Saving Grace (Victorian Vigilantes Book 1)

by Wendy Soliman

  Isaac laughed. ‘Your memory is in fine working order. But to answer your earlier question, I went into the law when I left university. For some years I argued cases at the Old Bailey, with a modicum of success. Then, a few years ago, Jake requested my help with one of his assignments and…well, I now spend more time working for him than doing anything else.’

  ‘You enjoy taking risks?’

  ‘Certainly I do. What gentleman of leisure does not?’ He coiled one of her curls around his forefinger, brushing his knuckles against her neck as he did so. ‘Are you wondering if I intend to kiss you and whether or not the spontaneous side of your nature will permit me to if I attempt it?’

  ‘The thought had not entered my head.’

  ‘Liar.’ He moved closer and breathed softly on her neck, sending a shiver of anticipation trickling down her spine. ‘Never lie to me, sweet Eva. I will never hurt you. Surely you realise that.’

  She widened eyes full of doubt.

  ‘You only have yourself to blame, you know.’ He slid one hand along the back of her neck, drawing her closer until only a fraction of an inch separated their mouths. ‘You fascinate me, Lady Eva,’ he said, brushing his lips softly against hers.

  She gulped, aware of a maelstrom of emotions warring inside of her, never having been more sorely tempted. Lord Isaac was right, damn him. She did very much want him to kiss her, hang the consequences! ‘You are very contradictory.’

  ‘I am doing my very best to behave myself but simply by being here, you make it deuced difficult for a man to stick to that resolve.’

  ‘Is this another aspect of being spontaneous?’

  ‘Absolutely.’

  She smiled. ‘Or a convenient excuse?’

  ‘That is for you to decide.’

  ‘I have a choice? That will make an agreeable change.’

  ‘Spontaneity will make the decision for you, if you have the courage to give way to it.’ He touched her lips again. ‘I suspect it already has,’ he added in a softly persuasive drawl.

  ‘You have certainly made me…er, curious.’

  ***

  Isaac stood and walked towards the window, hands clasped behind his back, wondering what the devil he thought he was playing at. He needed to put distance between himself and Eva—now, this moment—or he would not be responsible for the consequences. He picked up his glass and swirled the brandy around it, inhaling the fruity vanilla aroma as he raised it to his lips and took an appreciative sip. The fiery liquid trickled slowly down his throat but the sweet berry flavour lingered on his palate, a very temporary distraction from the enticement sitting across the room, regarding him quizzically.

  He glanced at her over the rim of his glass, thinking how endearingly lovely she looked; thinking how quickly circumstances changed. Before she had come along he’d been perfectly content with his life. Thanks to his obliging brothers, there was no pressure upon him to marry, and he had enjoyed his time working with Jake. But now, Eva had turned his well-organised existence on its head. She was like no woman he had ever met before and he was fascinated by her. Her aesthetic beauty, her fragile vulnerability and quite extraordinary sensuality drew him like a moth to a flame. He wanted her, not just for now but as a constant companion.

  It was as straightforward and unequivocal as that.

  Except her situation was anything but straightforward. Unfortunately she had a very aggrieved husband sitting in Sloane Street, awaiting her return. One who would do whatever it took to regain control of her. Isaac was equally determined. No matter how this business ended, she would not return to Woodstock unless she chose to. Isaac didn’t have the slightest concerns about living with her out of wedlock, if he could persuade her to agree to the unorthodox arrangement. Woodstock would never leave them in peace, of course, but if Jake managed to pull off this assignment then Woodstock would have more immediate concerns, like avoiding the noose. Then there was the question of Eva’s daughter. Somehow she must be plucked from beneath her husband’s roof and returned to her mother’s loving care.

  Isaac sighed. Why did life have to be so damned complicated? He would continue to restore Eva’s self-confidence and teach her something about her passionate nature. But he absolutely would not take matters to their natural conclusion until this assignment was out of the way.

  Sometimes being noble was a damned curse.

  Although he and Jake hadn’t discussed the turn his relationship had taken with Eva, his friend was obviously aware of it. It was equally obvious that it made him uncomfortable. It certainly compromised an assignment vital to the interests of his country. Isaac was surprised how little that thought concerned him.

  ‘It’s only a damned piece of rock,’ he muttered to himself.

  ‘Did you say something?’ Eva asked.

  ‘I wondered how you would like to spend the rest of the evening,’ he replied, smiling at her.

  As he waited for her to respond, Isaac wondered if she would be truthful and admit to her feelings.

  ‘I think you know,’ she said, meeting his gaze.

  ‘Eva, perhaps that wouldn’t be such a—’

  ‘A change of heart, my lord?’ She sent him a challenging smile. ‘You disappoint me. Whatever happened to your spontaneity?’

  ‘It would be playing with fire.’

  She canted her head and glanced up at him from beneath a fringe of thick lashes. ‘Why?’

  ‘Dash it all, Eva!’ he cried, exasperated. ‘You might be able to control your passions but I’m unsure if I can master my own. Not when I am with you. You bring out the worst in me.’ He chuckled. ‘Or the best. I have yet to decide which.’

  ‘Then I shall just have to be strong enough for us both.’ She treated him to a sultry smile that had Isaac groaning. ‘You started this, Isaac. I did not suppose you to be a gentleman who satisfied himself with half-measures.’

  ‘Wench!’ He opened his arms and drilled her with a possessive look. ‘Come here.’

  She stood up and glided elegantly across the room. His arms closed greedily around her as soon as she walked into them, her soft curves colliding with the hard planes of his chest with a gentle thud that sent his pulse racing. Ye gods, what madness had made him suppose he could stop at simply kissing her?

  He slanted his mouth over hers and claimed her lips with purpose and authority. He had a point to prove, to himself as much as to her. His tongue cut a seductive path through her mouth, tangling with her own tongue in an exotic dance that was unashamedly carnal. His hands drifted to her bottom, massaging the firm globes, pulling her tightly against his groin as he deepened the kiss. Even with their lips fused, she managed to emit a little moan as his mouth continued to savour hers. With her arms twined around his neck and her fingers tangling in his hair, she pressed herself even more firmly against him.

  Perdition, did she have any idea what she was doing to him? Possessive lust streaked through Isaac when it occurred to him that she had never willingly offered herself to another man, especially not in the desperate, abandoned manner she now employed with him. Oh, she had done her duty by Woodstock but Isaac intended to show her just how delightful intimacy could be when one’s partner stirred one’s passions.

  ‘Good evening.’ Isaac broke the kiss before it ran completely out of control.

  ‘I have every expectation of it being so.’ She slanted him a flirtatious glance that implied she was quickly learning just how much power she wielded over him. Her eyes glowed in the soft lamplight, passion and curiosity dominant. How easy it would be to…but no! Not here. Not now.

  Perhaps not ever.

  ‘May I say something?’ she asked breathlessly.

  ‘Certainly you may.’

  ‘Spontaneity has much to recommend it,’ she said. ‘I have already learned that much but I still can’t bring myself to believe it’s possible for a woman to feel pleasure in such situations as this, or that it’s right for her to do so. Of course, it is perfectly acceptable for the man to have pleasure, but�
�’

  ‘You are quite wrong about that.’ And you really shouldn’t goad me into proving it.

  ‘Since last night I cannot disagree. I mean, you simply talked to me, danced with me and yet I felt this deep awareness and…well, it was enlightening.’

  ‘It was merely a prelude.’ Isaac said, feeling ridiculously pleased to have opened her eyes. ‘But I did not act in anticipation of taking matters further.’ He kissed his way passionately down her neck. ‘But you compel me, my love. I can’t stay away from you, in spite of my noble intentions to do precisely that.’

  ‘I am not asking you to be noble. In fact, I much prefer it when you are spontaneous.’

  ‘I’m very glad you feel that way,’ he said in a gravelly voice. ‘You have wasted enough years doing what others expect of you.’

  She sent him a glittering smile. ‘Strange, but I had reached the same conclusion.’

  The situation called for compliments, declarations, reassurances—there were so many promises he wished to make. But he couldn’t do so—not until this wretched business with her husband was resolved. Perhaps not even then. Isaac had known her for little more than a day but his feelings transcended anything he had known before. Something that seemed so instinctively right couldn’t possibly be wrong—and yet…and yet he must proceed with caution and resist taking her too far too fast.

  He gazed down, her unsettling beauty in danger of leaving him tongue-tied and maladroit.

  ‘Allow yourself to feel, sweetheart,’ he said, kissing the top of her head. ‘Listen to your body, be guided by it and go with your feelings.’

  He claimed her lips for a second time, giving his hands permission to roam over her delicious curves, just for a few precious moments. Then he disciplined himself to release her again. If he didn’t do so immediately he might never manage it.

  ‘My mama would tell you women must grit their teeth, do their duty and make the best of things,’ she said breathlessly. ‘They most certainly shouldn’t feel any pleasure.’

  ‘Your mama grossly misled you.’

  Eva conceded the point with a sultry smile. ‘So it would appear.’

  ***

  Eva felt disgruntled when Isaac released her from his embrace and led her back to the settee. She was grateful to him, at least for that courtesy, because she was unsure if she would have been able to move without his support. Her body felt absolutely boneless, her soul lighter than it had been for years, and yet all he had done was kiss her. Very expertly, very passionately, it was true, but still, should she have reacted quite so violently to a mere kiss? She neither knew nor cared. All she did know was that she was no longer the same person she had been just one short day ago and never would be again.

  ‘Thank you,’ she said, reaching up to trace the line of Isaac’s dear face.

  ‘It was a privilege and a pleasure,’ he replied, seating himself beside her but no longer touching her. ‘Tell me what you felt. I have no knowledge of a frigid woman’s reactions, you see.’

  She playfully thumped his arm. ‘Oh, what I felt? At first a kernel of sensation crawled through me. It was a primitive feeling.’ She nodded. ‘Yes, primitive is the perfect description. Then, when you used your…your tongue, I…well, I just floated and, er—it’s so very difficult to put into words.’

  ‘Frigidity has a lot to answer for,’ he said, chuckling.

  ‘Mock me as much as you wish, you will not spoil my mood.’

  ‘You must excuse me for wanting to be absolutely sure I gave satisfaction. I have never met a frigid woman before, you see.’

  ‘You embarrass me by forcing me to articulate my feelings.’ She pretended to be upset. ‘That’s not very gentlemanly.’

  Isaac roared with laughter. ‘My darling, none of my behaviour has been exactly gentlemanly this evening.’

  ‘No, that’s true, and I thank goodness for it.’ She covered a yawn with the back of her hand.

  ‘You are fatigued. I perfectly understand. Jake’s inexhaustible energy affects most people that way. You ought to retire.’

  ‘Soon.’

  ‘Much as I would like to demonstrate with deeds just how frigid you are not, I won’t spoil what we have, the sublime connection between us. You feel it too, do you not?’ She nodded without hestiation. ‘Until we have resolved the issue of your husband, and restored your daughter to you, I can’t take this affair to its natural conclusion.’ He clutched her shoulders and she drowned in the glittering fervency in his eyes. ‘When I make love to you, sweet Eva, it won’t be with the shadow of your husband hovering above us.’

  Tears filled Eva’s eyes. ‘We have no idea how things will turn out. There are still some weeks to go before the exhibition. Anything could happen. We shouldn’t waste this opportunity. We might never have another.’

  Isaac chuckled. ‘Have more faith in Jake’s abilities, and mine.’

  ‘Does Lord Torbay have any idea how my husband’s associates plan to steal the diamond?’

  ‘Next week there’s an official reception at Buckingham Palace at which the stone will be exhibited. It will be closely guarded, naturally, and all attendees will be carefully vetted. However, a party of Sikhs will form part of the guard of honour. We believe your husband plans to substitute the men you saw in his warehouse for the official Sikhs.’

  ‘Very audacious, but how could they possibly get away with it?’

  ‘We think his government connection has given him detailed plans regarding the security for the events.’

  ‘Which is what you hope to find hidden in his desk?’

  ‘Yes. The person couldn’t part with the official papers, they would have been missed. So he would have had to copy them out in his own hand.’

  ‘Now I see. You plan to identify him through his handwriting.’

  ‘Absolutely.’

  Eva considered what he had just told her and frowned. ‘Even if they manage to take the stone, it will be missed immediately so they can’t hope to escape.’

  ‘That is where your husband has been clever, much as it grieves me to acknowledge the fact. We happen to know a replica has been commissioned.’

  ‘Ah, so they will use the hustle of the reception as a distraction to steal the original stone and replace it with the replica. By the time anyone notices, they will be well away.’ Eva nodded. ‘Yes, that’s just the sort of audacious cunning William excels at.’

  ‘Unfortunately, unless we can unearth definitive evidence to tie your husband to the plot, we will have to prevent the theft, which means Woodstock and the man who put him up to it will escape unscathed.’

  ‘How do you know so much?’

  Isaac chuckled. ‘Franklin’s very good at listening at doors.’

  ‘No wonder you’re so keen to get into William’s study.’ She chewed her lip in frustration. ‘I pray you manage to track Rose down.’

  ‘That’s something else we’re relying on Franklin to help us with.’ Isaac pulled her into his arms and kissed her one last time. ‘Now, away with you. I shall wait for Jake to see what news he brings with him.’

  ‘Very well.’

  He helped her to her feet, walked her to the door and opened it for her.

  ‘Good night. Sleep well, my love.’

  ‘Good night.’

  I am in love with him, Eva thought as she made her way up the stairs and I’ll be damned if I will sit back and let him take all the risks. There has to be something I can do to resolve the issue.

  Eva fell asleep, not dreaming of Isaac but of ways in which she could expose her husband for the criminal she knew him to be. She was familiar with aspects of his character that he didn’t show to anyone else. If there was a weakness, something they could exploit to their advantage, she would identify it or die in the attempt.

  Chapter Eleven

  Jake thought the evening would never end. The Home Secretary and his trusted inner circle quizzed him on his progress at tedious length, not bothering to hide their frustration at his failure to d
iscover the identity of the government traitor. Jake glanced at their faces, wondering if that traitor was in the room. He didn’t possess a trusting nature, which is why he held back quite a few vital details about Woodstock’s modus operandi and neglected to mention Lady Eva was living beneath his roof. Even so, he shared their frustration at his lack of progress. This was his toughest assignment to date and he was determined to acquit himself with honour.

  By the time he returned to Grosvenor Square, he wasn’t in the most congenial frame of mind. He entered his drawing room and found Isaac there, sprawled full length on a sofa.

  ‘God give me the strength to tolerate political windbags,’ he said, heading straight for the brandy decanter.

  Isaac, grinned. ‘Sir George had a great deal to say for himself, I take it.’

  ‘When does he not? Never have I met a man who enjoys the sound of his own voice more.’ Jake ran his eye over Isaac’s prostrate body and elevated one brow. ‘I wager you have had a more enjoyable evening than me.’

  Isaac’s smile was decidedly smug. ‘Unquestionably.’

  ‘Have a care, my friend. Don’t put unnecessary pressure on the lady.’

  ‘You know me better than that, Jake.’

  ‘Yes, of course—’ Jake looked up when the door opened and Parker stood there, looking uncharacteristically ruffled. Isaac saw him too, shared a questioning look with Jake, and rose athletically to his feet. ‘What is it, Parker?’

  ‘Mrs Grantley’s man’s here. She’s been attacked and sent him to fetch you.’

  Jake’s heart lurched. Olivia had been attacked. Dear God, this was all his fault! He never should have sent her to the park. Both men put their glasses aside and headed for the door. They found Olivia’s long-standing butler-cum-general-factotum, standing in the entrance vestibule. His clothes were torn and dishevelled and there was a nasty cut on his cheek.

  ‘What the devil happened, Green?’ Jake asked. ‘Is Mrs Grantley all right?’