Page 13 of Enticing the Devil

“Come on,” she urged beneath her breath as she tried again. “You do realize this is a race?”

Beynon glanced at the other couples. Most were easing their way with small, careful steps. One pair, however, had started out too vigorously and was already sprawled on the ground. Another couple tumbled to the grass even as he watched.

Focusing on keeping a measured pace and shortened strides, he grasped the lady’s hand securely in his and started forward. The ground was as uneven as he’d anticipated but at least he didn’t see any rocks or boulders that could cause significant injury in a fall.

The small crowd below was cheering on their favorite teams and shrieks of laughter could be heard from the other competitors as the way grew slightly steeper. Leaning back and digging his heels into the soft ground, he managed to keep them to a slow pace despite how the woman beside him seemed intent upon leaping carelessly forward.

“We’re falling behind, Mr. Thomas. We must go faster,” she implored.

“Any faster and we’ll end up rolling down the damn hill,” he retorted.

Her response was a very unladylike snort of frustration just as the couple next to them tried and failed to keep their feet. The gentleman was pitched to the side in his fall, directly in Beynon’s path. Only a quick leap to the side kept him from tripping over the poor fellow.

He gave his partner a look of triumph as his warning was instantly justified. But the low pull of her dark blonde brows and the firm set of her jaw told him she hadn’t been swayed.

“We’re going to lose,” she muttered into the wind.

“But we’ll make it to the finish line on our feet.”

Despite his words, the lady kept trying to quicken their pace. Her determination managed to pull Beynon off-balance more than once, but he dug in harder and leaned his weight back even more.

There were only five couples left as they reached the final slope to the finish. Two couples were ahead of them and two were a significant distance behind. If they maintained their steady progress, they’d easily take third place.

Just as they reached a sudden dip in the landscape, the lady’s grip tightened around his. “We can win this,” she muttered fiercely as she thrust her full weight forward. He had no idea if she’d simply not noticed how much steeper the terrain had gotten or if she’d intentionally decided to use that to her advantage, but he wasn’t at all prepared for the sudden increase in their downward momentum.

Her lunge forward pulled him with her, sending his shoulders forward over his feet. As soon as that happened, it was over. His lower half couldn’t keep up with his upper half. All he could do was pull her roughly against him and wrap his free arm around her back to cup her head as he twisted to take the brunt of the fall. But they didn’t stop once they hit the ground. Their impetus was too great.

The world spun and the scent of earth filled his nostrils as they rolled through the rough grass, finally coming to an abrupt stop at the bottom of the hill.

Beynon didn’t move right away as he took a moment to breathe and assess his status. No injuries beyond a few minor bruises perhaps. His relief was brief, however, as the woman half sprawled atop him with her face tucked into his shoulder—due to the heavy hand he still cupped over the back of her head—issued a short, muffled sound and tried to rise.

He lifted his hand and she instantly planted her palm to his chest as leverage to sit up. Her expression was tense and a deep flush colored her cheeks, but she didn’t appear to be in pain. Then she looked up to gaze past his sprawled form and those elegant brows of hers pulled downward in a fierce little scowl.

Having heard the celebratory shouts, he had a strong suspicion what had triggered the dissatisfied expression.

Lifting to brace himself on his elbow, he watched as the lady started tugging at the ribbon still wound around their wrists. It had gotten tangled during their roll down the hill and she was having trouble releasing the knot.

With a grunt, he sat up the rest of the way and reached over to help her.

Since their sides were pressed against each other from knee to shoulder, he felt the ripple of tension slide through her body when his fingers brushed hers.

“We could’ve won,” she said stubbornly as they struggled to work together to untie the knot.

He made a harsh sound of disagreement. “I believe the tumble we just took proves otherwise.”

“If you’d allowed me to set a quicker pace from the start,” she argued, “we’d have beat them all.”

Beynon looked up from their task and found himself staring into a gaze made turbulent with emotion. The blue and green actually appeared to swirl around each other as gold sparks ignited in their depths.

Had he thought her meek?

“Or we’d have broken a few bones,” he suggested gruffly.

With a huff, she rose to her feet in a swift and graceful motion. The tug on their bound hands released the loosened knot and the ribbon drifted to the grass beside him.

“I guess we shall never know,” she replied stiffly.

Then she turned and, with grass-stained skirts and tendrils of pale blonde hair falling in disarray around her face and shoulders, stalked gracefully toward the crowd gathering around the winners.

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