The Reckless Bride by Stephanie Laurens Read Free Book Online

before her. Bad enough that she could somehow
feel
him alongside her; his warmth, his solidly muscled strength, impinged on her consciousness as if every nerve she possessed had come alive and locked on him.
    She was irritated and utterly mortified.
    “Where to?”
    The question from alongside was a rumble of thunder, a warning of impending storm.
    Increasingly worried that was indeed the case, she wracked her brains, recalled. “The Matthias Church.”
    Carstairs relayed the destination to their driver through the trapdoor in the roof, then the carriage rocked and started rolling.
    It was perfectly acceptable for her to remain silent, to say nothing at all. She should spend the time bringing her unruly senses to heel, shoring up her defenses against the unexpected, persistent, and annoyingly strong physical attraction Carstairs evoked, and not allowing her fascinationwith his history, his mission—with him—to lead her into courting danger …
    “I would have thought"—the words were on her lips, placed there by curiosity before she could censor them—"that the cultists sent to keep watch would have been provided with detailed descriptions of the four couriers.” She cast a frowning glance at her nemesis. “From what you told us, that doesn’t seem to be the case.”
    He met her eyes, then looked forward. “We left Bombay unexpectedly. The Black Cobra had to rush to get his troops into the field—to spread them across Europe before we had a chance to pass through. The Black Cobra himself and presumably his closest henchmen might know the four of us by sight, but the majority of cultists won’t. Even assuming the Cobra has put men who can recognize us in charge of the various watching groups, there must be many towns—and I would wager Buda is one—where the cultists are relying on a description sent to them, not personal knowledge.”
    “At Constanta,” Hassan put in, glancing at Rose, then looking at Loretta, “they did not so much recognize us, ourselves, as that we were two men of the right size and style traveling together, coming from and heading on in the expected directions. They were not sure when they approached us. It was only when we fought them off and ran that they were sure.”
    “Sure that we were one of the courier groups they’d been told to intercept.” Carstairs nodded. “The cultists sent to keep watch, at least this side of the Channel, will in my case be looking for two tall men, one fair and blond, the other dark, an English cavalry officer and his Pathan companion. The descriptions they’ll have for the other three might be more specific. They spent more time than I in Bombay. Delborough and Hamilton especially were known to the Black Cobra, Monteith less so, but even he spent more time in areas where the cult was strong. Hassan and I spent most of the time we were investigating the Cobra out in the field at the edge of the cult’s territory.”
    He shrugged. “The truth is that the cultists watching will most likely expect me to be wearing my uniform and Hassan his robes and turban. Without those distinguishing marks, and also not traveling alone, there’s no reason for their attention to fix on us.”
    “Especially if you’re squiring ladies about.” Loretta felt a certain relief—except that it was relief for him and therefore not entirely reassuring. “So you’ve traveled through areas of India far from the major towns?” When he nodded, she asked, “What was it like—the country, the villages, the people?”
    His brows rose, but after a moment apparently gathering his thoughts, he replied.
    Somewhat to her surprise, the carriage drew up outside the Matthias Church before she’d grown bored.
    But then she had to allow him to hand her down. With his hand hovering at the back of her waist, he perfectly correctly guided her up the steps. She was aware of him looking around, his blue eyes surveying their surroundings; she was grateful his concern over potentially