Free A Highwayman's Honor: (A Highland Highwayman Novella #1) by Michelle McLean

the man to lie and he only needed to tell the truth to condemn them.
    “My lord, please. I sent Will to keep watch but I think it would be wise to leave. I don’t think even your friendship with the king can save you now.”
    Elizabet’s heart dropped at those words. “Go,” she said, turning to him. “You must go. Quickly.”
    “Ready the horses,” he said to Phillip. But instead of following his friend, he turned back to Elizabet. “What of you? You can’t come with me. And I can’t leave you.”
    That he would even think of her in such a moment made her heart flip in her chest. And sent fear for him rushing through her, tying her stomach in knots. “I’ll be fine. My life is not at stake.”
    “No,” he said, pulling her close. “Just your happiness.”
    She leaned into him for a brief moment. She’d been so close to being able to keep him. So close to all the possibilities loving him offered. “I…I’ll find another way. Somehow. Now go.”
    He cupped her cheek.
    “John. Go now.”
    He nodded and released her.
    But it was already too late.

Chapter Seven
     
    The soldiers shouted as they converged on them and John’s heart plummeted. He should have left the moment Phillip had warned him. But the thought of leaving her had been more than he could do. Yes, she may have been trying to blackmail him into marriage but, despite his initial surprise he hadn’t been averse to the idea. In fact, if his life had been anything resembling normal, he would have negotiated for her hand. The week he’d spent alone with her in the cottage had been the best of his life. She’d saved him. In more ways than one. For the first time in years he’d thought of something other than revenge. She made him think of love and life and laughter. And he didn’t want to lose her.
    But it didn’t look like he would have a choice. There was nowhere to run.
    “Elizabet,” he murmured.
    Before he could say another word she spun, pressed her back to his chest and a dagger into his hand, and brought his hand to her throat.
    Stunned, John froze. The soldiers burst from the hedges began shouting.
    “Drop the dagger!”
    “Release the woman!”
    John immediately started to comply but Elizabet grasped his hand and kept it at her throat, though from the soldiers’ point of view it must have looked as though she was trying to keep the blade from her skin.
    “You aren’t getting out of here without a hostage,” she whispered to him.
    It took him a moment to push past the abhorrence of having a dagger against her tender throat and then he wrapped an arm around her waist and hauled her close. “You bloody brilliant, beautiful woman,” he murmured into her ear.
    He began to back them up, shouting at the soldiers to keep back. Phillip had their horses ready at the stables. They just had to make it there. And then…he had no idea. He’d need to make himself scarce. With his line of work, he of course had several plans in place for just such a situation. But none had included a maddening woman insisting upon using her body as a shield for him. He’d throttle her later for risking her neck for him. At the moment, however, it was his only means of escape.
    The soldiers glanced at their commander whose face had turned a delightful shade of purple as he watched his prey slip through his fingers. John and Elizabet had reached the point of the path where it curved, leading into a maze of hedges. If they could make it into the maze, they’d be able to turn tail and run. The stables lay not far beyond on the other side.
    John looked at the commander. “If you want to keep this pretty neck of hers unmarred, I would suggest you and your men remain where you are.” Then he raised a finger to the tip of his hat in a mock salute, and pulled Elizabet into the maze. The moment they were out of sight he took her hand and they ran.
    Hampered by her skirts and thin slippers, Elizabet couldn’t run. Not quickly at any rate. Nor could she breathe