Saving the Rifleman

by Julie Rowe

  Saving the Rifleman

  By Julie Rowe

  German-occupied Brussels, Belgium

  Great War, 1914

  British Red Cross nurse Maria Hunt lives in daily fear that the Germans will uncover her secret: she helps wounded British soldiers escape.

  Lieutenant John Bennet is wounded and running out of options. Trapped behind enemy lines while collecting intelligence, he needs to get out of Belgium if he’s going to escape with the information and his life.

  Maria is devoted to her patients and her cause, but something else compels her to risk her life for this soldier. While a man of Lieutenant Bennet’s station would barely speak to her in other circumstances, something in his kind eyes inspires a passion deep within her.

  As his injuries worsen, can Maria find the courage to guide him through the war-torn countryside? And should they make it back to England, will their burgeoning desire survive the ravages of war?

  36,000 words

  Dear Reader,

  I love October because it’s the perfect month for my favorite season: fall. I adore the sights, sounds, smells and feel of the fall season. Pumpkins and straw bales, colorful mums and burning woodsmoke. And the crisp, cool weather that’s perfect for sitting on the porch and reading a book while sipping hot apple cider.

  This month, we have an excellent variety of books perfectly suited to this very thing, starting with All He Ever Desired, Shannon Stacey’s latest Kowalski family contemporary romance. As always, Shannon delivers a captivating romance with just the right touch of light humor. Joining her in the contemporary romance category is HelenKay Dimon with Lean on Me, the second book in her trilogy. Make sure to check out her first Carina Press title, It’s Not Christmas Without You, and look for We’ll Be Home for Christmas, coming in December 2012.

  If you’re gearing up for Halloween and are in the paranormal mood, check out Regan Summers’s newest novel, Running in the Dark. Debut author Bryn Donovan offers a wonderful paranormal romance in Sole Possession, while Diana Copland’s male/male paranormal romance A Reason to Believe will haunt you long after you’ve read the last page. And joining Diana with a male/male release is L.B. Gregg and her rerelease Men of Smithfield: Seth and David.

  Fans of steampunk romance will be thrilled to see new releases from two of our favorite steampunk authors: Cindy Spencer Pape and Jenny Schwartz. Look for Moonlight & Mechanicals and Courting Trouble to release in mid-October. And as an aside, can I tell you how much I love Jenny’s series name of The Bustlepunk Chronicles? It’s a perfect fit for this series about a spunky young woman in steampunk Australia.

  I’m thrilled to welcome Val Roberts to Carina Press with her newest science-fiction romance novel, The Valmont Contingency. Val and I worked together in the past and I love her voice! And returning to us with another release in the fantasy romance genre is Karalynn Lee. If you’ve never had the pleasure of immersing yourself in one of Karalynn’s worlds, now’s the time to check out Heart of the Dragon’s Realm.

  My team is especially excited about this next book from Julie Rowe. As fans of Downton Abbey, they fell in love with the first book in her new historical romance series set during World War I, Saving the Rifleman.

  If you’re wondering where the romantic suspense is, not to worry, Kate Sherwood offers up a spine-tingling suspense, Shadow Valley. And mystery author Janis Patterson returns with her newest novel, Beaded to Death.

  To round out the month of October, we have two spicy erotic romances to tempt you. With No Reservations, Lilly Cain kicks off her new erotic series, Bad Girls Know. Last, but definitely not least, the book from Christine d’Abo’s Long Shots series I’ve been waiting for. Mouthwatering sex club owner Josh is finally going to get his own happily ever after and you don’t want to miss the mind-blowing chemistry Christine has written to get him there in Calling the Shots.

  We love to hear from readers, and you can email us your thoughts, comments and questions to generalinquiries@carinapress.com. You can also interact with Carina Press staff and authors on our blog, Twitter stream and Facebook fan page.

  Happy reading!

  ~Angela James

  Executive Editor, Carina Press

  www.carinapress.com

  www.twitter.com/carinapress

  www.facebook.com/carinapress

  Dedication

  To my parents, whose love story always inspires me.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  About the Author

  Copyright

  Chapter One

  Brussels, Belgium—November 14, 1914

  “Maria.”

  Alarm rippled across Maria’s nerves, jerking her attention from the supply record book she was writing in.

  Her teacher, mentor and matron of the hospital on Rue de la Culture stood at the window, staring out at the street, her back straight and stiff.

  “Rose?” Maria took a step toward her, but Rose’s voice stopped her before she could take another.

  “Please take an inventory of the bandages in the closet on the second floor.” Her words were spoken with a deliberateness that should have been reassuring. It wasn’t. The other woman held herself too still, too rigid. “We’re about to have another friendly visit.”

  “Germans?” Maria whispered, dread tightening its coils until she could barely breathe. “Again?”

  Regular soldiers didn’t make her too uncomfortable, they appreciated the nurses who looked after their wounded countrymen, and they knew they could end up at this hospital and in her care. But the officers were another thing altogether. They looked at Maria and Rose as if the two of them were convicted criminals of the worst sort.

  As if they were dirty.

  Rose nodded.

  “Lord preserve us.” The words slipped out before Maria could stop them. “When will this madness stop?”

  Rose turned then, a rueful smile on her face. “I wish I knew. Go now, and stay out of sight if you can.”

  “But—”

  “I’ll be fine. Dr. Geoff is still here. He’s as irritated with all these inspections as we are. They’re a constant interruption, and we have little enough time for our work as it is.”

  Herman Geoff was a German doctor, but he treated Rose and even Maria with the utmost respect. His uncle was a high-ranking officer. Very high. As long as Dr. Geoff supported them, they would most likely remain safe.

  If they did nothing to irritate or anger the local German troops. Something Maria feared she’d already done.

  She rushed to the back stairs and climbed them quickly. Rose would be safe. The second daughter of minor gentry, she had demonstrated time and again her diplomatic skills were more than up to the task of dealing with arrogant, suspicious German officers.

  Maria had none of those skills or family background.

  The second floor was filled with bedrooms, now used as wards for their patients. There was also a room where the nurses slept—Rose, herself, two Belgian nurses and one German nurse who worked with them. A closet near the back stairs had been converted into a storage area for bandages and other medical supplies.

  Perfect for a woman to hide in while waiting for their German visitors to leave.

  She opened the door, prepared to enter…

  But the closet was already occupied—by a soldier complete with pack, sidearm and rifle. The weapon wasn’t what snared Maria’s gaze and held i
t.

  His eyes were green. A brilliant emerald green.

  Her breathing stalled as she stood in the doorway and stared into those wide, pale eyes and at the blood spattered across his face and uniform.

  His British uniform. In a Belgian hospital full of enemy German soldiers.

  Good God.

  Voices floated up the back stairs a few feet away and she opened her mouth to caution him.

  Before she could utter a warning, before she could blink, his hands reached out, grabbed her and yanked her into the closet, pulling the door closed behind.

  Fear and shock crushed her throat as she found herself pressed against the soldier’s body, one of his hands over her mouth, the other a steel band behind her back.

  She couldn’t move and the closet was so dark it might as well have been a tomb. Blind and restrained, the unfamiliar scents filling her nostrils took over her senses.

  Mud, blood and man.

  * * *

  Lieutenant John Bennet held the woman in his arms tightly enough to keep her from crying out, but not enough to harm her.

  He’d hoped to find someone to help him, preferably a nurse, but this wasn’t how he’d anticipated meeting such a woman—staring into her frightened face then pulling her into a dark closet. He couldn’t even tell her she was in no danger from him. Any noise would likely be overheard by the men now standing on the other side of the door.

  He held himself still despite the pain from his wound and the unfamiliar weight of the woman in his arms. How long had it been since he’d held anything so soft? Weeks? Months?

  He sucked in a breath and the scent of evening flowers filled his head, driving out all others. His cock stirred in response to the feel of her curves along his flank. Her chest rose and fell erratically under his arm as she tried to breathe through what must be a terrifying situation.

  Yet there were no tears, no sobs or cries.

  He tore his focus from the delights of her body to consider her movements for a moment. She’d stopped struggling for the most part and now stood relatively docile in his arms.

  Maybe she realized how dangerous his predicament was. If she was a nurse, she might feel some sympathy toward him, some care.

  Energy surfaced from some unknown well inside him, heating his muscles. He couldn’t give up hope, not now. He had to find a way out of Belgium, a way to report what he’d seen. There were more lives at risk than his, thousands more. Including the nurse in his arms.

  A man was giving orders in German in the hallway, from the sound of it, only a few paces from the closet door. Orders to search the hospital for the British soldier. Orders to find and detain for questioning the second British nurse. The woman John no doubt held in his arms.

  The woman now in as much danger as he.

  Poor girl. It was one thing to tend to wounded men in no shape to offer offensive behaviour, but quite another to be taken captive in a dark closet. He was lucky she hadn’t screamed herself hoarse or fainted.

  Somehow he needed to communicate his lack of intent to harm her. He’d been told this hospital was a place of safety for British soldiers caught behind German lines. The last farmer who’d sheltered him just outside of Brussels told him the matron of this hospital could help him, had already helped many others like him. She might even be able to supply fake identity papers and an escape route out of the country.

  Warm, soft and sweet-smelling, the woman in his arms could be the key to his survival. And what he knew was the key to Britain’s defence.

  His spine solidified, transforming into steel.

  She didn’t know it, but he was prepared to kill to protect her.

  * * *

  Fear rose from Maria’s chest to choke her. She struggled, but he held her firmly, his body hard and unyielding. She’d never been in such a situation, pressed against a man’s body from breast to knee. She gasped behind his palm, tried to suck in more air through her nose, tried to shake off his hand, but his grip was too strong.

  Muffled shouts and questions filtered their way past her thundering pulse, and she stopped struggling.

  The British soldier put his lips next to her ear. “Shh.”

  She froze at his whisper. He offered no threat, no violence. The enemy was outside the door. She had to trust he wouldn’t hurt her.

  And he didn’t. As seconds passed, turning into minutes, he barely moved at all, only held her tight.

  Gradually, he lessened his hold, allowed her to take deeper breaths. She should be terrified, but despite her unexpected entry into the arms of a wounded stranger she remained unharmed.

  Her captor leaned down again and his lips touched the very tip of her ear, sending a jolt burning through her body.

  “Please.” He turned that single, simple word into both a plea and a prayer.

  Something deep in the pit of her belly softened. To whom was he praying?

  Perhaps he didn’t know where he was. Perhaps he was simply trying to survive and regretted grabbing her. Whatever his reason, his grip relaxed and if she’d wanted to, she could have torn herself away long enough to scream.

  She chose to nod her head. Calling for help would not only jeopardize his life but hers as well.

  His hand left her mouth to curl around her shoulder, and instead of trying to shrug it off, she was glad of its weight. It cradled her, supported her. No man beyond her family had shown her such faith.

  It strengthened her resolve to help him.

  She peered up at his face, but the tiny room was too dark for her to make out his features. All she could remember were his eyes.

  His breathing rushed past her ears, too fast and too shallow. Was it fear or his injuries? If he collapsed, the men outside would hear and they would both be discovered. That wouldn’t do at all.

  Her hands slid around the soldier’s body until she was holding him as firmly as he held her.

  A sound escaped his throat, not a sigh or a groan, something in between, something sad and tired and sore.

  What could have happened to him to make him so desperate for safety?

  This war was unlike any other in recent memory. Civilians had been killed. Many civilians. The Germans claimed all were casualties of war, but some were the result of baseless suspicions. It sickened her every time a wounded farmer arrived at their small hospital for medical help. Many too far gone with infection.

  Men had abandoned civilization in the space of a few months and had become nothing more than packs of dogs fighting over scraps. Not caring who or what got in their way.

  The male voices moved down the hall, not gone, but no longer an immediate threat. A woman’s voice entered the mix, Rose’s voice.

  An argument ensued between Rose, the German soldiers and Dr. Geoff. He was angry at all the interruptions. Finally, after much discussion and a few threats, the soldiers stomped away.

  Maria waited until the hallway was quiet for several minutes before stretching up on her tiptoes to whisper into the British soldier’s ear. “How badly are you hurt?”

  For a moment he said nothing and she feared he’d fallen unconscious. Then his answer tickled her ear. “A bullet through the leg, miss.”

  Air flooded into her lungs and she took her first easy breath since opening the closet door.

  “How old is the wound?”

  Again his whisper slid over her skin, making her breath catch. “Only an hour…I think.”

  She nodded in the darkness. Her nose rubbed his collar, reminding her how close they were. “I think they’re gone, but let me look.”

  His arms loosened their hold further, and she turned and opened the door the barest of cracks.

  Nothing. No one.

  The lighting was bad, but enough for her to glance over her shoulder and nod.

  Blood and mud were everywhere she looked. Splattered across his torso and left side, caked on a ragged, blood-drenched bandage tied around his thigh and soaked into his trousers and the puttees that wound down around his calf to disappear int
o his boot.

  Sweat had swept dirt and blood away from his face in channels down his neck, whiskers shadowed his cheeks and chin, but underneath it all he looked quite…fetching.

  “Can you walk?”

  His lips curved in a tired ghost of a smile. “I think so.”

  She motioned for him to come out. “Quickly now, we must hurry.”

  “And who might you be, miss?” His voice was low and smooth, polished like a proper gentleman’s, if such men existed outside of fairy tales. She knew damn well they didn’t.

  “Nurse Maria Hunt, at your service, Lieutenant.”

  He raised a brow as he used the wall to push himself upright.

  Good gracious he was tall.

  Her stomach flip-flopped as she slipped an arm around his waist to help him out of the tiny room. “I’ve been surrounded by military men for several weeks now.” She nodded at the badges of rank at his cuffs. “I know how to read your colours.”

  He resisted for a moment then grunted and let some of his weight settle on her shoulder. But only a little. “I apologize for my overfamiliarity, Miss Hunt, but it seems I won’t be getting out of this closet without help.”

  “No apology necessary, it’s what I’m here for.” They shuffled into the relative spaciousness of the hall.

  The soldier scanned the area. Looking for the enemy?

  “If we hurry we should be able to get you squared away without anyone the wiser.” Maria tugged and he followed her lead toward the stairs.

  Towering over her with broad shoulders and blond hair cut to military regulations, if a little uneven in places, he looked even larger now out of the closet.

  “Squared away?”

  “This is a hospital, Lieutenant. I’ll have a look at your leg, get you fixed up and on your way as soon as possible.”

  “To a jolly good prison camp I imagine,” he murmured as they passed a room full of snoring, wounded German soldiers.

  She pressed her lips together. “First to the Netherlands, then home to England. The trip will take several days.”

  His chin brushed the cap pinned to her hair as he turned to look down at her. “How is that possible with all these Germans about?”