Page 26 of Stay with Me

She was dripping wet with dirty moat water, but she didn’t seem to mind. Instead, her body was tense, her gaze taking in every detail of the area.

He didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news, but she might as well know the truth before they went any farther. “We will have to run a distance ere we reach a place in the Weald where we might hide. If we are fortunate, Simon’s soldiers will not pick up our trail right away.”

“And if they do pick up our trail?”

“They will be on mounts, and we will have but a short lead.”

She shivered. Though the eve was warm for spring, the breeze was cool and sent chills over his wet skin too.

“I’ll follow you.” She gave him a push, as though to force him to go.

“If you cannot keep up, you must tell me.”

“I’ll keep up.”

Everything about this woman astounded him and attracted him all at once. As before, his attention fell to her mouth, and desire hit him swiftly and powerfully. He wanted this woman. Wanted to have her like he had no other woman before,including Jane. Was that sacrilegious since she was an angel? Even though she was very womanly, she was an angel, wasn’t she? The angels in Scripture had sometimes taken on human form, so it was possible that had happened to her.

He tore his gaze from her and started across the path. Whatever the case, he had to control his thoughts.

Though he didn’t allow himself to look at her again, he could both hear and feel her closely behind. As he plowed through the overgrowth, his heart pumped with a strange new energy, one he couldn’t remember feeling before, one that told him this woman was special, someone he didn’t want to lose. Not now or anytime soon.

~ 12 ~

Nicholas could run fast.But since Sybil had been training for a CrossFit competition that involved both running and swimming, she’d stayed on his heels for what seemed to be about three miles. Her breath came in gasps, and her muscles burned, but she kept pushing herself, especially at a faint shout behind them—one that told her their pursuers weren’t far behind.

The shadows of the coming night were lengthening, and the forest was growing steadily thicker and more overgrown. It was unlike anything in modern Kent, which was mostly cleared of its forests and consisted of rolling hills, winding streams, patches of heathland, and a few farmsteads.

She’d been flabbergasted since the moment she’d stepped out of the tower on the castle wall and taken in the endless trees and the unaltered land without power lines, motorways, traffic lights, and subdivisions. Even the castle had been in full form, its walls still standing, the gardens growing in profusion, and the air laden with a smoky, earthy scent.

In some ways, she felt as if she were in a fantasy world. If not for the pressure in her chest, the sweat beading upon her forehead, and the blister forming on her toe from where her wet sock was rubbing against her boot, she might have believed she was in a coma and dreaming.

But as with the previous overlaps, the physical reality was much too vibrant for her to attribute her experience to a coma-dream.

“There!” Nicholas pointed ahead to a ravine. It was steep and would be tricky to climb. But if they could manage, they would be able to buy themselves time as the men on horseback looked for another route to continue the chase.

Upon nearing the chalky outcropping that rose along a hillside, she mentally prepared herself for the ascent, picking out hand and footholds. When Nicholas launched himself up the rock wall, his long legs and arms took him to the top effortlessly.

She leapt and began scrambling up the steep incline.

He was already leaning over the edge and reaching down for her. “Grab on.”

She wanted to prove she had the same abilities he did, that she could make it to the summit without his aid. But the crackle of brush and more shouting behind them told her she didn’t have time to show off.

Using his arm to hoist herself, she scaled the ravine as he half-lifted her.

“You are a good climber.” He pulled her away from the ledge into the tall grass. “Is there anything you cannot do?”

She was exceptional at her job and had honed her body to handle the rigors of whatever she might encounter. But never in her wildest imagination had she believed she’d use her conditioning as she raced for her life in the Middle Ages.

“I’m terrible at horse riding.” She gulped in several breaths.

“I should offer to help you improve your equestrian skills.” Bent at the waist, he breathed heavily too. “But then I shall perhaps lose the one thing I do better than you.”

Delight shimmied through her at his roundabout compliment. He was stronger and faster. There was no arguing the fact. But she was satisfied with how she’d been able to match his effort, never lagging behind. “I suppose you’re not used to a woman who is able to keep up with you.”

Still bent and resting his hands on his thighs, he cast her a sideways glance. “I assure you, I have never met a woman like you.”

Everything about him was magnetic, even the briefest of looks. And her body seemed unable to resist the draw, flushing with a warmth that had nothing to do with the physical exertion.

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