she just stood limply. Waiting. Her heart fluttering against her chest.

Quinn watched the man skulk away. When he was sure the man had gone far enough, he offered his arm to her.

“Let’s go.”

Kat mumbled an unintelligible sound.

“There was a fight here last night.”

She wanted to reply, saying,I know. But she didn’t think she had the capacity to move her tongue after those two words to give the full explanation as to how she knew, and even why it was important to share that knowledge with him. No, what she really wanted was to remain silent and hear his explanation for everything that was going on.

“A fight of the ages, apparently. No one’s going anywhere. They’re all either too drunk to do anything or making too much quid on getting everyone drunk to be bothered with anything else. And what I mean by that is, no one’s driving us out of here.” He kept forging ahead. To what she now knew was her doom. “We’re staying the night here.” A few more steps of dirt being kicked up into the air, adding more dust to her already full skirts. “By my soul, I swear it’s just my luck that they only had one room left. So in case you didn’t catch it. You’re my wife for the night.”

Wife for the night?A silent scream shattered Kat’s brain.

Quinn finally turned to look at her. “Well, I guess I now know two ways to render you speechless.”

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