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‘My little ifrit,’ he breathed against my lips.
‘You should take your own good advice,’ I shot back. ‘Shut up and kiss me!’
I would never have thought Mr Rikkard Ambrose was one for taking orders. But this one he obeyed, fast, hard, and fierce. Strong arms encircled me, pulling me against a chest so hard you could break a chisel on it, nearly squeezing all the air out of me. In his kiss, his embrace, and every hard line of his body, I could feel the tension, screaming to be released. The realisation hit me like a boulder in the face: he had been scared. Scared for me.
I hugged him close and pressed my face into his chest before he could read the knowledge in my eyes.
‘Thank you,’ I murmured. ‘Thank you for coming for me.’
In response, his grip tightened even more. ‘I had no intentions of finding a new secretary. Do you know what vacancy advertisements cost these days?’
Glancing over his shoulder at the small army of riders approaching from every direction, I privately thought to myself that it would probably cost less than an escort of three dozen heavily armed men. However, I didn’t voice this thought aloud. There were more important things to take care of right now.
Like continuing to kiss him?
Well, yes, that too. But first…
Lifting my face from his chest, I looked straight into his eyes. Our faces were so close that our foreheads touched. It felt…right.
‘Let’s get out of here!’ I suggested.
‘Agreed.’
Letting go of me, he took hold of the saddle, vaulting up onto the horse behind me. A short gasp escaped me as I felt him settling in so close, his chest pressing into my back. I had never felt anything like it. Even after all we had already done, this felt strangely intimate. A hundred times more so when his arms came around me, clutching me close.
My ears burning with embarrassment, I looked around. All the riders had returned by now and were gazing at me and Mr Ambrose with big, big eyes. It was clear that they knew Mr Rikkard Ambrose. It was also clear that they weren’t used to seeing him sitting on horseback with his arms wrapped around a woman.
‘Miss Linton,’ my dear employer informed them in a tone cold enough to give frostbite, ‘is a gently bred lady of good family and impeccable reputation. She would never do anything so rash as to kiss a man in public. If anyone were to suggest differently, I would be…displeased. Do we understand each other?’
Mesmerised, the men nodded.
‘Adequate. Well, gentlemen? What are you waiting for? Ride!’
And before I could point out that I had been first on the horse and as such should be in charge, thank you very much, his hands grasped the reins.
‘Gee-up!’
We raced off across the plain, snow spewing up right and left, a storm of crystals sparkling in the cold air. Around us, the riders followed suit, slowly forming a protective circle as we approached the woods. Leaning back, I relaxed into Mr Ambrose’s hard chest. It felt nice, having someone to lean on. With a twinge of pain I realised that I had never had this before. Oh, I’d had my friends, and my little sister, but nothing like this. This felt different.
His arms around me tightened in silent agreement.
‘How did you find me?’ I whispered.
Somehow he understood me, even over the thunder of the hooves.
‘I had sent one of my mother’s servants with a letter to Newcastle requesting reinforcements from my agents and additional hired personnel as soon as Dalgliesh arrived,’ he explained, his voice clipped. ‘They arrived shortly after…after you…’
‘After I disappeared,’ I finished the sentence quietly.
He nodded. ‘The room didn’t look as if there had been a struggle. I surmised that the maid had been in league with Dalgliesh, and that she would be aiming to make a quick getaway after getting paid. So I sent three of my men to lay in wait on the road to the closest port city, and another three on the road south to London.’ Even though I couldn’t see his face, I could almost feel the cold glitter in his eyes. ‘It wasn’t long before she appeared.’
A smile tugged at one corner of my mouth. ‘You have her?’
‘Karim does. He’s explaining the errors of her ways to her.’
‘Oh.’ That corner of my mouth curved up another inch or so. ‘Oh dear.’
‘Indeed.’
