by Rebecca King
Before Poppy could speak, Luke removed the item he had picked off the street from his pocket and dropped it onto the table beside the cloak. The clatter of the blade of the wicked-looking knife hitting the wooden surface made her jump. She clung the reassuring solidity of Luke in horror as she studied it. She tried to get her mind to work enough to decide what to do next, about Luke, and the attack that could have taken her life, about her life now that everything was in turmoil. Now that the first haze of sensuality from his kisses started to fade completely, horror began to replace it, but that was swiftly replaced with raw, unadulterated fury at the senseless act of violence that had come out of nowhere.
“He tried to kill me,” she whispered.
“He won’t,” Luke growled.
It galled him to think that although he had done his best to try to protect her, the man had gotten close enough to do so much damage. It had only been the huge cloak that had kept her alive. He pressed a kiss to her temple and sucked in a breath when she turned toward him and drew his head down toward hers. In that moment he knew he would give her anything she wanted. If she wanted a kiss then he was more than happy to oblige because, after seeing the cold hard evidence of her near-miss, he needed just as much reassurance as her. Still, there was something deep within him that needed to be sure she knew what she was doing.
“Poppy,” he whispered cautiously.
“I nearly died tonight.”
“Yes, but you didn’t. I don’t want you to do anything you are going to regret in the morning.” The words were difficult to say, but his conscience wouldn’t allow him to do anything else.
“I have done so little with my life but try to appease others; my father mostly and look where that has got me. I could be dead right now, and I haven’t experienced even half of what I want to do. One lesson that tonight has taught me is that life is precious, and it is only the foolish that waste a moment of it.” She leaned back to look at him. This time though, the fear and worry in her eyes had nothing to do with the attack. It had everything to do with the possibility that Luke might not want her in that way. “Of course, if you don’t -”
“Of course I do,” he growled as he tugged her closer. “How could I not? The attraction has been right here from the very first, you know that.” Thankfully, he watched her nod. “It is just that you have to consider the future. If we take matters any further you are committing your life to mine in a way that I won’t allow you to back out of. I won’t let you to go back to Cumbria, or start over anywhere else without me. I have to work with the Star Elite. It is what I do. I have been doing it for so long now that it is an intrinsic part of who I am. However, we don’t have to live in London if you really don’t like it here. The smog is terrible, and the streets can be busy and crowded. It must feel like a world away from Cumbria. But there is a lot of suburbs around here, little villages not too far away that can afford just as much country, and quietude, as Cumbria. We can both start over, and live wherever you want to live.”
“You make it sound so permanent,” she whispered.
“That’s because it is,” he cautioned. “I just want you to think about it right now, that’s all.”
Her disappointment was strong, but she nodded and backed away from him. In a way she felt terribly risqué for having offered herself to him so blatantly. He must think her a complete harlot. Deep inside though, she knew he was right. She was taking a step in her life that would change her, and her future, permanently. She had only just attained her freedom from a life of drudgery and boredom with Clarence. Did she really want to sacrifice it for a chance to be with Luke? After all, she really didn’t know him all that well. Although he was tall, extremely handsome, and incredibly protective, she knew very little about him – the man. She had no idea if they were compatible. All she did know was that she had never felt so safe, so loved, so content with the world and her place in it, as she did when she was in his arms. She had never felt this fierce flood of attraction that swept everything, including logic, aside whenever he touched her. There was no awkwardness or politeness; just an easy familiarity that had blossomed out of nowhere.
Was friendship enough? Would she regret not taking the chance to be with him if she turned it down and left him behind and went to Cumbria? Would she ever get this golden opportunity to sample what it really felt like to be loved and wanted for herself?
“Let me clean your cuts,” she whispered. She fetched the bowl of water and some strips of cloth while Luke took a seat at the table again. She tried to ignore the shaking of her hands while she dipped the strips but was excruciatingly aware that Luke watched her closely. When she tried to dab away at the blood on his face their eyes met and held. The atmosphere between them shifted and thickened. Everything within her tingled with molten awareness.
Luke placed his hands on her waist but didn’t know whether he should tug her toward him or hold her away. He could see nothing but calm acceptance in her eyes, and a slight tinge of disappointment that nearly unmanned him. He captured her hand when she tried to dab at the cuts on his face. They didn’t hurt. Her touch was tender; the most loving he had ever felt. He wanted more.
“Poppy,” he growled.
Poppy looked into his eyes. Her sigh shimmered over them. It felt as though some unseen hand, some guiding force, propelled her to make a decision right there and then. With more boldness than she really felt she decided to take her future into her own hands. In doing so she would be accepting her own fate, whatever that was. But she knew that if she was to hand over anything of herself to anyone it had to be Luke. She knew instinctively that he could be trusted. Before he could caution her again, she captured his face in her hands and slammed a kiss on his lips that stole his breath.
His ready response took any further decisions out of both of their hands, and left Poppy with little choice but to cling to his shoulders and return his kisses as he swept her high into his arms, and carried her up the stairs.
The following morning Poppy awoke encased in blissful warmth. She was tired, but also joyously alive. Her body hummed with the after effects of what she had shared with Luke last night, and she couldn’t be more pleased about it.
Luke
Just thinking of him brought a smile to her lips and a soft sigh that came straight from her heart. Her smile grew when his arm tightened around her waist and drew her tighter against him. The kiss he placed on her shoulder made her grin, and she looked a little sheepishly over her shoulder at him.
“Morning,” he murmured, tugging her around until she faced him.
“Morning,” she replied, unsure what the etiquette was for such an occasion.
Luke smiled back at her. He felt inordinately proud of the telltale blush that stained her cheeks, not least because he was the one responsible for it. Before she could find some excuse to get up, he captured her lips and rolled her over without giving her the chance to say anything else. For a long time the only sounds in the room were soft whispers and sighs.
An hour later, she lay curled against him once more, a little stunned that after everything they had shared last night her body could still respond in such a way.
“What happens now?” she whispered after several moments of comfortable silence.
“Well, you are not going back to Cumbria,” he replied firmly.
“I didn’t mean that,” she replied, blushing profusely. “I meant about what happened last night. He is still out there somewhere.” She glanced out of the window over the broad expanse of Luke’s chest. The sun was shining now and had obliterated all trace of the smog that had hung over London most of the night. Outside the window the green leaves of the tree danced gaily against the glass, teased by a gentle breeze. Birds chirruped happily from within those leafy depths and, for all intents and purposes, everything was right with the world. She didn’t want to bring their current problems into the room, and let it break the wonder she felt at being with Luke, but she couldn’t just let him leave without knowing where he was
going and what danger he might face today.
Luke kissed her and tipped her chin up until she was looking at him. He understood her worries and slid down in the bed so he could face her.
“Well, I need find Toby today. I think it is safe to say that the attacker was out there waiting last night, and he can only have followed us when we left here. That smog was too thick for him to have seen us anywhere else. Unfortunately, I have no idea how much of my conversation with Toby he overheard. The boy may be in just as much danger as you right now. I need to warn him.”
He didn’t add that as soon as the first flames of desire had been slaked, and Poppy had slipped into an exhausted sleep, he had crept downstairs and spoken with his colleagues, Marcus, Barnaby, and Jeb, who had been about to leave for the Riverside Club. They had already seen the state of the cloak and agreed that Luke needed to remain with Poppy.
Unfortunately, the possibility that he might have put Toby in danger last night didn’t sit well with him. He needed to see with his own eyes that the boy was alright and tell him about the attack so he would remain extra vigilant.
Unfortunately, he just couldn’t risk Poppy going outside and being subjected to another attack. Next time she might not be so lucky. It was imperative now, to his own future happiness, that she remain alive and safe because without her in his life, well, he had no life. It was as simple as that. As far as he was concerned, what they had shared last night had changed the dynamics of their relationship, and secured their future together. She appeared to have accepted that her future most definitely lay with him. Now all he had to do was ensure that they actually had a future to enjoy. With that in mind, he had to find a way to persuade her to remain indoors, even if it was by herself.
“Do you have another cloak?”
“You are staying here,” he warned her darkly, aware of the direction of her thoughts. He might have known she would be prepared to accompany him again and shook his head with a mixture of pride and disbelief. “I will wait until one of my colleagues return. Then I will go and meet with Toby. Marcus can keep an eye on the house in Camden for him, and will send the lad away if he sees him in the area. For now, you are perfectly safe as long as you don’t answer the door to anybody. There is someone watching this house, of that I am sure, but they cannot get in or out without breaking in. I doubt they would do that given the number of men who have been coming and going of late.”
“Don’t put yourself in danger, Luke,” she pleaded quietly.
“I won’t. I can take care of myself. I have to do this, Poppy, because I have a responsibility to Toby. It seemed like a good idea to involve him in the investigation at the time because he is able to blend in with the crowd better than we can and is good at noticing things. However, I didn’t realise just how much danger surrounded us. Until we can find this assailant, Toby needs to be in a place of safety.”
Poppy nodded. The young lad had his entire life ahead of him. Even if it was a life of pick-pocketing, it was still a life and he shouldn’t have it stolen from him because he had chosen to help someone in exchange for a few pennies. The very thought filled her with quiet horror, and she couldn’t help but feel proud of Luke for his concern over the younger’s welfare. He was not only protecting her, but also looking after Toby, and was prepared to put his life on the line to do so.
“I can stay here, I don’t mind. I won’t go anywhere. Not after last night. It is best if you go to Toby sooner rather than later. He needs to be here too,” she replied. “Do you think that man is connected to Clarence? Or do you think he has something to do with Sayers? I cannot help thinking that he was too violent to have anything to do with Clarence. I mean, Clarence is a bully but is more verbal than physical. That man last night was a brute, and lethal with that weapon. That doesn’t strike me as something Clarence would get involved in. He moans a lot, but he isn’t a -” She lapsed into silence when she remembered the way Clarence had hit her on that last day and she frowned at the wall as she tried to decide whether she really knew him.
Luke watched the tentative way she touched her cheek. “He hit you, didn’t he?” He saw the confirmation in her eyes when she looked at him. She didn’t answer, just lay her head back down on his chest, but then she didn’t need to answer him. He knew. “Don’t discount anybody, Poppy, that is all I can say. Don’t underestimate what they might be capable of. It is one thing I have learned throughout the years I have worked for the Star Elite. Until you get proof otherwise, everyone has to be guilty.”
“It wasn’t Clarence who attacked you, but it may have been someone he knows. I cannot see Sayers’ sending anyone to attack you. Believe me, Poppy; if Sayers wants someone dead, they die, it is as simple as that. They will be killed with brisk efficiency, and there are few mistakes.”
He didn’t want to say it aloud for fear of upsetting her, but that only pointed to the fact that the attacker last night was most likely connected to Clarence, and that meant her father wanted her dead. Unfortunately, that theory left her with another problem. If the attacker wanted to kill her when she didn’t have the money on her why did he want her dead?
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“What made you get involved in this?” she asked curiously.
“What? Sayers?”
“No, the Star Elite,” she corrected. “I have to admit that I have never heard of such an organisation before. How did you come to know about it?”
“You shouldn’t. There are people in the upper echelons of society, most of who work with or around others in the War Office, who do know of our existence, but they rarely speak of the work we do. It is why we are so effective.” He played with her fingers while he spoke. “My father wanted me to join the blacksmith business he had built up, but I didn’t want that kind of life so I joined the army as soon as I was able. I wanted to see the world and travel a bit. The army seemed like the right choice at the time. So I joined up and went straight into battle in France. It was horrendous, but taught me a lot about who I am and what I want out of life. I got injured.” He lifted his leg clear of the bed clothes and pointed to a long, jagged gash down his thigh before he tucked it out of sight again. “I had to return to England to recuperate. Although I was prepared to go back to fight as soon as I was able to walk properly I was told to report to the War Office. They had received some kind of missive from my Captain, or something, I am not entirely sure how they learned about me but, as soon as I was physically fit again, I was set to work with the Star Elite. To begin with we protected the borders from smugglers who were bringing French spies into the country. As soon as the war ended, rather than disband us and allow us to return to civilian life we turned our attention to domestic crime. Then last year, several people in the highest realms of society began to report thefts from their houses. It soon became apparent that a serial burglar now operates in London, but it isn’t just any serial burglar. This one is only targeting the larger houses of aristocracy.”
“How do you know?”
Luke smiled. “Because the only items stolen were jewellery and paintings.”
“That’s incredibly foolish, isn’t it?”
“How so?”
“Well, those houses have staff everywhere,” she replied thoughtfully. “I should imagine it would be incredibly difficult to get anywhere near them without someone noticing. Surely someone would see a man climbing out of a window with a painting on his back.”
“I know. It is why we suspect an insider is providing the burglar with information. It is either that or the thief is one of the ton, and familiar with all the houses targeted. Either way someone somewhere is experienced enough to get in and out of these places without being caught.”
Poppy nodded. “They have to have some sort of insider information to be able to know not only where the jewels are kept, but how to get in and out without being caught.”
“They also have to be aware of just how much the paintings are worth. Can you remember Lord Hampton? Well, his house is littered with painting
s yet only one was taken – the most expensive one.”
“Was it that man in the park, do you think?” she asked hating to even think of that fateful morning.
Luke slowly shook his head. “It would make life simpler if it was, and all the burglaries suddenly stopped, but a few days ago a member of the ton, a highly respectable man with no seedy connections whatsoever as far as we can tell, suddenly upped and vanished from his own house.”
“Did he run away with a mistress or something?” She couldn’t help it she was captivated by his story and began to understand why his work appealed to him so.
Luke grinned at her. “It would be better if he did, but that doesn’t explain why he took quite a valuable painting with him.”
“Is he dead too?” she whispered with a shudder.
“I don’t know, sweetheart. For now, all we can do is wait to see if his body turns up. If it does then it is safe to say that the killer isn’t done yet, and anyone who is aristocracy is at risk.”
Poppy shivered and snuggled deeper beneath the covers. “Just be careful.”
“I will. I promise,” he replied huskily, delighted that she cared so much. After several moments of gentle kisses, Luke settled her against him once more and stared blankly at the wall. “I will go and see your cousin, Peter, today. I went just after you arrived here, but Peter was away. He should be back by now.”
“I think it is safe to say that Clarence wants the money desperately, but I cannot see him having anything to do with the body in the park,” Poppy sighed.
“I agree. Although what happened with the assailant last night is worrying, I just don’t think the assailant killed Joshua Samson. Your father accosted you on the street for the money. Money that from what you have told me, he is aware isn’t his yet he accosted you for it anyway. His willingness to challenge you in broad daylight is a testament to just how much he wants it.”