“Neds could be going overland on foot.” He rubbed at his eyes. “He could have taken side roads, avoiding cameras. Or . . .”
“Or?”
“Or he could have thrown in with a House who is covering his tracks for him.”
“What House has the power to do that? And why would they?”
“Any of the Houses can make someone disappear,” he said. “On their own or in concert with another House. And to answer your second question: to get to you.”
I pressed my palms over my face and exhaled into them. “I am beginning to seriously regret coming to the city.”
He drew my hair away from the side of my face, where it had fallen in a heavy curtain.
“We’ll find a solution. There isn’t any problem we can’t solve as long as we don’t stop trying to solve it. Trust that, Matilda. And if not that, trust that you are strong enough and resourceful enough. You’ll find your way through.”
I pulled one hand away from my face and let it fall in my lap. “That’s nice of you. But if we don’t find Neds, if we don’t find Quinten . . .”
“We’ll find them.”
He finished tucking my bouncy hair behind my ear, which I knew revealed the line of stitches down my jaw and neck.
I turned to look at him. Concern kindled in his eyes, shifting into heat and desire.
He held very still, maybe waiting for me to say something. Maybe waiting for me to say no. I raised one eyebrow. I wasn’t saying no.
He bent and covered my mouth with his own.
I made a small sound in the back of my throat, surprised, but not in a bad way. Not at all in a bad way.
His soft, warm lips moved over mine with a slow intensity, as if every inch of me should be savored, tasted. I inhaled and let him devour me. Heat pooled in my chest, pouring down my stomach and spreading across my thighs.
Oh.
I drew my thumb and palm gently across his rough jaw and smooth temple, and then buried my fingers in his hair, resting my palm across the back of his neck so I could hold him closer to me.
He gently opened my mouth with his tongue, and I gratefully let him in.
It was his turn to moan a little.
Slowly, we drew away from the kiss. His hands remained on my back and at my hip. I wasn’t ready to let go of him either. I pressed my lips together, already missing the taste of him.
“Are we going to talk about that?” I asked.
“Do we need to?”
“Most people would.”
“What would most people say?” He drew his hands back slowly, fingers slipping across my ribs.
I reluctantly released my hold on him. “I don’t know. That relationships aren’t easy. And we don’t even know if I’m staying in House Gray?—”
“You’re staying in House Gray.”
“—much less if you and I are going to work well together.”
“I don’t see why we wouldn’t.”
“Your friend tried to shoot me today, Abraham. Maybe we should hold off on whatever this”—I pointed my finger at him, then at me—“is. At least until things are less complicated in our lives.”
