How to Treat a Lady Read Online Free PDF Page A

when the larger man burst into a guffaw. “Damn ye! Drop the bloody thing right there. It’s nobut a trinket, anyways.”
    The other thief chuckled more, then casually tossed the ring to the moss-covered forest floor.
    Chase watched, mesmerized as the circlet fell, end over end, sparkling in the lowering sun.
    Every sound seemed abnormally loud, every smell overpowering. He watched the ring hit the ground, where it bounced once…twice…each move pinging loudly as if it hit a rock and not the soft, leaf-covered ground.
    Somewhere in the back of his mind, he could hear his mother’s voice. It’s a mystical ring, Chase. Whoever has it in their possession will meet their true love. As silly as it sounded, she’d really believed it.
    Chase, of course, had no such faith in magic. Or anything for that matter. Not anymore.
    â€œThet’s thet, then,” the large man said, gathering the items and storing them in his large pockets. “Let’s be gone. I’ve a thirst on me, and there’s nothing holdin’ us here.”
    â€œWhat of the gent?”
    â€œLeave him. As much blood as he’s lost, he won’t make it to nightfall.”
    Chase ground his teeth at the thought of dying here in the forest, his face pressed into the blood-soaked mud. By God, he’d live. He’d live if he had to crawl out of the woods on his hands and knees.
    The creak of carriage wheels and the soft clop of horses’ hooves lifted on the faint breeze, and Chase’s heart leapt.
    The red-coated thief whirled toward the sound. “What’s that?”
    Voices carried on the wind, a commingling of feminine tones.
    â€œBloody ’ell!” The red-coated thief scrambled to collect his loot, but the larger thief grabbed the man by his shoulder and shoved him down below the line of the bushes.
    â€œHold quiet now,” he whispered hoarsely. “They can’t see our horses from the road. Mayhap they’ll pass on by and we’ll—”
    Grrrrrrrr.
    An animal’s deep-throated growl sounded unnaturally loud in the quiet glen. Chase took a deep breath, squinting through the brush.
    The huge thief turned slowly toward the sound. There, standing behind the thieves, crouched a huge dog. Reddish brown with a thick ruff of hair about its blocklike head, its teeth glistened malevolently in the uncertain light.
    â€œDon’t move!” the large man said in a strained whisper.
    Chase said a silent word of thanks to whatever higher power happened to be looking down on him right then. God knew that he didn’t deserve divine intervention. Not anymore.
    A voice called from the road. “Max! Max! Where is that blasted dog?”
    The large thief’s gaze remained locked on the dog. “Davy, we have to make a run fer it.”
    The dog took another step forward. A deep growl rumbled in the animal’s throat, a froth of white dripping from its jaw.
    â€œYe mangy mongrel,” the large man hissed as he stood. “On the count of three, we head fer the horses. One. Two. Th—” The man wheeled, crashing through the brush as he tore through the forest.
    His partner gave a startled gasp, realizing he’d been left behind. For a startled instant, he and the dog locked gazes.
    To Chase’s fuzzy mind, it appeared as if the dog’s grin widened even as he leapt, huge jaws open wide enough to close over the man’s entire head.
    With a horrible shriek, Davy took off, legs flailing wildly as he plunged headlong through the brush. The dog followed, teeth snapping furiously.
    Chase wanted to watch. To see if the dog got the man, for he sincerely hoped so. But his head ached, and a thick fog was covering his mind. His eyes seemed determined to close on their own though he was curiously awake, his ears locked on every sound.
    He was aware of approaching footsteps, of a surprised cry, then a soft feminine voice that issued orders in amazingly calm,