Come the Night (The Dangerous Delameres - Book 1) by Christina Skye Page A

about him! Hadn’t the woman any idea what risks she was running?
    She blinked. “Feel … strange.”
    Before Blackwood could start hammering the sense she needed into that lovely, stubborn head of hers, Silver gave a little sigh and collapsed. Straight into his arms. The brandy she’d drunk had finally taken effect.
    Cursing, Blackwood caught her up and carried her toward the door. At least now he knew what had been in that glass of hers.
    He surveyed the hall, which was blessedly empty for once. There was nothing for it but to take her back to her farm. He certainly couldn’t leave her here. She’d be perfect prey for some drunken sot on the prowl for a night’s pleasure.
    Like you? a cynical voice whispered.
    “Hell no, not like me!” Blackwood muttered guiltily.
    This was the end, the absolute end of his involvement with the woman. He’d dump her at the foot of her lane and wash his hands of her. And after that he was going to put Silver St. Clair out of his mind forever.
     
     

~  9   ~
     

     
    Silver awoke with a lurch.
    Cold air washed over her face, making her head spin. She sat up groggily, wondering why her throat felt like it was full of Cromwell’s hair.
    Cracking one eye open, she saw the outline of a carriage. Dark earth raced past beneath the wheels.
    With a groan she shut her eyes. If feeling like this was part of a life of ill fame, she wanted none of it!
    Blackwood must have carried her out to her gig. Silver knew she ought to thank him, but she refused to. She didn’t want to be beholden to him or to anyone else!
    “Stop this minute! Where are you taking me?”
    “Home,” Blackwood growled. “Where you belong. Maybe someone will have sense enough to make you stay there.”
    “I can’t go home. Not yet.” Silver winced as the sound of her voice made her head throb. “Ohhh…”
    “Sit back,” Blackwood said gruffly. “You drank nearly half a bottle of brandy. Your head is going to hurt like the very devil in the morning.”
    “It already does,” Silver said irritably.
    “Serves you right.” Blackwood turned around from the front seat. His eyes were measuring as he brushed a strand of hair from her face.
    A queer heat invaded Silver’s chest. When he looked at her that way, when he touched her so carefully…
    She frowned, belatedly realizing what he’d said. “Brandy? That was brandy I drank?” Her eyes narrowed. “Just how long was I out? And what did you do while I slept?”
    “You can’t remember?” Blackwood gave a silken laugh. “I thought you were looking for a man to ruin you, Sunbeam. Wasn’t that the job you offered me?”
    Silver felt her face go crimson. “Of course it was. But it was only to be an act!”
    “An act? Not many men would hear an offer like that and take it for anything but the truth. Yes, I’d say with an offer like that, it would be real or nothing.”
    Hardness filled his voice. And with it came the same hunger Silver had heard the night before upon the heath. It had left her breathless and uncertain then.
    It did the same thing to her now.
    Blast the man! She wasn’t about to fall for his tricks or his damnable charm. Not that he had so very much charm, so far as she could see. Oh, last night she’d thought him bold and cool and — well, wonderful.
    But no more.
    Tonight she’d seen his arrogance and his highhandedness. She wasn’t about to turn craven and take orders just because he was a man and thought he knew best.
    It was business and nothing more between them. But before she could speak, the highwayman turned away and laughed harshly. “There’s a lesson for you, my love. Be more careful what you wish for or you just might get it.”
    The insolent man! Silver fingered the pistol in her boot. She thought longingly about sending a bullet through his back.
    But she couldn’t, of course. Uncle Archibald had taught her to observe proper sporting behavior. It simply wasn’t done to shoot an unarmed man — certainly not in the