Free The Beauty and the Spy by Gayle Callen Page A

breathing heavily, both staring at each other in surprise. Then his eyes narrowed, and he cursed and rolled to sit on the edge of the bed. The rope that bound them together gave a gentle tug on her wrist, and she remembered that he’d had to bind her to keep her in bed with him.
    Once her husband had tied her up for his pleasure, and the humiliation had made her cry and beg to be freed. So why did she now feel something fleeting, something unnameable for Nick?Was she doomed to keep repeating the mistakes of her past? She didn’t even know his full name!
    Biting her lip to hold back a sob, Charlotte rolled away from him, only to have her right arm caught behind her by the rope.
    â€œWait, I’ll release you,” he said coldly.
    She didn’t turn back, but a moment later her arm was free. She drew it back to hug herself, shivering. To her surprise he pulled the blanket up over her.
    â€œGo back to sleep,” he said. “It’s early.”
    She didn’t think she’d be able to, as her thoughts roared with confusion in her head. Surely her plan to placate him didn’t include accepting his advances.
    She must have eventually dozed, because when next she was aware of her surroundings, she could hear low voices in conversation.
    â€œJulia is still heading north,” Sam said. “But she’s moving at such a leisurely pace, making no attempt at secrecy, that I can’t believe she knows we’re on to her.”
    â€œI wonder if Campbell said anything about my blackmail attempt?” Nick asked. “You’d think she’d be in more of a hurry then.” He sounded impatient and frustrated, a man who wanted to be moving, but couldn’t.
    â€œRegardless, I think she’s definitely putting in an appearance at Kelthorpe’s house party.”
    â€œGood,” Nick answered. “That’s where I’vesent Will. He’s heading to Yorkshire anyway, with the girl he’s engaged to.”
    â€œSo he agreed to return to the service?”
    â€œNo…but he agreed to help us just this once. He’s out of the army, ready for a new life. I can’t take that away from him, not after all he’s been through.”
    Charlotte wondered if they knew she was listening, if this was all an act for her benefit. But why? Wouldn’t real criminals just dispose of her, rather than try to make her think they were on England’s side?
    â€œWhat did he have to say about Julia?” Sam asked, and Charlotte could hear reluctance in his quiet voice.
    â€œHe was surprised at her duplicity. Frankly, I told him I wish I would have killed her.”
    She stiffened as the cold loathing in Nick’s voice unnerved her. Whenever her feelings softened toward him, she should remember this moment.
    â€œNo, Nick, you can’t do this to yourself,” Sam said sadly. “We couldn’t have known what she was capable of. I’ve known her since childhood, and I suspected nothing.”
    â€œYou were with her brother more than her. Whereas I was in her bed.”
    The bitterness in Nick’s voice confused her. He’d had a relationship with this woman he claimed was now a traitor? If he really was a spy for England, that must make him feel…even more betrayed.
    But he was holding Charlotte prisoner. If he wanted Julia dead, couldn’t he easily kill Charlotte, too?
    Yet both men sounded so—convincing.
    In a low, furious voice, Nick said, “Do you know what it’s like to have a woman under your control, to think there was…something between you, when all the while she’s trying to betray you and everything you stand for? If I would have killed her, then maybe the army wouldn’t have been slaughtered.”
    Charlotte hadn’t heard this part of his story, and she couldn’t imagine the kind of person who could be responsible for so many deaths, let alone a woman.
    â€œYou did what you could then,