Helen paddeddown the strange passage until she spied a door with a hint of light glowing along the bottom. Pushing it open, she found herself at the entrance to a bedroom, a shadowy figure seated in a chair before an unlit hearth. A single candle burning on a table to one side.
“Starling,” she whispered, moving closer. Hesitant now.
Would he still send her away?
His profile turned slightly in her direction, but he said nothing.
Gathering her courage, Helen drew herself up tall, raising her chin and coming to stand next to the chair.
She reached out, placing her trembling palm down on one broad shoulder, biting her lip as she waited for the rejection she felt sure was coming.
But instead, he raised his hand and covered hers with his, warming her frigid fingers with his heat.
Waiting. He was waiting for her.
Helen cleared her throat. “I have decided on my prize,” she murmured, squeezing his firm flesh with her fingers.
“And what will you claim?” he responded, voice raw as he finally looked up at her.
“You,” Helen whispered, her heart beating fit to burst from her chest as she finally admitted her true desire. “I choose you, Colin.”
He sighed roughly, but said nothing, the tension palpably leaving his body under her palm.
“Will you come with me to Bath?”
For what seemed an eternity, they stared at each other, neither daring to move, lest they break the spell.
“Oh, thank Christ,” he murmured at last, lurching to his feet and dragging her into his arms, clutching her tight to his chest as he fitted her head beneath his chin.
Holding her tight, the thud of his heart as loud as her own as it echoed against her cheek.
Helen smiled, then relaxed against him. She drew the spicy scent of him deep into her lungs as her body melted against his.
She had never before won something so dear, nor would she again.
EPILOGUE
2 yearslater
Helen shifted restlesslyon her feet where she leant against a wall near a conveniently dark alley in the side streets of Covent Garden. It must be nearing the early hours of the morning, but although she was not too fond of the waiting such cases entailed, it was always beyond exhilarating when their quarry was finally caught.
Never had she imagined she would find herself ensnared in a life of mystery and intrigue, but Starling had opened her eyes to the thrills to be found using one’s wits to outsmart and outmanoeuvre those with less than honourable intentions.
At first, they had removed to Bath as she had wanted. Those months had been a lovely escape from town, just the two of them free to indulge in whatever took their fancy. Although, as two lovers freshly enamoured with each other, that often included extended stays in the bedroom.
Soon though, Starling had grown restless, he had finally come to her with a proposal he had been weighing up for some months since they met.
Starling had been entertaining the idea of lending his skills to more useful pursuits. In particular, he had formed a friendship with a certain Bow Street Runner, who had asked if Starling would be willing to assist on certain cases. For a fee, of course.
As well as the influence that would accompany it, since it would usually be cases that were somewhat moresensitivein nature.
Never had Helen imagined that she would be drawn into such schemes, but when her beloved asked if she would join him on such escapades, Helen had been intrigued. Now, she loved working a case at Starling’s side. She was no stranger to the seedier side of London and its surrounds, and Helen found they made a good team.
Starling was an absolute chameleon when he needed to be, and Helen was always amazed at the lengths he would go to when working a case.
Tonight they were hunting a thief, a rather unsavoury person who made it his business to prey upon intoxicated and unsuspecting lords looking for some feminine company in dark alleyways, who would find themselves held at knifepoint, possibly with their breeches below their buttocks as their pockets were emptied of all valuables.
It was a most embarrassing crime to admit to, Helen had to say, and no wonder there had been a request for them to assist with discreetly catching the thief.
