Twice Tempted by a Rogue (Stud Club #2)

He stumbled a little on a bit of rock, and he swore. Why was he letting this place spook him? After all, wasn’t his the spirit supposedly haunting the place? He should find nothing here to scare him, not anymore.

But against all reason, his head began to spin. He put a hand against the wall to steady himself, closing his eyes to the dark.

The more the wind blew and echoed through that corridor, the higher his hair raised along his scalp. He heard the echoes of his father’s shouts, his mother’s keening wail, his own startled cries. And those horses … God, the screaming horses. Nausea churned in his gut.

Enough of this. Enough. Mysterious piskie lights be damned.

Rhys turned on his booted heel and started back down the corridor the way he’d come. At some point his determined stride became a jog. He tripped over the same damn stone he’d stumbled over before, this time sprawling to the ground. His knee skidded on gravel, and grit dug under his fingernails.

Stand, the voice inside him said. On your feet, brat.

Just like always, he obeyed, scrambling to his feet and running for the entrance of the corridor. Only when he reached open air did he let himself slow. He stood doubled over, hands braced on his knees, drinking great lungfuls of moorland mist. Why had he ever returned to this cursed place?

A loud clanging behind him made him jump.

“Who is it?” he demanded, whirling around. “Who’s there?”

No answer. No lights. No more wind, it seemed.

Just a sudden, sharp blow to the back of his head.

The night suddenly had stars.

And the old bastard kept after him, even as he slumped to the rocky ground. Up. Get up. Stand and take another, you sniveling son of a whore.

As he spun into unconsciousness, the voice mercifully faded. And even the stars behind his eyelids went dark.

The Three Hounds was enjoying another profitable night. Meredith smiled with satisfaction at the sight of the packed public room. The men had finished the second rise on the inn’s new wing today, Rhys had paid out the weekly wages, and tomorrow was Sunday, a day of rest. All were in good spirits. And with Cora behind the bar, the spirits were flowing freely.

As for Cora herself, she was laughing at something one of the men said. Her back was to Meredith, and the room was too noisy to hear, but those blond ringlets dangling from her upsweep shook merrily. All good, all good. Meredith was very pleased with how Cora’s employment was working out. The girl was a bit childlike and dreamy, perhaps. But she’d revealed herself to have a surprisingly good head for sums and a cheerful, friendly manner with the travelers.

And of course, she had a way with the men.

Cora possessed a soft, feminine allure that acted like a lodestone for every pair of bollocks in the vicinity. Even Meredith found herself captivated, trying to understand just what it was about the girl. It wasn’t simply her pretty face. No, it was that air of wonderment she carried. She received every word a man spoke as the most fascinating bit of information imparted to humankind since the Ten Commandments, greeting the news with wide, round eyes and those slender bronze arches above them, and—most importantly—that breathy, feminine coo of interest.

It was a talent, that. One Meredith had never mastered. And Cora seemed happy to discover that this talent had more honest applications than whoring.

A few reedy strains of music wafted over the din. As she made her way to the bar, Meredith spied Darryl in the corner, sawing away at his fiddle with more enthusiasm than skill.

Music, friendship, merriment, drink, flirtation—the Three Hounds was a nightly party of late. The community spirit pleased Meredith greatly, as did the influx of coin. The only thing missing from the scene was Rhys.

True to his words after church three weeks ago, Rhys had indeed been wooing her. In his own gruff, rough-hewn way. Though by night he camped out at the cottage site, he came down to the inn for dinner every evening, always bringing her some small treasure from the moor. Wildflowers were hard to come by in September, but somehow he’d conjured up a few. Other days he’d brought a sleek raven’s feather, or a polished stone from the stream. Once, during the turning of earth for cob, he’d found an odd little bronze clasp that looked worn by centuries. From the Romans’ time, they’d decided as they hunched over it in the light, turning it this way and that. If not earlier.

And then one night he’d come in late, well after dark, plainly exhausted from a long day of labor. He’d grasped her by the shoulders and pressed a warm, firm kiss to her forehead.

“Sorry,” he’d said. “That’s all I have today.”