Merry Begot

Chapter 3

Elora choked on her saliva, unsure if she should be more terrified or offended by the man's words.

"I know you have no reason to trust me, but we're more alike than not, Maiden," he stated. "Regardless of your innocence, you've been accused of witchcraft. You will never know the same life you had before. Your only choices are to be taken prisoner, or run. I'm all for helping you with the latter."

"I don't believe you," Elora returned, her words muffled by his gloved hand.

He removed it and she repeated herself.

"Of course, you don't," he accepted. "Unfortunately, we don't have time for me to convince you, so we'll have to do this the hard way."

Elora immediately started fighting when the man grabbed her up into his arms and started hauling her toward the stairs. Despite her kicking and struggling, he proved extraordinarily strong and didn't seem too bothered by her attempts to free herself.

Her panic was heightened by the simple fact that she'd never felt the hard, unyielding strength of a male body against her before. It was causing clashing reactions to happen inside her system. Elora's internal temperature rose with those confusing feelings more than anger.

The man had to manage the opening at the top of the stairs carefully without letting her go, and for a moment, it seemed they would end up getting stuck. 

"We can't both fit at the same time, you simpleton!" Elora cursed when her hips got wedged between the floorboards, causing the most intimate parts of their bodies together in a very awkward way.

"Stop wriggling, Maiden," he swore through clenched teeth. "You're making matters worse."

Elora didn't know what he meant at first, until she felt the shape of his hardening manhood pressing against her bottom and froze. With a gasp, she tried to pull her lower body away from his, but there was no room.

"You vile—" she began to curse him.

He cuffed a hand over her mouth while tightening his hold around her waist, forcing her to still. Through the blood raging in her ears, Elora finally came to understand that he was listening to something. Then, she caught the distant sounds of horse hooves thundering across the land and her heartbeat skipped into a higher tempo.

"We're out of time," the man whispered. "I need you to stop fighting me if either of us are to survive this night. Can you do that?"

Though she still didn't trust him, Elora also realized that it would be much easier to escape him later on, once he got her safely away from the village. But only if he meant to save her. A part of her still believed he planned to hand her over to the sheriff for a hefty sum.

As the sound of stampeding hooves grew louder, Elora swallowed and nodded slowly, willing to take that chance.

"Good," he said, his body relaxing somewhat with relief. "My horse is just outside. We need to hurry if we want to make it away from here before they arrive."

Elora didn't respond. She held still while he finished climbing out of the trap door first. Then, he grabbed her hands to pull her up next.

"Wait," she panicked. "My trunk. It has everything that matters to me inside. I can't leave it behind."

"You'll have to for now," he said. "We'll come back for it in a few days, after the villagers have given up."

Elora detested that idea, but knew there was no other choice. A single horse wouldn't be able to hold both of them plus her trunk.

"Have you any sap or resin?" the man asked, causing her to frown.

When she retrieved the jar of tree sap from her pantry, the Highwayman knelt on the floor and used the wooden spoon already in the sap to smear it all around the lip where the trap door would settle. Then, he let it close and pressed down on the faux cabinet with all his weight. When he tried to lift the trapdoor again, it was properly stuck.