Free Rogue's Challenge by Jo Barrett

perfectly still, she strained to hear them, or perhaps the horses, but all she heard was the wind in the trees ... and something else. She wasn't alone. There was someone or something there.
    At first she thought it was just one of the men standing close by, but she quickly reasoned that they would've said something. Especially after she ran into that tree. Then there was the chance it was an animal of some kind, but logic dictated that it would've run off with her stomping around in the woods. That left one other possibility.
    The problem was, however, did she risk pure embarrassment and call out to Ian for aid, or did she let whoever was nearby do whatever it was they intended to do while she sat and waited?
    Stupid she was not.
    Jenny let out a blood-curdling scream, sure to bring Ian and Michael to her aid with the utmost speed, and send whomever it was lurking nearby on their way.
    Barely a second passed as branches, leaves and such were crushed beneath heavy feet pounding toward her, while the unknown part of the puzzle cursed, although nearly imperceptible, and went in the other direction. A small grin slipped over Jenny's lips as she waited to be rescued.
    It was rather nice, actually. No one had ever rescued her before. Her one brush with danger last summer had lasted all of a few seconds. Tuck had fallen into the fountain and Jenny had clobbered the kidnapper with her purse filled with entirely too many coins, succeeding in incapacitating him.
    A slight blush crept up her cheek at the memory. Tossing pennies into every fountain in Europe wasn't going to get her what she wanted, but she deduced that it couldn't hurt.
    "Christ woman!” Ian grabbed her arms, startling her from her thoughts, and ran his hands over her in search of injuries.
    She knew she wasn't supposed to enjoy that part of the rescue, or was she? Since this was her first, she couldn't be certain what the rules were.
    "Are you all right?” he demanded as a puffing Michael appeared behind him.
    "Yes, I—” Wait a moment. The unknown person, a man she determined by the depth of his voice, had cursed in English. She quickly calculated the odds of the existence of another Englishman on the Scottish isle. One lurking in the woods, no less, and didn't care for the astronomical figure.
    "Michael, go back to the horses and guard them,” Ian said. “Quickly, man!” He scooped Jenny up and strode through the bushes at a near jog.
    "I can walk,” Jenny sputtered, while her thoughts kept cycling through the probabilities.
    "I should not have let you venture off alone,” he snarled.
    She noted the rapid pounding of his heart against her side, and realized he wasn't angry with her, but afraid for her. He really did care. “I'm fine."
    "Then why did you scream?” He did not stop until they stood beside her horse.
    "Well, I—” She took a deep breath. “I got turned around, I didn't know which way was back."
    His broad shoulders sagged as he let out a long harsh breath. “You could have called out for aid. Not screamed down the treetops.” He lifted her to her horse and plopped her down on the saddle.
    "I know that,” she snapped. “I was about to when I realized I wasn't alone."
    He turned toward his horse and paused. “You what?"
    "I wasn't alone."
    He shook his head and mounted his horse. Michael did the same. “This is going to be a long journey,” he mumbled, tossing Michael the reins to her horse.
    "But—"
    Ian galloped ahead several yards leaving her stewing.
    "Not alone,” he murmured. The woman could not see! She wouldn't know if a full garrison was standing among the trees.
    But that scream. God, he prayed he would never hear the like of it again. Never in his life had his heart pounded so fiercely, not even in the heat of battle. For a small woman she had lungs like a bull.
    He slowed his horse to a walk, allowing them to catch up with him, but he would not ride beside her. The woman was twisting him in more ways than he could fathom,