Read Online Smuggler's Kiss by Marie-Louise Jensen - Free Book Online Page B

back on,’ he said at last, and turned away.
    As I pulled the scratchy fabric over my blistered feet, I found my eyes blurring with tears. This was all so unfair. How had I fallen into such a nightmare? I followed Will without further complaint. We crossed fields and sheltered in a small wood for a time. I dozed off again and when I awoke, the brightness had faded from the sky.
    ‘Come on,’ Will said when he saw I was awake once more. ‘We’ve a long way to go yet.’
    I got up, my body stiff and sore from the unaccustomed exercise and stretched. Will walked swiftly, while I kept up as best I could. We skirted settlements, kept to tracks across fields and among trees. He took routes that seemed to involve climbing hundreds of dry-stone walls. The rough stone scratched my hands, and my arms and shoulders ached. The ground was uneven and my boots rubbed my feet raw. Brambles clawed at me, and every muscle in my body cried out. In the end I was keeping going more by guess than anything else. I walked into gorse bushes several times. A pothole in the road caught me unawares; it caught my foot and twisted my ankle. I fell with a cry, tearing hands and knees on the rough ground.
    Will halted ahead of me, looking back, waiting for me to get to my feet. When I didn’t, he turned back and crouched beside me. Tears of pain and exhaustion were starting in my eyes. Lacking a pocket handkerchief, I swiped them away with my sleeve.
    ‘It’s only a few minutes to the next stop,’ Will told me.
    ‘I can’t take another step,’ I told him weakly. He took hold of my arms and hauled me to my feet.
    ‘Oh, my ankle! Ouch!’ I cried as I tried to put it to the ground.
    ‘Best to walk on it straight away,’ said Will unfeelingly. ‘Resting it makes it worse. You can lean on me.’
    He offered his arm, but I pushed it away. I hobbled along beside him, sniffing, feeling sorry for myself. It wasn’t long before we reached a farm. Dusk had fallen in earnest now, but Will clearly knew his way through the gloom. He led me along a rough path to a barn, where, after a quick glance around, he pulled me inside. It was a lofty building, stacked high with the autumn stocks of hay and straw. A sweet, dusty smell pervaded it, reminding me of the barns at home. I paused a moment to sniff, but Will pushed me on to a ladder.
    ‘Climb up,’ he ordered me.
    ‘Why?’
    ‘Just do as you’re asked for once.’
    I didn’t suspect him of any amorous intent, so I climbed up. Once we reached the hayloft, I found I’d been quite right about Will. Far from attempting to embrace me, he dropped the sack, extracted a length of rope from it, grasped my wrists and bound them behind my back. I was too surprised to prevent him.
    ‘What do you think you are doing?’ I demanded indignantly.
    ‘Making sure you’re still here when I get back,’ Will replied.
    I started to fight him. ‘Back from where? Don’t tie me!’ I begged him, struggling and wriggling, but the rope was already tight.
    ‘I have someone to see and your company would be highly inconvenient,’ Will said, pulling me across the loft so that my back was to a post. ‘In other words: none of your business.’ He swiftly looped the rope around the post and made it fast.
    ‘You’re a …  scoundrel !’ I cried, thinking of the worst word I could. ‘A blackguard! How dare you do this to me?’
    ‘It’s more a matter of not daring to leave you untied, dear heart,’ said Will with a grin. I aimed a kick at him which caught him on the ankle, but he just laughed. ‘I’m sorry, really I am. But I have no choice. I won’t be long.’
    He turned and descended the ladder swiftly. ‘Don’t you dare leave me here!’ I yelled. ‘Don’t you dare ! I’ll scream the place down! I’m warning you!’ When I got no response I began to yell: ‘Help! Help me! I’m tied up in the barn … HELP!’
    Will’s face appeared at the top of the ladder again, his expression reproachful. For a