Chapter 3

A blast of raucous laughter from a distance away silenced them both. The girl immediately stilled, and Matthew could feel she was catching her breath. They stood very still, watching the thugs walk past them. Gradually he felt her body relax in his arms. Her breathing was still in a race but she had stopped struggling. He waited until the men disappeared from view before releasing her.

Once the villains receded into the woods, Arabella twisted her arms free and pulled away. At a glance she instantly recognized the thug. He was the man who rode with her earlier. Unlike the others, he seemed like he had no evil intentions toward her. He kept his hands off of her along the ride, and treated her politely. Still, she couldn't trust this man so easily.

"What do you want?"

"Nothing. I just want to help you out of here."

Those beautiful eyes squinted suspiciously at him. He couldn't see their color in the dark, but he remembered they were an unusual shade of blue, like the turquoise waters of the ocean.

"I don't trust you."

"You don't really have a choice now, do you?"

Arabella found herself studying the man, considering her options only to realize she didn't really have any. The man looked at her from eyes that seemed sincere.

"Listen, Miss, I haven't the slightest intention to harm you. I promise."

"If so, why don't you just let me go?"

"You won't be any safer out here alone than in their clutches. Getting stranded in the middle of nowhere without food and any means to survive, no doubt you'll be dying within days."

Arabella couldn't argue with that. She had gotten herself into trouble again, and, as was too often the case, this whole mess was entirely of her own making. Inwardly, she cursed her propensity that brought about this harrowing ordeal. Always been a wayward child, her mother often said that one day her father would disown her for her perverse behavior.

"Do you really know how to get out of here?" She asked, knowing that she couldn't help herself out alone.

"Come on, I'll show you."

The man turned to leave. Left with no other choice, Arabella followed him. As much as she barely knew him, something told her she could trust the man. Curious as to what his true motive was, her observant eyes bored into his back.

"Why are you helping me?" She asked as they stepped over twigs and fallen branches.

"I'm helping myself. I have no desire to live a life of crime." The man replied without glancing her way.

"Then why started it in the first place?"

"It's not like I had a choice."

"Everyone has a choice in everything they do. Nobody can force you to do what you don't want to."

Arabella jolted back, nearly crashed into him when he stopped abruptly and turned toward her.

"It's easy for you to say, Miss. Somebody who leads a privileged life like you will never understand what it's like to live in the street with no help or support from anyone. You were born with all the options in the world available to you."

The last sentence grated on her nerves. She had everything but freedom, the right to decide what to do with her life.

"Listen, boy. You don't know my life, you don't know a thing about me, so don't talk to me like you know everything."

"I'm quite sure I can say the same thing."

Couldn't find a suitably sharp reply, Arabella pouted in annoyance. For the next hour, they passed through the trees in silence. She remained mute, until they reached a clearing and he stopped, looking around to observe the surroundings.

"Why do we stop here?" She demanded.

"Aren't you tired?"

"Yes, but..." Arabella threw a disgusted glance on the loose soil underfoot.

"No way I'm going to sleep on this dirt."

The remarks brought a frown to his brows. He thought this girl was different, but she proved a typical overindulged miss, complaining over such trifle.

"Well, unfortunately it appears there's no decent inn within hours of our location."

Arabella watched in dismay as he settled down under a tree, obviously unconcerned by her inconvenience. She looked around, searching for something clean and comfortable to sit on, but it seemed that she couldn't be too fussy this time. Matthew suppressed a helpless smile when she picked up her skirt and kicked some dry leaves away before reluctantly seated herself on the cleared spot.

"Where are you heading for?" He asked.

"Merryton." She answered and flinched as the dry leaves nearby stirred and rustled. She sighed in relief when she realized it was just the wind, not some scurrying animal.

"How long will it take to get out of this forest?"

"I'm not certain, it may take one or two days."

She jerked her head up and stared at him.

"What?!!! How am I supposed to get on with this for two more days? I need to bathe and change my clothes."

Instead of showing some sympathy, the thug regarded her with a judgy look.

"I'll consider myself lucky to come out of the ordeal unhurt and just have to cope with a little inconvenience."

Again her underlip protruded by two inches. For the umpteenth times in less than a day she was reduced to silence. A crisp breeze blew through the trees, and Arabella crossed her arms tightly in front of her body against the cold air. Aware of her discomfort, Matthew stood up and began to collect the dry twigs around them.

Arabella sat unmoving, not bothering to help while the young man piled a handful of tinder on the leafy ground and started the fire. Surreptitiously she observed the man across her. The crackling flame cast his face in a golden glow. For half a minute, she almost forgot to blink, fascinated by his remarkable good looks. If the men in London were half as handsome as this thug, she wouldn't have fled Society and got herself into trouble. How come a thug had such fine features? She could easily picture him in fancy attire. It was hard to believe that he was a mere scoundrel. Look at those startling blue eyes... and that nose, it surely looked aristocratic. She started to wonder if this man was a lost prince, or a gentleman in disguise.

Suddenly the man turned toward her. Quickly she averted her gaze, mortified to be caught staring at him. Luckily, he didn't seem to notice.

"How'd you escape the ties?" He asked curiously. The question brought her back to the past. She learned the trick some years back, from her childhood friend, a stable boy she'd grown secretly fond of. As a child, Arabella had no friends. Her father didn't show much interest to his daughters, and her mother was too busy with her social schedule. Her elder sisters seemed to form a bond that excluded her, blame it on the significant age gaps. So she practically had no friends, except for the boy. As they grew older, their friendship blossomed into romance, which lasted for months, until they were caught kissing in the midst of the orchard, almost a year ago. Her parents immediately banished him, along with his family, from their town. For months, she had been thinking of leaving her family and staying with her maiden aunt, an eccentric bluestockings who lived in a quiet countryside. Concerned about her prolonged gloom after the forced separation, her family took her to London to meet new people. The Season had just begun, and she was expected to secure a match in her first debut, but the self-entitled men she met in society only strengthened her resolve to flee.

"What are you thinking?"

The thug's voice brought her back to the present.

"Nothing."

Arabella shook the thoughts off her.

"It's late. Try to get some sleep."

He said, and sensing her vigilance, he added,

"I assure you, you have nothing to worry about." Then he rested his back against the trunk, put an arm under his head and closed his eyes. Within seconds, he fell into a deep slumber.

Awoke to the chilly air the next morning, Matthew opened his eyes to see that the fire had almost died out, leaving the dying embers flickering in the chilly breeze. He sat up abruptly once he realized that the girl was nowhere in sight. Jumping to his feet, Matthew rushed out into the woods, searching wildly through the trees but couldn't find any trace of her. His heart began to beat painfully hard in his chest while his mind raced with thoughts.

"Miss!"

He shouted but then refrained from calling her when a thought occurred to him.

Is she running away? Perhaps she never trusted him from the first place, so she fled rightaway once a chance presented itself.

He dashed into the woods, his eyes making wild, frantic search of the tall trees bounding the forest. He staggered to an abrupt halt when suddenly he glimpsed a slender figure by the waterfall, and what he saw stopped him dead in his tracks.

It was her, standing by the edge of the waterfall. She was facing away from him, wriggling out of her dress. Soon her flawless back was exposed to him. Unaware of the unwanted spectator, she peeled off her stockings until she stood there only in her undergarment. Desire exploded in his groin when the last piece of clothing was removed. He caught his breath when she turned around, giving him a generous display of her rose-tipped breasts and long, shapely legs.

He knew he should turn away the very second his gaze accidentally landed on a naked woman, but he couldn't seem to take his eyes off her. A gentleman is not supposed to do such lowly things like peeping at naked women, but hell, he is no gentleman. He is a lowly scoundrel. He is supposed to do worse than this. Come to think about it, why not? He stared unblinking, feasting on the enticing curves of her body.

He is a thief, after all. He'd stolen her from his gang. Now they are alone in the middle of nowhere and nobody could stop him, why don't he take the chance to enjoy his loot? He can drag her to the bank and take her there.

To be continued