Forbidden (Scandalous Sirens) by Tracy Cooper-Posey, Julia Templeton Page B

seven.” She reached up and caressed his jaw. “Truly, I am fine.”
    Relief swept through him and the release of tension was so great he was dizzy with it. He swallowed. “For my sake, Elisa, please don’t do that again.”
    She was gazing at him, a gentle, knowing smile on her perfectly formed lips. “I won’t,” she assured him. She looked past his shoulder.
    “Vaughn, is Madame Elisa hurt?”
    Natasha.
    “She’s fine,” he told her shortly, keeping his face averted from her.
    He grew aware of the horse, then. It was grunting and squealing, over by the wall. And it was lying on its side, in writhing agony.
    Sad pity touched him. “Natasha, you must go back to the house. Quickly now.”
    Elisa caught at his sleeve and turned her face into his chest with a little moan. She knew what must be done.
    “Why?” Natasha asked, puzzled.
    “Get Joshua. Tell him to fetch my father’s hunting gun. Please hurry.”
    “I don’t understand.”
    “Oh my goodness—I saw her fall! Elisa, my dear!” It was Caroline, hurrying as fast as her skirts would allow .
    The noises the horse was making were distressing. Vaughn couldn’t spare time to explain unpleasant facts to Natasha. He looked at the older woman, instead. “Caroline. Please, most quickly, you must take your daughter inside. Fetch Joshua, or the first manservant you find out here with my father’s rifle.”
    “But…Elisa?” Caroline asked.
    “She’s fine. Please, hurry.”
    Caroline grasped her daughter’s arm. “Come, dear,” she coaxed as Natasha stood staring at Vaughn and the woman in his arms.
    Movement behind Caroline caught his eye. Vaughn shifted a little to see behind her.
    It was Rufus, stalking towards them as fast as his short legs would carry him. His face was a deep, angry red and his eyes…
    Vaughn shivered. Rufus had the eyes of a man going mad. His gaze was locked unwaveringly on Elisa and him.
    Alarm gripped him. What was Rufus about to do? Almost instinctively, Vaughn shifted Elisa’s weight to one arm, freeing his right arm.
    Rufus strode straight past Caroline, who was still coaxing the reluctant Natasha inside. As he brushed past them, he reached into his jacket. He pulled out a silver pistol and cocked it.
    Vaughn’s mind tried to deal with the shocking possibility that Rufus would simply shoot him where he knelt and Elisa, too. His left arm tightened around her, as he scrambled to think of a way out of this. But Rufus was moving too fast and his wild expression said he would not be reasoned with. Not now.
    Vaughn took a deep breath as Rufus reached them, ready to spring up and stand between Elisa and the little man, but instead of raising the pistol and aiming at him, Rufus kept walking straight past them.
    Vaughn turned his head to follow Rufus as the man walked straight up to the kicking, screaming horse, pointed the gun at the horse’s head. He did not wait to aim, or brace himself. He simply fired, his set expression and wild eyes not changing one iota.
    The horse went still.
    Natasha screamed and Vaughn heard the rustle of skirts and a soft thump behind him. She’d fainted.
    “Oh my…” Caroline said, her voice weak.
    Elisa’s hand on his arm tightened its grip. “Oh god, Vaughn…what have I done?” she whispered. “He will kill us both.”
    Before he could form an answer, Rufus swung back to face them. He walked towards them, the smoking gun hanging from his hand. He came right up to them, staring down at Elisa. The legs of his fawn pants were splattered in blood.
    “I told you I didn’t want you riding,” he said, his voice very calm. His mouth pulled back in a smile. “I always get my way, do you see?” He stared at Vaughn as he placed the pistol back in his jacket.
    Elisa trembled against him as he stared up at his father.
    Rufus grinned again, the expression one of wolfish pleasure. Then he turned and walked back to the house with the same direct gait as before, straight past Caroline where she was