Page 18 of Jack (Highland Outlaws #1)

Throw back your hood , her thoughts commanded. Claim me as yours!

Still, the monk did not break his solemnity.

Hugh crossed to her side. “Are you hurt? Can you not walk?”

Mayhap her heart played with her mind. Mayhap the man across from her was a monk, and in desperation she had imagined Jack’s voice. She swallowed her hope and turned to face Hugh. His fine blue eyes held nothing but tenderness and concern. She tried to speak, but the words stuck in her dry throat.

“My flask,” Hugh called to his servant, who hastened to carry out his bidding.

She closed her eyes and allowed him to tip the vessel to her lips. The rush of liquid brought her throat back to life. At last, she found the will to answer his question. “I am well, my lord.”

He smiled with relief. “You cannot imagine my fear. Word of the attack arrived just after midnight.” He stroked his fingers down her cheek.

“I thought I would never see you again.” She dropped her eyes in shame.

Hugh was all things decent and good, her dearest friend from youth.

Why could she find no love for him in her heart?

“Come, my darling,” he said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “I will take you home.”

She nodded, allowing him to draw her forward. As she stepped past the monk, she let her handkerchief drop from her fingertips at his feet. Gaze downcast, she watched strong fingers dart out from long black sleeves to seize it.

Jack.

Her chest tightened. She could not breathe.

Her legs trembled, ready to give way. Hugh’s arm came under her knees and lifted her, holding her close.

He pressed a kiss to her brow. “I am here now,” he whispered.

“You need not fear, not anymore.” He passed one of his guards.

She listened numbly to his command. “Take four men and ride with the monks to Berwick. Lord Redesdale and I will hear their testimony. The rest of you ride with me.” He set her on the saddle, then swung up behind her.

His horse leapt forward as they galloped away.

Hugh held her close. “I know your heart as well as my own, Bella. I will take you away from here and back to Berwick as fast as my horse will ride.”

Fresh tears filled her eyes. Regarding the contents of her heart, Hugh could not have been more wrong.

JACK REMAINED MOTIONLESS , his head bowed as if in solemn prayer, despite how he yearned to cast aside the monk’s cloak and chase after Bella and her betrothed. His chest tightened. That fiend of a lord had called her Bella.

But she was his Bella.

Jack clenched his fingers into tight fists as the truth penetrated his thoughts. She was not his Bella, not really. Apparently, she belonged to another man.

Silently, he cursed himself for not recognizing this earlier. Of course, she was betrothed. After all, she was a lady with title and duty.

What had he been thinking?

Well, that was just it—he hadn’t been thinking, only feeling, yearning for a woman who had no business even talking to the likes of him. Despite her mother’s humble birth, she was still English nobility.

He glanced down at the handkerchief in his hand and stroked his thumb over the “B” elaborately embroidered with silver thread.

“So, Saint Peter is now Brother Peter.”

Jack’s shoulders stiffened. It was Abbot Matthew who had spoken. He lifted his head and cast off the black hood. Cool, spring air swept over his neck and ears, exposed now by his newly shorn hair.

“Good morrow, Abbot.”

The older man gestured to the seat beside him. Jack stood and climbed onto the driver’s seat. The abbot snapped the reins, and they set off toward Berwick with the English guards in the lead.

“How long have ye known it was me?” Jack asked.

The abbot raised a brow at him. “I know every member of my order at a glance, even with their hoods drawn.”

Jack dipped his head to show that he knew he had underestimated his old friend.

“Anyway, ye’re twice the size of any monk I’ve ever known,” the abbot said, chuckling. “So, which of yer brothers is back there?”

A smile tugged at Jack’s lips. “Quinn.”

“I suspected as much,” the abbot said. “Saint Augustine is now Brother Augustine.” He shook his head. “Ye ken Bishop Lamberton will not like this.”

Jack shrugged. “It could not be helped.”

“Then ye’ve decided to fight for her?”

Jack looked the abbot hard in the eye. “I’m not leaving Berwick without her, even if I have to abduct her again.”

The abbot nodded slowly. “What made ye change yer mind?”

“Rose,” he answered. “When I told her how I felt about Bella, she said I was a daft idiot to let her go.”

The abbot expelled a slow breath before asking, “Do ye truly believe there is a chance that the lady returns yer affections?”

Jack looked down and ran his thumb across the “B” on the handkerchief she dropped at his feet. “Aye, I do.”

“I suspected as much,” Abbot Matthew said, shaking his head. “This is risky and ill-advised, Jack. I would try to dissuade ye from it, but I ken ‘tis a lost cause. Anyway, I know better than to disagree with Rose when it comes to ye lot.”

They rode in silence for a while. The only sound was the clip-clopping of hooves on the dirt road.

Jack’s mind raced with thoughts of Bella, her beauty, her courage, and her strength.

He could not bear the thought of her belonging to another man, especially not some pompous lord who could never appreciate her true worth.

He looked at the road ahead and then at the tired team of donkeys, easing them forward at a snail’s pace. “Could we go any faster?”

The abbot pulled a little on the reins, slowing their progress. “The wait is yer penance for lying to me and stowing away on my wagon.”

Jack seized the reins from the abbot’s hands. “I’ll go to confession,” he said and snapped them hard against the donkeys’ backs. They surged forward. He glanced sidelong at the abbot, who was shaking his head in disapproval. “Forgive me, old friend, but I’ve a prize to steal.”

The abbot chuckled. “Aye, and what a prize she is.” He leaned back in his seat. “Since I can see there’s no stopping ye, I might as well be on yer side. After all, ye’ve risked yer life for a higher cause for years. And what cause is more worthy than love?”

Jack’s thoughts flew back to Bella. She was a force of nature, a passionate, spirited woman who longed to defy convention to follow her heart. She was not just another lady to be married off for the benefit of her family.

The wagon shook as they hit a rut in the road, jolting Jack back to reality. He tightened his grip on the reins and urged the donkeys on. He knew the risks of what he was about to do, but he could not let her go, not without a fight.