I have no doubt she will try to do this on her own.
“So, you had to beat up my lads to have your way with her yourself, eh?” the voice came at them again.
This reeled Thomas back to the dark alley. Reluctantly, he let go of Mary Ann’s hand and took a couple of steps forward.
“Brave boy,” another man commented, this time closer to them than the first voice.
The breeze had stopped now; Thomas didn’t notice this until he could hear several footsteps moving toward him.
“They are a waste of time,” Mary Ann’s voice came at him, “let’s go.”
“Go? We just got here, girl. There is no rush,” a familiar voice grunted.
It didn’t take him more a few seconds to know who it was – one of the men that maltreated Mary Ann the first time.
“You will speak to me with respect or not at all,” she snapped instantly. Thomas felt a rush of frustration and odd pride. On the one hand, he liked the fact that he wasn’t the only one she would try to put in their place. On the other hand, he wished she would not make this situation more difficult.
Just three of them. This shouldn’t be hard.
“Miscreants,” he spat out angrily as he stood his ground, “that is what you all are.”
“Is that so?” a calm voice said to him. “That will be your last mistake.”
The other men laughed, and it was then that Thomas realized the mistake he had made. He knew there were more than one but while he still trying to know how many they were, he made out five huge figures approach him from the dark.
“You should have stayed at your side of the alley,” the calm one teased while the others laughed again.
They had bottles in their hands, few pouring liquid on the ground as they walked shabbily toward him. He had stopped talking at this point, he was looking for a way to overpower them. Not much of a solution was forthcoming but he wasn’t going to allow anyone to insult him, or the hurt girl behind him.
“I suggest that you all leave before you regret it,” Thomas tried not to snarled. He had his own temper, simmering just under the surface. He noticed when Mary Ann glanced up at him, as if surprised herself at the sight of it.
This seemed to aggravate them. They dragged their feet forward. When they were more visible, the one who could pass as their leader ordered them to stop suddenly. He eyed the other robbers one after the other and they began to spread out. Thomas without having to think hard knew who the leader was; it was the same man who had been staring hard at him inside the tavern.
“You see, no one crosses us and get away with it,” the leader of the hoodlums said.
It was not until now that Thomas noticed a knife in his hands. Thomas was vigilant and when he noticed that the other men were trying to flank him he stepped backwards.
“You have made a fool of yourself,” the man continued. “and now, we will make you regret trying to be a savior.”
The other men laughed hysterically at this and as if on cue stopped abruptly.
“If you know what is best for you, you wouldn’t dare hurt me,” he warned them, hoping that would put them off.
The men didn’t wince at this, they only watched in enjoyment the uneasy feeling they were causing to Thomas and Mary Ann.
Five against one.
Thomas knew what was going to happen, he just wasn’t sure when, but whenever it came, he was ready to give it his all and hopefully someone would come to his aid. It seemed time had stopped at the alley; the wind had stopped blowing and he couldn’t see past the men. Even though he could hear Mary Ann’s heavy breathing, he couldn’t look back to see how she was faring. He had taken a fighting stance he learned when he was young, it had won him all the fights he had found himself in, which wasn’t so much, and he hoped it would somehow help that bad evening.
In just a blink, before he could even process what had just happened or was going to happen, he felt a sound from behind closing in on him. It came too quickly to see, too fast for him to dodge when something hit his shoulder from behind. He had expected pain to course through his body, but nothing came. When he finally turned to see who it was and probably prevent another attack that might carry much potency than the first one, he came very close in contact with Mary Ann.
“Do you hate your life so much that you want to throw it away this hot summer?” she shouted at him.
She didn’t give him the chance to respond before grabbing his hand and pulling him away from the robbers.
“I don’t run from a fight,” he managed to say, even though that was exactly what she was forcing him to do.
“Keep thinking like that and you might end up dying in a fight too!” Even though she was shouting, she sounded more exasperated than angry. With her stunted leg, she still managed to keep up a good pace away from the pursuing men. Of course, the element of surprise had been on their side.
“They will catch us soon enough,” he stated trying to stand his ground as he glanced over his shoulder at the robbers. “It makes no sense to run and it only makes us looks like cowards.”
“No, you are no coward,” Mary Ann panted. “But you don’t seem like killer, either.”
A bottle flew past them but it hit the wall beside them and a shard sliced Thomas’ forehead.
“Don’t slow down!” Mary Ann shouted again. “We have to lose them in the streets.”
Without a single protest, Thomas followed Mary Ann. The men kept cursing as they chased after them. They weren’t really running, they only walked fast and said threatening words as they moved. Thomas looked back and his eyes met with the man he had beaten up the first time.
“You are going to get it,” the man yelled. “You hear me? You are going to get it.”
Thomas and Mary Ann were running side-by-side now until they got out of the alley. They almost hit a cart as they ran and the man pushing cabbages cursed after them. Mary Ann glanced back at Thomas, as if to make sure he was fine, before forging on.
“Here,” Mary Ann ordered, pulling Thomas to a corner and passed by a vendor selling fake foreign wares.
The woman had first thought they were thieves, so she shouted at them. The men, who hadn’t known where they were, were alerted and they ran toward them upon running away from the vendor.
“You can’t get away from us now.”
“There is nowhere for you to hide, eh!”
Thomas tried getting people to help them, but they all watched as they ran from the robbers without interfering.
“Save your breath,” Mary Ann muttered almost out of breath. “You need all your strength to run.”
The men were persistent and anytime Thomas was able to look back, they looked more malicious than the last time. His heart was beating fast but he couldn’t help but wonder why people weren’t helping them so he kept shouting as they went, hoping one person would prove her wrong.
As he was doing this, Mary Ann stopped suddenly.
“What is the matter?” he asked concerned. He held on to his chest as it tightened in a bid to get in more air.
Mary Ann didn’t reply, she only looked around as if looking for something.
“What now? You dare get us lost in such an ill situation?” he shouted angrily, almost sounding scared.
Still, Mary Ann didn’t respond, she kept looking. She walked to a corner then walked away from there.
“What are you looking for?” Thomas’ voice tore at her.
She didn’t seem to care about the men who they could now hear closing in on them.
“You’ve gone mad, haven’t you?” Thomas asked already looking for where he would hide if it came to that.
This was when Mary Ann flicker a smile at him. He had never seen her or anyone in a bad situation like theirs smile like that and it scared him even more. Just as he was about to speak again, Mary Ann raised a finger to stop him.
Chapter 7
“Follow me.”
Her voice had changed; it was more serious and determined than before.
It came to him like a spell that he didn’t even bother to protest. He ran behind her and was followed as she weaved in and out of some vendors. Thomas wasn’t the only one confused by this action, so were the robbers. Their curses got even more intense with this.
“You are dead, I swear on my mother’s grave, dead, I say!”
It was their supposed leader and his voice was nothing but calm.
We made the calm one angrier! What a marvelous way to start my holiday.
They kept at this for about five minutes when all of a sudden, Mary Ann, pulled Thomas down to the ground and made them lay flat on the ground.
“What…are—?”
“Shush!” Mary Ann gestured, and he complied. They hadn’t stayed there for more than a few seconds that a cart was rolled on them, the wheels barely missing them. They had to move closer to each other just to be on a safe side. The vendor had moved his cart full of wares forward, coincidentally shielding them from being seen by the men. Coincidence? Who knows?
The wheel had stayed on a piece from Mary Ann’s dress and she was finding it hard to pull it off from underneath it, so Thomas switched into action. Without caring what she had to say, he moved closer to her and motioned his hands toward the wheel. This made their bodies touch and even though Mary Ann had jerked when they first touched, she stayed still the second time.
“I will have to get closer than that,” he murmured.
Before Mary Ann could say a word, Thomas’ hand ran down her body to her thigh. She gave a stern look but Thomas got to work anyway and it made her turn her gaze away but no further than his chest. Thomas grabbed the piece of her dress and pulled it from underneath the wheel which made the wagon move. Out of fear, they stayed still with Thomas’ hand now on her thigh. His palm against her skin was warm. He could feel her heart racing, he’s too but it wasn’t just their heart that was pumping blood and Thomas hope it wasn’t noticeable.
Her skin is so soft.
“Be quick with whatever you are doing there,” Mary Ann ordered in a low voice.
“Do you want to try and remove it yourself?” Thomas asked, his tone surprisingly calm.
Simultaneously, they heard loud footsteps around and this made them stopped short.
“Where did they go?” one of the men asked.
Another loud footstep rushed to the first one and asked the same question.
“I thought they were coming your way?” another asked from afar.
“Do you take me for a fool? Do you mean I lost those two good-for-nothings?” the first robber asked in a bitter tone.
No one replied to him until the leader arrived.
“Something isn’t right about this,” another groaned. “It is impossible for them to just vanish into the thin air, don’t you think?”
Every of bit their discussion was heard by Thomas and Mary Ann who were just few feet away from them underneath the cart. Mary Ann had leaned away, probably to hear more of what was being said by the robbers. This didn’t do so much in separating them, though. He tried to move forward to get a better position on the uncomfortable ground, but she shot him a daring look. Even with this, her chest was now pressed against his and it made his member tighten. His heart began to beat rapidly but he wasn’t sure of the reason.
Fear of being caught or of her noticing what is going on in between my legs?
Oddly enough, he liked how they stayed, even though his body was getting sore. He wanted to wrap his hands around her but he sure that wasn’t a good idea. He had long removed her dress from under the wheel, but he still held on to it.
“Let go of me, let go of me,” Mary Ann said in a huff.
This caught Thomas off guard, and he motioned to cover her mouth before she made their location known to the robbers.
“Don’t you dare,” she said again with fiery eyes staring back her him.
He looked at her perplexed, not knowing what to think or say. She took a long look at him as she pushed herself forward past him and got out of their safe haven. Thomas could only watch, confused and unsure of why she would risk her life.
Well, then.
He pulled himself out from under the cart too and saw the girl looking down at him just outside the crowded area. He dusted the dirt off his body before looking in her direction one more time.
“Why run away from one death, only to sentence yourself to another, fool?” she asked.
Thomas didn’t understand her question, but he wasn’t going to allow her insult him that way. However, before he could say anything, Mary Ann cut in again.
“You heard them give up on their endeavor and yet you remained under that dirty cart,” she explained.
Oh! I must have been lost in the thought of you.
“Did you not think it wiser to stay still until we were more certain of our safety?” he asked unconvincingly. “You could have let out our place of hiding with your impatience.”
“I saved your life,” she stated. “You could have died trying to fight those men off. You should be thanking me.”
Thomas almost laughed at the way she was speaking; he looked around just to be sure the men were not lurking about waiting for them to show themselves.
“That sounds quite familiar, don’t you think?” he mumbled.
Mary Ann stiffened, her nose turning red. “I would have thanked you earlier, but you nearly got me killed, so I think that has passed.”
“So, whose fault is it that we were being chased?” he asked, his left brow raised higher than the other.
“That is simple. It is your fault.”
“My fault? My fault that we were chased by those men?” he asked uncertain of what he heard.
“Yes, if there was one thing those scums were right about; it is that you are stupid. I don’t know what runs through your head but here is one other thing to add to it: leave me be. I can take care of myself.”
“Just as you took care of yourself at the dark alley?”
“Just as I took care of myself you when they almost caught up with us.”
Thomas wasn’t going to have it with the girl. He had had just about enough of her.
“I do not see how, when you are in the state that you are,” Thomas said hurtfully.
Mary Ann’s face turned red with rage. She gnashed her teeth with her mouth closed making the veins on her head visible. She had that long furious stare again, only this time, it took Thomas aback.
“What did you just say?” she asked, her voice low.
“I do not think I need to repeat myself.” His own breed of anger was exploding within him. He’d never met anyone who could bring him to the brink like this and yet, she’d managed to do so on three separate occasions. A part of him felt guilt for what he was saying, but right now, it was hard to think straight.
“Just because I’m crippled doesn’t mean I am weak, you… you—” she broke off, stalking away from him.
Thomas could only stare. That spark of guilt grew but his anger felt better.
“It might not make you weak,” he said coldly, “but you are clearly not as strong as you think you are.”
“Say one more word and I promise you, you will regret them,” Mary Ann dared him.
She could hear him grumbling — the proud, insolent, annoying, galling, yet selfless man. She’d only known him for a few hours, but now he seemed to be everywhere she turned. This wasn’t her; she knew it was far from what she knew herself to be.
Who does he think he is to talk to me in such a manner? How dare he?
These were the question she had asked herself countless times. In just a day of meeting, he had displayed more different characters than she could count. One moment, he was nice, brave and protective, the next, he would act as if the world revolved around him. Well, this was one of the moments he acted as a complete insensitive idiot and she wasn’t going to let it pass. A minute past the time she dared him and the man who had saved him from the robbers hadn’t mustered the courage to call her cripple again.
�
�I dare you, just say it,” she reiterated.
If there was one thing she had learned while growing up as a crippled child, it was how to put off people that tried to make fun of her. She’d learned this from a man years ago. The man had told her to keep a confident and stern voice and dare anyone who had made fun of her to do it again.
But she was beginning to see that Thomas would be a tougher opponent to go up against. He didn’t break his gaze, though she knew her eyes were filled with smoldering anger. “I do not want trouble from you,” he said.
A Fiery Duchess for the Dashing Duke: A Steamy Historical Regency Romance Novel Page 5
