Minutes later, they came up, single file, and passed directly beneath her little hill. She waited for Captain Jack and his two cohorts, bringing up the rear, to clear her, then counted to twenty slowly before taking to the narrow path in their wake. She followed them in a wide arc around the little town of Brancaster. In the fields west of the town, the cavalcade went to ground in an old barn. Kit watched from a distance, too wary to get closer. Soon, the men started leaving, some on foot, some riding, guiding ponies on leading reins.
At the last, three horsemen drew away from the barn. The moon smiled; Kit caught the gleam of Captain Jack’s hair. The trio divided, one heading east. Captain Jack and the third man went west. Kit followed them.
She kept Delia on the verge, the drum of hooves of her quarries’ horses making it easy to follow them. Luckily, they weren’t riding fast, else she’d have had difficulty keeping up without taking to the telltale road herself.
They traveled the road for no more than a mile before turning south along a narrow track. Kit paused at the turn. The sound of heavy hooves at a walk reassured her. She pressed on, careful to hold Delia back.
Jack and Matthew set their mounts up the steep curve that took the track over the lip of the meadowland. At the highest point, just before the track curved into the trees edging the first Hendon field, Jack glanced down onto the stretch of track below. It was a habit instituted long since to ensure none of the Hunstanton Gang followed them to their lair.
The track was a pool of even, uninteresting shadow. Jack was turning away when a slight movement, caught from the corner of one eye, brought every faculty alert. He froze, gaze used to the night trained on the track below. A shadow darker than the rest detached itself from the cover of the trees and crept along the verge.
Matthew, warned by the sudden silence, had reined in too, and stared downward. He leaned closer to whisper in Jack’s ear. “Young Kit?”
Jack nodded. A slow, positively devilish smile twisted his long lips. “Go on to the cottage,” he whispered. “I’m going to invite our young friend for a drink.”
Matthew nodded, urging his horse to a walk, heading south along the narrow track.
Jack nudged Champion off the path and into the deeper shadows by a coppice. Young Kit’s excess of curiosity was perfectly timed; he hadn’t been looking forward to another night like the last, tossing and turning while grappling with his ridiculous obsession with the stripling. What better way to cure his senses of their idiotic misconception than to invite the lad in for a brandy? Once revealed in full light for the youth he was, Young Kit would doubtless get out from under his skin.
Approaching the upward sweep of the trail, Kit heard the steady clop of hooves above cease. She reined in, listening intently, then cautiously edged forward. When she saw where the track led, she stopped and held her breath. Then the hoofbeats restarted, heading onward. With a sigh of relief, she counted to twenty again before sending Delia up the track.
She crested the rise to find the track, innocent and empty, leading on across the meadowland. Ahead, a coppice bordered the trail, darker shadows pooling on the track like giant ink puddles. She paused, listening, but the hoofbeats continued on, the riders invisible through the trees ahead.
All was well. Kit put her heels to Delia’s sleek sides. The mare sidled. Kit frowned and urged the mare forward. Delia balked.
The sensation of being watched enveloped Kit. Her stomach tightened; her eyes flared wide. She glanced to the left. Fields opened out, one adjoining the next, a clear escape. Without further thought, she set Delia at the hedge. As eager as she to get away, the mare cleared the hedge and went straight to a gallop.
In the trees bordering the track, Jack swore volubly. Be damned if he’d let the lad lose him again! He set his heels to Champion’s sides; the grey surged in pursuit.
Champion answered the call with alacrity, only too ready to give chase. Jack held him back, content to keep the bobbing black bottom of Young Kit in clear view, waiting until the Arab started to tire before allowing the grey stallion’s strength to show.
The thud of hooves behind her told Kit her observer had come into the open. She glanced behind and her worst fears were confirmed. Damn the man! She hadn’t seen anything worthwhile, and he must know he couldn’t catch her.
By the time the end of the fields hove in sight, Kit had revised her opinion of Captain Jack’s equestrian judgment. The grey he had under him seemed tireless and Delia, already ridden far that night, was wilting. In desperation, Kit swung Delia’s head for the shore. Riding through sand would hopefully slow the heavier grey more than the mare.
She hadn’t counted on the descent. Delia checked at the cliff’s edge and took the steep path in a nervous prance. The grey, ridden aggressively, came over the top in a leap and half slithered through the soft soil to land on the flat in a flurry of sand, mere seconds behind her.
Kit clapped her heels to Delia’s sleek flanks; the mare shot forward, half-panicked by the advent of the stallion so close.
To Kit’s dismay, the tide was in and just turning, leaving only a narrow strip of dry sand skirting the base of the cliffs. She couldn’t risk getting too close to the rocks and boulders strewn at the cliff foot. There was nowhere else to ride but on the hard sand, dampened and compacted by the retreating waves. And on such solid ground, the grey gained steadily.
Crouched low over Delia’s neck, the black mane whipping her cheeks, Kit prayed for a miracle. But the sound of the grey’s heavy hooves drew inexorably nearer. She started considering her excuses. What reason could she give for having followed him that would account for her bolting?
There was no viable answer to that one. Kit wished she’d had the nerve to stand her ground rather than fly when confronted with her nemesis. She glanced forward, contemplating hauling on the reins and capitulating, when, wonder of wonders, a spit of land loomed ahead. A tongue of the cliff, it cleaved the sands, running out into the surf, its sides decaying into the sea. If she could gain the rough-grassed dunes, she’d have a chance. Even tired as she was, climbing, Delia would be much faster than the heavy grey. As if to light her way, the moon sailed free of its cloudy veils and beamed down.
A length behind, Jack saw the spit. It was time to wind up the chase. The lad rode better than any trooper he’d ever seen. Once in the dunes, he’d be impossible to catch. Jack dropped his reins. Champion, sensing victory, lengthened his stride, obedient to the direction that sent him inland of the black mare, cutting off any sudden change of tack.
Kit was breathless. The wind dragged at her lungs. The dunes and safety were heartbeats away when, warned by some sixth sense, she glanced to her left. And saw a huge grey head almost level with her knee.
She only had time to gasp before two hundred odd pounds of highly trained male muscle knocked her from the saddle.
The instant he connected with Young Kit, Jack realized his error. He tried to twist in midair to cushion her fall but was only partially successful. Both he and his captive landed flat on their backs on the damp sand.
The breath was knocked out of him but he recovered immediately, sitting up and swinging around to lean over his prize, one leg automatically trapping hers to still her struggles. Only she didn’t struggle.
Jack frowned and waited for the eyes, just visible beneath the brim of her old tricorne, to open. They remained shut. The body stretched beside and half under his was preternaturally still.
Cursing, Jack pulled at the tricorne. It took two tugs to free it. The wealth of glossy curls framing the smooth, wide brow sent his imagination, already sensitized by her nearness, into overload.
Slowly, almost as if she might dissolve beneath his touch, Jack lifted a finger to the smooth skin covering one high cheekbone, tracing the upward curve. The satin texture sent a thrill from the tip of his finger to regions far distant. When she gave no sign of returning consciousness, he slid his fingers into the mass of silky hair, ignoring the burgeoning sensations skittering through him, to
feel the back of her skull. A lump the size of a duck egg was growing through the curls. In the sand beneath her head, he located the rock responsible, thankfully buried deep enough to make it unlikely it had caused any irreparable hurt.
Retrieving his hands, Jack eased back to stare at his captive.
Young Kit was out cold.
Grimacing, he eyed the heavy muffler wound over her nose and chin, concealing most of her face. The conversion of Young Kit into female form was certain to wreak havoc with his plans, but he may as well leave consideration of such matters until later. Right now, he doubted he could raise a cogent thought, much less make a wise decision. Which was simply proof of how much of a problem she was destined to become.
He should get that muffler off—she’d recover faster if she could breathe unrestricted. Yet he felt reluctant to bare any more of her face—or any other part of her for that matter. What he’d already seen—the perfect expanse of forehead, gracefully arched brows over large eyes set on a slight slant and delicately framed by a feathering of brown, the rioting curls, glossy even in moonlight—all attested to the certainty that the rest of Young Kit would prove equally fatal to his equanimity.
Jack swore under his breath. Why the hell did he have to get a case of the hots just now? And for a smugglers’ moll, no less!
Metaphorically, and in every other way he knew, he girded his loins and reached for the muffler. She’d wound it tight, and it was some moments and a good few curses later before he drew the woollen folds from her face.
Just why she wore a muffler was instantly apparent. Grimly, Jack considered the sculpted features, rendered in flawless cream skin, the straight little nose, the pert, pointed chin and the full sensuous lips, pale now but just begging to be kissed to blush red. Young Kit’s face was an essential statement of all that was feminine.
Intrigued, Jack let his gaze slide over the figure lying inert beside him. The padding in one shoulder of her coat was pressed to his arm, explaining that point. He stared at her chest, slowly rising and falling. The fullness of her shirt made it difficult to judge, but experience suggested her anatomy was unlikely to be quite so uneventful. Jack decided he wasn’t up to investigating how she accomplished that feat of suppressing nature and turned instead to an expert inspection of her legs, still entwined with his. They were, in his experienced opinion, remarkably remarkable, unusually long and slender but firm with well-toned muscle.
Jack’s lips curved appreciatively. She obviously rode a lot. How did she perform when the roles were reversed? He allowed his imagination, rampant by now, a whole three minutes to run riot, before reluctantly calling his mind to order. With a sigh, he gazed once more at Young Kit’s pale face. Female skulls were weaker than male. She might take a few hours to come to.
Jack looked along the sands to where Champion stood in the lee of the dunes, reins dangling. Beside him stood the black mare, uncertain and skittish. Disengaging his legs from Kit’s, Jack stood, brushing sand from his clothes. He whistled, and Champion ambled over. The mare hesitated, then followed.
Catching Champion’s reins, Jack murmured soothing nothings to the great beast while watching the mare. The Arab approached slowly, then veered to come up on Kit’s other side. The black head went down. The mare softly huffed into the bright curls. Kit didn’t stir.
“What a precious beauty you are,” Jack breathed, edging closer. The black head came up; one large black eye looked straight at him. Slowly, Jack reached for the mare’s bridle. To his relief, she accepted his touch. He lengthened the reins, then looped the ends through a ring on his own saddle. Then he stood back to see how Champion would take to the arrangement. The big stallion did not normally tolerate other horses too close, yet a single minute served to convince Jack he didn’t need to worry about the Arab. Champion clearly possessed equine manners when he chose to employ them, and he was all out to make a good impression on the mare.
Grinning, Jack turned to consider the female he had in charge. He bent and lifted Kit from the sands, then sat her in his saddle and held her draped over the pommel while he mounted behind her. Swinging her once more into his arms, he settled in the saddle, balancing Kit across his thighs, her head cradled against his chest.
Jack turned Champion toward the dunes, touched his heels to the grey’s flanks, and set course for the cottage.
Chapter 9
By the time he reached the cottage, Jack’s jaw was clenched with the effort of ignoring the thoroughly female body in his arms. With every stride, Champion’s gait pressed the warm swell of Kit’s bound breasts against Jack’s chest, alternating with the even more unnerving rub of her firm bottom against his thigh. The ride was torture—a fact he was sure Kit, whoever she was, would delight in, if he was ever fool enough to tell her. He suspected she’d wake with a headache. On the sands, he’d felt a touch guilty about that. Now, he considered it only her due—he was sure he’d have a splitting head by dawn. And no chance of sleep, either.
Champion’s hooves thudded on the packed earth before the cottage. The door opened, and Matthew came out. “What happened?”
Jack drew rein some paces from the door. “The lad didn’t take kindly to my invitation. In fact, he didn’t even wait to hear it. I had to exert my powers of persuasion.”
“So I see.” Matthew advanced, clearly intent on taking Jack’s burden from him.
Jack brought his leg over the pommel and slid to the ground, Kit’s inanimate form clasped to his chest. He brushed past Matthew and headed for the door. “Stable Champion and the mare. I doubt she’ll give you much trouble.” Jack paused in the doorway and looked back. “Then you may as well go home. He’s apt to be out for a while.” He smiled. “I think Young Kit would probably feel more comfortable if he thought no one but me had seen him in extremis.”
Wise in the ways of lads and young soldiers, Matthew nodded. “Aye. You’ll be right enough there, no doubt. I’ll be off then.” So saying, he caught Champion’s reins and headed for the small stable beside the cottage.
Jack entered the cottage and kicked the door shut, leaning back on the rough panels to juggle the latch with his elbow. Then he straightened and looked down at his burden. Thank God he’d put Kit’s hat back on. The wide brim had shaded her face enough for him to get her past Matthew. Quite why he was keeping her little secret from his unquestionably loyal henchman he wasn’t entirely certain. Perhaps because he hadn’t yet had time to consider just what Kit’s secret meant and how he was going to deal with it, and, from long experience, he knew Matthew would unhesitatingly avail himself of the license accorded longtime servitors to disapprove, vociferously, should his master elect to follow some less than straightforward course.
But before he could think of anything, he had to get rid of the distracting body in his arms.
Jack strode to the bed and dropped Kit onto the coverlet as if she was a lump of hot iron. In truth, she’d set him alight, and he couldn’t see any prospect of dousing the flames. Making love to unconscious women had never appealed to him. He stared down at the slender and still silent form. The muffler had shaken loose and lay about her throat. Her hat had fallen off, exposing her curls and telltale face to the lamplight.
Abruptly, Jack took a step back.
Now that she was out of his arms, he could think clearly. And it didn’t take much thought to conclude that making love to Kit at any time was likely to prove dangerous, if not specifically to himself, then certainly to his mission. He’d already dropped the appellation “Young”—having carried her for half an hour, he knew she wasn’t that young. Certainly not too young.
With a growl of frustration, Jack swung around and crossed to the sideboard. He poured himself a generous brandy, wryly wondering if Kit actually drank the stuff. What would she have done if he’d invited her back to share a bottle?
Jack grinned; the grin faded when he glanced toward the bed. What the hell was he to do with her?
He prowled the room, intermittently shooting glances at the fig
ure on the bed. The brandy didn’t help. He drained the glass and set it aside. Kit hadn’t stirred. With a long sigh, Jack approached the bed and stood beside it, staring down at her.
She was too pale. Tentatively, he touched her cheek. It was reassuringly warm. Leaning over her, he pulled off her leather gauntlets and chafed the small hands, fine-boned and delicate. It didn’t help. Jack grimaced. Her breathing was shallow, her chest constricted by the tight bands she wore to conceal her breasts. He’d felt them when he’d carried her.
His arms felt leaden; his feet wouldn’t move. His body definitely didn’t like what his brain was telling it. But there was no help for it. And the sooner he got it over with, the better.
Jack forced his limbs to function. He turned Kit over, making sure she didn’t suffocate in the soft folds of the coverlet. He bundled her out of her coat, then pulled her shirttails free of her breeches, trying to ignore the most unmasculine curve of her buttocks. Pushing the back of the shirt up to her shoulders, he located the flat knot securing the linen bands, craftily tucked under one arm. The knot was well and truly tight. Jack swore as he tugged and fumbled, fingers brushing skin that felt like cool silk and burned like a brand. By the time the knot finally gave, he’d exhausted his repertoire of curses, something he’d hitherto believed impossible.
He sat on the edge of the bed, garnering strength for the next move, willing his mind not to see the beauty revealed to his senses, the slim back, delicate shoulder blades sheathed in ivory silk. With slow deliberation, he loosened the bindings and shifted them until they gave. Quickly, he pulled the shirt back down, wisely refraining from tucking it in and, rising, turned Kit onto her back once more.
Almost immediately, her breathing deepened. Within a minute, her color improved, but still she didn’t stir. Resigned to more waiting, Jack drifted to the table and pulled out a chair. Leaning back, he gazed broodingly at his unconscious visitor. He reached for the brandy bottle.