One Night To Be Sinful by Samantha Garver

Author:Samantha Garver
Format: mobi
Published: 2010-11-10T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

Calvin threw himself from behind the reins before the carriage came to a complete stop, his heart slamming against his ribs as his feet hit the packed earth and he ran back to the cab door. He opened the door on a flash of lightning, and a violent wind caught the thin wood and slammed it back against the wall of the carriage.

Abigail was a pool of raspberry silk and black velvet on the cab floor. Her arms, gloved to above the elbow, stretched out across one of the seats. Her fingers dug into the cushions with enough force to nearly tear the fabric. Her face was hidden behind disheveled curls, her forehead pressed to the edge of the seat.

"Abby?" He took the stairs in one great step.

"Are you all right, Calvin?"

Her voice, uncharacteristically weak and trembling, cut into his heart.

"I'm fine. Lady Abby-"

"Good." She shifted only slightly and he saw her back jerk with pain. "Please, leave me alone."

Calvin had to bend, hunching his shoulders and bowing his head as he moved nearer to her. Through the thunder rumbling overhead, he thought he could hear the ragged sound of her breathing.

"Leave me be!"

Her enraged voice almost stopped him. Almost.

"Like hell I will." He reached for her.

"Don't," Abigail hissed, her muscles so taut they quivered as he wrapped his fingers around her arms.

He knew she was hurt-it was evident in her huddled frame and voice. Yet he could no more leave her to suffer on the floor of the carriage than he could go back in time and fill in the rut that had put her there. Finding his way through the material of her cloak, he put an arm just beneath her breasts and squatted with his knees on either side of her.

"Hold on, Abby." His lips touched her ear as he spoke the words.

Her hands lifted to the arm wrapped around her, but only to try to pull it away.

Calvin ignored her silent attempts to dissuade him and straightened his legs, lifting her with him. He did not carry Abigail out of the carriage, but eased himself backward into the seat opposite the one she had been holding to for dear life. She came easily into his lap, the base of her leg brace thudding distinctly against the floor. He heard her take a sharp breath, felt her hands squeeze painfully into his arm. Then her body shuddered and she was turning, giving him a brief glimpse of her face.

Gone were the rosy cheeks of less than an hour before and the beautiful glimmer of her eyes when she was coming down the stairs to him. The flesh beneath her cheeks was sunken in as if the pain had physically drawn her. Abigail's skin was pale, her bottom lip bright red where she had clasped it between her teeth, and her eyes shone with tears. Calvin saw all this in the heartbeat before she buried herself against him.

For the first time since he had met her, he was stunned into immobility by Abigail's behavior.

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