Lovers Forever by Shirlee Busbee Page A

apparition had grabbed.
    As Tess and Fireball fought to escape the relentless grip on the reins, another figure appeared on their other side, and a second later Tess was swept effortlessly off the plunging horse. She struggled like a wild thing, her clenched fists beating against the powerful figure that held her. Despite her efforts she was easily subdued, as one big hand held her wrists together and a heavy arm lay against her breasts.
    â€œWell, bugger me blind!” a coarse voice ground out near her ear. “It’s a female!”
    â€œDon’t matter!” his companion replied testily. “It’s the bloody horse we want! Knock the mort in the head and let’s get out of here!”
    Tess realized that she had fallen into the hands of a pair of smugglers procuring horses to transport their illegal goods to London. Then a flash of lightning gave her a glimpse of a third man joining the other two, a tall, slim figure wearing a many-caped greatcoat, his face and hair hidden by his hat and muffler. The stunning notion crossed her mind that she was in the presence of a gentleman.
    Her suspicion was confirmed when the greatcoated figure said in a cultured voice full of ice, “You fools! I thought the point of this undertaking was to avoid detection! I’m certain there must be plenty of other horses, horses whose owners are safely asleep in their beds, that will serve our purpose. We are not so desperate that we need to attack travelers and steal their mounts!”
    â€œIt’s a good horse, a blooded animal, Mr. Brown,” sullenly replied the man who held a nervously dancing Fireball. “We thought it’d be good to have a fast horse, if the dragoons was to come after us.”
    â€œYou thought, ” came the scathing retort. “I doubt that you are capable of even that much brain activity.”
    In the rainy darkness Tess could tell very little, but she suddenly had the impression that the man called Mr. Brown was looking in her direction. Instinctively she shrank against her big captor, thinking she’d rather be subject to his rough mercy than that of the “gentleman” who spoke with such open contempt to his companions.
    â€œWell, go ahead,” the arrogant voice said. “Before any more damage is done—get rid of her!”
    Terrified, Tess renewed her struggles to escape. There was a wild flurry of violent motion that ended when pain suddenly exploded in the back of her head and a heavy blackness rushed up to meet her. Knocked unconscious by the man in the greatcoat, she slumped pitifully against the smuggler who had first caught her.
    â€œYou didn’t have to hit the little thing that hard. You might have killed her,” grumbled the big man who held her.
    Lightning lit the blackness, and the man in the greatcoat stared dispassionately down into Tess’s pale, lovely features. “I intended to—we don’t need any witnesses, especially with you two dolts calling out my name every second! Leave her somewhere out of sight and let us be gone from here. We’ve wasted enough time as it is.”
    Lifting up Tess’s limp form, the big smuggler disappeared between the hedgerows and laid her beneath a huge oak. If she was alive, he thought, she was going to have the devil’s own headache when she woke.
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    When she finally regained consciousness many hours later, Tess felt half dead. Her head ached abominably, she was starving, her clothes clung wetly to her, and as she sat up and looked around groggily, she had absolutely no idea where she was. With a groan, she sank slowly back against the ground, wondering bitterly if she should be grateful that she was alive.
    Squinting up at the gray, cloudy sky and the position of the watery sun above her, she realized that it was well past midday. From the appearance of the sky, she concluded gloomily that another storm was in the offing. Struggling once again into a sitting