Angel In My Bed Read Free

chuckled. “You aren’t going to padlock your stables again, are ye?”
    Infuriated that he bullied her so, she let go of the frightened cat, and he shot off between the legs of the horse. Startled, the gelding sidestepped and reared, as the riderattempted to subdue it. The cat streaked like a trail of smoke up the nearest tree, leaving the maddened horse nervously prancing and the rider nearly unseated.
    â€œBloody, bloomin’ hell.”
    Shoving the hat off his eyes, he looked into the derringer Victoria pointed at his heart. “Be careful, Tommy Stillings.” She was taller than most men, and her aim was crack. “I would not wish to think you an intruder and accidentally shoot you.” She lowered the gun to the much prized point between his legs.
    She had known Stillings for all the nine years she’d lived in England. She knew the men who rode with him, knew what they were capable of doing. Six months ago, they had started using her horses to haul their illegal caches from the river to heaven only knew where. Bethany’s spotted mare had been injured on the trail; it might have to be put down. “As for you ever using the horses out of my stable again, I assure you, you will not.”
    â€œBloody hell, my lady.” Slapping his hat against his thigh, he glanced around the drive as if to find an army hidden among the bushes, then glared at the men behind him as someone snickered.
    â€œI am alone,” Victoria mocked. “Unlike some, I don’t need others to fight my battles.”
    Stillings’s teeth showed white in the darkness. “That’s what I like about you, Lady Munro. You’re no sniveling coward. Must be because you spent so much of your life among the natives in Calcutta. Being an innocent orphan and all.” He tossed something to the ground at her feet. “Pick it up,” he demanded. “You can put the gun away, too. If I wanted to attack you, I would have run ye down already.”
    Her gaze reluctantly dropped to the object at her feet. And the world froze around her.
    â€œDo you recognize that little trinket?”
    Pulse racing, she knelt. Her hair fell loose around her shoulders and touched the ground at her feet, shielding her face as she lifted the earring. Her gaze chased her panic to the hill where the sheriff and his cronies had appeared.
    â€œI’m told there is a necklace that goes with that bauble,” Stillings said, dragging her eyes back to his face. “Is there such a necklace?”
    â€œWho brought this to you?”
    The sheriff leaned forward on his saddle, his muddy boots creaking with the movement. “We had a visitor tonight at the Wild Boar. My guess is he’s interested in getting his hands on more than some costly necklace.”
    â€œGo.” She threw the earring at him. “And take that with you. Don’t you think if I had such a necklace, I would have used it to pay the taxes on Sir Henry’s estate?”
    Stillings’s cynical smile did little to bolster the hope that he might believe her. He looked at the cottage, his expression growing thoughtful. “Seeing as how you saved my life once, I could take care of the outsider for you. I’m a man who likes to see his debts paid.”
    â€œYou have a strange sense of honor for a cutthroat smuggler, Tommy Stillings.”
    â€œI take insult to your words.” He laughed softly. “Especially since I’ve decided to offer ye my services.”
    â€œNo doubt this enterprising partnership would include murder.”
    â€œMaybe. But think on this, Doc. Tonight’s visitor left me this trinket on purpose. If I were the owner of this earring, I’d be askin’ who in these parts can protect me from him .”
    Stillings spurred his mount and galloped back to the other riders. Together they thundered up the long drive, leaving a layer of dust hanging in their wake. Victoria remained braced against