“And you’re a veritable minx,” Aylesbury whispered in her ear as he took her hand in his and led her down the alley behind the shop.
“I said nothing that wasn’t true.”She protested with a grin, clearly pleased with his jealous pique.“Itwasa lovely shop, the gloves would match one of my habits perfectly, and I would like to come back another time.”
“If you’re alive,” he pointed out.
“Well, it would be difficult otherwise, wouldn’t it?”
She looked remarkably cheerful as she said it and he was hard put to recall the seriousness of their position.“Show a little respect for the peril we’re in, won’t you?”
“I’m sorry, Harry,” she said penitently.
He pulled off his hat and slapped it against his thigh in a move she was beginning to understand signaled the outer periphery of his patience.Funny that seeing him hovering on the brink of intolerance had somehow become rather endearing.
“My God, you’re actually enjoying this, aren’t you?”
“Of course not.”
Fiona eyed him from head to toe, loving how his usually neat hair was tousled from their mad dash.His blue eyes were as bright as beacons, and she could see the pulse pounding at the base of his neck through his open collar.Involuntarily, she reached out and ran a finger down the pulsing line.
“Well, not the bit that prompted us to flee in any case but...Well, I haven’t run in an age.It’s quite rousing, isn’t it?”she whispered, surprised at the huskiness of her voice.
He must have been as well, though he recovered quickly enough.His eyes darkened, focusing on her parted lips.Her tongue darted out to moisten them, drawing a low groan from him.
“Nowyou look at me like that?”he asked throatily, taking her hat from her hand and tossing it aside.
Shoving his fingers into the thick mass of her hair, he grasped her head in his hand and pulled her forcibly to him.He lifted her against him and bent his head to take her lips in a hard kiss.She parted her lips, inviting him in as she wound her arms around his neck.
“Oh my, Harry,” she gasped against his lips when his hand closed over her breast, kneading fervidly.
Trembling with the force of the hot lust that streaked through her, she knew that she wouldn’t have cared a bit if he tossed up her skirts right there in the alley and took her up against the brick wall.Primal satisfaction pounded through her veins.She had never felt so alive, so victorious...so ready to surrender.
Harry must have sensed it as well.He growled triumphantly low in his throat, the turgid evidence of his arousal pulsating at the apex of her thighs as he lifted her against him.
“God, I want you, Fiona,” he whispered gruffly.“You have no idea how desperately.”
If her own desire was any indication, she rather thought she did.Kissing her again more tenderly, He eased her away with a long-suffering groan.
“This is not the time.”
She nodded with a blush.“I know.”
Stroking her cheek tenderly, he brushed one last kiss across her lips.“Don’t be self-conscious with me, darling girl.Ever.I love your passion.And in a time of danger, it’s normal.It’s exciting.You feel incredibly alive, yes?It feels good, doesn’t it?”
He smiled down at her as she nodded, brushing back the hair at her temples.“Now you know exactly what I feel each time I look at you.”
She gaped at him, a poignant ache seizing her heart.“Oh...”
“Take heart,” he rushed on with a roguish grin.“At least you aren’t left sporting the evidence of your ardor for all the world to see.”
She glanced down involuntarily, noting the bulge straining against the front of his trousers.She blushed again, this time from resisting the overwhelming urge to touch him.
He must have guessed her thoughts for Aylesbury exhaled shakily.“You’ll drive me to Bedlam one day, mark my words.”
Amusement returned, and Fiona grinned up at him.“I promise to visit you.”
He groaned and joined in her laughter.“Come on.Let’s get you home.”
“Home, ye say?”a thick Cockneyed voice said.“But I was jus’ beginnin’ to enjoy the show.”
