Page 38 of Kissed By a Scoundrel
She would be as quiet as a church mouse. But inside she was giddy with relief. He had come for her!
“Go!” he mouthed. But she couldn’t leave him. Not now. Gummy would be back any moment and two men against one wasn’t fair, even if Sebastian was strong and an excellent fighter.
He shook his head and held up his hand for her to stay put. Slowly, he approached the kidnapper huddled over the prone form in the corner and cleared his throat.
“Shut up, Gummy, I don’t want her to wake up. She’s sleeping so peacefully. If she wakes up too sudden-like she gets crabby and will start yelling again. “
“I’m not Gummy,” Sebastian said.
The man turned and Sebastian plunged a fist into his gut and then leveled another blow with such force, it flattened him.
Sebastian reached down to grab him, but the man rolled to his feet, a lethal blade in his hand.
“Katie, run,” Sebastian yelled as he faced down the killer. The two men moved in a slow circle, staring at each other.
Katie cast off the ropes and gag. Reaching for her foil, she stood and was about to hurry over to Sebastian to toss him the epee when she was grabbed by the neck from behind and felt a blade against her neck.
“I’ve got yer woman,” Gummy said, holding Katie from behind and pressing the tip of a knife to her throat.
“Yer mine, now,” the brutish kidnapper said, pulling another blade from around his boot. “Sit,” he demanded, dragging a chair to the middle of the room. “I plan to carve you up and let her watch.”
Sebastian sat down calmly. Katie watched in horror as the man she loved was about to get flayed alive. The kidnapper held a length of rope and reached for Sebastian’s hands. With a move so quick that Katie would have missed it had she blinked, Sebastian swiveled and kicked the man into the wall before springing back onto his feet.
The kidnapper was bigger and beefier than Sebastian. But Sebastian was taller. Katie knew his reputation as a fighter was legendary. But the kidnapper was a maniac and a cold-blooded killer and that made him very dangerous.
The two men circled each other once more until the kidnapper lunged with both knives but Sebastian did something that left Katie in awe. He leapt into the air and spun, kicking out his leg and landing a blow to the kidnapper’s chest with his boot. The kidnapper toppled backward, losing his grip on both blades. The knives skittered to the floor, where they landed below the window.
Realizing she still had the foil but could not use it, Katie remembered a move Sebastian had shown her. She’d made him show her several times since it required him to get close and prayed she’d remember it when she so desperately needed it.
Slowly she allowed the foil to drop, feeling it hit noiselessly against her skirts. Without drawing attention from Gummy, she slowly moved her two hands up in front of her body, within range of her neck. He’s not much bigger than me. Please, God, let this work.
In a flash, her hands came up, hitting Gummy’s arms as hard as she could to push the knife away from her throat. She used the heel of her foot to strike him in the groin. When Gummy screamed, Katie yanked as hard as she could at the knife and kneed him again between the legs.
She picked up her foil and rushed to Sebastian’s side. The brute was groaning and beginning to shift on the floor.
“Run, Katie. I mean it!” Sebastian yelled.
“But I can help. I can tie his arms and legs.”
“No. I want you to leave. Now!”
Not wanting Sebastian to see the tears in her eyes, she turned around and saw that Gummy had fled. Damn! I should have tied him up instead.
The brute let out a low growl, and Katie turned back, fearing for Sebastian, but she moved forward, holding her foil ready to do battle, when Sebastian pulled out a pistol and aimed it at the kidnapper.
“Move and I’ll kill you. I want to kill you, so please do move.”
Sebastian had a gun? Why didn’t he use it sooner? And then she realized something he told her once when they were discussing guns over blades. Sebastian told her that a gun could be dangerous in a smaller space, especially when there were innocent people nearby who could get shot by a stray bullet.
Katie sighed with relief. Sebastian had everything under control.
“I’ve got this one. Need any help?” a familiar voice said from the doorway.
Katie turned and saw Nelson standing at the entrance to the room, holding Gummy by the scruff of his collar.
“Nelson, I’m so glad to see you,” she said as he dragged Gummy in.
“I tend to have that reaction on women,” he quipped with a grin. “If you would be so kind, Katie, and hand me that rope.”
