Read Online Along Came a Rogue by Anna Harrington - Free Book Online Page A

pulling at the hem of her robe. It fell open around her legs and revealed just the tips of her bare toes beneath, but he wished it would open further so he could see exactly how long those legs of hers had become. “He told stories about all the trouble you two got into, what Spain looks like…Sometimes he complained about the food or the weather, but he never mentioned the fighting.”
    “Real heroes seldom talk about what they do in battle.” In his experience, it was the men who saw very little action who told the most stories, their tales always exaggerated and usually lies. Most likely it was because men who had truly seen the fires of battle never wanted to experience them again, not even as memories.
    “Thomas was a hero, then?” she asked quietly.
    “The bravest of the Scarlet Scoundrels,” he assured her. Then he couldn’t resist adding with a grin, “Except for me, of course.”
    But this time she didn’t laugh at his teasing. Instead, she kept her eyes lowered as she twisted her fingers in the folds of her robe. “What happened to him, Grey?”
    She meant the robbery, of course, but the solemnity in her voice made him wonder if she didn’t mean something more. “He was walking in Mayfair,” he began reluctantly. Her brother should have been the one to share this with her, but if he wanted to convince her to leave with him tomorrow, then he knew he had to tell her the grisly details tonight. “He’d been to Strathmore House, and on his way home, he was stopped by a footpad.”
    Her hand trembled, so he reached slowly to enfold it beneath his. He half expected her to pull away again, but she didn’t move except to draw a deep breath to steady herself.
    “The man shot him.” When he felt her flinch, he tightened his hold on her hand. “The bullet entered his side, right here.” He tapped his left side with his free hand. “He lost a lot of blood, so much that he didn’t wake for nearly three days, and when he did, he was feverish, delirious…None of the doctors thought he would live.” In a low voice, he admitted guiltily, “Neither did I.”
    Her fingers tightened gently around his to reassure and comfort, as if she knew he shared her pain.
    “Thomas wants to see you.” He squeezed her hand. “Whatever’s come between you two, you need to put it aside. For him.”
    For a moment, she didn’t move, didn’t respond, only stared at him in the flickering shadows of the dying firelight. Then she stood and slipped her hand from his as she walked away.
    *  *  *
    Emily stared down into the fire, this time not finding the energy to stir the flames. She was trembling again, not from the grief of knowing how Thomas had been hurt but from the agony of not being able to see him. And she wanted to— oh God , how much she wanted that! But she couldn’t see him, not when her presence might very well endanger his life.
    She inhaled deeply. Grey was waiting for her to explain. She could feel the heat of his gaze on her back, just as she could still feel the tingling in her fingers where he’d held them. Just holding his hand had given her more comfort than she’d felt since her wedding, and when the warmth and strength of him flowed into her, she’d almost let herself believe that everything could be all right again.
    If she’d felt that much comfort from merely holding his hand, then how soothing would it be to be held in his arms, kissed, touched—
    “Emily,” his deep voice murmured at her shoulder, sending a warm pulse down her spine.
    She gasped. He’d moved so silently she hadn’t heard him approach.
    “Are you all right?” he asked, his voice thick with concern. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
    “You didn’t,” she assured him. But he did. Just his presence here upset her, tearing her between lying to keep him safe and wanting desperately to confide in him, between wanting him to leave and wanting him to wrap his arms around her to hold her close.
    Now, with his body near