Read Online Wicked Lord: Part One by Shirl Anders - Free Book Online
Authors: Shirl Anders
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Trinity warned.
"Nay, brother." Christian laughed. "Just
take my jacket, will you?"
Christian tossed the jacket toward him, and
Trinity caught it. "Thank you."
His direction was his horse and he heard
Christian speaking loudly to him, "When you see to the lady's
welfare, see that the brother fairs well too."
Trinity raised a hand aloft as he ran, in
acknowledgment of Christian's request. At least one brother didn't
find his sudden urges strange and unfathomable.
***
Beth felt pain stabbing across her back, and
she didn't understand how she'd not felt it in the woods before.
Vicious eyes like the inky, black depths of a lightless pool
flashed through her mind and she gasped, remembering the pain of
the slashing cut. But after …
After that, she only remembered the dark and
mystifying Lord Trinity. She shuddered against Adam as he carried
her and he chased after … Beth tried to make her mind focus, but it
was so hard and she desperately wanted to go to sleep. She wanted
to hide from everything that was so horrible. If only the pain
would let her sleep.
"Beth!" Adam looked down at Beth jostling in
his arms. She'd gone limp and he could see her eyes were closed. He
knew enough from classes he'd taken at the university to know she
was still in physical danger. She was so cold, combined with
shaking, and the presence of some wound he'd heard Lord Trinity
speak of that could put Beth into shock’s clutches.
"Damnation!" Adam shouted. "If this is how
you treat your friends in need, I'd not want your friendship. My
god, Lady Ariel, she's passed out and needs our help
desperately!"
Adam gasped a labored breath of relief when
he saw Lady Ariel finally stop running away. She'd nearly made it
to the steps at the back of the mansion before she turned back.
"Thank god," he heaved, slowing his pace
slightly to intercept Lady Ariel as she hurried back to them. He
could see Lady Ariel was shuddering in the cold night air in her
inadequate ball gown and her once perfectly-styled blond hair had
fallen about her bare shoulders.
"Beth!" Lady Ariel exclaimed with her small
hand reaching up to touch Beth's cheek. There were tears in Lady
Ariel's eyes. "She has to be all right." She looked up at him
beseechingly.
"She will be," he reassured her, when for
some odd reason he'd been so angry at her moments before. "We need
our carriage. She needs a blanket and warmth," he stated, starting
forward again, and then he asked, "Were you with Lord Fanton? Is he
still here? Gads, I hope he's not taken the carriage."
"He wanted me to play some silly game out in
the gardens and it was so dark," Lady Ariel said out of breath
beside him, trying to keep up. "I-I," she stuttered, and then she
seemed to force herself to blurt, "I left him …" Her voice trailed
off.
Adam came around the side of the mansion and
he saw the line of resting carriages. Good god, he thought, how
hard would it be to identify theirs? "A game?" he asked,
distracted, as he looked at the line of dark carriages, trying
without luck to pick out any defining characteristics. There had to
be well over thirty.
"A courting game," she answered
breathlessly, stopping beside where he'd stopped. Her words jerked
his attention back. It was too dark to tell, but he was certain
Lady Ariel blushed. She hurried on, saying, "But for the longest
time I couldn't find you or Beth. I search the entire ball, but
then a servant boy said you'd gone to the gardens … S-So I braved
them again … for Beth." Lady Ariel patted Beth's shoulder. "Has he
hurt her terribly?" she asked in an agonized murmur.
Adam had turned his eyes back toward the
carriages again, distracted at Lady Ariel's long explanation. He
saw a carriage pulling out of line and a footman jumping off the
back to come towards them. What miracle was this?
"He might have tried to kill her out there
in those woods," Adam muttered, glancing down at Beth limp in his
arms. He really had no idea of the impact of his words. "I
"Nay, brother." Christian laughed. "Just
take my jacket, will you?"
Christian tossed the jacket toward him, and
Trinity caught it. "Thank you."
His direction was his horse and he heard
Christian speaking loudly to him, "When you see to the lady's
welfare, see that the brother fairs well too."
Trinity raised a hand aloft as he ran, in
acknowledgment of Christian's request. At least one brother didn't
find his sudden urges strange and unfathomable.
***
Beth felt pain stabbing across her back, and
she didn't understand how she'd not felt it in the woods before.
Vicious eyes like the inky, black depths of a lightless pool
flashed through her mind and she gasped, remembering the pain of
the slashing cut. But after …
After that, she only remembered the dark and
mystifying Lord Trinity. She shuddered against Adam as he carried
her and he chased after … Beth tried to make her mind focus, but it
was so hard and she desperately wanted to go to sleep. She wanted
to hide from everything that was so horrible. If only the pain
would let her sleep.
"Beth!" Adam looked down at Beth jostling in
his arms. She'd gone limp and he could see her eyes were closed. He
knew enough from classes he'd taken at the university to know she
was still in physical danger. She was so cold, combined with
shaking, and the presence of some wound he'd heard Lord Trinity
speak of that could put Beth into shock’s clutches.
"Damnation!" Adam shouted. "If this is how
you treat your friends in need, I'd not want your friendship. My
god, Lady Ariel, she's passed out and needs our help
desperately!"
Adam gasped a labored breath of relief when
he saw Lady Ariel finally stop running away. She'd nearly made it
to the steps at the back of the mansion before she turned back.
"Thank god," he heaved, slowing his pace
slightly to intercept Lady Ariel as she hurried back to them. He
could see Lady Ariel was shuddering in the cold night air in her
inadequate ball gown and her once perfectly-styled blond hair had
fallen about her bare shoulders.
"Beth!" Lady Ariel exclaimed with her small
hand reaching up to touch Beth's cheek. There were tears in Lady
Ariel's eyes. "She has to be all right." She looked up at him
beseechingly.
"She will be," he reassured her, when for
some odd reason he'd been so angry at her moments before. "We need
our carriage. She needs a blanket and warmth," he stated, starting
forward again, and then he asked, "Were you with Lord Fanton? Is he
still here? Gads, I hope he's not taken the carriage."
"He wanted me to play some silly game out in
the gardens and it was so dark," Lady Ariel said out of breath
beside him, trying to keep up. "I-I," she stuttered, and then she
seemed to force herself to blurt, "I left him …" Her voice trailed
off.
Adam came around the side of the mansion and
he saw the line of resting carriages. Good god, he thought, how
hard would it be to identify theirs? "A game?" he asked,
distracted, as he looked at the line of dark carriages, trying
without luck to pick out any defining characteristics. There had to
be well over thirty.
"A courting game," she answered
breathlessly, stopping beside where he'd stopped. Her words jerked
his attention back. It was too dark to tell, but he was certain
Lady Ariel blushed. She hurried on, saying, "But for the longest
time I couldn't find you or Beth. I search the entire ball, but
then a servant boy said you'd gone to the gardens … S-So I braved
them again … for Beth." Lady Ariel patted Beth's shoulder. "Has he
hurt her terribly?" she asked in an agonized murmur.
Adam had turned his eyes back toward the
carriages again, distracted at Lady Ariel's long explanation. He
saw a carriage pulling out of line and a footman jumping off the
back to come towards them. What miracle was this?
"He might have tried to kill her out there
in those woods," Adam muttered, glancing down at Beth limp in his
arms. He really had no idea of the impact of his words. "I
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