10. Mine!

Wind whistled over the moonlit landscape. The darkness of deepest midnight lay like a velvet blanket on everything. Upon a little hill, a picturesque little town was silhouetted against the starry sky. A nightingale sang in the distance, until it subsided, leaving the calm and beautiful silence of the night to fall once more over the—

KA-BOOM!!

In the centre of the picturesque little town, the window bars of the picturesque little jail were blown clean out of the wall. A moment later, I peeked out of the smoking hole, admiring my work.

"Hm...not bad. Not bad at all."

Glancing back at the terrified, gape-mouthed crowd of soon-to-be escapees, I gestured at them to follow.

"Come along! What are you waiting for?"

"You...you blew up the wall."

"Yes, I know. Move it!"

"You blew up the wall!"

The men seemed rather intent on repeating this fact, and on not moving their butts. Well now, we'd have to do something about that, wouldn't we?

I smiled.

"I was sent by Mr Rikkard Ambrose."

The colour drained from the face of every single man.

"How about now?" I cocked an eyebrow. "Want to follow me?"

"B-but...we would be escaping from jail! We would be outlaws!"

Turning to face the man who had spoken, I cocked my head. "Mr Rikkard Ambrose is in town. Would you like to be late for work tomorrow?"

Suddenly, all the men leapt up, filled with the burning desire to become desperados. Dashing towards the wall, I vaulted over the smoking remains of the windowsill and the unconscious guard outside, rushing across the street.

"Move! Faster, you club-footed gang of cutthroats!" I yelled. "As you lovely locals say, let's blow this joint!"

Hesitant cheers went up behind me.

"This way!" Dashing around a corner, I leapt over a fence and swerved around another corner, my new gang right behind me. It wasn't long before I burst into the courtyard where all the deputies' horses were tied. The one deputy "standing" guard was currently scrambling up from the ground, blinking around confusedly, wondering what the heck had awakened him from his peaceful slumber, when...

Wham!

"Good night," I told the man, sending him plunging into the horse trough. "You don't mind if we borrow your horses, do you?"

A few bubbles rose to the surface.

"Thought not. Thanks! Cheerio!" Grabbing the nearest horse by the reins, I leapt into the saddle, startling the animal awake. Pulling it around, I faced the crowd of escapees staring up at me, wide-eyed.

"Grab a horse and ride! Ride like the devil is behind you!" I roared, not mentioning the fact that Mr Ambrose would be in front of them. Between the two, they might just pick the devil. "Ride, now!" Reaching out, I gave my mount a slap on the rear, sending it galloping towards the courtyard's exit. "Yee-ha!"

***

"Is this it? Are we there?"

"Not quite yet. A bit farther," I hissed back towards the others and drove my horse farther into the darkness. Soon, a large, turban-topped silhouette detached itself from the shadows and stepped in front of us.

"Now we're here," I confirmed, eyes glittering dangerously. Letting my horse come to a stop, I slid from the saddle and stepped towards the mountain of a man waiting for me.

"Hello there, Karim," I said sweetly.

"Greetings," he answered, face immovable as a wooden log.

"So..." I enquired, sidling close enough for only him to hear me, my eyes glittering dangerously. "May I enquire why you made yourself scarce and were conspicuously absent from the saloon fight and prison break, Mr Bodyguard? Aren't you supposed to protect me from dangerous enemies?"

"I protect Ambrose Sahib from dangerous enemies," he corrected. "I protect you from interested, adequate-looking men."

Adequate looking?

Three guesses who gave those orders...oh wait! I only needed one!

"You," I growled, jabbing the giant barrel of a chest in front of me with enough force to bruise my finger, "go and tell that block of stone in human form that I don't need any help or protection! Least of all from that!"

"Oh?" The bodyguard raised a bushy eyebrow. "Does that mean you don't require directions to Mr Ambrose's residence, either?"

I opened my mouth—then glanced around me. Under the starry sky in the middle of nowhere, the only thing I could vaguely make out was a single tree, and an owl floating around on the lookout for tasty mice.

"Um...no, that might actually be nice."

Damn him!

"Very well." Bowing humbly, and with entirely too much self-satisfaction, Karim gestured in a certain direction. "Please follow me, Sahiba."

Grumbling, I climbed back up into the saddle, and was about to give my mount the spurs when I glanced behind me, noticing my new gang of minions watching me with apprehension.

"What are you waiting for? Come along!" I grinned, jabbing a finger at the distant town, from where chaotic shouts, hoofbeats and shots were rising into the sky. "Or would you rather go back there?"

I would never have thought men could shake their heads so fast without their noggins flying off.

"All right then. Let's go! Yee-ha!"

Without another instant of hesitation, I drove my horse forward. I was tired. I was pissed off. I was exhausted and covered in brick dust. I would have liked nothing better than to just find a bed and sleep for a week. But before I could do that, I had a stick of dynamite to ram up a certain someone's arse!

Just you wait, my dear husband! I don't know what crazy schemes you are brewing in that stone-hard head of yours, but I will make darn sure that it won't involve you pulling on my strings from behind the scenes. I'm your wife, not your pawn!

Riding ahead, I found Karim sitting on a quite unfortunate, depressed looking horse. Side-by-side, we set out into the night, towards...something that was just visible on the dark horizon. I squinted. What...?

Mountains. A line of mountains.

Soon enough, hills rose in the surrounding landscape. As the moon emerged from behind clouds in the sky, it cast a silvery light on a path leading up into the mountains ahead. We rode in silence. For how long, I did not know. But after a long, long time we came around a last bend in the path and, in front of me appeared...

"I'll be damned!"

The entrance to a mine. Rough logs supported the ceiling of the tunnel. Heavily armed guards stood on either side, and wrought iron bars covered the entrance to the mine's tunnel.

But wait a minute...

The entrance to a mine?

The mine was down in the town, wasn't it? If there was another entrance up here, wouldn't that mean...?

I stared at the mine entrance, then turned to stare at the distant glimmer of the town below. That distance was how many miles? Could it be that under all that land was...?

"Yes," a familiar cool voice came from behind me. "Correct."

I jumped. Then, leaping from my horse, I whirled around to face him.

"You! You really mean that under all that land is...is..."

Silencing me with a jerk of his hand, he waved to the crowd still gathered behind me. "Karim, have those men disperse and show them to their quarters. I have things to discuss with Mr Thriller Killer."

The fact that he could say that with a straight face made me feel a whole new level of admiration for Mr Rikkard Ambrose. I would have to show him my appreciation later in the form of a fist to the gut.

"Come along." Stepping past me, Mr Ambrose gestured for me to follow. "We have things to speak about that should not be discussed in public."

"Oh, indeed, Sir," I agreed, cracking my knuckles. "Indeed."

Mr Ambrose led me around the foot of the mountain, past a gurgling little brook and into a small forest. Up here in the mountains, the air was far fresher and cooler. I breathed in the scent of flowers and pine needles, which couldn't help but calm me a little. And yet, it also aroused my curiosity.

"So...is it true?" I enquired in a whisper. "Is there gold all the way from up here to down in the town?"

Holy...! If that were true...

"Why do you think I came personally to this place to ensure this operation proceeds smoothly?" His voice was hardly more than a wintery whisper. "Not that the Spaniards know this, however. So far, none but you and I do."

I felt warmth rise in my chest. He trusted me!

Yes. Enough to throw you in prison and shove dynamite down your trousers.

Quiet, inner voice!

Mr Ambrose seemed to agree. He gestured for me to be quiet. "Now, silence. We shall be discussing this matter once we arrive."

"Arrive? Arrive where?"

"You'll see," was the only answer I received.

Then, once again, silence descended over the midnight forest. And, for some reason, I decided not to argue. The air wasn't filled with anger and the finely spun webs of plots anymore. Instead, it was alive with promise.

Why...?

Before I could finish the thought, the trees opened up in front of me, and we stepped into a clearing. My eyes widened, and I felt a lump in my throat.

There, among the flowers and trees, stood the most adorable little log cabin I had ever seen in my life. All right...it might also have been the first log cabin I had ever seen in my life, but so what? There in front of me, the lovely little thatched cottage, surrounded by flowers gleaming white and blue in the moonlight, rose up on wooden supports. At the front, where the moss-covered roof sloped low over a small veranda, stood two hand-carved, wooden chairs, right next to each other.

Just right for a couple.

As if in a dream, I made my way across the clearing and up the stairs. The warm, golden tone of wooden walls, illuminated by the cheerful fire flickering in the brick fireplace, greeted me as I pushed open the door. In the centre of the room stood a round wood table, with a chequered tablecloth and a vase full of wildflowers on top.

Wildflowers someone had picked by hand.

I swallowed.

Bloody hell, Lilly! Where's your righteous fury? That man stuck a stick of dynamite in your underwear! And not the kind a newlywed bride is usually hoping for! You should be pissed off! Royally pissed off! Not...not...

Touched?

"Rikkard?" His name was out of my mouth before I could help it.

He stepped into the house behind me. Our house. Such a hard man he was. Such a cold man. So how come I suddenly felt more warmth radiating from him than from the blazing flames in the fireplace?

Reaching behind me, I clutched his hand. "Thanks."

"For what?" He asked, his fingers tightening around mine. "I merely provided the necessary lodgings for our stay in the vicinity."

Glancing back at him, I raised an eyebrow, and pointed at the vase of flowers. "Sure you did."

He gazed at me, his face completely serious and unmoving. "Karim picked those."

Sweet, thick-headed, lovable man!

"Oh, of course." Grabbing hold of his lapels, I started to drag him towards the bedroom. "Now, come along. We have a lot to talk about."

"The kind of talk that is commonly referred to as 'pillow talk'?"

"Ha! You wish!" Stopping at the doorway to the bedroom, I jabbed a finger into this chest, glaring up at him. "Don't you think that, just because you did something mildly honeymoonish, I've forgotten what you did. It's time for an explanation, Mister! Don't you realize what you have done?"

Taking hold of my hand once more, he pulled me into the bedroom, closing the door behind us. A delicious little shiver went up my spine when I noticed the huge double bed standing against the wall, but I quickly suppressed it when I saw Mr Ambrose raise his eyebrow at me half a millimetre.

"Pray, what have I done? Care to enlighten me, wife?"

Wife.

The way he said that word...

Another shiver went down my spine.

Dammit! Concentrate, Lilly, concentrate!

"Isn't it obvious?" I waved a finger under his far-too-perfect nose. "We got your men out, granted! But after the stunt you pulled, my face is plastered on posters all over that town! How am I supposed to help you now in whatever wild plans you come up with next? I won't be able to set a single foot outside!"

"Indeed?"

I stared at his stony visage for a moment—then realization set in. "You...! You did this on purpose!"

"Naturally."

"Why! Why would you do this? Why would you try and confine me inside this house?"

Mr Rikkard Ambrose didn't answer. He simply sent a glance over at the very marital double bed right next to us, and then raised an eyebrow, the unspoken words practically ringing in my ears. Take a guess.

Colour flooded my face. "You...you...!"

"...amazing, romantically talented husband?"

"Fiend! Lecher! Blaggard! You blew up half the bloody town, just so you could keep me prisoner in your bedroom?"

His gaze bored into me with abrupt intensity. "Not just, no." Reaching out, he grabbed my hand and lifted it to his face, until it came to rest against his cheek. "I did it to keep you safe as well."

"W-what?"

"I did this," taking hold of my shoulders and pulling me close, "to keep you safe."

"Safe?" I blinked. "Safe? Safe? You blew up three streets!"

"Insignificant ones."

"You provoked a whole saloon full of desperados and caused chaos everywhere! Those men chased us through half the town, trying to shoot us!"

"And they were so drunk and dazed they wouldn't have hit a barn door at ten paces!" came Mr Ambrose's unshakable reply. "Better take a little risk against that riff-raff now than the alternative. Now, through this 'chaos' as you call it, we have struck a blow against the enemy, and I have ensured you will be safely out of the way when the real battle begins. Because if you think those men at the saloon were dangerous, you have no idea what kind of men Navarro will send after us now that I am here." He took hold of my shoulders with an iron-hard grip. "I will not let you get in the middle of that. I will protect you."

"But why?" I looked up at him, emotions roiling inside me. "I thought we were past this! I thought you finally saw me as an equal!"

"I..." Swallowing, his voice trailed off. His eyes seemed incapable to move from mine, yet his hand, as if drawn by magic, travelled down towards my abdomen. Suddenly, his face hardened with determination. "I will not allow you to be put in danger. Not now. Not with the way things are. I will protect you!"

I should have been pissed at him. I should have wanted to punch him! Instead...

Instead I just wanted him. And I also wanted an ice cream and mustard toast. And a jar full of pickled beaver tails. But I wanted him even more!

What the heck was wrong with me?

I felt a wave of heat rise inside me unlike anything I had felt before. Suddenly, I was incredibly aware of Mr Ambrose's chiselled face, his sculpted body separated from me only by some thin scraps of cloth. I was incredibly aware that we were alone, on our honeymoon, in the middle of the night, inside a bedroom with a king-sized double bed right beside us.

He met my eyes. And he must have seen something there. Because the next moment, he grabbed me and lifted me into a princess carry.

A princess carry!

Me, Lilly Linton, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland's foremost feminist! I should protest! I should sock him! I should...eat ice cream and mustard on toast. A lot. And I should kiss him. Like right bloody now!

What the hell was wrong with me?

Before I could find an answer to that particular question, I felt Mr Rikkard Ambrose's arms flex around me. A moment later, I was sailing through the air, and, with a thud, landed on something soft. Reaching out to either side, I found down-filled pillows, soft and welcoming. Pillows. Like on a bed.

Sucking in a breath, I looked up, and there he stood. Mr Rikkard Ambrose, towering above me, his eyes burning into mine with cold fire.

"Now," he enquired, stalking forward, "I believe we were on a honeymoon?"

"Indeed, Sir." I stared up at him, having to fight hard not to grab him and tear his clothes off.

He, however, did not seem to have such compunctions.

Grabbing hold of my tailcoat, he tore it off me in one swift move. In a blink, he was above me, and I was in his arms, in a grip too tight, and far too wonderful, to escape.

"Mine!" he growled.

I smirked up at him. "Goldmine? That's out there. My name is Lilly."

A muscle in his cheek twitched before his grip on me tightened. "Not goldmine. Just mine!"

I raised my chin. "Prove it!"

His eyes glittered and, reaching out, he gently touched my face. "I shall, my wife. Oh, I shall."

Then he plunged down towards me.

-------------------------------------------------

My dear Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen,

How did you like Lilly's jailbreak? I think she might be enjoying her career as a desperado a little too much ;)

Yours Truly

Sir Rob