Page 20 of Unmasking a Wicked Marquess
Is it you? Have I found you again?
Chapter 6
Juliet coughed on the dust and splinters of tree branches that fell into the carriage. Shifting her weight from where she had landed on the carriage door, she arched her back and stretched her neck. Despite what she had said to the man shouting through the door, she did hurt. Her whole body felt bruised from the impact.
With her eyes fluttering closed, she saw it all again. She’d been shopping, collecting some material at her mother’s request from a shop on the outskirts of London and at Violet’s request to buy herself a new gown, when on the way home, the coach driver had seemingly lost control of the horse.
They had bolted fast down the road before they slid into the ditch, and the coach overturned. She could still see with horror the way her body had been flung into the window that had now become the new floor.
“Here, take my hand,” a voice said from above her as light fell upon her head and face.
I’m free. Thank God, I’m free.
She reached up, not looking at what she was doing, for she was too busy coughing at all the dirt in the air and holding her other hand to her mouth. The hand that took hold of her was strong and firm, and with one fast tug, he pulled her to her feet.
“Oh!” she gasped in surprise, her top half now standing out of the carriage as she turned to face the bearer of that hand. Whether it was the suddenness of the movement or what she saw that shook her balance, she wasn’t sure, but either way, she tottered on her feet, in danger of falling back down again. “Not possible,” she murmured as the man lifted his other hand.
He somehow wrapped his arm around her waist, steadying her and keeping her standing, his head close to her own.
It was the same curly black hair she had seen in her dreams these last few days, the same stubble across his chin, except now, she could see all of his face. His nose was pronounced, but not unnaturally so, just the right amount to give his face some shape and structure.
His cheekbones were soft, and those startling blue eyes seemed bigger somehow now he was no longer wearing his mask. He smiled, his thin lips stretching wide and making the handsome face lift.
Now, that is quite a smile.
“Well, I said I would find you,” he whispered. His touch on her hand and waist made her tremble, and she suddenly relived her dreams of the last few nights. She saw him above her again, climbing over her on her bed, but now no longer wearing that mask. Instead, she could see all of that face.
“You recognize me?” she murmured in amazement, her eyes darting over him.
“Couldn’t mistake those eyes. Never.” He chuckled softly and shook his head. “But you recognize me too, do you not?”
“Undoubtedly.” She breathed deeply, willing herself not to cough again on all the debris and look like a complete mess in front of him.
“Shall we get you out of this carriage now?” he asked with a smile and stepped back, releasing her waist.
Her body felt cold without that touch, and she naturally found herself following him, wishing he would touch her in such a way again. He never released her hand, though, and he used it to aid her to clamber over the side of the carriage. When she dropped down on the other side, one foot ended up entangled in the tree branches, and he jumped forward in the ditch, catching her again.
“You are making a habit out of this,” she murmured, aware how close they stood together, their lips just inches apart.
“That I am,” he agreed. His eyes flitted down to her lips, and she wondered if he was thinking the same of her, imagining what it would be like to share another kiss together. “What happened?” he asked, nodding at the carriage. He helped her up to the side of the bank, taking both of her hands to draw her up. She scrambled to follow him, her whole body aching even more than before now that she was out of the carriage with her limbs fully stretched.
“The driver lost control,” she explained in a rush. “The horse. Oh!” She gasped, looking around as the horse darted past them, still unable to be calmed.
The man took her hand and drew her backwards to the safety of standing near his own horse.
“Let me,” he muttered to her.
“What?” she asked as he released her hand and moved towards the scampering horse. “Wait, no. Be careful!”
The horse bucked wildly on his back hooves and looked in danger of either toppling straight over or driving its hooves down onto the man in front of him. Unperturbed, the man reached up and took hold of the reins.
With one firm tug, he drew the animal back down to the ground with a heavy thud, expertly stepping out of harm’s way as if he had done it a hundred times before. He wrapped one arm around the reins, and the other took the nose of the animal.
“Calm yourself, boy,” he said with such a deep voice that Juliet stood entranced, watching him intently. The deep tone seemed to vibrate through the earth towards her as he stroked the horse’s nose.
At first, the steed did not want to be calmed. He kept flicking his chestnut nose back and forth; then, eventually, he began to soften. Great whinnies became snorts, then soft snuffles. Only when the horse was completely calm did the man release the reins. He patted the horse’s nose a few times, then turned his back on the animal and hurried towards Juliet again.
Such a shot of desire ran through Juliet as she looked at him, seeing him approach with the athletic figure and his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows, the tanned skin of his forearms on show, that she was quite breathless.
