AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Three hours early?”
Painfully aware of the papers under her fingertips, she gave them a quick shuffle, but there was no hiding them completely. She could only explain them away. “I wanted to help you … you said you needed help deciphering. ”
He slammed the door. The room had felt small before, but now that his presence filled it, the sense of large, vibrant male closed in all around. “A lesser man might think you’re spying. ”
“Oh, no, it’s not like that. ” She turned to get up, but he loomed so close over the bed, and her skirts were in such a tangle, that her movements were awkward. She spotted the flicker of his eyes over the front her body, and she froze, half on her side, half on her back, the breath caught in her chest. She felt exposed, splayed in such a vulnerable position, keenly aware that she was lying on his bed.
Again, he swept his eyes over her body, and when he spoke again, his voice was a husky rasp. “Then how’s it like, luvvie?”
Sensation flooded her. Every rumple on the bedding was an agony beneath her, her skin too hot, too tight. Her bottom, her breasts, the backs of her legs—all a mass of nerves too sensitive to bear. “I only want to help. ”
Muttering a curse, he turned his back on her.
She smoothed the papers into a neat stack. It took every ounce of her spirit to keep her voice composed. She was determined to show Aidan how helpful she could be, how intrepid. “Where did you get these? What’s the meaning of them?”
He sat next to her on the bed, and his weight drew her close. “I stole them. ”
Rather than inching away, she shamelessly let herself roll toward him. Though it was merely a fraction of an inch, it was enough for her to sense his warmth, his scent. The heat of his hip and thigh transferred directly to her, becoming an inferno in her belly. She managed to ask, “From whom?”
“You’re a determined wee spy. ” He glared at her, and just when she thought he’d ignore her question, he gave a defeated shake to his head and said, “From a smuggler. I found a stash of papers on his ship and stole the lot of them. ”
“Are you speaking of the smuggler you and Cormac took down?”
“The very one. ” He snatched the papers from her hands. “And though they may not be mine, they’re not yours either. ”
“But why take them?”
“I’m tracking a man. A man I’m going to kill. ”
Gooseflesh crept along her skin. “I can help you,” she said gravely.
Aidan burst into laughter. “You’ll do no such thing. ”
Of course she was going to help him. He was right to think she couldn’t help him kill a man, but she could be valuable in other ways. “I can help you decipher these. Who is it you’re tracking?”
He gave her a long, raw stare, and she glimpsed some bleak thing haunting his soul. “A pirate with a black pearl earring. The man who kidnapped me as a child. ”
She shivered. She’d been right all along. He was her intrepid hero, tracking down evil pirates. She riffled through his papers, so full of danger and potential adventure. “Perhaps we can find a clue. ”
He snatched them away. “Perhaps you should go home where you belong. ”
“But I belong here. ” She reached for them again.
But he held them out of her reach, his expression shuttered once again behind his usual nonchalance. “In my bed, luvvie? How can I say no to that?”
Her breath caught, and she cursed her weakness for him. He’d tried to distract her with his rakish wink, and it’d almost worked.
Strengthening her resolve, she came up with the one excuse she knew would keep her there. “It’s our day for lessons, remember? After all, if you won’t let me read the complicated bits for you, you’ll need to learn to read for yourself. ”
That gave him pause, and he relaxed his guard for a moment.
Because she had to try again, she darted a hand out for the papers.
Startled, he laughed, and this time there was warmth in it. He put a hand at her shoulder to restrain her. “You’re a wily wee fox. ”
She wriggled. “And you’re an exasperatingly large … bull. ”
Tossing all the papers aside, he gripped her other shoulder too. “A bull, is it?”
