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“You mean besides being the target of a gang of thugs from London’s streets? Or nearly shot – twice? Or being mugged – twice? Or not having any answers to the mystery of what my uncle was involved in while he was alive? Or having to face the quandary of how to abandon London without further issue?” She half-teased. “Well, not much, really.”
Connor nodded his understanding. “Reinforcements have arrived. They are waiting downstairs for us.”
“We had better go then,” Tahlia replied, and reluctantly pushed her way out of bed. As she hurried across the room she became aware of the sound of footsteps outside her bedroom.
“I’ll be downstairs, Connor,” Isaac called.
“Alright. Be there in a minute,” Connor replied casually.
Tahlia whirled to face him and felt a guilty blush stain her cheeks. Isaac was aware that Connor had slept in her room. If Isaac knew then other people would know. It was embarrassing, shameful even. She felt a little risqué for having let Connor even be in her room in the first place. To think that everyone else in the house knew they had shared the same bed made her want to squirm.
“Oh, dear,” she murmured.
“What’s wrong?” Connor watched in amazement as she darted around the room, gathering up her clothes furtively as though she had something to hide. He grinned when he realised she was completely oblivious to her semi-clothed state, but made no attempt to stop her.
“Have they been told about us?” she gasped and threw a dark glare at h
im before she disappeared behind the retiring room.
“They who?” Connor called with a frown.
“Everyone. Oscar. Isaac. Oh, dear, Cecily.”
“Know what?” He gave up. He was confused.
“You were in here all the time.”
“Why should they not be told?” He asked. When understanding dawned, he snorted. “I think that Joseph is proof that we are not strangers to each other, Tahlia. There is nothing to be ashamed of. Besides, what are they going to do when we are both in Rutland?”
“What do you mean?” she asked, appearing from behind the screen, dishevelled and panting from the speed in which she had tried to dress.
Connor smiled as she tried to straighten her clothing. She looked thoroughly tousled and intriguingly delightful but he didn’t say as much. He was incredibly lucky he had been given the opportunity to sleep with her, even if it was on top of the covers. However, he wasn’t going to be so patiently understanding once in Rutland. Next time they slept together, he fully intended to be in the bed with her and didn’t care who knew it.
“Well, we will be sharing the same house. Everyone is going to find out that we are together,” he murmured.
He watched carefully as she slowly turned to study him.
“We are?” she asked weakly. The prospect was intriguing. “But we have so much to learn about each other.”
Connor snorted. “I wouldn’t say that. Besides we have one very common link, Tahlia. Our son. He needs a father. While I have breath in my body, I will be his father. You need my help, and I have to confess-” he scratched his ear uncomfortably, “-I need yours.”
When she looked a little stunned he knew he needed to explain himself.
“I have no siblings, and went into the army at an early age. My kind of work doesn’t really bring me into contact with children much. I er-”
Tahlia fell in love with him right there and then. She knew she had been in love with him all along but to see Connor, a man usually so strong, so downright tough, so awkward about the prospect of facing a two foot tyrant was endearing.
“He won’t eat you,” she teased. “Well, he might chew your boots a bit, but he is more likely to drool on you or scream in your ear.”
“I don’t have much experience with two year olds,” Connor admitted. “What do I do?”
Tahlia smiled in delight. “Sit on the floor and let him jump all over you. He will have no qualms about telling you what he wants you to do, believe me.”
Deeply touched, Tahlia walked slowly but steadily across the room toward him. She knew then that she wouldn’t object to him living with them. To refuse would be tantamount to denying both herself and Joseph to become a proper family. She couldn’t do that to either of them. Not only that, but her heart wouldn’t be denied. She knew she would spent the rest of her life wondering ‘what if’, and regretting not even taking a chance with him. Besides, after what had happened of late, she knew he was not the rogue she had thought he was. He was someone who fought for King and Country, and had sacrificed a lot to do what he did.
He needed a life outside of the Star Elite, and if she and Joseph were it then her life was complete.
To his disbelief, he watched her walk toward him. His gasp was swallowed by the hard kiss she placed on his lips that was more of a branding. Her lips slid against his, tempting and teasing him with the joy of her new discovery, promising sensuality in the future, warning him of nights yet to come. Connor savoured each moment, and delighted in this new, rather forward side to her. He denied her nothing, he let her seal their new future – together – with a very loving, and smouldering kiss that was difficult to break away from. So much so that when she finally released him, it was he who slumped down to sit on the side of the bed.
