If He's Noble (Wherlocke Book 7) (Paranormal Historical Romance) by Hannah Howell Read Free Book Online Page B

decision. She knew Bened, in her mind, in her heart, even in the very blood in her veins. His interests and opinions might still be a mystery as was his family and history, but she knew the soul of the man as if it was clearly visible to her. He was a good, honest man. Now she just had to decide how deeply she wished to be involved with him.
    It made her a little giddy to realize she was considering taking a lover. Shocking that she would do so soon after meeting him but then she was no longer a young maid. Many thought of her as a spinster. Such a step would have serious consequences concerning the rest of her life. Giving a man her body would mean giving him her heart. Primrose had no doubt about that even if she had never done such a thing before. She could never become so intimate with a man without her heart becoming involved. Men could have such relations with women and maintain their distance. Thus, she had to consider that she would run the risk of getting her heart broken. Before too much longer she had to decide if Sir Bened Vaughn was worth the risk.

Chapter Four
    Stepping out of the dress shop into the late morning sun quickly had Primrose squinting. She stared down at the ground until the sting of the bright sunlight eased a little and then started to look around for Sir Bened. He had said he would wait for her just outside the shop, his reluctance to enter it so visible, she had been amused, but she could not see him anywhere.
    After Primrose bought some ribbons, the previously reluctant clerk had suddenly become very talkative. Primrose had gathered a lot of information but was not sure what use she could make of it all. Yet now she knew for certain that her brother had passed through this village. She just wished he had lingered for a while. Instead she was going to have to follow him again and try very hard to catch up to him. She always seemed to end up where Simeon had been not long after he had left the place. If this had been a game, she would have quit playing it long ago.
    Keeping a close eye out for Sir Bened, she walked toward the inn where they were staying. She worked hard to convince herself that everything was all right but there was an unease beginning to knot her stomach. It was strange for Sir Bened to wander off with no word to her. He was very set in his determination to save her, protect her. The man would never simply walk away without letting her know where he was headed, she was certain of that. So where was he?
    Perhaps some woman had lured him away, she thought, recalling the looks the women had given him from time to time, and then stumbled slightly at the pain that thought caused her. Yet she had no claim on him. He had stuck by her side because he was convinced she needed protection as well as help in finding Simeon. The stab to the heart she had suffered when thinking he had left with a woman told her that some part of her did indeed think of him as hers, that she had some claim on him. Telling herself not to be a fool, that she had only known the man for a day, helped not at all.
    Pausing at the front of a pub, she wondered how big a mistake it might be to go inside to look for Bened. Then a noise from within the shadowed alley between the pub and the cooper’s shop caught her full attention. She had seen enough arguments between the men working at Willow Hill to recognize the sounds of fists hitting flesh.
    Stepping just inside the alley, Primrose pressed herself up against the stone wall of the pub. Three men were confronting Bened. She winced each time one landed a blow on him although he was holding his own against such poor odds. When one pulled a sword she nearly called out but then Bened drew his own sword. A movement caught her eyes and she watched as one of the men was very slowly inching his way around to get behind Bened. The moment he was past Bened she pulled her pistol and aimed it at him.
    The man held a knife in his hand and Primrose braced herself to shoot him