AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She pocketed it through a slit in her gown and motioned to the door with her pistol. “Move away from the door. I will leave, and you will wait at least ten minutes before you follow. My carriage awaits. Don’t bother searching the ball for me.”
Again, he shrugged and moved aside. He was far too compliant, far too affable, but she did not have time to question it. She opened the door, slipped through, and started down the corridor, tucking the pistol into a pocket through the slit on the opposite side of her gown. But she had taken no more than five steps when she saw a light approaching from the far end and then heard the duchess’s door open behind her. Muttering a curse, she paused, uncertain whether to continue forward or turn back.
From behind her, she heard Sedgwick. “That footman will wonder at your presence up here. And he will remember seeing you when the duchess questions the staff about her missing necklace.”
She glanced over her shoulder and shot him a glare. Did he think she didn’t know all of that? And did he think she didn’t know what had to be done?
He grinned at her, the glint in his eyes wicked. Of course he knew, the snake. Still, better to try her luck with a snake than to face a magistrate in the morning.
Quickly, as the footman was drawing closer, she turned and stepped into his arms. He drew her into the embrace immediately, bending her back slightly before pressing his lips to hers. She responded, but only enough to make the embrace look believable. Inside she seethed. He bent to kiss her neck as the footman drew closer.
“Not very nice of you to pull a pistol on me,” he whispered. “I suppose what they say is true.”
Ignore him,she ordered herself.Do not respond.But, as was always the case with him, she could not stop herself. “And what is that?”
“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”
“What?” she sputtered. A woman scorned? “Irejectedyou!”
“Did you?”
“Yes!” And if he thought she carried some foolish tendre for him, she would set him right immediately. She began to push him away, but he pulled her closer.
“Now, now. Be careful.”
The light from the footman’s candle was upon them. She had no choice but to return Sedgwick’s kiss even as the footman slowed to move around them. She was so angry it barely registered in her mind that she was kissing Sedgwick—that was until he parted her lips and invaded her mouth with his tongue.
At least it felt like an invasion at first. She would have struggled if the footman had not been so close. She would have struggled if Sedgwick was not holding her so tightly. She would have struggled—
Oh, who was she fooling? She wrapped her arms around him and sank into the kiss, allowing oblivion to descend for just a moment.
But somehow her wits pushed through the warm, murky waves of passion and resurfaced. She would not allow him to kiss her senseless again. With a shove, she separated from him. The footman was at the other end of the corridor, a safe distance. Sedgwick grinned at her like a cat who had stolen the cream.
She poked his cravat. “Don’t touch me again. In fact, don’t ever speak to me again.” With a whirl, she turned and glided down the hallway, not pausing until she reached the vestibule and the waiting footman. He raised a brow at her, but she ignored it. So what if she had forgotten her wrap? She would send a servant to fetch it tomorrow. “Is my carriage ready?”
“Yes, my lady.”
“Good.” A moment later, she was inside with the curtains drawn and the carriage lamp casting a soft glow on the plush interior. She would not think of Sedgwick now. She was on her way home, and she had the necklace. That was all that mattered.
She reached for the necklace, intent on admiring it now that she had a moment alone, but when she felt inside the gown’s slit, her fingers touched only the soft fabric of the pockets she had tied on.
There was no necklace.
Panicked, she reached into the other side.
There was no pistol.
A cat who had stolen the cream.As she fell back onto the squabs, she uttered a curse.
“Sedgwick.”
Chapter 2
Ramsey strolled down the dark alley, Cleopatra’s lapis lazuli necklace heavy where it lay against his chest. He walked quickly, the blood seeming to surge through his veins. He was unsure whether the rush he felt originated from the thrill of pilfering the necklace or from the still-smoldering heat in his loins from his encounter with the lovely Viscountess McCullough. Either way, it distracted him enough that he missed the movement in the shadows until it was almost too late.
He swung his walking stick to deflect the blow, but the slight hesitation cost him. The shadowed man’s club glanced off his shoulder, leaving it stinging and Ramsey cursing silently. He saved his breath, ducked down—evading another swipe, this one at his head—and rammed his shoulders into his attacker.
The man let out a grunt, lost his footing, and toppled to the ground. Before he could rise, Ramsey had the blade hidden in his walking stick pressed snugly against the man’s chest, right above where he imagined the man’s heart slammed against his ribs.
