With luck, Kathryn decided, the earl wouldn't discover her absence till morning tide. She had gleaned from his speech with his men-at-arms that they would reach Sedgewick by noon the next day. It was her most fervent prayer that, upon discovering she had fled, he would make only a token search for her. After all, he'd made his opinion of her abundantly clear. Since he was so near his home, she hoped he would decide she wasn't worth the trouble of recapture, abandon pursuit, and forget her existence.
As she planned to forget his.
The day dawned bright and gloriously warm. Kathryn kept the rutted roadway in sight, but rode amidst the woods guarding the side of the road, for no decent woman would ride about unescorted. Her nerves were tightly wound. Several times she detected the dull clopping of hooves and was forced to wheel Esmerelda and take cover where she might find it.
By late afternoon, the sun beat warmly upon her head. Anxious to seek respite from the nagging worry that the earl lurked but a footstep behind her, Kathryn decided to seek shelter for the night while it was still light. She found a secluded glade that would serve quite well. Gnarled oaks arched high above. Hazy spears of waning sunlight cast the clearing in a golden glow.
A gently rushing stream flowed nearby. She led Esmerelda to the cool gushing waters and allowed her to drink her fill. The palfrey slurped gustily, wringing a laugh from Kathryn. When Esmerelda had finished, Kathryn secured her near a patch of grass. While the horse grazed, she dropped her pouch on the ground and began gathering wood for a fire. The task completed to her satisfaction, she gazed longingly toward the stream.
Wildflowers grew in sweet profusion along the bank, pushing up amidst leafy moss and tufts of luxuriant green grass. The air was sweetly scented. Above the treetops, the twilight sky darkened to pink and gold. Here in this beautiful lush setting, Kathryn felt the strain of the day begin to seep from her weary bones.
She fancied the dust from her days of travel lay thick and heavy on her skin. Succumbing to temptation, she stripped to her chemise and bent to the stream. Cupping the cool, clear liquid in her hands, she rinsed her face. Again and again she scooped the water from the stream. Tiny rivulets streamed down her arms and the calves of her legs. She ended by splashing her chest—once, twice, again, gasping a little at the chill. And though she felt cleaner, she didn't feel as refreshed as she'd hoped to.
She darted a hasty glance around the glade. High above, a few birds still chattered and flitted to and fro. Impulsively, Kathryn quickly shed her chemise and dropped it on a rock. She was safe here. There were no prying eyes to invade her privacy.
That was hardly the case.
From behind the concealing breadth of a black oak, bold gray eyes consumed her every move. The thin linen of her chemise hid little of her sweetly feminine form. His mind besieged by lustful imaginings, Guy sucked in a harsh breath when she cast the hem of her chemise up and over her head. His gaze roamed hotly over the visual feast she provided his eyes.
She had twisted her hair into a long rope and drawn it over her-shoulder. Her ivory skin glistened like a lustrous pearl. She was slender almost to the point of thinness, and yet her hips flared out from a waist that was incredibly narrow. Her breasts were full and perfectly formed, round and alluring and tipped with nipples the color of a creamy pink rose. She was as breathtakingly flawless as he had imagined—and there was the rub, he thought with a twist of his lips. He despised her, and yet he had dreamed of seeing her like this. Naked and open to him. Bare as a babe.
In the instant before she waded into the stream, his gaze swooped to the naked flesh below her waist. His lips thinned to a stern line. There was no sign of a babe swelling ripe and round in her belly—none at all! Between the span of her hips, her belly was concave and hollow. Doubt gnawed deep inside him. He wasn't entirely ignorant where childbirth was concerned. He reminded himself that it might be weeks before she grew heavy with her burden.
Slipping from the stream, Kathryn wrung the water from her hair. Shivering a little, she hurriedly donned her garments. Hunger gnawed at her stomach as she built a small fire. She hadn't much food, only what she'd managed to slip into the small pouch tied to her kirtle, but it would be enough to get her back to Ashbury. She gnawed on a hard crust of bread, making it last until darkness settled over the earth.
The moon climbed slowly aloft. The night was dark and crystal-clear. Flung against the ebony sky, the stars glittered with bejeweled brilliance. But although the day had proved warm and pleasant, with the setting of the sun the night's chill soon pulled her within its grasp. Huddled beneath the scant protection of her cloak, Kathryn edged closer to the fire, drawing her legs to her chest and wrapping her arms around her knees for warmth.
A low mist began to gather, hovering just above the ground. The howl of a wolf pierced the air. A wolf. An eerie feeling prickled along her spine. She had thought the glade to be safe, but was it? These woods were filled with all manner of beast— including two-legged ones, as she well knew! And all at once every tale of cutthroats, murderers, and renegades she'd ever heard rampaged through her mind.
She was suddenly on guard, her nerves sharpened to a screaming pitch of awareness. A slight sound from across the glade brought her upright. She lurched to her feet, her eyes frantically searching the night-shrouded stillness. But she spied naught but trailing fingers of frothy mist swirling through the trees.
It was into that gossamer mist that a masculine form took shape, tall and powerful. Kathryn stood as if paralyzed. She wanted desperately to run, but her legs refused to do her bidding. Against the midnight gloom, the man appeared dark and featureless.
And then he stepped forward, close enough that the flickering firelight cast granite-hewn features into stark relief.
Kathryn stared, stunned and disbelieving. The beat of her heart grew still and silent, then leaped wildly to her throat as horror clutched at her insides.
"No," she whispered. A low sob tore from deep inside her, a cry of desolate despair. "No!"
Panic raced through her. She rushed blindly into the encroaching forest. Branches whipped across her cheeks, stinging her eyes. A cry escaped her as she stumbled. She quickly pushed herself from the damp ground. Did she only imagine the pounding footsteps behind her. . . or was it merely the rampant thunder of her heart? Her mind beset by frenzy, she had but one coherent thought—she would not yield herself over to him so easily. She had to keep running. .. She had to escape!
But alas, there was no hope for it—no hope at all.
He was upon her, his arm about her waist like an iron band. She found herself lifted and tossed over his shoulder like a sack of grain. Kathryn screamed and struggled and squirmed, clawing and pounding his back with fists and nails. But his jarring steps never faltered. In desperation she sank her teeth into the flesh of his back.
"Bitch!" Guy muttered. He gritted his teeth and flung back her skirts. Gritting his teeth, he resisted the impulse to fling back her skirts and bring his palm down on her shapely rump.
By no means had he quelled her intent. He deposited her rudely on her back near the fire. Kathryn tried to roll away, but he was there above her, pinning her beneath outspread legs. Though she was gasping and winded, sprawled beneath him like a hare on a spit, she wasted no time venting the full force of her fury on him.
"I loathe you, my lord earl! You are the spawn of the devil, the son of a warted toad! May your soul rot in Hades for all eternity—"
"Should my soul end up in hell," he interrupted smoothly, "rest assured yours will dwell alongside mine."
His gaze, cool and relentless, touched the fire in hers.
Kathryn struggled upright. He stepped back a pace but made no move to help her. Once on her feet, she choked back a cry of bitterness. "Damn you! Why couldn't you simply let me go? Why did you have to hunt me down like an animal!"