In the Heat of the Bite Read Free

didn’t intercede. Matthew dashed across the park to where she stood. She clapped her hands in time with crashes of thunder that made even him jump. And looked ridiculously pleased by it all. She didn’t even see him as he bolted toward her. Had she escaped from Bedlam?
    He yelled over the wind and thunder. “Miss? Are you all right?”
    She spun to face him. “Oh!” Her eyes flashed with the same ferocity as the storm. Yet the wind calmed and the thunder stopped crashing when her hands dropped to her sides. Then the beauty brushed the sodden mass of her hair from her forehead. “Who are ye?” she asked.
    Her Scottish lilt nearly startled him as much as the tone of her voice. She sounded like she’d recently been crying, but with the rain that continued to fall, he couldn’t tell if her cheeks were wet from more than just rain. He found himself with the absurd desire to reach out and brush her cheeks dry with the pads of his thumbs.
    “Doona tell me ye’re some knight in shinin’ armor come ta save a lass from the storm?” She laughed loudly, the tinkling sound of it making him want to smile with her.
    “Well, actually…” he started. He
was
a knight of old. Or he once had been. Before his first death, but that was well over 600 years ago. Matthew shook his head. “…I was concerned to see a lady about to be overcome by such a vicious storm. I thought I’d rescue you.”
    The storm clouds lifted. The rain stopped. She glanced down at her drenched gown, which now hugged her body like a second skin, and crossed her arms in front of her chest. And that was when he realized it. She wasn’t
caught
by the storm. She
was
the storm. Saint George’s teeth! She was a force to be reckoned with. She was one of
them
.

Two
     
    Rhiannon looked at the sodden ground beneath her feet and bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. After all, she was fairly certain the handsome gentleman before her wouldn’t appreciate her levity at his expense. Still, it was a chore not to giggle at least a little. No one had ever tried to rescue her from her own storm before. Even those in Edinburgh who didn’t know she was the source of such occurrences tended to leave her alone in the midst of ferocious winds and pouring rain, more concerned for their own safety. Yet this gentleman had braved the storm to rescue her?
    The Sassenach was clearly out of his mind. Or too noble for his own good. Slowly, she lifted her head to peer at him once more. His dark hair was wet from the rain until he shook his head, scattering raindrops about. His hair then curled up a bit on the ends. His strong jaw with a little cleft in his chin seemed well set and determined. But his dark-as-night eyes made Rhiannon suck in her breath. There was something eerily familiar about those eyes. It was almost as though she’d seen them once before in a dream that had ended poorly.
    She took a step backward as a sense of foreboding nearly overwhelmed her. The gentleman was more than he seemed. Much more. He was dangerous. She could feel it in her bones, especially when he frowned at her like he was doing now. “Well, the rain has stopped. So I doona need ta be rescued any longer.” Rhi backed up again, only to have her right slipper sink into the muddy, grassy earth with a slurping sound. Perfect! She’d ruined a perfectly good pair of slippers with her temper tantrum.
    Before she could lose her balance, the gentleman was at her side in a flash and steadying her with a hand on her elbow. “Careful, Miss.”
    Rhiannon gulped as she stared up into his obsidian eyes once again. Why did he seem so familiar? “Have we met, sir?”
    Finally a smile tugged at those serious lips of his. “I am certain I would remember, Miss…?” His brow rose in question, and he waited for her response.
    “Sinclair.”
    “Well, Miss Sinclair of Edinburgh, I believe someone should see you to safety. Pray tell me you’re not out here at night all alone.” He began to tug