PG Excerpt: The Rogue’s Ring
Where
is it? Cat murmured, cursing under her breath as she sought
the rest of the stranger’s gold coins. The sleeping draft would not last long.
Long enough, she prayed, so she could make her way back home before he woke.
When
she couldn’t reach into the bulky overcoat and satchel he slept upon, she dug
her fingers into his jacket’s inside pocket.
Success!
Removing
her fingers, three more gold coins appeared. As she slipped them down her
bodice, two silver eyes glared up at her.
“What
are you doing?” The stranger sat up, grabbed both of her wrists, and pulled her
into his lap.
“Why,
nothing. Ye fell asleep and I dinna’ wish to wake ye. I worried that ye had
stopped breathing, ’tis all. ’Twould never do to have a guest of the inn come
to any harm. Are ye well?”
He
blinked, then lowered his gaze to the tops of her breasts. She could feel the
heat stirring from his attention. Was her flesh growing pink with guilt?
Had
he seen her hide the coins? Did he realize how much time had passed since she
had offered him drugged wine? He ought to be fast asleep, but he blinked again,
then growled.
“Please.
I must be on my way home.” If she did not leave now, Devlin might slap her once
again, or throw her to his men. His threats had grown worse and more depraved.
Her plans to escape his influence required money. The three coins she’d stolen
from the Englishman would help her achieve her goal.
He
stared back at her face, then released one hand and turned her head sideways. “Did
someone hit you?”
His
warm fingers gently stroked her scar and the newer bruise she had to assume had
turned purple. “Aye. ’Tis a consequence of working in such a place. Many
travelers curse the weather yet take out their frustrations on whomever strays
close. I shall survive.”
“Like
the brute who grabbed you by the hair tonight? You seemed to know him, but a
stranger would do worse? You need a protector.”
When
she attempted a small smile, he released his hold on her chin. In an instant,
his free hand strayed down her bodice and gripped the coins.
“Nay!”
she cried, to no avail.
“A
thief? Strange, since I believe I compensated you more than enough inside.” He
pushed her away.
Stumbling
backward, she hit the wall, then returned to his side with her fists defiantly
on her hips. She could only glare down at him. She was not leaving without
those coins. Her future depended on acquiring the means to live elsewhere and
free from her brother’s abuse. Those coins could get her and Blake hundreds of
miles from him and his pirate crew.
He staggered to his feet. Surprise filled his handsome face at his loss of equilibrium. He tunneled his fingers through his dark hair. Several strands of silver glimmered at his temples, nearly matching the glaring silver of his eyes. Surprised to face eyes the same color as her son’s, she gasped.
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