“What the…?” the man holding her said in deep, shocked voice. His hold grew too tight on her bruised ribs until she let out a pained whimper.
Right away, his hold loosened, and the man with the more familiar male voice stroked his fingers over her scalp. “Hush now, love, I need to see how badly that son of a diseased whore hurt you.”
Turning her face into the chest of the man holding her, she inhaled a rather pleasant scent of man, fresh air, and the hint of some kind of cologne or soap with a hint of spice. It was a good smell, a clean smell, and he was so warm. She felt safe in his arms, cared for in a way she’d so desperately needed.
She was finally safe.
2
GARRET
The doctor came out into the hallway of the hotel room they’d rented with a curious look on his wrinkled face.
“How well do you know…Roger?” the doctor asked as he adjusted his grip on his black medical bag.
Worry filled Garret as he fought back the temptation to push past the doctor and check on the poor young woman inside.
“Not very well,” Edward said, his angular face tight with worry. “Will she be all right?”
Clearing his throat, the doctor looked up and down the empty hotel hallway before he said, “Yes, she’ll be fine with a lot of rest and good food.”
“So we were right?” Garret asked as he exchanged a weighted look with Edward. “She’s a girl?”
“Yes, well, more like a woman, but yes.” The doctor gave them a small bemused smile, his silver mustache twitching before he grew sober again. “Not the first time I’ve heard of a young lady disguising herself as a boy. Don’t need to tell you gentlemen about what kind of unsavory characters there are out there who would take advantage of a female alone. Right pretty little thing, too, once I got her cleaned up. How she managed to stuff all that golden hair up into her hat, I’ll never know, but she has a lot of it.”
Edward shifted next to him and rumbled with fury. “What kinds of injuries does she have?”
The doctor blinked at Edward and took a step back before firming his spine.
Not an unusual reaction. While Edward wasn’t especially tall, he was as thick with muscle as a grizzly and had an intimidating stare to match. Normally calm and hard to anger, the sight of the mysterious woman being beaten had woken the beast inside of his best friend. A terribly irate beast that wanted to go out and hunt down the cowards who’d hurt the girl.
Giving Edward a wary look, the doctor said to Garret, “Bruised ribs. Nothing broken but taking a deep breath will be hard for a little while. I gave her something to help her sleep, so she’ll be out for at least another six hours. Let her rest, but when she wakes up, see if you can get her to eat something light and easy. Poor thing looks like she hasn’t had a good meal in a long time. Anything too rich or heavy and her stomach might reject it. I’ll leave a tonic with you that you’re to give to her every four hours for the pain.”
Sick of waiting, Garret mumbled to Edward, “You finish this up. I have to see her.”
From the moment he’d looked into her pale, crystal blue eyes rimmed with a line of the purest black Garret felt an odd connection to ‘Roger’. Something about the young boy had caught his attention and awakened his protective instincts. Those instincts had told him to follow the kid, to see if Roger had somewhere to go, or if Garret could talk him into coming back to the ranch with them.
Those same protective feelings began to turn into something more as he got his first look at the sleeping woman.
At first, he couldn’t believe they were the same person. The beauty in his bed looked nothing like the skinny, dirt encrusted boy who’d shined his shoes. Her hair was long enough to reach past her shoulders, and it spread over the pillow like curly dark golden silk. Despite her wide nose and mouth, the bones of her face were delicate and exquisitely put together, reminding him of a beautiful doll. Unlike a doll, her skin wasn’t porcelain pale, but a golden tan that brought to mind beachside palaces in exotic lands.
“Lord have mercy on a sinner,” Edward whispered from behind Garret. “How did we miss that she was a woman?”
They both moved closer to the bed, then stopped as she stirred slightly. Her chapped lips pursed into a frown, and her elegantly arched brows drew tight. A deep cough rattled up from her chest, and she turned on her side, letting out a soft moan then settling back to sleep. Curled up wearing what looked like one of Edward’s sleep shirts, she appeared even smaller. A fragile, beautiful creature with velvety golden skin marred by bruises. The shirt had pulled over on one side, showing the dark bruising on her throat caused by her attacker.
Anger lit through him again, a righteous fire that demanded he go hunt down and kill the monsters who had abused this poor woman.
“Easy,” Edward whispered. “No anger in the sickroom. You remember Lady Uriel’s teachings. Positive energy, strength and purpose, but never anger.”
While overseas with the British Army, they’d lived in the court of a royal Lady Uriel and her husbands, who’d focused their life’s work on healing and spiritual enlightenment.
It had been quite a culture shock for both himself and Edward. They’d gone from the strict, sometimes repressive British society to one based on love and compassion. A culture where a wife having more than one husband was the norm. At first, Garret had been skeptical that such a
