Free By Love Unveiled by Deborah Martin

mysterious, I assure you, my lord.”
    He laughed grimly. “Yes, that’s why you lurk about in a cloak and mask, sneak into my garden, and steal my plants, particularly the poisonous ones.” When she bristled, he added, “I won’t tolerate your being in this garden without my knowledge. I have enemies—”
    When he broke off, fear curled around her insides. Ah, yes, his enemies, the ones who stabbed him on the highway and made him suspicious of gypsy girls. What crimes had this man committed to make him have to watch his back so fiercely?
    Lord Falkham glanced at the manor. “You knew the Winchilseas?”
    She swallowed. Best tread carefully with this one. “I did.”
    “I know little of them,” he surprised her by saying. “Tell me, what manner of man was Sir Henry?”
    Her desire to paint her father truthfully warred with her common sense, which cautioned her to say as little as possible. The former won out.
    “He was wonderful—kind and gentle,” she said, unable to hide the pleasure she took in speaking of Father.“He cared about everyone here, rich and poor alike. I learned a great deal about doctoring from him.”
    A shadow passed over Lord Falkham’s face. “You seem to have known him quite well. What’s more, you seem to have cared for him. Perhaps you’ve had more experience with protectors than I first realized.”
    It took her a moment to realize his meaning. “For shame! How dare you imply that Sir Henry and I . . . that we . . .” She scowled. “Only a reprobate like you would think such a thing! Why, the man was old, and he loved his wife. What would he have wanted with the likes of me?”
    Her response seemed to affect him, for his mood altered. His gaze, gleaming with a familiar light, raked her body. “I can easily answer that, sweetling. A man would have to be either blind or a fool not to consider your form an enticement to all manner of pleasures.”
    His words put her instantly on her guard. She backed around the hedge behind her until she’d put it between them. “I’d best leave now, my lord. My aunt will worry.”
    He stalked her at a leisurely pace. “Let her worry. You weren’t too concerned about her when you came sneaking about here in the first place.” He placed himself between her and her plants, though the hedge still lay between them. “Besides, you wouldn’t want to leave without taking what you came for.”
    “I don’t need them after all,” she lied.
    “Nonsense. You wanted them badly enough to steal them. What can I do with them now that they’re uprooted? By all means, take them.”
    He scooped them up and laid them on the hedge. Butbefore she could snatch them, he vaulted the hedge with ease, landing between her and the plants.
    “You still want them, don’t you?” He laid one hand on the pouches behind him.
    “Yes.” She backed away until she came up against an apple tree, then groaned as she realized he had her trapped.
    He took full advantage of that to move closer. “Then you’ll have them, but for a price.” His voice lowered. “One kiss. That’s all. Then you may take the plants and do as you wish with them.”
    The quick thrill that shot through her roused her anger. She would never even consider touching the lips of this . . . this killer. Never! “Trust a rogue to ask for such a thing. How dare you?”
    With an arch of his eyebrow, he stepped nearer. “What a little princess you are, with all your indignation. Remember, you trespassed in my garden. One kiss is a small price to pay for my ignoring that.”
    “Since when do rogues stop with one kiss? I’m not so innocent as to let you talk me into such foolishness. My aunt has warned me often enough about noblemen like you, and I plan to take her warnings to heart.”
    His face darkened with a dangerous quickness that made her aware of how alone they were. The servants might be about, but she and the earl were far enough away from the manor that he might harm her without