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“Connor?” Tahlia prompted when Connor remained frozen in place beside the window, staring out over the garden.
While he looked the epitome of masculinity with his white shirt stretched tightly over the taut muscles of his back, she was drawn by the tension in him. Something was wrong she just knew it. Oblivious to her semi-clad state, Tahlia sat up in bed. Shoving her hair out of her face she peered cautiously at him.
“Go back to sleep, darling. Stay in bed and stay warm. I won’t be long,” he murmured huskily. Carefully backing away from the window, he didn’t bother to close the shutters and turned his attention to Tahlia.
There was something in his voice that alerted Tahlia that she was right to suspect something was amiss. When Connor strode across the room with purposeful strides, and hardness on his face, she threw the covers back off the bed and went after him.
“What’s wrong? Are you alright?” she demanded with a frown.
The change in him from the warm, laughing man who had been sitting on her bed moments earlier to this hard, almost ruthless warrior was staggering. But this was still Connor; Joseph’s father. Right now, he was keeping secrets from her and she didn’t like it.
“Stay here,” he commanded huskily. “Please, Tahlia. Go back to bed and stay there.”
“Are you hurt?” She persisted. Her eyes slid over the length of him, searching for signs of injury but he positively radiated health.
When she still didn’t get the answers she wanted she turned her attention to the window, and began to walk toward it.
“No,” Connor protested. “Stay away from the window. Just go back to bed. I have to have a word with Isaac. I won’t be long.”
When she merely looked up at him, temptation was impossible to resist and he dragged her into his arms. This time he kissed her the way he wanted to kiss her – passionately. He held nothing back, and neither did she.
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p; Tahlia’s head tipped back beneath the force of his possession and revelled in his need for her. Freed from the burden of the past, she thrived beneath his tender caresses and returned his embrace with equal fervour. Her body turned molten beneath his searching hands, and began to ache for more. This time, it was she who moaned in protest when he lifted his head.
“What’s happened?” she persisted, a little hurt that he was still determined to leave.
Connor wasn’t sure whether he should be pleased or horrified that she could read him so easily. His sigh was heavy as he contemplated what to do.
“It is nothing to worry about at the moment, but I think I saw someone outside. Given the recent burglaries, I need to warn Isaac. It is his turn on watch tonight,” Connor growled. He rested his forehead against hers, silently asking for her understanding.
“Alright, go,” she whispered.
Connor nodded. “Stay away from the window, Tahlia. I don’t want them to know they have been seen.”
This time, she didn’t try to stop him from leaving. Nor did she attempt to follow him. He still wasn’t comfortable having to leave her in the bedroom unprotected, but he had to trust that she would follow instructions and stay in bed until he returned to her.
Hurrying down the stairs, he found Isaac closing the sitting room door behind him and quickly told him what he had seen.
“Let’s go and see what we can find then,” Isaac murmured.
“Is anyone else here?” Connor asked hopefully.
Isaac slowly shook his head. “Barnaby went out to speak to Ambrose. He took Balgravia’s jewels and the portrait with him. The others have all gone to trace this Valentin fellow. We should know a bit more about him in the morning.”
“Damn it,” Connor sighed.
With just two men, keeping a house of this size secure was going to be difficult. Connor was more disgusted by the fact that he couldn’t return to Tahlia as quickly as he had hoped. The danger they were in didn’t even register on him.
“Let’s get to work,” Connor grunted.
Rather than go outside, both men stood in the shadows in one of the rooms overlooking the gardens. They didn’t have to wait long before Isaac caught sight of the figure leaving the cover of a low branch. The man scurried to join his associate who was already standing beside the base of an old oak tree.
“They are going for the study,” Connor whispered. It was the only room on that side of the house with windows overlooking the side gardens.
When Connor moved toward the door, Isaac tapped him on the arm. They both watched a third figure follow his colleague across the lawn toward the house.
“Burglars?” Isaac breathed.
