“May I court you? I wish with all my heart that I could ask your father, but I can’t wait a year or two.” To his great joy, she nodded, her green eyes glistening. Was she crying?
He cupped her face with a hand, his thumb brushing away the tear at the corner of her eye. “I want to kiss you. Would that be?—”
Her hands flew over his shoulders, and she pulled him to her, pressing her mouth to his. Her breath wafted against his skin, and he drew in her scent of vanilla and cinnamon. Desire slammed through him, but he vowed to slow down. He pulled back the slightest bit and brushed his lips back and forth across hers before sliding an arm around her waist. His other hand slid across her cheek, his fingers brushing the silky hair that had invaded his dreams.
His lips moved to her jaw. He feathered kisses down her neck, and the whimper that came from her was almost his undoing. “I’ve wanted to do that for so long,” he whispered, his forehead against hers.
“I’ve wanted you to do that for just as long.” Ruby glanced up at him shyly, chewing her bottom lip.
Elijah dipped his head and kissed her again, harder, letting loose a crumb of his passion. She tasted of apples and nutmeg. His senses were under assault: her beauty, her scent, her taste. His hand cupped her face again, the pad of his thumb stroking the satin skin. His tongue traced the seam of her mouth, and she opened for him. When his tongue gained entrance, her breath caught, and he smiled as he deepened the kiss.
Her fingers tangled in the hair at his collar, her fingernails scraping his scalp, sending tiny lightning bolts to his core. His hand moved from her face, his knuckles trailing down her slender neck, and he kissed that hollow he’d studied earlier. Her head fell back and placed a kiss above each creamy mound.
With great reluctance, he leaned back, pulling her against him with his arm around her. She snuggled next to him.
“So, that is what a kiss should feel like,” she murmured, her eyes closed.
“Wonderful, isn’t it, Ruby?”
“With you, it is. My experience before this was quite different.”
His interest was piqued. “Tell me,” he demanded with a grin.
“I was waylaid by a boy as a girl. He surprised me and then slammed his mouth against mine, so I slapped him,” she said smugly.
“What did he do?” asked Eli, enjoying the story.
“He laughed, quite pleased he’d gotten away with it.”
“Can’t blame the boyo.” Elijah laughed too, then sobered. “And the second was with Mason?”
She nodded, squirming until she could meet his eyes, then wrinkled her nose. “It was wet. Not at all pleasant. I couldn’t see what the fuss was all about.”
“And now?” he asked, relieved the second kiss hadn’t been a frightening experience. Instead, it put Eli in an even better light.
“I think we should kiss every time we see each other.”
“I could arrange that.”
Ruby drew in a breath. “I’ve never felt like this before. Heat grows inside me, spreading up to my face, then… My stomach has a hundred wings inside, tickling and teasing me. That starts this flutter, lower…” Her eyes grew wide. “Oh my, we shouldn’t be discussing this.”
“Then sit contentedly in my arms, and we’ll enjoy the silence and the ride.”
As Ruby snuggled against his side, his fingers running up and down her arm, he knew fate had sent this woman to him. Just when she would need him most. And he had never been more grateful.
CHAPTER 10
Wednesday
Gracechurch Street, Cheapside
“That’s him,” said Walters, tapping his fingers on the dining room table. Harry was a handsome man in a rugged way, more like the craggy cliffs with its wild shoreline, in contrast to their brother Clayton’s classic good looks. Black hair, a bit of silver at the temples, dark eyes that missed nothing, and a lean, tough body that had served the eldest son well over the years.
Eli leaned back, glad Paddy had called this early morning meeting. Harry identified Mason, Mr. Alberts’s coworker as one of The Vicar’s henchmen.
“When I infiltrated the counterfeit coin scheme, this man was with the leader,” verified Harry. “The leader was also the culprit who had assassinated at least one of several dead men working for the Home Office.”
Walters was the Peelers’ chameleon, able to alter his appearance and blend into any situation. His accents were numerous, and Elijah had often wondered how he kept them all straight.
