Escaping Into Love: A Sweet Mail Order Bride Story (The Runaway Brides of Colorado Book 1) by Boone Annie

Author:Boone, Annie [Boone, Annie]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Sweet River Publishing
Published: 2019-09-11T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Clayton rolled over on his stomach and pulled the pillow over his head to try to drown out the noise that had woken him from his sleep. Still only partially conscious, he blinked multiple times before recognizing that the noise he was hearing was his name being called out repeatedly. Pulling himself into a sitting position, Clayton rubbed his hands against his face and yelled back, “I’ll be right down.”

Grabbing a nearby pair of pants, he pulled them on over his shorts and let out a groan as he made his way toward the door and then down the steps into the sheriff’s office.

There were benefits to living over the sheriff’s office, one of them being that people could reach him for help at any time of the night. But there were also negatives to living over the sheriff’s office, one of them being that people could reach him for help any time of the night.

Bracing himself for whatever might be ahead of him, Clayton held his lamp up higher in the air as he made his way into the office.

Clayton nearly jumped in surprise when he made out the form of a small woman standing in front of him. As he got closer to her, he instantly recognized her as Elizabeth Brown. In the light of the lantern, he could see she was limping with every step she took, and her lip was swollen with dried blood caked to it.

“Elizabeth?” He muttered her name, unable to believe it was really the girl he’d been talking to in church only days earlier.

“Sheriff Clayton.”

Elizabeth took another step toward him and winced in pain.

“Elizabeth Brown,” Clayton repeated. “What has happened to you? What did he do to you?”

“It was Mason.” Elizabeth tried to form the words to explain what had happened, but it seemed she could hardly put a sentence together.

“Mason. I had to get away. He, he, he hit me. I had to run.”

The woman was shivering, probably as much from fear as anything else. She needed a warm place to relax and Clayton knew that the sheriff’s office wasn’t going to provide her with much in the way of comfort. While Clayton could take her up to his room, it contained little more than a bed, and protecting her virtue and reputation was upmost in his mind.

“Right now, you need a place to rest,” Clayton stated before she had a chance to answer his original question. “We’ll worry about the story once you’re feeling better. Hang on a minute.”

Hurrying up the stairs, Clayton grabbed a large quilted blanket. He took down and threw around her shoulders. Bundling her up like a little child, Clayton guided her out toward the livery where he hitched up his wagon.

Lifting her up onto the wagon seat, Clayton’s heart skipped a beat as he held her body so close to his own. It was impossible to ignore the attraction he felt for her, and that, mingled with a deep desire to protect her from harm heightened his senses.

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