Tea For Two Read Online Free PDF Page B

were handed to the leader while its rider slunk
away.
    Lord Brendan rode Cinnamon through the trees,
directly at them. Shannah’s horse reared, nearly dropping her,
before the ruffian leader forced its head down again. The viscount
pulled Cinnamon up short, stopping directly in front of her
captor.
    “Release the girl,” he said, “and I won’t let
the magistrate string you up with your fellows!”
    The man laughed. “Are you going to make me,
yer lordship?”
    Brendan drew his sword. “I could, make no
mistake. But that’s not my purpose.”
    His opponent sneered, showing blackened
teeth. “Oh? And just what is your purpose?”
    “I’m a distraction.”
    Shannah twisted to view the movement on her
left and was shocked to see one of the groomsmen from the manor
dragging her original captor by the scruff. Justin threw the man
forward, he groaned but did not get up.
    “He’ll live, my lord,” Justin said, a fierce
frown on his face. “Though he may regret it.”
    More sounds, and Shannah tried to see, but
could not get a good enough view from her position. She looked at
the leader, whose face had paled considerably. His eyes darted from
Brendan to Justin and behind him, to where she could only assume
more help had arrived.
    “Now, release her,” Brendan commanded, his
tone leaving no room for debate.
    The fiend let go of the reins but Justin
grabbed the horse’s bridle before it could get far. Shannah glared
at the leader of villains, certain he’d done that deliberately—he
probably hoped to escape while they stopped her runaway horse.
    “You’ll also return everything you stole,”
Brendan continued. “And you can deliver a message to your captain
for me. Tell him to never again darken our shores with his
trash.”
    He sheathed his sword and led Cinnamon
alongside her horse. With one hand, he scooped her up before him
and then urged Cinnamon away from the scene. Shannah fought tears
of relief until he slowed to a stop.
    “Let’s get you unbound,” he said, his voice
soft and so close to her ear that she shivered. “My, Shannah, what
have you gotten yourself into?”
    My Shannah . It startled her how much
she liked to hear the words spoken together, by him.
    Lord Brendan dismounted and pulled her to her
feet, first working the knots that bound her wrists and then
pulling away the gag with firm fingers. “Is that better?”
    Shannah tried to say yes, but her throat
closed up and she started to shake. Without a word Brendan pulled
her to his chest and wrapped his arms around her. When Shannah’s
knees gave out, he sank to the ground with her, never loosening his
hold.
    “It’s all right,” he said. “It’s the shock of
your experience settling in.” He kept one arm around her as he
shrugged out of his jacket and draped it across her shoulders.
“Just try to relax, and know your safe now.”
    She nodded, bumping his chin with her head.
Her voice shook but she forced out the words. “What will happen to
those men?”
    Brendan let out a harsh sigh. “I should turn
them over to the magistrate, but I’ll keep my word. They did
release you, in their way. Besides, I want their captain to receive
my message. Their kind needs to know that we will defend our people
and property.”
    His tone made her shiver for a reason
separate from the shock. She could feel the fury bleeding off of
him. “Are you all right?”
    Brendan laughed. “Listen to you, asking after
me when you’ve had such a morning! You are one of a kind,
Shannah.”
    She didn’t reply, and he didn’t speak again
until her shaking had mostly subsided. “Better?”
    “Yes, thank you.” She pulled back to look
into his face, recognizing her mistake almost immediately. They
were too close, with his arms wrapped so protectively around her.
When he turned his chocolate brown gaze upon her, their noses
almost touched. She could feel his breath against her face.
    “I should get you back to the house,” he
said, his voice husky.