Free Wicked Designs (The League of Rogues) by Lauren Smith Page A

right for the wall and if she didn’t stop, the horse would throw her. She’d land in the lake on the other side, break her neck or drown.
    He dug his boots into his horse’s sides, forcing it into action.
    Moments later Godric was close on her heels, only twenty feet behind, his black gelding the fastest in the stables. He nearly shut his eyes as her horse reached the wall.
    In one graceful arc, she cleared it, and a few seconds later, so did he.
    Emily controlled her horse better than he expected, which had landed in perfect balance. She’d jerked her mount to the side, narrowly escaping a messy end in the shallows of the lake.
    Godric was not so lucky. His horse panicked as its hooves landed in the soft muddy grass of the lake’s edge, and it balked, sending him head first into the water.

    Emily slowed her horse when she heard another shout, this time one of fear. She turned just in time to see Godric clear the fence but get thrown from his horse. His body hit the surface of the lake in a loud splash and sank out of sight. She held her breath, waiting for him break the surface. Any moment he’d come up sputtering and humiliated.
    Only he didn’t.
    A thread of fear moved through her, whispering with guilt for letting a man like him die. He couldn’t die because of her reckless plan, he couldn’t. She was beginning, just a little, to understand him and she didn’t want his death on her conscience.
    Emily cast a panicked look in the direction of Blackbriar, cursed under her breath and headed back to the lake. She refused to consider why—she owed Godric nothing.
    She flung herself out of the saddle and plunged into the water nearest his entry. The lake was shallow near the edge but murky. She barely pinpointed the contours of Godric’s white shirt. She wrapped her arms about his chest and kicked hard, propelling them to the surface. He sagged heavily against her, unconscious, but she kept kicking, never more thankful that she was a strong swimmer. When she reached the shore, she was sucking in air as she clawed her way up the muddy embankment with Godric in tow. Her riding habit weighted her down as though she were dragging a boulder in addition to Godric’s body back to shore.
    She rolled him onto his back and pressed her head against his chest. He wasn’t breathing.
    “Oh, God, please don’t be dead.” Blood roared in her ears. She could barely think as panic swept through her. She had to focus.
    There was one thing she could try. She’d seen a servant do it once, to a boy who fell in a pond.
    Lifting Godric’s chin, she pinched his nose with one hand and cupped his chin with the other. Her mouth covered his as she breathed into him, praying it would revive him. She pulled back, waited a second, then tried again and again. The fourth time he stirred, and she nearly wept with relief. He was alive.
    A hand caught her wet hair, and held her, keeping their lips locked together. Godric’s other arm snagged her waist and dragged her on top of him. He kissed her deeply before he rolled over to pin her beneath him.
    Emily balled her fists and beat at his chest as his firm but soft lips explored hers. The taste of him blacked out all awareness beyond the satin of his lips. It was heated, but tempered with a seductiveness she hadn’t expected.
    A moment of lucidity shocked her into awareness. She tried to kick out and free her legs and Godric pulled back a breathless moment.
    “Easy, darling. I only wish to thank my rescuer.” Godric abandoned words and kissed her ruthlessly. She couldn’t let him do this. He couldn’t…couldn’t… Emily gasped against his mouth when his hand took hold of the underside of her right knee and caressed the bare skin of her thigh while he pushed his hips deeper into the cradle of hers. Shots of pleasurable pain danced up her legs. They needed to stop, yet she found herself wanting to experience the sensations his lips and hands were creating.
    Waves of heat crested through her