When he appeared at breakfast, immaculate in his dark blue coat, their eyes met and her heart stuttered. Heat unfurled in her belly, a want she dared not indulge.
He came to her, his fingers finding hers as he brushed a chaste kiss across her knuckles. The fleeting contact, the charged awareness between them, had her clenching her thighs beneath the table.
“I thought I’d come down to find you finishing your coffee,” she said, conscious of his gaze on her body.
“It took me a while to settle after I left you last night.”
Oh, she was back there in a heartbeat, her shoulders pressed to the wall, moonlight softening his features but doing nothing to tame the rough sound in his throat as he pushed into her.
A blush warmed her cheeks. “Troubling thoughts about the case?”
“A man’s mind wanders in the small hours. It’s difficult to rest when one is plagued byhardproblems.”
“Let’s pray Mrs Hodge can tell us something useful today.” She didn’t hold out much hope. There was every chance she had been used as a pawn in this game too. “It’s impossible to know who to trust.”
“Indeed.” He took his seat at the head of the table, dismissing the footmen before they poured his coffee. “I don’t care for gossip, and someone in this house has a loose tongue.”
“You refer to Miss Bourne and her knowledge of our sleeping arrangements?” The woman wormed her way into every conversation. Would it always be this way? “She obviously feels comfortable enough to come and go as she pleases.”
“We’ll visit her aunt on our return from World’s End. Ensure Miss Bourne knows she’s not welcome without an invitation.”
Olivia glanced at her plain grey dress and almost groaned. “I can’t call on a neighbour looking like the newly hired governess.”
Her husband leaned back in the chair, his thumb brushinghis lip in languid appraisal. Anyone would think she wore nothing but Chantilly lace and silk stockings.
“You look like passion wrapped in mystery. I doubt any man would find a more tempting combination.”
Her composure faltered for a heartbeat. For someone who claimed to live behind stone walls, he said the most beautiful things. She touched the gold band on her finger, wondering what he had inscribed inside.
“Commanding a room is about presence, not clothing,” he added. “You put Miss Bourne in her place last night while wearing a nightgown.”
“I did have a pistol in my pocket.”
He smiled. “Then carry it with you today. Your secret weapon.”
He was her secret weapon. But she did as he suggested, tucking the pistol into her reticule before they set out for World’s End. They had barely reached the gravel drive when Gabriel spotted Mr Kincaid’s new assistant and swore.
“I told you to bring someone with an excellent aim, not a twelve-year-old boy from the stables.”
Poor Alfie, who’d been sitting proudly atop the box, slumped in his seat. “On my oath, milord, I can shoot better than any man here. Ask Mr Kincaid. I split a bottle top from ten yards.”
“I feel uneasy about bringing the lad too,” Mr Kincaid said, nudging the boy and offering an encouraging smile, “but he reckons he’s got a debt to pay and a point to prove. And he’s a better shot than me, I’ll give him that.”
“I won’t have a child in the line of fire. What the devil were you thinking?”
“That he’d nae forgive me if I left him behind, my lord.” Mr Kincaid gave a discreet jerk of his head towards the boy. “’Tis important to feel at home. Every soul needs a hearth to belong to, else he’s naught but smoke on the wind.”
Alfie dragged off his cap, his freckled face earnest. “I swear I’ll be no trouble, milord.”
“But can you swear you’ll stay alive?”
“Happen the point is to make sure you and Lady Rothley come to no harm, but I’ll do me best.”
Gabriel sighed. “Very well. But it will be Kincaid’s neck on the block if anything happens to you.”
They set out for World’s End.
Gabriel sat opposite, composed as ever while the countryside rolled past in a blur of green and grey. Olivia tried to focus on the view, not the man. Yet her gaze wandered of its own accord, tracing the long lines of his body, the strong hands resting on his knees.
