Page 50 of Lord Carlisle's Enticing Lure
The handle turned.
Not a screech, but a whir, it was.
He hurried to the fireplace and grabbed a poker.
Whoever they were, whatever they intended, he would not let them succeed.
He padded slowly to the threshold between the bedroom and sitting room, his bare feet soundless as the wheels of eternity. Poker high, stance broad, he listened as they stepped into the suite.
Bad shoes crunched upon the wood. One man hissed at the other.
Clive envisioned them as they walked, one slow foot before the other, toward the bedroom.
He calculated how much room he had to strike one with his iron pike, then how he could strike at an angle to hit the next one.Geometry classes had been useful. Fencing was a better teacher for this.
He tensed.
A wiry fellow darted forward.
Clive hit him squarely in the chest.
The guy woofed. The air socked out of him, he doubled over.
His friend, behind him, jerked to a halt.
Clive was on him, angling a blow to his head.
But a long arm reached out above Clive’s head and the hand grabbed the poker, twisted, and yanked.
Clive’s knees buckled, but he held his weapon while a third man wrestled with him for possession.
“Allez, donne-moi ce, imbécile!” his attacker seethed in French.
Like hell he’d give it over! Clive braced himself and tugged.
But the second man scrambled up and caught Clive’s arms while the third man yanked the poker from him.
Each one took him by a shoulder. One punched him in the stomach. The other kicked. Down on his back, Clive tried to roll away. But couldn’t.
The other man kneed him in the chest.
Clive gasped for air, but a swift foot to his stomach had him reeling.
A hard fist to his jaw dimmed his sight.
Then next one hit him.
And the night disappeared.
*
Calloused hands shookher.
She grumbled.Clive?Clive must have a nightmare.
Giselle reached out for him just as four hands dragged her to theedge of the bed.
Her heart leapt up in her chest. Her eyes opened and she lived her own nightmare. She tried to scream. But a rag was shoved in her mouth and she gagged, kicked, lashed out, yelled, and tried to shove the cloth from her mouth with her tongue.
