Page 27 of A Remarkable Rogue

“But I do know,” he assured her, “because I will protect you.”

He meant outside, watching her house. Yes, he’d protect her, but not the way she wanted.

“Besides, Scepter doesn’t want you dead.” He tucked the toy soldier back inside her stays, then buttoned her waistcoat over it. “Or they’d have killed you by now.”

A shiver of fear came over her like a winter’s freeze, all the way down to her bones, and extinguished the last heat of arousal in her belly. “Then what do they want from me?”

“I don’t know.” Her cap had been knocked loose during their kisses. He put it in place over her hair and tucked a stray strand behind her ear. “But I plan to find out.”

Seven

Having given up on any chance he’d be able to sleep any longer, Nate headed on foot through the predawn streets of London toward Mayfair. The faint blues and pinks of the coming sunrise were just beginning to lighten the horizon beyond the Thames. Around him, the city still slept, its streets silent and tranquil.

He hunched his shoulders against the cold and cursed himself.

He’d had that dream again. The one that had plagued him since Sarah’s death.

As always in his dream, a faceless woman in a white dress had come unbidden to him from the darkness. Amid a tangle of red satin sheets, he’d peeled away the white silk clinging to her smooth skin and trailed his mouth after, dragging his lips across every inch of warm flesh he revealed until she lay completely naked beneath him. Soft hair cascaded in a dark curtain around her shoulders and over her firm, bare breasts. Her nipples hardened deliciously against his tongue when he lowered his mouth to suckle them. Smooth thighs parted invitingly as he settled between them. She welcomed him eagerly inside her warmth and moaned her delight, and he took his pleasure in her, without guilt or regret. The woman’s face remained hidden. No matter how much he struggled to see her, she always turned away.

Until last night when she shifted just far enough for him to glimpse the smooth plane of her cheek and the elegant arch of her neck, when she turned in his arms and revealed herself…

Sydney Rowland.

He’d awoken with a startled gasp. The dream had been so vivid, her body so real and warm to him that he’d searched the blankets to make certain he hadn’t ejaculated in his sleep.

His body wanted her, even if his heart was too dead to admit it.

He reached the alley behind her town house and glanced up at the rear façade. No light glowed from any of the rooms. The household still slept, with Sydney most likely in a warm bed of feather down and satin.

Damn that woman for getting under his skin!

No. He blew out a shamefaced sigh, his breath clouding on the cold air in the blue-gray light. Damn himself for letting her.

Her refusal to tell the truth about Henry Everett had him shaking with anger, and the nearness of her last night, so close he could smell her heady scent of oranges and spices, had him shaking for an entirely different reason. Of all the frustrating situations to be thrown into—this. With her, of all women. The most impossible, obstinate, challenging, and alluring woman he’d ever met.

One who had to remain untouched.

Yet he had no choice but to stay close to her. The desperate if poorly executed attack on the prime minister in the park meant Scepter was ramping up their plot, and their need to frighten Sydney into submission meant they planned on using her again. And soon.

He searched for the young sergeant who had been guarding her house through the night. Even though Sydney still kept secrets from him, Nate was determined to protect her as best he could and had given strict orders to his man to immediately report anything suspicious and not let anyone inside who didn’t go through the front door at the invitation of the butler.

“Sir?” A quiet voice broke the early morning silence of the rear garden.

“Sergeant Baker.” Nate tugged his gloves into place and nodded at the man, not bothering with the formality of returning the sergeant’s startled salute. “I’m here to replace you.”

“But—but you’re early.”

Nate ignored that. He had no intention of explaining the reason for his appearance two hours earlier than scheduled. “Anything to report?”

“I didn’t expect you so soon, sir.” The young soldier glanced over his shoulder at the house. “You don’t have to be here, Captain. You can trust me to finish my shift.”

Nate smiled at the young soldier’s nervousness. Had he ever been that earnest, that eager to please his commanding officers?

“It’s all right, Baker. I needed some fresh air.” Along with a cold, cold morning to settle his blood and force Sydney Rowland from his head.

Baker insisted, “I can finish my duties, sir.”

“I’m certain you can.” But his sudden nervousness raised Nate’s suspicions. “Is something wrong, Sergeant?”