Page 35 of The Last Crimes of Peregrine Hind
Maybe he was tired.
Or maybe some fights weren’t meant to be fought for entire lifetimes. One could only pass their fingers through a flame so many times before they got burned.
Truthfully, though, he knew why he stayed. Why he brooded alone with ghosts instead of finding a new place to live or seeking out some other occupation. The idea of leaving Far Hope’s demesne hurt more than he could describe. At least here, he could walk to Alexander’s house and watch it from the hills surrounding the valley. At least here, he could sometimes go to the now-empty priory and wander through its abandoned spaces, remembering how it felt that week to have Alexander as his very own.
Peregrine was thinking about all this as he walked through a little valley choked with trees, and that’s when he heard a suspicious rustling.
And then a shh, and then a horse sprang out in front of him.
“Stand and deliver!” a voice cried out, loud enough to send an owl flapping away in irritation. Peregrine’s heart stopped and then skidded back into action with several fast, hungry beats. But not from fear.
He knew that voice. He knew that voice from every dream he’d dreamed in the last six months.
And then the voice said, “Did I say that right? Is that how it goes?”
Lyd—of all fucking people—and Ned and the others stepped out of the shadows to the mounted figure.
“You could have been louder,” Lyd said dryly, and then turned to him. “Hello, Peregrine. This is a robbery.”
“I thought it was an abduction,” said Ned, and Lyd put her palm to her forehead.
“That’s right,” she said, “this is an abduction. You’re being abducted right now.”
Peregrine was ignoring them, already walking up to the horse where the mounted rider sat. The rider’s hair tumbled over his shoulder in gleaming waves, and his full lips were curled into a secretive little smile.
Just looking at him made Peregrine’s chest ache with longing.
“Are you my kidnapper?” asked Peregrine, his heart tumbling all over itself inside his chest, like a newborn foal that couldn’t find its legs. He’d tried to stay away from Alexander, tried to do the right thing after so many years of doing the wrong thing, but he couldn’t deny that he’d hoped—yearned—for something like this. A moment when he could see Alexander’s sparkling eyes again.
“I am your kidnapper,” agreed Alexander with great dignity. “I’m here to whisk you away.”
Peregrine was very close to Alexander now. He put a possessive hand on the man’s thigh, squeezing gently. The feeling of Alexander’s warm, lithe muscles under his grip made blood surge to his cock.
“How did you find me?” Peregrine asked.
“Unfortunately, Sandy and I are friends now,” Lyd said with a heavy sigh. “And then this week, he popped around my hideout with some sad story about missing you and wanting to see you again.”
Peregrine looked to Alexander. “You missed me.”
“Yes, you awful, criminal fool, I missed you,” replied Alexander impatiently. “I missed you so much that I got a pardon for you from the Crown so that you can come live with me without worrying that someone will inform the local magistrate about a highwayman in my bed.”
Peregrine’s heart thudded. “You did?”
“I did.” Alexander’s gaze softened. “You will be safe with me, Peregrine. I swear it.”
Peregrine forced himself to think rationally, to think unselfishly. He’d had plenty of time to mull over his decisions, after all, and as much as they hurt—and they really fucking hurt—he still couldn’t see that he’d chosen wrongly.
“You’ll need to marry,” he said softly, his hand lingering possessively on Alexander’s thigh. “Have children. I know some married couples are willing to?—”
“Ugh, stop,” Alexander huffed. “I’m not getting married.”
“But the dukedom?—”
“There are plenty of little ones in line, don’t worry about the dukedom and heirs,” Alexander said. He reached out to touch Peregrine’s jaw with leather-gloved fingertips. “Can’t you see, Peregrine Hind?” he whispered. “I only want you. Let me kidnap you, and I swear that I’ll make the rest of your life worth it.”
“The rest of my life?” Peregrine asked. There was a buzz in his lips, on his tongue, inside his veins.
It felt like hope.
