Read Online The Rebel Spy by April London - Free Book Online

appearance of the other man shocked her.
    “Come along, ladies.” George offered his elbow gently to Tabitha. He smiled and nodded to Tamsyn. “The mighty Union officers will escort you home.”
    General Steele led them to where the horses were tethered. Tamsyn recognized his mare by the markings on her head. She nickered at her owner’s approach. George lifted Tabitha onto his own horse with care before he swung up and settled in behind her.
    General Steele pulled his mare free from the post and crooked his finger at Tamsyn. Tamsyn bit her lip and took a deep breath before she approached him. The anger lines etched into his face concerned her.
    She kept her chin up.
    “Do not put yourself in a situation like that again,” General Steele ordered. His voice was soft and his hands encircled her waist.
    “General, he assaulted her. I couldn’t just—”
    “I know.” He lifted her onto his mare. “Do not put yourself in a situation like that again. Come to me and follow the chain of command.” He swung into the saddle behind her.
    “Will he follow us?” Tabitha’s voice betrayed her fear.
    “Not if he knows what’s good for him,” George answered. Charm oozed from the man who held Tabitha on the horse before him. Tamsyn lost their conversation when General Steele slowed his horse and put space between them.
    She worried over the steady tick in his jaw and reached up to smooth her fingers over the muscle.
    “Please don’t be angry with me. If I embarrassed you, I apologize. But I could not allow his abuse of her to go further.”
    He smiled. “You have grit.”
    His compliment made her smile in return.
    “How old are you, Tamsyn?”
    His question caught her by surprise. “Twenty-eight.” She recalled her last birthday passed without notice. Ben didn’t like to celebrate birthdays. Pointless frivolity. No one needs to celebrate getting older.
    “And you?” She turned his question back on him.
    “Thirty-six.” His breath warm against her ear. The mare picked her own casual pace in the dark. “Where did you learn the ballad you sang the other night?”
    Her face flushed hot. She hadn’t known anyone could hear her. “My Mama sang it when I was a child.” Tamsyn remembered her mother’s clear voice singing the song at dinner parties.
    “James, the girl says we must take the left fork,” George called back at the split in the main road. Tamsyn’s cabin was down the right fork.
    “Can you carry her home, George?” General Steele asked. “Have a word with her mother.”
    George nodded and urged his horse into a canter, fading into the dark.
    “General, shouldn’t we go with them? Or Tabitha come home with me? Won’t he be looking for her?”
    “First, please, call me James.”
    “All right, James, shouldn’t we go with them?”
    His laughter vibrated against her back.
    “What’s so funny?”
    “I like the way my name rolls off your tongue,” he replied. They neared her cabin. Its shadow outlined in the dark. “And no, George will take care of Tabitha. I don’t think Waxman will bother her anymore. It’s you I’m concerned about.”
    She bit her lip and dared to ask. “Why?”
    “You embarrassed him pretty damn good.” He swung down, off the horse. “You threatened to plunge a knife into his…” He paused and tilted his head. The soft voices of Davis and Knowles drifted out of the cabin into the night air. He reached up and gripped her waist to help her slid down the horse.
    Her hands held tight to his shoulders. Heat pulsed off of his body and he held her there.
    When she looked up, his face hovered just a moment over her own before he captured her lips with his.
    Her eyes closed and she melted against him. His hands crushed her against his body, and he deepened the kiss.
    His tongue teased her lips before it plunged into her mouth.
    Her body shuddered and her nails dug into his shoulders. Moisture dampened her thighs and sent a shock into her mind.
    Tamsyn broke the kiss on a