Page 40 of Devoted to the Spanish Duke
“The Englishman with the burned face? I am sure he must be the same man who put the sack over my head. He knows what I look like, so yes we have to go,” she replied.
She came to his side and placed a hand on his arm. “Take a moment and calm your mind. Then let’s you and I come up with a sensible plan.”
With reluctance, Lisandro did as she asked and let out a long, slow breath. It quietened his racing mind. Lisandro’s hands still shook from the rush of adrenaline coursing through his veins, but he could at last think straight.
I can do this. I can get us out of here.
“If we leave Bilbao now, we might make one of the villages en route to Tolosa by nightfall. We stand a better chance if instead of hiring a coach, we avail ourselves of horses,” she said.
He went to open his mouth to ask about her horsemanship skills but a hard glare from Maria stopped him. “My father owns a whole stable of Andalusian grays. I was taught to ride a warhorse from the time I could walk. Please don’t insult me by asking how well I can handle a mount.”
She was smart, resourceful, and if he hadn’t already fallen in love with her, Lisandro would have done so at that very moment.
“It is going to be a long and hard ride. I’m sorry that you didn’t get a chance to sleep in a proper bed tonight, but once we make it to Castle Tolosa, I promise you will get plenty of rest,” he replied.
He was dying to show Maria his huge bed. To roll her in it, make love to her, and then sleep soundly with Maria wrapped in his arms. But Lisandro was determined that Maria’s first time would be wonderful, and that for those long hours of tender caresses, her mind would be solely on the two of them.
Right now, however, the threat of her kidnappers still hung over them.
Once he got her safely home to Castle Tolosa, to the home he intended would be theirs forever, then they would be free to indulge in their desires. To become one.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Lisandro glanced up at the dark clouds and swore. Rain was coming, and soon; he could smell it in the air. The last thing either of them wanted was to be caught out on the road in the middle of a storm. They had left the last village two hours ago, and it was too far for them to travel back and escape the threatening weather.
“It looks like we are going to get a soaking,” he said.
When he received no answer to his comment, Lisandro drew back on the reins and turned to look over his shoulder. Instead of Maria being where she had been, travelling just a horse-length to his rear, she was a good fifty yards behind him. She had dismounted from her horse and was staring out over a nearby field.
Lisandro rode back and pulled his horse up next to hers.
“It’s going to rain soon; I think we should seek shelter. That looks as good a place as any,” she said.
His gaze followed her pointing finger. A low stone barn in the middle of a grassy meadow caught his attention.A granero! Tonto! How did I miss that?
Not for the first time did Lisandro send a prayer of gratitude to heaven for having been gifted the company of not only a beautiful woman, but a capable one.
They led their horses through a gap in the rock wall that ran alongside the road and toward the barn. There was no sign of a house anywhere. The barn was more than likely a place for hay to be stored and as a winter shelter for animals.
Inside they found exactly what they needed.
“This is perfect. There is feed for the horses, a trough with fresh rainwater, and best of all, clean hay for us to sleep on,” she said.
They tethered the horses at one end of the barn, then removed the saddles. While Maria set about unpacking their gear, Lisandro gave their mounts a well-deserved rub down.
“You are mighty beasts and have got us a long way today. I give you my thanks,” he said.
Not surprisingly, the horses didn’t bother to respond. They were too busy tucking into the clean hay.
Today had been long and extraordinarily arduous. From arriving into port early in the afternoon, to then discovering that their enemies were lurking in Bilbao, to now having spent many hours in the saddle, Lisandro was bone-weary.
If only we had made it to Eibar. I hate us being out on the road like this; it leaves us exposed.
He would have to settle for accepting what progress they had made. Maria was out of Bilbao, and Eibar was close enough that if they had to make a midnight dash for it, they stood an even chance of success—so long as the threatening storm was not fully upon them.
With the horses dried and fed, he joined her over in the corner of the barn where she was sitting on a pile of loose straw, cutting up some cheese. Earlier in Bilbao, while he had been negotiating the purchase of two horses, Maria had gone to a nearby market and secured provisions. For a daughter of nobility, she was possessed with a sensible and practical nature.
From the saddlebags, she produced a sealed ceramic jug of cider, a large loaf of fresh bread, and a jar of pickled vegetables.
