Page 29 of His Sinful Touch

Alex laughed. “I know better than to forbid you, believe me.”

“When do we go? Now?”

“No, it’s still daylight, and this is something better performed under the cover of darkness. Tonight after supper—and wear something dark.”

Sabrina’s eyes sparkled. “Megan lent me a cloak the other day. It’s midnight blue and has a hood.”

“Perfect. And the most sensible shoes and skirt you have—just in case we need to run.”

It was his own wardrobe that was the most difficult to blend in with the darkness, given his plethora of starched white shirts. He solved the problem by raiding Con’s closet. Con was bound to have something for the occasional breaking and entering. In fact, Con turned out to have an astonishing array of disguises; deep down, Alex suspected, Con would have liked to be on the stage.

Under the curious gazes of both his dog and the parrot, Alex dressed in a dark, collarless workingman’s shirt and rough coat, adding a pair of his own supple black leather gloves. There was nothing he could do to hide the paleness of his face, but the flat black corduroy cap pulled low on his forehead helped somewhat.

Rufus padded after Alex as he went down the hall and knocked softly on Sabrina’s door. She popped out as if she had been waiting. He saw, approvingly, that she wore a simple dark blue bodice and skirt with no bustle and few petticoats beneath, as well as serviceable black leather half boots. Over her arm she carried a cloak.

“Excellent.” He could not keep his mind from going to the thought of her lack of petticoats beneath her skirt, but he pulled it firmly back. “Let’s go down the back way. I’d just as soon not have to explain what we’re doing to anyone in my family—not, of course, that they wouldn’t do the same sort of thing themselves.”

“Won’t the servants wonder?”

He shrugged. “Perhaps. But they’re accustomed to our odd fits and starts, as Mrs. Bee says.”

Sabrina cast a doubtful look over at the dog as they walked quietly to the back stairs. “You’re taking Rufus? Isn’t he rather noticeable?”

“He is unfortunately light-colored,” Alex agreed, looking down at the nearly white dog with splotches of dark fur. “Still, who’s going to think someone’s taking a dog with them to break into a house? And he can stand watch for us to make sure no one catches us by surprise. Besides, he knows something is up, and he’d raise such a ruckus when I left there’d be no hope of getting out quietly. I was lucky to get out without Wellington, as well.”

As he expected, the servants cleaning up the kitchen spared barely a glance at them as they passed through. From force of long habit, he filched a scrap of meat from the platter and slipped it to Rufus.

“Stop encouraging that mangy hound, Master Alex,” the cook said without turning around.

“Careful, Gert, Rufus will think you don’t like him,” Alex responded.

The woman snorted, glancing over at them and taking in their appearance. “Looks like you’re the one needs to be careful, Master Alex.”

“I will.” Alex opened the door to usher Sabrina out.

“And don’t toss that poor girl into one of your fracases now.”

“Gert!” He turned back with a mock gasp, placing his hand against his heart in a dramatic way. “You wound me.”

“Get on with you.” Gert waved him away, unable to hold back her grin.

Outside, he turned to find Sabrina watching him. “They’re all very fond of you.”

“They all think I’m still twelve years old.” He reached out and took her cloak from her to drape around her shoulders. Gazing down into her face, he tied the ribbons at the neck. His hands fell away, but he was reluctant to step back. “There, you look suitably stealthy.”

“Oh, I have more,” Sabrina said with a saucy little grin and pulled something from her pocket. “I have a mask!” She lifted the black half mask to her eyes and tied it behind her head.

There was a subtle seduction to the mask, dark and satiny against her creamy white skin, concealing her even as it exposed the curve of her mouth beneath it. She appeared faintly mysterious and utterly desirable, and, with the lilt of her teasing laugh running through him like a fingernail sliding down his spine, all he wanted to do was kiss her.

Fortunately for his willpower, Sabrina stepped back and pulled up her hood. Truth was, this guise only increased the throbbing inside him more, for she looked like a woman bent on a secret tryst. But at least her movement had broken his momentary trance, enabling him to pull together his scattered thoughts.

“Well...” Alex cleared his throat. “Let’s be off. We’ve a crime to commit.”

Chapter Eleven

THEY STROLLED ALONG the street, Rufus trotting happily beside them. Aside from his first impulsive dash down the block when they left Broughton House, the dog stuck close to Alex’s side, only occasionally stopping to examine some particularly appealing scent.

The evening darkness wrapped around them like velvet, hushed and foggy, with streetlights creating warm pools of golden light along the way. In the distance, he could hear the clip-clop of horses’ hooves and the rumble of wheels as some carriage rolled down the street, but here he and Sabrina were alone together in this strangely intimate atmosphere.