by Rebecca King
Connor leapt forward and grabbed a handful of the young lad’s shirt.
“Get your damned hands off her,” he snarled in a fit of rage. The fist he landed on the lad’s midriff was brutal, and enough to render the attacker unable do anything but gasp for air. “Who sent you?”
“Connor,” Tahlia gasped.
“Who sent you?” Connor persisted when the young lad didn’t speak.
Rather than reply, the young lad began to squirm and kick in an attempt to get free. Connor struggled to hold such writhing determination, and eventually had little choice but to drop him. The lad immediately took to his heels and disappeared as swiftly as he came.
“Come on,” Connor growled. He slid an unrelenting arm around Tahlia’s waist and propelled her along beside him. “I can’t even guess what the heck is in that purse of yours, but tell me if there is anyone else likely to try to snatch it today.”
He suspected she was up to something illegal, and it had everything to do with the bag she was now clutching protectively against her chest.
As far as he could see it, she had appeared in London, a place her uncle had informed him she was never returning to. Once here, she had chosen to go out, on foot and unchaperoned on what was probably the most dangerous day a woman could be out on the streets. Not only that, but she wasn’t in exactly the most affluent area of the city. What on earth was she up to?
“Are you alright?”
His question this time was more of a command, and held no hint of earlier softness. When she didn’t reply, he glanced at her. If the broad sweep of crimson across her cheeks was any indication she was incredibly angry.
“I want to go home,” she bit out.
“Let’s go then. This time, don’t stop for anything,” Connor growled.
“How do you know where we are?” she gasped. She stared hard at a shop front as they passed but was unable to see anything beyond its small square windows.
“It is more luck than judgement on a morning like this,” Connor conceded. “Did your uncle not warn you about going out in weather like this?”
“I had a business meeting to go to,” she snapped defensively.
“Business?” He lifted his brows at her in astonishment.
When Tahlia read the scepticism on his face her annoyance turn into outright anger. His reaction was nothing more than an insult.
How dare he? She wished she could take her leave of him and walk away. It only took one quick glance around, though, to realise how foolish that move would be.
“Wait!” Her sudden outburst made him slam to a halt in the middle of the path.
“What?” His put-upon sigh was full of masculine impatience, and the final straw as far as Tahlia was concerned.
“You don’t have to be so rude,” she snapped. “My maid is back there looking for me.”
“Well, she isn’t a very good maid, is she?” Connor snorted. “I thought she was supposed to stay with you at all times.”
“She does,” Tahlia argued, eager to defend her maid’s innocence.
“Well where was she back there then?” In spite of his anger, the thought of Tahlia’s maid cowering in fright in a darkened corner of the alley made Connor pause. He levelled a scowl on Tahlia that would have seared her and leaned threateningly toward her.
Damn it, he mused when the delicate scent of roses teased her nostrils, and stole his temper.
He knew then that it was already too late. No matter what the cost to him, he would go back for the wretched maid, and fight half of London to keep Tahlia safe while he did so if that is what it took. As long as she remained a part of his life now he didn’t care what happened. First, he just had to help her out of whatever mess she had gotten herself into.
Before Tahlia could draw breath, Connor stepped forward and grasped the back of her neck with one large, warm palm. Her protest was stifled when his lips slammed down on hers with such force that her head tipped backward. The possession was swift, brutal even, but was effective in stealing all of her senses. She was helpless to find a way to stop it, especially when every fibre of her being seemed to cry out for him. She wanted him; it was as simple as that.
Eventually, Connor found the strength to release her but struggled to know what to say when he did. His first instinct was to apologise, but then he had every intention of doing exactly the same thing again the first chance he got. Rather than speak, he waved his arm in a wide arc.
“Let’s go,” he ordered, this time in softer, more cajoling tones.
“I have to go back for my maid,” she choked out.
It galled her to witness just how spectacularly unaffected he was by what had just happened. She, meanwhile, was a quivering mass of feminine hysteria who wanted him to kiss her again, but then didn’t. It was enough to give her the strength she needed to be just as blaze about their kiss as he was.
“If your maid has been searching for you then she will realise you are not in the area anymore, and will eventually find her way home, won’t she?” Connor challenged, well aware that he was going to go back and look for her anyway.
“I can’t just leave her. Cecily is not from around here,” Tahlia protested. “She won’t be able to find her way home.”
Connor swore loudly when Tahlia began to march into the gloom. He remained where he was and stared after her – until the smog threatened to swallow her up. Propelled into action, he lurched into a run.
“Tahlia,” he called, but she didn’t slow her pace.
Shaking his head in disbelief, he wished he could turn around and leave her to her fate, whatever that was. But his conscience wouldn’t allow it. For someone to be mugged once in one day was bad enough; to be mugged twice in the space of half an hour rang alarm bells. He knew there was something in her bag other people wanted. As a member of the Star Elite, he had to find out what it was, preferably before she got hurt. He couldn’t leave her to get mugged again. Next time, the mugger might be better prepared for any protest she might make.
“Jesus, save me,” he pleaded beneath his breath.
Inside, he already suspected it was far too late. Even God couldn’t save him now. He was sunk, and he knew it. If he was honest, he rather admired this fierce side to her. It was totally unexpected, if a little intriguing. She had backbone, and he liked that in a woman. Not just any woman; he liked that in Tahlia.
Although she clutched her bag tighter against her chest, Tahlia suspected the man stalking up behind her was Connor. Still, she didn’t relax until he appeared at her elbow. Mentally, she heaved a sigh of relief that it was him and nobody else. Still, she stubbornly refused to look at him. Instead, she kept her gaze forward and continued walking as though completely uncaring that he was there.
“Your fool maid should do her job a little better,” Connor snapped.
“I didn’t ask for your advice as to my maid’s capabilities,” Tahlia replied. “Thank you for your help today, but I am perfectly able to find my way now.”
“Oh? Really?” Connor swore sarcastically. “Then why have you just made a turn down the wrong street? You need to be going down the next one.”
He snorted in disgust when she slowed her pace rather than stopped to check where she was. When she tipped her head up to stare at him she did so contemptuously, as if pouring scorn on his statement. The urge to wipe that arrogance off her face was so compelling that he began to wonder if another kiss was in order. He squinted at her through the gloom but knew it would most likely earn him a slap. Regardless of their current situation, Connor began to smile and waited.
When it was evident that she wasn’t going to admit defeat, he dragged her toward a small street sign attached the side of a building not but a few feet away.
“Look. This is Bakers Street. The next one along is Camden Road. That’s the road the alley is on. That is the road where your maid left you,” he explained. “You are going in completely the wrong direction.”
Tahlia stared at the street sign and felt some of her d
efiance begin to dim. Nevertheless, she refused to allow him to gain the upper hand and levelled a withering glare on him.
“Thank you,” she said formally before she stalked away.
Connor watched her go with a grin on his face. Once she reached the end of the road, she turned to the left.
“Right,” Connor called around a laugh.
Spinning on her heel, Tahlia took the road to the right.
Grinning, Connor followed.
CHAPTER FIVE
“I can’t find her,” Tahlia muttered moments later. Without walking and calling out Cecily’s name for miles, there was no way of finding her maid. “What do I do?”
“Go home,” Connor replied flatly. “I will take you home and then come back and look for her.”
“I can’t leave her behind.”
Connor knew they could stand and argue forever and he would get nowhere. While he quite liked this spiky side to her personality, he didn’t want her putting herself at risk for a maid who had wandered off.
“She won’t have a clue where she is. I don’t think she is even aware of where my uncle’s house is,” Tahlia explained. “I can’t leave her on the streets.”
“Where is she from? Is she used to city streets?”
“No, I don’t think she has even been to a city before. We live in the country.” While she spoke, Tahlia scoured the smog but hope continued to fade.
“Cecily?” she called but to no avail. She turned to Connor. “I need to find her.”
Connor saw that pleading, hopelessly lost look in her eye and knew he couldn’t deny her. His Star Elite training warned him to get her back to her uncle’s house before there was another attempt to snatch her belongings. But, when she stared at him like that he couldn’t find the willpower to refuse her anything. Still, he wasn’t a total pushover.
“Right, I will make a pact with you,” Connor reasoned.
He saw her instinctive objection in her eye. When he noticed a man stalking toward them, he carefully steered her to the side of the pavement and stepped closer. Before she could speak, Connor lowered his head to whisper directly into her ear.
“We will walk from one end of this street to the other and call for Cecily together. Then we will cross the road and do exactly the same thing on the other side of the street. If she is not here, I will escort you to your uncle’s house where you are safe. I will then come back and see if I can find your maid.”
Tahlia almost wept with the force of the worry and panic suffusing her. She instinctively nodded but then looked up at him with a frown.
“But you can’t identify her,” she whispered, trying to ignore just how close their heads were.
“I will find her,” Connor replied.
Connor was very aware of every inch of Tahlia so temptingly close. He fell into the dark pools of the deep blue eyes she turned on him, and felt his heart beat faster as his body began to ache for the fulfilment he knew only she could bring him.
Tahlia’s heart lurched. The warm brush of his breath against her cheek was tantalising. She waited for him to kiss her again. She knew it was what he wanted to. He was eyeing her lips hungrily. She didn’t have to wait long, and melted when he captured her lips with his in a swift kiss that sealed his promise to her.
She was not alone now, and she knew it. But could she depend on this man again? She had placed her trust in him before and he had failed her. Was her knight in shining armour as reliable as he seemed?
“She won’t come with you,” Tahlia cautioned when she could gather her thoughts and draw breath. “She doesn’t know you.”
Connor had no argument for that but still wasn’t going to cave in to the need to keep Tahlia with him. The longer they remained outside the more danger they were in. Given the determination of her attackers, he doubted they were going to return to her uncle’s house unscathed. At least he could leave her there, and know she would still be there when he returned. Out on the street, anything could happen.
“Well, there can’t be many maids wandering about in this area, can there?”
Tahlia shook her head. While she was still deeply disturbed at the effect his kisses had on her, she was glad of his company. She hated the thought of having to search the muffled and dank streets for the next hour alone. The shifting shadows were creepy; the sounds strange and distorted. It felt as though she was trapped in a suspended world with the real world on the opposite side of the fog too far away for her to reach.
Realising she had run out of arguments, Tahlia sighed.
“I suppose not,” she muttered reluctantly.
“We are nearly at the end of this street,” Connor replied when he found himself leaning toward her rather than doing the more gentlemanly thing and moving away. “Let’s go.”
Suddenly, a figure loomed out of the shadows and bumped into Connor.
“Sorry,” the gentleman called as he hurried away.
Neither Connor nor Tahlia heard him. Tahlia knew it was unwise, but she gazed straight into Connor’s dark, mesmerising gaze and was immediately captivated. She wanted to move, to turn around and run, but the hunger in his eyes was too much to resist. Instead of moving, she remained perfectly still and allowed him to step closer. His lips brushed softly against hers. Once, twice, they lingered for a moment before they swept gently across the moistened curve of her lips at the same time that his warm palms came to rest on her waist.
Tahlia drew in a swift breath of protest, but it was captured as his lips settled more fully over hers. The gentle pressure wasn’t aggressive but was instead gently teasing. She couldn’t move now. For the brief second that his lips left hers she could do little more than stare up at him, but saw little beyond his face before his head lowered toward hers once more. This time, his kiss was more forceful; his lips demanding far more than her submission. They were urging her to return the caress. She tried to remain still; to remind herself that this was the one man she should never allow close again. But when one long arm slid around her waist and drew her bodily against his solid warmth, she knew she could do little more than surrender.
His lips caught her soft sigh. His body gave her the strength she needed to remain upright. In that second she knew that in spite of the time they had been apart, nothing had changed. When his lips pressed deeper, urging hers to part, the reality of what they were doing slammed into her with full force. Jerking back, she blinked rapidly and pushed against him.
“We mustn’t,” she whispered as she glanced furtively around them and straightened her skirts. “I can’t.”
Although nobody could see them, her cheeks flamed with embarrassment and anger. It wasn’t him she was angry with, it was herself; for allowing her guard down around him again.
What are you thinking? Do you know who this is? This is Connor Humphries! A warning voice was screaming at her.
Tahlia closed her eyes against the wave of mortification that swept through her. She wished the ground would open and swallow her up.
What must he think of you? She thought morosely. He must think me a brazen hussy who will allow men whatever liberties they wish to take whenever they want to take them.
With that, she took a physical step backward and put more distance between them.
“It’s alright,” Connor assured her gently.
“It is not alright,” she countered flatly. “It cannot ever be alright.”
She pushed past him, eager to leave before she did something they both might regret, like allow him to kiss her again. However, she had taken no more than a few steps when a gasp of horror escaped her. She didn’t even get the chance to scream before the looming black bulk of a carriage appeared out of the smog and slammed to a stop inches from her toes. Her horror grew as she watched the door suddenly swing open.
Ducking to one side to avoid the door hitting her saved her life. It put her further away from the gasping hands that appeared out of the darkened interior and tried to snatch her off the street.
“Connor!” She s
creamed.
Slapping at them she stumbled backward. Her arms flailed wildly when she caught her heel on the kerb and became unbalanced.
“Get off me,” she screamed when the hands turned into a darkened figure.
Connor grabbed her around the waist and hauled her away from the danger. Before he could turn around to get a good look at the man in the carriage, it began to roll away. Within seconds it was swallowed by the smog. The only indication that it had been there at all was the dull rumble of the wheels over the cobbles.
“What the hell do they want with you?” Connor demanded. All trace of their earlier closeness had been replaced with outright annoyance now.
“I haven’t got a clue.”
“Don’t lie to me, Tahlia. What the hell are you involved in?”
Thankfully, Tahlia was spared having to answer by Cecily, who appeared, pale and trembling, out of the gloom.
“Oh, thank heavens I found you,” she gushed. “I have been searching everywhere for you. I have been up and down this road, and the next, more times than I care to count. What happened? Where did you go?”
Tahlia threw Cecily a glare that warned her to stop asking so many questions. She couldn’t answer right now.
“Let’s go home,” she muttered but didn’t wait to see if anyone was going to follow. Pushing away from Connor, she stalked toward the end of the street, glad to see the back of the place.
“This way,” Connor ordered once he had caught up with her. He glared accusingly at the maid. “We are going to have to walk to the main street and can get a carriage from there. Try not to get lost in the smog again. Your mistress needs to get home.”
Cecily lapsed into silence behind them and followed close behind this time.
Tahlia couldn’t decide which was worse, the questions she had no answer for, or the stilted silence that settled over everyone as they marched toward Henry’s.