Page 70 of How the Earl Entices

His face was set hard beneath the dark shadows as he approached, made eerily demonic by the flashes of red and blue. But this devil was her savior.

He grabbed her arm and hurried her toward the line of carriages waiting in front of the house. “This way.”

She craned her neck to search for Ross. “Where’s your brother?”

He yanked open the carriage door and placed her inside.

“Christopher, where is Ross?” she demanded, her voice rising with fear.

“I don’t know. I’ve been guarding the front entrance all night and haven’t seen him come out of the house yet.” He shut the door and shouted up to the driver. “Chelsea,” he ordered. “And protect her with your life.”

Ellsworth’s driver nodded and flipped the ribbons, sending the team forward. The carriage rolled away from the house, quickly picking up speed as it moved through the dark streets of Mayfair and carried her away into the night.

“Please God,” she prayed as she squeezed her eyes shut and rested her head back against the squabs. If Ross wasn’t with Christopher— She shook her head, unwilling to contemplate the worst. “Please let him be all right…because he’s a good man. Because he’s a hero…”

Because I love him.

Chapter 21

Dear God,where was Ross?

Grace wrung her hands as she paced the length of the dark studio, unable to sit still. She’d been back for over half an hour, delivered safely to the door by the coachman, just as Christopher had ordered. For all she knew, Kit was still out there lurking in the darkness, keeping watch over her, while Ross was God only knew where. Possibly captured and being taken away to Newgate at this very moment. Or worse. If he’d been found by Wentworth’s men—

No.

She wouldn’t let herself consider that! He was fine. He was safe. He was making his way back to her even now through the moonlit streets. Hehadto be, because the alternative was unbearable.

She reached the end of the narrow studio and turned back, pacing like one of those animals in the Tower Menagerie that was cruelly trapped in a cage. By a trick of light, her gold dress shined silver in the slant of moonlight that fell through the oversized fanlight above the double doors, and her skirts swished softly with each step and turn. Otherwise, the building was as dark and silent as a tomb.

Nota tomb.

She pressed a trembling hand to her forehead.Wherewas Ross?

“Grace.”

She spun around and strangled back a cry of relief.

Ross leaned against the closed wicket, having entered without her seeing him in her distracted worry. Dark shadows hid his face, but she recognized him from nothing more than his silhouette…the breadth of his shoulders, his chest that narrowed to his waist, his long and muscular legs. Just as she knew him from that inexplicable bond that had connected them since the night he arrived at her cottage. Perhaps even before that. There must have been a reason that fate kept bringing them together at the most important moments of their lives, why she felt as if a silk ribbon tied them together. A ribbon that wound around her even now, drawing her to him with a magical pull she couldn’t resist.

The air between them crackled with electricity, so much so that the tiny hairs at her nape stood on end. Every inch of her tightened in nervous anticipation, and she’d never felt more alive in her life.

“I was worried about you,” she confessed in a throaty whisper. She blinked hard to clear away the stinging tears that distorted the shadows until his silhouette was little more than a watery blur, like a ghost in the darkness. “When midnight came and I couldn’t find you—” She choked, too overcome to put voice to her fears.

As if in answer, he slowly reached inside his jacket and held up a sheath of papers. “The men working with Wentworth. We’ve got their names now.”

She forced herself to breathe against the riot of her churning emotions, but each inhalation seared her lungs. “The diary?”

“No.”

That single word pierced her like a bullet, and she winced at the fierce disappointment that slammed into her. The man she loved had returned safely to her, but without what he needed to save himself. Yet every bit of strength she had was focused on simply remaining standing, instead of falling to the floor in sobbing gratitude for this reprieve, no matter how fleeting.

Silently, he returned the papers to his breast pocket. Despite the shadows hiding his face, she could feel the heat of his predacious gaze that only grew more intense, more electric, with every pounding heartbeat.

“Say yes,” he rasped out hoarsely. The soft order drifted through the moonlight and shadows between them, wrapping around her, engulfing her…capturing her. No movement, no other sound. Only the fierce tattoo of her yearning heart and the quiet urging of his deep voice. “Say yes, and let me come to you.”

Since Sea Haven and the night of the storm, she’d denied herself the pleasure of him because she’d wanted to protect Ethan, because she’d doubted him and the vow he’d made to help her. But tonight, when he’d had the opportunity to leave her, he’d returned. Just as he’d promised.

All the wariness and fear of making herself vulnerable rose to the surface, all the uncertainty and hesitation—all of it extinguished by the irresistible need to be in his arms. The man she knew she could trust with her life, and her son’s.