To tame an Earl (four hoydens #2)

Chapter 24

Alice woke up with a start.

When had she dozed off?

She blinked against the darkness. She sniffed a bit.

Yep, she was still in that stinking barn.

She was such a sound sleeper. She wondered what had woken her up. She was in the middle of cutting off her rope when she'd nodded off.

Alice looked down at her handy work. She was close to done. And then she sensed someone's presence again. Her heartbeat accelerated. Her gut was trying to tell her something, it could be two things. Someone was either going to harm her or save her. And she couldn't think any more harm could come to her, given her predicament. So it had to be the other.

It had to.

She was trying to be brave, but she was sick of this. Sick of being isolated in a chair, away from her husband. Sick of Bates's inappropriate caresses. He'd even struck her today when she'd called him a bastard.

She just wanted to be done with this ordeal.

She pulled at the partially cut ropes, tugging them viciously. And they actually
came undone. Goodness gracious, she'd done it. She quickly bent to unknot the one binding her legs.

The man who was to guard her stirred, mumbling sleepily. Alice froze.

And then she heard another snore. She exhaled.

She stood up, rubbing her sore wrists together. Alice gingerly lifter her soiled skirts and stepped over the man.

Where was the exit again?

It was so dark, she couldn't make out anything.

She heard the door creak open and saw a man entering in. She quickly hid, squatting behind a heap of straw. As he made his way into the barn, Alice ran out of the door, careful to keep quite. She was looking this way and that to see if anyone was out and about when she heard the man swear loudly.

"Wake up, you! She got away," he shouted, making sure every one in that area could hear him.

Almost instantly, the entire house was awake.

Alice picked up her skirts and ran as fast as she could. She didn't know where she was heading. All she knew was that she had to get away from this place.

It seemed like Bates had brought her to the country because all she saw as she ran were miles and miles of land. Not a house, not a person about.

She knew she didn't have much time.

Although she couldn't make out much because of the lack of light, it gave her the advantage of not being seen by anyone easily all the same.

She finally reached some sort of road, hope bloomed in her chest. She didn't know where it would lead her to. But stopping was not an option.

She had walked pretty far, but then she saw a large figure approaching her from the opposite direction.

Oh lord. It was him.

Bender.

If Bender was here, where was Ralph?