Blood Blade Sisters Series (32 page)

Brynne scuttled up the stairs. The door was propped open with a box. She squeezed through the narrow opening, not wanting to open the door any farther than they already had it. She crept as close as she dared to the voices, darting behind whatever stacks of contraband that she could. She drew close to some sort of office. There were no windows looking in, but the door was ajar. Brynne tried to see inside, but ducked back behind her stack of crates when the door flew open.

Two men came out, one decidedly more scruffy than the other, his face unshaven, hair sticking out every which way. The other might have looked at home at a society function. His clothes were fashionable, if a bit threadbare. He must be the front man, the one who did the face-to-face dealings. He’d certainly make prospective buyers a little less nervous than the other man.

Sitting near the door was a small stack of boxes. The more gentlemanly man closed the door behind him. “Make sure those are ready to go tomorrow night. Only bring two of them. If the doc wants the rest of them, he’ll have to double his offer.”

Scruffy man laughed. “I’ll have everything ready.”

“Come on, hurry up. It’s late.” The gentleman waited impatiently by the door leading outside.

Brynne held her breath. As soon as the goons left, she could creep into the office, take the clinic’s supplies back, and none would be the wiser.

“I’m coming.” Scruffy said. He started toward the man by the door.

“Did you lock it?”

“Why bother? No one knows it’s here and we’ll be back soon anyway.”

“You know the rules. Lock it up.”

Scruffy huffed and pulled out a key. “Damn waste of time if you ask me.”

“Well, no one was asking you. Just do it and let’s get out of here.”

Damn. Not that something as trivial as a locked door would stop her. But it would have made her life a lot easier had they left it open.

Scruffy locked the door and left the warehouse with the other man. Brynne waited a few moments to be sure she was alone and then hurried to the office door. She only had a few minutes until Taggart came looking for her. Though how he’d get in, she didn’t know. He’d never fit through the window.

Brynne crouched down in front of the door and took out two of the pins that held her braid to her head. The lock was fairly standard, similar to dozens of others that she’d picked. It took far longer than it once would have. She was out of practice.

Forcing herself to breathe slowly and take her time, Brynne inserted one of the hair pins into the bottom of the lock and, with the other, carefully felt inside the tumbler, easing each spring-loaded pin up until they locked in place. Then she turned the tumbler with the bottom hair pin.

Click.

She grasped the handle and turned the knob, relief flowing through her as the door opened. She wasted no time, but hurried to the stack of boxes. She popped the lid on the top box to be sure that it did indeed hold the supplies she was after. Excited tension flooded her, making her hands shake as she pulled out a small bag she’d tucked in the waistband of her trousers. She went through three of the boxes, filling her bag with as much as it would hold. Then she closed up the boxes and got out of there, closing the door behind her. Hopefully, the scoundrels wouldn’t notice their contraband missing until after she was long gone.

She wasted no time in getting back to the window, not realizing until she reached it that she’d need a boost up. She dragged a large crate over and climbed up. She could barely reach the lip of the window sill, but she wouldn’t be able to climb through with the bag in her arms. Brynne hated to let the bag out of her hands, but she had little choice. She hefted it up through the window and then gripped the sill to pull herself through.

But it was easier said than done. If she had one more box under her she could reach. She let go of the sill and started to climb down from her crate when she heard a noise toward the front of the warehouse. Was that the outside door? They couldn’t be back already, could they? Brynne didn’t want to stick around to find out.

She jumped for the sill again, this time managing to get a good grip. She started to haul herself out, but there was nothing for her feet to push against, and her upper arm strength had grown pitifully inadequate. She tried again, this time certain she’d heard something. Desperation spurred her on and she kicked her feet, dragging herself up as far as she could. Her foot found purchase for a moment but slipped.

A large hand clamped on her arm and Brynne had to bite her tongue to keep from screaming. Taggart’s face loomed in the darkness and Brynne’s fear gave way to relief. He gripped both her arms and pulled her through the window, tugging hard when her hips wedged in the window frame. As soon as she was out, she scrambled to her feet.

“The supplies?”

“I have them,” he assured her. “We need to go. Quickly.”

Brynne didn’t argue. She grabbed her coat, quickly re-strapping her gun to her hip right as a crash and shouting erupted from inside the warehouse. She and Taggart sprinted back across the street and into the alley where he’d tied their horses. They mounted and rode off into the night.

Brynne’s body thrummed with excitement. She’d done it. She almost couldn’t believe that she’d pulled it off. She’d so missed this feeling, this exhilaration that made every cell pulse with vitality. How she’d ever believed she could sit quietly in a parlor and preside over tea parties for the rest of her life, she had no idea. This, this feeling shooting through her veins, this is what made life worth living.

The only feeling that came close to it was when she was with Richard. Only he made her feel this vibrant, this
alive
. And with him, she didn’t have to risk her life or do anything semi-illegal. A good argument for allowing their relationship to progress a bit further.

It was all she could do not to laugh out loud.

Taggart drew close to her. “Where are we taking it?”

Oh. Good question. Richard thought she was safely tucked into bed in her room at the clinic and she needed to get back there and get him the supplies as soon as possible. But she couldn’t exactly knock on the front door dressed as she was, and she didn’t have time to stop and change her clothes. Dawn was approaching. Richard might already be awake, readying himself to meet his contact.

There was no help for it though. She’d try to sneak in the back, but she needed to get the supplies to the clinic before anyone saw them and before Richard left to make the drop.

“To the clinic, Mr. Taggart.”

He didn’t question her but steered his horse in the direction of the clinic. The closer they got, the more apprehensive Brynne became. What if Richard was already awake? What was she going to tell him?

She prayed that she’d be able to sneak in, drop the supplies on his desk, and make it back up to her room before anyone was the wiser.

Chapter Thirteen

When they reached the clinic, they rode around to the back. Brynne dismounted and Taggart handed her the bag.

“Thank you for your help tonight, Mr. Taggart.”

“It was my pleasure, Mrs. Forrester.”

“I believe I owe you a few explanations.”

“You owe me nothing, ma’am.” He paused, a small smile peeking through his staid demeanor. “I am curious, though.”

Brynne laughed. “I’m sure you are. We’ll have to have a chat one of these days.”

“I look forward to that, ma’am. Now, you better get inside. I’ll take care of your horse for you.”

“Thank you.”

He nodded and rode off and Brynne hurried to the back door. As she’d hoped, it was open. The sky was beginning to lighten as the sun began its ascent and the cook would already be up and about. Brynne entered as quietly as she could. She didn’t see anyone, but she knew they were around somewhere. She hurried through the kitchen to the back stairs. Voices echoed to her from above and she backtracked, going out to the hallway toward Richard’s office.

The door was open, the fire from the night before still crackling in the hearth. She slipped inside and placed the bag on his desk.

The door clicked shut behind her and Brynne froze, her breath catching in her throat. She knew Richard was behind her, but she was suddenly afraid to turn around. She could feel him staring at her, his gaze burning into her.

The silence stretched out until she couldn’t take it anymore. She turned around and faced him.

Richard stood in the shadows, his face hardened into an expression she’d never seen on him before. It was more than angry, worse than when he’d heard that the supplies had been stolen.

He came toward her and she held her breath.

“Richard,” she said.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve put me through?”

“I’m sorry, I really am. I didn’t mean to worry you, but I can explain.”

“You can explain? Explain why you are riding around town dressed like…like…” His eyes raked over her, from the trousers that hugged her legs, to the shirt that gaped open at her neck. His gaze lingered there. Brynne glanced down and gasped. Apparently her struggles to get out of the window had left their mark. Several tears and missing buttons left the fabric gaping open. Brynne gasped and pulled the shirt back together, but it didn’t help much. Richard advanced on her and Brynne backed up against the desk. She’d never seen him like this. Her gentle, quiet doctor had disappeared to be replaced by this seething, smoldering mountain of a man.

He grasped her arms. “Who did this to you?”

Brynne blinked, not sure she heard him correctly. “I beg your pardon?”

“Who did this to you?” Richard’s finger trailed along the tears in her shirt. His face gentled a little when he looked at her, though she could still see the fury seething beneath the surface. “You can explain to me later why you were out in the middle of the night dressed like some gunslinger. No matter how reckless your behavior, it is no excuse for the actions of whoever did this to you. I will not rest until they are brought to justice. And heaven help them if I find them before the authorities do.”

Brynne shivered at the raw fury in his voice. She almost hated to tell him the truth. But she couldn’t have him roaming the streets looking for someone on whom to avenge her honor. The threat of that fury turned against her when she told him the truth made a ball of ice settle in her stomach.

“Richard, no one attacked me.”

He frowned. “Then what, pray tell, happened?”

Brynne took a deep breath and dove in.
Best to get it over with quickly.

“I was afraid for you. And angry that someone had stolen the supplies we needed so desperately and were going to make you pay all over again to get them back. So…I decided I would get them.”

Richard’s eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed dangerously. “You what?”

“I told you I could help. I got your supplies for you.”

“You met with those people? There was no need for you to do that. Why would you spend your money to buy something I had already made a deal for? What were you thinking?”

“Richard, I didn’t meet with them and I didn’t buy your supplies back.”

“But you said…”

“I said I got them back. I stole them.”

Richard looked so surprised Brynne could have slapped him and he probably wouldn’t have budged. He didn’t speak, so Brynne hurried on with her explanation.

“That’s why I’m dressed like this, and that is why my shirt is torn.”

That snapped him out of it. “You mean they—”

“No, I tore it climbing out of a window. My hips got stuck and it was a bit of a struggle…”

Richard’s gaze immediately went to her hips, his gaze growing more intense the longer he looked at her. The trousers didn’t hide anything. They hugged every curve. For a moment, Brynne was afraid perhaps she had too many curves, but judging by the sudden hitch in his breathing, whatever he saw was very much to his liking.

“Richard, didn’t you hear me? I got your supplies for you. Now you have what you need, and those bast…hooligans who took them won’t profit from their theft at all.”

His eyes widened at her near use of profanity but the truth of the situation finally sank in.

“You stole the supplies back from the thieves?”

Brynne nodded and waited for his reaction. He seemed to be hovering between surprise and disbelief. His sudden bark of laughter startled Brynne so much she jumped.

“I have been out of my mind with worry. I was about to send out a search party for you. I peeked in your room before getting ready to leave, to make sure you were all right. When I found you gone I…”

“You peeked in my room?” The thought of him coming into her room while she lay in bed sent a sudden heat shooting through her. He noticed her change in mood and looked down at her with hooded eyes.

“I’m sorry I worried you, Richard. I really am. I only meant to help.”

His brow creased in confusion. “How did you manage to—”

Brynne shook her head. “That is a very long story. One I’d rather not tell now. Can’t we simply celebrate our success and leave the rest for later?”

Richard didn’t seem sure what to say, but after a moment, his face relaxed. He chuckled. “You really are a mystery, Mrs. Forrester.”

“I don’t mean to be.”

He laughed again and gazed down at her, his smoldering expression from earlier melting into something more tender, though there was still a dangerous edge to his gaze. He tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear, his hand lingering on her cheek. She pressed her face into his palm. Her actions during the night had restored the confidence she had lost since Jake died. She felt stronger, more empowered, than she had in years. She was done playing the ostracized outsider.

Brynne turned her face and pressed her lips against his palm.

His breath hitched and he stepped closer, his arm slipping behind her back, pressing her closer to him. She tilted her head up, her arms trailing up his to rest on his shoulders. She rose on her toes as he leaned down.

Their lips met halfway. Brynne molded herself to him, not caring if what she was doing was improper or wrong. She’d wanted this, wanted him, for far too long.

He wrapped both arms around her, lifting her off the ground and onto the desk as he tried to meld their bodies together. He bent her backwards, pressing her back against the desk, his mouth ravishing hers with a passion that betrayed every ounce of pent up frustration, anger, and fear he must have felt over the last several hours.

Footsteps echoed down the hall. Richard and Brynne froze, each of them gasping for breath as their heart rates gradually slowed.

The footsteps continued past the door.

Richard helped Brynne off the desk but pulled her close again, cupping her face in his hands. He leaned down and gently kissed her lips.

“Brynne. Will you marry me?”

Brynne jerked back, struck dumb with surprise.

Richard looked at her. Her expression must have been as stunned as she felt because he laughed.

“Is it really such a surprise that I want you to be my wife?”

Honestly, yes, yes it was. Brynne knew it might be a possibility, of course. Men of his station didn’t court a respectable woman they weren’t seriously considering marrying. And they certainly didn’t engage in activities such as the one they’d recently been involved in unless they were willing to marry the girl in question. Brynne had managed, for the most part, to ignore that little detail.

And even if she had known he might someday be interested enough to propose, she certainly hadn’t expected it now. Not under these circumstances. Though…did that matter so much? He wanted to marry her. And she was fairly certain she wanted to marry him, no matter what she might try to tell herself in her darker moments. She definitely wanted to be with him in every way possible. She’d happily spend every waking moment with him.

But marriage wasn’t something she wanted to rush into. And it wasn’t something she wanted to decide right then. Too much had already happened that night. It was overwhelming. This was a decision she needed to make with a clear head.

“Brynne?”

He frowned, fine lines crinkling his eyes as he gazed at her. Brynne studied his face, her heart beating a little harder with every breath.

“Richard, I…can I…can I have a little time?”

“Of course. My apologies. I hadn’t meant to blurt it out like this.”

“Richard, you’ve done me the extreme honor of asking me to marry you. No apologies are necessary.”

He laughed and Brynne relaxed a little. He kissed her, a tender caress that made her head swim. “Take all the time you need.”

Brynne kissed him back, letting her lips linger on his.

He moaned and deepened the kiss. Brynne was grateful his arms were wrapped so tightly about her or she might have made a complete fool of herself and melted into a puddle at his feet.

“On second thought,” Richard said when they eventually came up for air, “try not to take too long.”

Brynne laughed and her whole being flooded with happiness for the first time in longer than she cared to remember.

“I won’t,” she promised. In fact, she was sure she wouldn’t need long at all.