Page 18 of Her Wicked Highwayman
CHAPTER 4
“Tyburn, wake up!” someone snarled. “We’ve been robbed!”
Rafe shot up from his bed, a pistol held ready in his grip. He always kept one under his pillow, lest he was set upon in his sleep. It took him a moment to comprehend the words that had woken him, and to realize that the bed he lay in was empty, save for himself. The bewitching beauty he’d bedded was nowhere to be seen. Where had his fire drake gone? He had to find her.
He surged out of the bed, tangling his legs in the sheets and nearly tripping.
“What the devil?” Rafe struggled to free himself of his bedclothes and bolted for the door, gun raised, but a man blocked his way out of the bedchamber and politely reminded him he was stark naked. It was William Amberly, known as Oxford when they were out robbing coaches.
“Put on some clothes, would you?”
Heart pounding against his ribs, Rafe slowly lowered the pistol.
“What’s happened? Where’s the woman?” Rafe dragged his hand through his hair as he shook off the vivid dreams he’dbeen having about the woman he met last night when they had stopped that coach. He didn’t even know her name...
Dear God, had that been a dream? Or had he really taken that dark-haired beauty back to his hideout and seduced her? He glanced around the bedchamber, seeking any sign of her clothing strewn about on the floor.
Perhaps she was in the outer chamber, waiting for him?
“You don’t seem to understand,” said William. “That chit you abducted last night is gone... along with almost all the money we’ve seized from the coaches. She bloody robbed us! And take off that mask. She’s gone.” Will stomped into the main sitting room of their hideout with a growl.
“What? When did she leave?” he called after Will. Then he realized something was tied around his right wrist. A necklace with a beautiful freshwater pearl.
She’d left her mother’s necklace for him?
His chest tightened with a sudden warmth, but that warmth froze over when he heard Will’s reply, reminding him of their dire situation.
“How should I bloody know? I tracked her a quarter of a mile before I lost the trail. She’s been gone for at least an hour,” Will snapped. “There’s no trace of her.”
Rafe walked back to his bed and collapsed on it, tossing the pistol onto the bed linens. Then, with shaking hands, he removed the mask from his face. Had she dared to look at him last night as he slept? Did she know what he looked like now?No.If she had, she wouldn’t have taken the time to put the mask back on him, and beyond that he felt a strange sense of trust given that she’d left the only thing of her mother’s with him. That meant something existed between them, didn’t it? Something that neither of them could deny had been born last night between them, but now it was over, she’d vanished just like the morning mist.
He could hear Will tearing through the lodge, making a racket as he muttered curses loud enough to carry all the way to Rafe’s chamber. It reminded him of the very real problem that should be at the forefront of his concerns at the moment.
The feisty little creature had robbed him... That damned wench! He scowled, fresh rage burning within him. But the rage soon began to fade against the utter hilarity of the situation. His intended victim had turned the tables and robbed him instead. He supposed there was a level of ironic justice to it all, but damnation, he and his friends had fought for every bit they’d saved up these last few months.
The real problem was, as far as he was concerned, this wasn’thismoney. It was meant for another. The first time he hadn’t been acting for selfish reasons, and some chit had just come along and stolen all his hard work away.
The sweet scent of the woman, mingled with last night’s storm, still lingered in the air, which only muddled his conflicting emotions. He wanted to be furious with her, but he had to admit he was also impressed, and he wanted to tell her that... after he’d kissed her senseless.
Last night had been both a mistake and a gift. He smiled as he realized this was typical for him. His life was always vastly complicated. He’d wanted justonenight of pleasure and connection with a woman, one moment where he could ease the loneliness that grew deeper and deeper in his soul, and it had backfired spectacularly.
Rafe had but one bright spot in the darkness and that was a little Scottish orphan, Isla, whom he had taken as his ward. She’d started to call him Papa, and damned if that didn’t make him feel like some foolish knight protecting a young princess from the dragons of the world. He would do anything for that child. And he would start by tracking down his mystery womanand retrieving his money. Emboldened by fresh resolve, Rafe jerked his clothes on, blood pumping hard through his body.
He met his companions in the main room, who waited for him to explain himself. He hated admitting to when he’d made a mess of things, but he never avoided making such admissions. He studied the faces of his friends carefully.
Will Amberley was the darkest-haired of their trio, and his amber eyes currently blazed with frustration. In contrast, Rafe’s other friend, Caspian, Viscount Falworth, sat patiently, waiting for an explanation and a plan for what to do next. Where Will was dark, Caspian was fair, with golden hair and sky-blue eyes. The two often played the roles of devil and angel when it came to Rafe’s decisions. Will was always ready to leap into danger, whereas Caspian would always weigh the odds first.
He’d known both men since they’d been at Eton, and when they’d decided upon this life, they’d also chosen nicknames for themselves. Rafe had selected Tyburn, Will had claimed Oxford, and Caspian had chosen Cambridge. He trusted them with his life, and they had always trusted him with theirs. Now he’d put them all in danger.
“Exactly how much of our stash is gone? You said almost all?” Rafe joined his friends near the four chests they had nearly completely filled with loot. The chests were more than half empty now. The bottoms still glinted with coins and some jewelry, but the banknotes, the money that held the highest value for them, were gone.
Will growled as he kicked one of the chests. “We had more than two thousand pounds here to split between the three of us. Now we have just a handful of coins and a few bloody necklaces.”
A pit formed in Rafe’s gut as the reality of how much they’d lost hit him. All that they’d worked toward had disappeared, and all because he hadn’t been able to resist the temptation of a pretty woman’s sorrowful eyes. He was a fool.
“Six months of work for nothing.” Caspian sighed and crossed his arms as he met and held Rafe’s gaze.
“Was she worth it?” Will asked bluntly. “Because she had better be for what we’ve lost.”
