Chasing Eliza

by King, Rebecca

  “Is there any sign of Scraggan’s men?” She wondered if he had seen them and that was what had disturbed him.

  “Nope.” Edward murmured, refusing to look at her.

  Eliza frowned across the table at him, wondering if she had done something to raise his ire.

  “Eat your meal.” Edward ordered, barely flicking her a glance before pushing away from the table and move his chair to sit directly facing the fire. “When you have finished I suggest you get some sleep.” His voice was distant, as though he had already closed her out.

  Eliza grew increasingly certain he was angry with her for some reason but for the life of her couldn’t fathom what she had done to cause it. With a frown she pushed away from the table and stood, wondering if she would ever understand the complexity of men.

  She was half way to the bed when she shivered as the cold material of her shirt brushed her skin. She glanced down at the cloth covering the damp material of her chest and felt her cheeks heat at the near nudity she saw. There was very little unidentifiable through the damp cloth.

  She swallowed and felt a little sick as she considered just exactly what Edward had seen. Clearly he was uncomfortable at being faced with her ignorance but was too much of a gentleman to draw her attention to her faux pas. With a trembling hand she pulled the soft folds of cloth off her chest and winced at the coolness of the damp material. She had been so intent on the food and Edward’s strange behaviour she hadn’t felt the coolness of the cloth against her skin.

  Glancing quickly towards the fire she studied Edward’s rigid back, a tiny pang of hurt blossoming within her chest. The sight of her near nakedness had done little but make him awkward and uncomfortable rather than aroused. She felt a surge of humiliation as she slid between the covers on one side of the large bed, taking a moment to tug the sodden shirt off and shake it out. With nowhere to put it, she draped it over the end of the bed and quickly lay back down, tugging the covers up to her ears before curling into a tight ball of misery.

  She knew she was plumper than most women, with more curves than was wise but she wasn’t fat. Although she didn’t scare children, nobody could class her as beautiful. Jemima was the one who usually had men turning themselves into fools over her. Eliza wondered if Edward would have shown more interest in Jemima had she been with him and secretly she knew so.

  She knew she should be vastly relieved he didn’t have any sexual interest in her, and her virtue was safe in his presence, but it still stung her feminine pride that a man like Edward could see her nakedness displayed so brazenly and not be affected by anything other than awkwardness.

  Edward slid between the covers later that night, well aware that Eliza was still awake. He had taken a few moments to shake out her wet shirt and drape it over the back of the chair to dry and had seen the flutter of her eyelids as he had turned.

  From her position perched on the last two inches of the bed, she couldn’t be comfortable. He could feel the tension shimmering around her and knew she had realised what she had so unwittingly revealed to him and felt embarrassed about it. Was she as disappointed as he was that he hadn’t taken advantage of the opportunity to bed her?

  “I’m trying to protect you.” He murmured softly into the darkness, wondering if she understood.

  “I know.” She whispered after several lengthy minutes of stilted silence. “I’m sorry for not realising about my shirt. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

  Despite his offer of help, he was only trying to help his family. If you ignored the fact he was only there through moral obligation to his family, there was a social distance between them that couldn’t be overcome. He was a member of the Ton; aristocracy. She was the daughter of a magistrate and at best lower gentry. They had no future together even if they did make their association intimate. It would be sheer folly to allow anything to develop between them. The only thing she had left was her virtue and she couldn’t in all conscience throw it to one side to lie with someone who could never be hers.

  Eliza’s heart clenched painfully in her chest and she wondered if she would ever find anyone half as wonderfully frustrating as the man beside her. Somehow, she knew she wouldn’t and the thought hurt. A lot.

  “I’ve seen worse.” He replied, a small smile of mischief twinkled in his eye as he recalled the delectable, highly distracting sight she made eating her meal practically naked.

  Silence settled around them and within minutes Eliza heard his low snore. She concentrated on blanking out all thoughts except for his rhythmic breathing and within moments slipped quietly into sleep.

  He waited for her to relax beside him and stared blankly into the darkness. He frowned and considered the affect she had on him. Everything he had considered he wanted for his future suddenly seemed so mundane and boring he wasn’t sure he would be happy with it. The image of domesticity earlier that morning flittered through his mind and left him wondering if he wasn’t being a coward by refusing to consider sharing his future with her.

  After all, despite his best attempts at avoiding it, like his brothers he was now mired knee deep in the troubles brought to his door by a female who had more of a claim on him than he felt comfortable with.

  Although there was the class issue, it was easily surmountable. He moved on the very edges of the Ton through choice and had no intention of becoming steadfast member who worked the social circuits. The last thing he wanted was a wife who desired that kind of lifestyle, feeling she was being cheated by spending prolonged periods in the country.

  Life for him for the foreseeable future would involve long hours of hard work to get his estates established and thriving. He didn’t need the encumbrance of a wife, even one as delightful and sexually appealing as Eliza, but could he live without her? A shadow of concern lurked in his mind and left him in no doubt that he had to reconsider his own future and seriously contemplate the possibility that his future was already entwined with Eliza’s.

  He woke up just before dawn to find Eliza already up and dressed and waiting in the chair beside the roaring hearth.

  “Good morning.” His deep voice was husky with sleep as he rose on one elbow to study her. Although wild horses wouldn’t be able to drag it out of him, he wanted – needed – the first thing he saw in a morning to be her. Inevitably, sometime during the night his body had searched out hers and had only truly relaxed once she had settled against him.

  “Morning.” Eliza turned from her study of the flickering flames to offer him a quick, fleeting smile.

  “Did you sleep well?”

  She could hear the rustle of his clothing as he dressed and moved across the room to sit in the chair beside her. “Yes thank you. Shall I ring for breakfast now?” She didn’t wait for his answer and moved to the bell pull beside the fireplace.

  They waited for breakfast in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

  “I hope that today we will be at the inn I have asked Peter to meet us at.” His eyes met and held hers solemnly. “Unfortunately that means another long ride ahead of us.”

  Eliza winced and shifted uncomfortably on the hard chair, feeling the bruised flesh of her bottom acutely against the unrelenting wood of the seat. Reluctantly she nodded her agreement, realising that this would be the last meal she would share alone with Edward. She felt a sense of loss so acute that tears stung her eyes and she had to blink several times to stop them falling.

  Edward studied her with a frown, watching the array of emotions sweep over her face. Reluctance followed by discomfort, then fear, followed by sadness. He considered the demands of yesterday with a wince and knew he was pushing her too hard.

  “We’ll take some food to eat on the journey; enough for luncheon and tea, but if we don’t make our meeting place tonight we will find somewhere else to stay and meet Peter tomorrow morning. He’ll wait.” Edward added, his voice laced with an air of certainty Eliza didn’t think to question.

  Still, she didn’t complain and instead accepted his explanatio
n with a curt nod. Inexplicably he had the urge to sweep her into his arms for a hug, but given what had happened last night didn’t trust himself to lay even a finger on her.

  His own self control could only be stretched so far, and he was only human. If he caved in to the increasing awareness that shimmered between them, he knew they wouldn’t leave the room until they had explored every inch of the large expanse of bed beside them, preferably without their clothes on. Shaking his head at the mental image of rolling around with her completely naked, he stood and turned his back so she didn’t see the hard evidence of his driving need for her.

  “If you’re ready, let’s go.” He didn’t wait to see if she was behind him and moved towards the door, holding it open expectantly.

  The hour was still early as they entered the hallway of the small coaching inn. Most of the occupants were still abed; the main tap room completely empty apart from a solitary maid who was relaying the hearth in preparation for the breakfast rush.

  Edward barely stepped outside when the sudden shifting of a shadow to the side of him drew his attention. He barely had time to duck out of the way before the sharp glint of a sword tip swept inches from his nose.

  “Get back!” He snapped to Eliza, drawing his scabbard. Immediately the fight was on and his attention as held by the parry and thrust of his opponent. It had been a while since he had entered into any prolonged sword fighting and at first cursed his own lack of dexterity with the smaller scabbard as he clashed with the man before him.

  He was vaguely aware of a small scuffle behind him and felt a jolt of alarm as Eliza let out a small squeak. Everything within him screamed at him to glance over his shoulder and check she was alright, but he couldn’t take his attention of the man before him and give him the advantage. Eliza needed him alive, not skewered on the tip of his opponent’s sword.

  Desperation clawed at him and with a hard volley and lunge of his blade, he watched the man drop to the floor with a thud, blood gushing from the wound in his chest.

  Spinning around he cursed fluidly at the sight of Eliza being carried toward the entrance of the stable yard by a large bear of a man. He was running towards them when he saw Eliza wrench one hand free and issue the man a solid smack in his ear. It immediately unbalanced him enough to allow her to wriggle and jerk free. Instinctively the man tried to wrap his arms more securely about her only for her to lunge backwards clear of his arms and land on the floor with a heavy thud.

  “Get the horses.” Edward snapped, putting himself firmly between the man and Eliza, his blade raised to strike.

  As his second battle of the morning began to ring out across the stable yard, Edward waited and indeterminable age for Eliza to reappear with the horses in tow. She had mounted her own and waited some distance away with Edward’s horse. Her eyes wide with fear as she watched the fierce battle several feet away.

  “Go! I’ll catch up.” Edward gasped, lunging and parrying with surprising dexterity. He wished he had more shot for his pistol and cursed his oversight.

  “No. I’m not leaving you.” Eliza argued, refusing to leave him alone.

  “Oi! What’s going on with you? Get out of here.” The Innkeeper came scurrying out of the tavern, a large broom in his hand. Immediately he began to bash Edward’s assailant on the back of his head. The big turn towards him with a snarl, giving Edward the opportunity he needed.

  “Hey!” Edward shouted, lowering his scabbard. As the big man turned, he didn’t see the large fist that landed squarely in the middle of his face and fell to the ground with a thump.

  Edward glared at the innkeeper. “Call the magistrate. Make sure these men are arrested for kidnap and attempted murder.” He ignored the innkeeper’s startled gasps as he issued his direction in clipped tones before stealing the sword lying unattended on the ground, mounting and setting off after Eliza.

  “I told you to go.” He growled as they thundered away from the village, fury and adrenaline hammering through him at the risks she had faced.

  “I’m not leaving you.” She argued, her chin rose in defiance.

  She squared her thin shoulders, prepared for battle as Edward grabbed her horse’s bridle and drew her to a stop, nudging Guinness around until he was standing alongside her.

  Lost to find a way to vent the anger without offending her with the coarse language that threatened to break free, he did the next best thing and tugged her head towards him for a hard and very thorough kiss.

  “You ever do that again and I swear as God is my witness, it won’t be just Scraggan you have to fear.” His eyes glinted in stern warning; his hot breath swept gently over her cheeks as he captured her gaze with his and held it in silent warning.

  “Keep close now and do as you I tell you.”

  “Yes boss.” Eliza replied sarcastically, bristling at his arrogant tone of command.

  “Let’s get out of here, I don’t think they are alone.” He bit out, studying the road behind them carefully. They usually hunted in packs of three. There had only been two men in the stable yard, so that mean there could be another lurking nearby ready for a surprise attack. He eyed the various buildings lining the road and studied them carefully for alleyways and places to hide.

  “They aren’t.” Eliza replied, pointing to the group of men waiting further down the road. “There are at least three more at the end of the road look.”

  Edward cursed as he counted them. There were four riders.

  “Then we’ll go this way.” Edward murmured, eyeing a patch of green field at the end of a narrow alleyway between two buildings. “We’ll cut across country and take a circuitous route to the one we need. Are you alright?” He swept a firm gaze over her, searching for any signs of injury from her earlier skirmish and near kidnap.

  “I’m fine.” She murmured, following him nervously down the enclosed space. Every nerve was stretched so taught she thought she would shatter into a thousand tiny pieces at any moment and wondered how Edward bore it. She was stuck in this situation through no choice of her own. Edward had a choice and readily accepted the challenges put before him without a qualm. She realised then just how much of a sacrifice Edward was making.

  “I need to find somewhere to stop off and buy some more shot.” He shouted as they raced across the open field at the back of the row of tiny houses. “Keep an eye out for a town we can cut through.”

  Chapter Seven

  As they thundered down the country lanes, Edward tried to think of a way out of the mess they were currently in. There were more of Scraggan’s men in the area than he had thought. Although the two men in the stable yard had been clumsy and inept with a sword, they were brawlers and clearly prepared to fight to the death to carry out their orders.

  He cursed their luck and Scraggan’s dogged determination. Clearly the men they had passed yesterday had recognised Eliza and had followed them, taking the opportunity to formulate a somewhat shambolic attack. They appeared determined to carry out their orders to capture Eliza but not kill her.

  The brief, horrific sight of Eliza being carried off by one of the hoodlums was enough to send shivers down his spine and firm his resolve to protect her, whatever the cost.

  Edward ventured a glance backwards and frowned. There wasn’t anybody giving chase.

  “Wait.” Edward shouted to Eliza, motioning for her to slow down.

  “What?” Eliza reined her horse in to ride beside Edward.

  “Why aren’t they chasing?”

  Eliza frowned and studied the empty fields behind them. The small hairs on the back of her neck began to stand on end as she considered the rolling green lands basking in the hazy morning sunshine. Turning in her saddle, she studied the area around them, scanning the blanket of greens and trees for signs of life. They could be the only people left in the country, the area was so quiet and isolated.

  “We are heading straight toward Scraggan.” She murmured, turning horrified eyes towards Edward.

  “Are you able to ride fast across co
untry?” Edward studied the rolling fields around them. To the far left was a large wooded copse, clearly an ideal place for a gang of mercenaries. To the far right was the edge of the Great North Road, clearly out of the question now given their disguise was practically useless. Edward nodded to the fields to the right of him, leading around the outskirts of the village they had just left.

  “If we ride across country we may be able to outride that lot.” He nodded back towards the village. “It will bring us a bit further down the Great North Road where we may be able to join the rest of the traffic. We can move faster in relative safety of others. They won’t be able to formulate an attack without attracting a lot of unwanted attention.” His gaze was hard as it met hers. “If they do try to capture you again, scream and make plenty of noise.”

  “Let’s go.” Eliza murmured, wheeling her horse around and firmly putting aside all thoughts of the night Guinness had fallen from beneath them on the uneven ground.

  “There they are.” Eliza gasped several moments later as they drew to a stop at the top of a small rise to look around them. Behind them three men on horseback were giving chase. Although they still looked some way off, Eliza knew the distance could be deceptive if they were on fast horses.

  “Here, take this.” Edward snapped, thrusting the scabbard - handle first - towards her. Eliza clasped it warily, but any objection she might have voiced was quashed as she glanced over his shoulder. True enough, the men were now considerably closer.

  “Run!” Edward ordered, kicking his horse into a gallop only to hold the lunging horse back until Eliza galloped past him. Keeping a little way behind her ensured he was able to keep her with him. They couldn’t afford to lose the precious time if he had to turn back because she became unseated.

  All Eliza could hear were the thundering hooves beating a relentless tattoo with the wind thundering past her ears. The Great North Road lay like a twisting and turning finish line in the distance before them. The carriages already on the road looked like ants, they were so far away.