Page 40 of Her Wicked Highwayman
Diana choked down a scream and slapped a hand over her mouth.
A man sat in the chair on the other side of her bedchamber, a pistol pointed at her. For a moment, she thought perhaps he was merely a shadow, a figment of her weary mind. But he was real. His face was covered by a black domino, but the moonlight illuminated his pale hair, making her instantly recognize who it was.
Tyburn.
He sat in the chair as if he’d been there for hours, patiently waiting for her return.
“Good evening, lass.” His Scottish burr sounded like soft, distant thunder. She’d always loved storms, especially during the summer when she could lie in a meadow and listen to the quiet rumbles of thunder several miles off and watch sheets of rain coat the countryside in gray curtains as the storm made its way toward her.
Thank heavens she hadn’t screamed. The last thing she wanted to do was bring her entire household down to her bedchamber. Tyburn needed to be handled with the utmost secrecy.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, trying to put some steel into her tone.
“Visiting ye, of course. Or did ye forget that we might’ve made a wee bairn when last we met? Ye were supposed to let me escort ye home so that I would ken where to meet ye in two months’ time.” His tone echoed hers with a clash of steel, like two fencers’ blades colliding and casting sparks.
“I hadn’t forgotten, but you need not worry—my courses came last week. There is no babe to worry over.”
“Oh.” He said the word so softly that she believed he hadhopedshe’d been with child. A lump formed in her throat. What would a highwayman do with a babe? Surely it was better for both of them that she wasn’t in the family way?
“Well, given that I am not with child, you have no reason to be here. You should show yourself out. And by the way, however did you find out where I live?”
He grinned in the dark. “I would be a poor thief if I could not find what I most desperately seek.”
“I wish to retire,alone. So please leave.” But the lie tasted bitter upon her tongue. She didn’t want to be alone, she didn’t want to banish the only man she’d ever felt anything for from her bedchamber. But she had to. If she didn’t mention the stolen money, perhaps he wouldn’t ask her about it. It was a feeble hope to wish that he and his companions had blamed one another for the missing money, but she knew Tyburn was no fool.
Hardness returned to his tone. “Ach, I think not, lass. We still havemuchto discuss before I can leave.”
“We certainly do not,” she argued, even though a pit of dread formed in her stomach.
A soft, sinister chuckle escaped his lips. “Oh, but we do, ye ken. Ye took something from me when ye left, and I must have it back.”
Diana’s lips thinned, but she refused to admit what she’d done.
“Give it back to me, lass, all of it, and ye need not fear this.” He moved the pistol ever so slightly, reminding her he was armed. She’d quite forgotten that. She’d been shocked, delighted, and then dismayed to see him here like this, and the existence of that pistol had slipped completely from her mind.
I really have been a fool,she thought. She’d harbored such silly romantic dreams over their one night together that she’d forgotten who he really was. Of course he was more interested in the money. Tyburn slowly sat up, a subtle tension filling the lean lines of his body as he studied her.
“Don’t tell me ye spent it, lass. On what? Gowns, jewels, a new saddle for my horse that ye stole?”
At that accusation, Diana flinched. She wasn’t just a thief now, she was a horse thief too, something that would get her doubly hanged. She certainly didn’t like him thinking that she was so foolish as to waste money on fine things when her survival was at stake. Not that she’d dare tell him—at least willingly.
“I didn’t tell anyone about you, and I also didn’t lead the authorities back to your lodge. I think it’s quite clear you have nothing to fear from me.” She hoped the change in subject would distract him. It didn’t.
“Of course ye didna tell anyone, because then ye would have to turn over my loot to the authorities, lest ye be branded a thief yourself. I’ll ask ye again,whereis the money?”
Diana planted her hands on her hips. “Gone. It’s all gone.” Despite the dimness of the room, she thought she saw his eyes narrow beneath the mask he wore.
“Gone?”
“Yes. Every shilling went to pay debts. I haven’t any—” She choked on the words she almost said:“I haven’t anything else to give you.”Instead, she turned away from him. “I left you the only thing of value that I had as a trade.”
Had he sold her mother’s necklace? The freshwater pearl was the only real thing of monetary value she’d had left of her mother. She’d never lied to him about that. She turned as she heard the chair creak, and she saw him pull back the sleeve of his black coat to reveal his wrist and the pearl necklace that was wrapped around it. Her heart gave a wild, traitorous thump at knowing he hadn’t given away something so precious to her. Was it because of how he felt, or did he simply wish to taunt her?
She turned to face him, raising her chin. “I can give you nothing else, I’m afraid.”
The devil smiled. “Ah, but ye can. Ye have in yer possession the softest skin I’ve ever touched, the sweetest lips I’ve ever kissed, and ’tis worth more to me than all the riches ye stole.”
A flare of heat started in her belly and soon worked its way to the rest of her body. His words were scandalous, his intentions ruinous, but Lord help her, she was falling under his spell a second time.
