A light puff of air on a silent laugh brushed her cheek next. “Mary.” It was Gabe, whispering in her ear, the warmth of his body as he leaned over her, the smell of his sandalwood soap, and cloves on his breath…
He filled her senses.
Mary liked it.
She turned on her back and slowly opened her eyes, allowing them to adjust to the dim firelight that lit the room.
Startling blue eyes gazed back at her. “It is time.”
Time?Oh!“Yes, of course.”
Suddenly Gabe was gone. And so was her warmth. She sat up, one hand to her hair as it had gone wild in her sleep. She really should plait it as most ladies did, but she had never been one to habitually bind her hair.
Gabe had retreated to his solitary game of cards at the table once more, and Mary set about preparing herself. She pulled one of her travelling boxes out from beneath the bed and flipped open the lid. Pushing aside a selection of white, lacy underthings, she reached for what she sought: the false bottom to her box. Within that lay an array of weaponry: a pistol, gun powder, shot, knives, even darts. She retrieved a leather strap and sheath, a dagger, and from beneath it all, a simple, front-buttoning black bombazine frock that she used especially for sneak-work. She placed the items atop the coverlet at the foot of the bed then closed and replaced her travelling box.
The hairs at the base of her neck prickled and Mary glanced up, catching Gabe’s gaze.
Her breath caught in her throat. In his eyes was something wild and unpredictable that sent both excitement and tingling nervousness through her.Goodness. His gaze held hers, deep blue and unmoving. Mary’s heart began to thud in her chest and her breath came fast.
He wore all black and his hair still held the dampness of wash, the ends curling into tight ringlets.
Gabe’s gaze turned heated, and her palms grew damp. Mary had caused many a man’s arousal and was familiar with the expression on a man’s face in that state. But on Gabriel it felt different. Suddenly, she lost her nerve. Breaking eye contact, Mary turned her attention to her task.
She rose from her kneeling position on the floor and gathered her things, retreating behind the privacy screen.
Coward.
With a silent sigh, Mary set to dressing herself. She slid the knife inside the sheath, then attached it to the long leather strap. With an unnecessarily surreptitious glance around her hidden corner, she lifted the skirts of her night rail and wrapped the strap tightly around her upper thigh.
She had not been prepared for how Gabe’s stare would make her feel. Could he truly have been aroused or was he simply skilled at affecting the image of an aroused man? Was it part of his act? If so, why would he do it when it was just the two of them alone in the room? Had she simply imagined arousal in his gaze? But no, she was far too practiced to have been fooled. Could hetrulyhave been aroused by the sight of her kneeling on the floor in her night rail? It did not make sense. Gabriel was proficient at disguising his true feelings, if he had not wished Mary to know it, then he would have hidden it.
But that would mean…Impossible. Gabe hadwantedMary to see the arousal in his expression?
Her breath caught in her throat at the thought. There could be only one reason for him to allow his feelings to be seen. He wanted her.
Her heart raced, pounding and skipping along happily within her foolishly hopeful chest.
She shook her head, forcing herself to focus. Gabe had seen her perform this evening; he was simply reacting as she had intended all the men to do. He was male, after all; it was not about her, personally, but the movement of her body and what it made hisman-partsfeel. She must remember that. This evening was about their assignment, not about passion or heated glances.
In the interest of a hasty return to bed once they made their escape from the house party and retired to an inn, Mary kept her night rail on in the place of a shift and donned her charcoal frock over top. Dressing in her nighttime spy attire was as welcome as returning home. It was comfortable, it was safe, and it did not suffocate her with corset, stays, or innumerable, hot petticoats. She felt free, powerful, and entirely dangerous.
She felt like a spy.
She finished buttoning herself up and straightened her long sleeves and bodice, and with renewed confidence Mary rounded the side of the screen. Without a glance inhisdirection, she strode directly toward her dressing table and sat to gaze at herself in the reflective glass, then set to work on plaiting her hair and tying it into a sensible knot at the base of her neck.
Satisfied with her modest appearance, Mary rose and turned to face Gabriel. His gaze was already on her, but the heat had dissipated.
Mary nodded with mute meaning and they broke off to snuff any lit candles about the bedchamber. Ever silently, they quit the room to stride side by side down the dark corridor, vigilantly careful not to make a sound.
The moan of a cat was carried through the air from behind a door, though Mary suspected it was not a cat. Thetick-tockof clocks echoed through the still house giving Mary the eerie feeling that the grand, femininely appointed building had a heartbeat.Tick-tock, bu-bumwent the heart, though only she and Gabe flowed through the wide halls.
Mary had the ludicrous urge to look over her shoulder for ghosts or ghouls, despite her certainty that they were alone. Perhaps the building judged her for spying on its masters.
A light touch brushed her arm and she turned her gaze to Gabe as he crept along beside her.
He pressed a finger to his lips, the signal for silence—did he think she would shout?—then moved his finger to tap his ear.Listen.
Voices. Very low, very quiet, but there were indeed voices coming from further down the hall, belowstairs.
She nodded in understanding and they sped their pace.
Painstakingly precautious as they were and the groaning steps of the grand staircase notwithstanding, they arrived at the Kerr House study without incident.
Gabe turned the knob and swung the door open on silent hinges before closing it soundlessly behind them.
Her eyes, having long adjusted to the darkness, immediately spotted something troublesome. Her heart froze in her chest as she swung her head toward Gabe, who stood stony-faced beside her. The pedestal was open and the strong box was gone.
