Scoundrel With A Noble Heart (sequel of Disgraceful)

Chapter 3

A blast of raucous laughter from a distance away silenced them both. The girl immediately stilled, and Matthew could feel she was catching her breath. They stood very still, watching the thugs walk past them. Gradually he felt her body relax in his arms. Her breathing was still in a race but she had stopped struggling. He waited until the men disappeared from view before releasing her.

Once the villains receded into the woods, Arabella twisted her arms free and pulled away. At a glance she instantly recognized the thug. He was the man who rode with her earlier. Unlike the others, he seemed like he had no evil intentions toward her. He kept his hands off of her along the ride, and treated her politely. Still, she couldn't trust this man so easily.
"What do you want?"

"Nothing. I just want to help you out of here."

Those beautiful eyes squinted suspiciously at him. He couldn't see their color in the dark, but he remembered they were an unusual shade of blue, like the turquoise waters of the ocean.
"I don't trust you."

"You don't really have a choice now, do you?"

Arabella found herself studying the man, considering her options only to realize she didn't really have any. The man looked at her from eyes that seemed sincere.
"Listen, Miss, I haven't the slightest intention to harm you. I promise."

"If so, why don't you just let me go?"

"You won't be any safer out here alone than in their clutches. Getting stranded in the middle of nowhere without food and any means to survive, no doubt you'll be dying within days."

Arabella couldn't argue with that. She had gotten herself into trouble again, and, as was too often the case, this whole mess was entirely of her own making. Inwardly, she cursed her propensity that brought about this harrowing ordeal. Always been a wayward child, her mother often said that one day her father would disown her for her perverse behavior.

"Do you really know how to get out of here?" She asked, knowing that she couldn't help herself out alone.

"Come on, I'll show you."

The man turned to leave. Left with no other choice, Arabella followed him. As much as she barely knew him, something told her she could trust the man. Curious as to what his true motive was, her observant eyes bored into his back.

"Why are you helping me?" She asked as they stepped over twigs and fallen branches.

"I'm helping myself. I have no desire to live a life of crime." The man replied without glancing her way.

"Then why started it in the first place?"

"It's not like I had a choice."

"Everyone has a choice in everything they do. Nobody can force you to do what you don't want to."

Arabella jolted back, nearly crashed into him when he stopped abruptly and turned toward her.

"It's easy for you to say, Miss. Somebody who leads a privileged life like you will never understand what it's like to live in the street with no help or support from anyone. You were born with all the options in the world available to you."

The last sentence grated on her nerves. She had everything but freedom, the right to decide what to do with her life.
"Listen, boy. You don't know my life, you don't know a thing about me, so don't talk to me like you know everything."

"I'm quite sure I can say the same thing."

Couldn't find a suitably sharp reply, Arabella pouted in annoyance. For the next hour, they passed through the trees in silence. She remained mute, until they reached a clearing and he stopped, looking around to observe the surroundings.