Read Online If You Give a Rake a Ruby by Shana Galen - Free Book Online Page A

shook her harder. “Fallon, get up. They’re coming for us.”
    She forced her eyes open. The task felt monumental. She could have sworn something was holding her eyelids down. “Wha…”
    Fitzhugh was staring down at her. He had a leaf in his hair and a smear of dirt on one cheek. The dirt looked pretty good on him. She reached up, and he caught her hands, pulling her upward. She resisted. She didn’t want to stand. She wanted to continue to lie here in the cool night and sleep. She was so weary.
    â€œFallon.” His voice had an edge of concern now that pricked her and made her open her eyes again. It was slightly easier this time. “Can you rise? If not, I shall have to carry you, and that will slow us considerably.” He looked over his shoulder, and she glanced that way as well. In the distance, she heard the clatter of approaching horses.
    â€œYou pushed me.”
    â€œI was trying to save you.”
    â€œAnd now?”
    â€œI’m still trying. They’re coming for us. We must go or we’ll be killed. Or worse.”
    Worse. She had lived enough life to know there were many things worse than death. She tried to sit, found the task all but impossible, and grudgingly accepted Fitzhugh’s aid. She wobbled to her feet and felt like retching. The world was spinning and tumbling.
    â€œLet’s go.” Fitzhugh took her hand and pulled her behind him. She stumbled after him, not because she wanted to but because he really gave her no choice. She was vaguely aware that she was in pain. She couldn’t quite pinpoint where the pain was localized—everything seemed to hurt—but she knew it wasn’t good. She finally had the wherewithal to look about and saw Fitzhugh was pulling her toward a copse of trees. She didn’t recognize the park, but at least the trees were close together, making them inaccessible to a carriage and providing the two of them some darkness in which to hide.
    Fitzhugh glanced over his shoulder again, and she made the mistake of glancing too. The carriage was bearing down on them, its four horses foaming at the mouth from their exertions and the coachman whipping them all the harder. Fallon cursed Fitzhugh and then pushed her leaden legs faster. She was running beside him now.
    â€œThere,” he said, pointing to a dark opening between two large trees. “Head for those trees.” He didn’t even sound winded. Fallon’s breath came short and shallow, and she felt as though her lungs would explode. Meanwhile, the man beside her was sprinting along as though he did this nightly.
    Fallon could feel the ground shaking beneath her feet, and the roar of the horses’ hooves all but deafened her. She was too afraid to look over her shoulder and she could not run any faster. Something warm tickled her neck as the horses gained on them. And then, at the last moment, when she was certain she would be trampled, Fitzhugh gave her a hard shove, sending her flying into the safety of the darkness.
    ***
    Warrick rolled to a stop, lifted his head, and watched as the coachman did his best to control the horses. The turn was steep, and the horses screamed in protest. As it was, the carriage bounced against one of the trees, rocking it and sending a shower of leaves and branches on his head.
    The carriage flew away, but he knew it would be back. He and Fallon had to get out of here. Under the canopy of trees, the night was dark and he had not seen where she landed. “Fallon?” he hissed.
    No answer.
    â€œFallon!” he called louder. It would take a moment for the carriage to return, and until then, its occupants could not hear him.
    Still nothing. Where the devil was she? He stood and surveyed the darkness around him, his eyes gradually adjusting. She couldn’t be far. He would find her if he did a quick perimeter search, but he really didn’t believe he even had the time for that much.
    â€œFallon, goddamn