Perilous Risk by Natasha Blackthorne Page B

Her life had changed tonight. All her rights and liberties as an Englishwoman might have already been stripped from her.
    “Shall I have to hide for the rest of my life?”
    He shook his head.
    “This is just for a short while. Until Maria Seymour shows her hand and I can sort out what to do.”
    “You are so kind to offer your protection in this manner. But I shall be able to leave town on my own.” Rebecca stood quickly.
    Her knees seemed to turn boneless and the closed space of the antechamber spun. She swayed on her feet. He caught her.
    She had forgotten how potent Kean’s punch was.
    “Have you eaten recently?”
    She thought back over the day. “I haven’t eaten since early this morning.” And that had been but a thin slice of bread and a cup of tea she’d choked down in between attending to a particularly difficult birthing. She’d been called in to see a viscount’s young wife who had birthed six daughters in eight years. The young lady had struggled valiantly but had already endured two days of labour. She had died.
    Though she was used to losing patients occasionally, the loss of a young mother always shook Rebecca to her core. She’d had little sleep in the past day and a half.
    “Are you well?” he asked.
    “I just need to go somewhere…I need sleep.”
    “You can’t go home,” he repeated firmly.
    “I know.” She put her hand to her head for a moment and the chamber began to appear steadier. “I’ll stay the night at a tavern. I’ll hire a post chaise and I shall leave town for a few days.”
    She would give Ruel the time with his countess and then she would write to him and seek his council.
    “You cannot travel on your own.” Stephen’s husky voice cut into her thoughts.
    She jerked her head up. “Why not?”
    “Because they expect you to flee. They will be watching for a woman who fits your description, travelling alone, appearing harried.”
    Yes, she should have thought of that. She needed sleep. Dear heavens, how she needed sleep. She attempted to think clearer. “I’ll travel with a companion and I shall be cautious.”
    “Rebecca, I repeat, if they take you into custody, I will not able to help you as well as I can if you will just trust me now.”
    Nausea lurched through her stomach, a lightning jolt of realization.
    He was serious.
    She couldn’t remain in London a moment longer than she had to. Maybe she would have to flee to America. Her heart began to pound against her ribs as though it would leap out.
    God. Edwin. She didn’t want to leave him. But who knew where this would end.
    The unfairness of it all slammed into her. “I am innocent.” She gaped at him a moment. “ Innocent .”
    His handsome face contracted, a pained expression. “Rebecca, don’t dwell on the uncertainty. Not now.”
    “Oh, that’s all very well for you to say. It’s not your life.”
    He took her hands. “You’re tired and afraid.”
    “Yes, I am.”
    “You shouldn’t be alone like this. At least allow me to take you for a meal.”
    “A meal? I don’t think I could swallow a bite.”
    “You must try. Then you can think clearer. You will be calmer.”
    Suddenly, she felt as though the walls were closing in on her. Something about this whole situation of him being here, offering her help, it did not sit well with her.
    She kept having the most peculiar sensation, right in the pit of her belly. There was an air about him. Something hidden there under the surface. Maybe something sinister…and yet he was the same Stephen she’d known before. She couldn’t reason it all out. “No, I just need sleep.”
    She stood then her legs gave way and she wobbled.
    He was there. Immediately. Holding her against himself. “Do you see? You need nourishment. After that, you will be able to see things more clearly.”
    How confident he sounded. A confident man, offering to protect her. Seducing her into trusting him.
    Her throat ached with the yearning to yield. To put aside her resistance