chessboard from the pillow top to the floor. "Why was Kali
unacceptable to the women?"
"How to put this delicately ... "
"Don't worry about battering my sensibilities," he hastened
to assure her, grinning as he stretched out on his side,
his head propped in his hand. ''They're not all that tender."
"I assumed that. My concern is for my own," she laughingly
countered, picking up her needlework again. Her vision
suitably focused not on him, she explained, ''There's a
general attitude in the women's quarters regarding their individual
relationships with the raja. It's of the moment, What
it is for that moment, and nothing more or less. There's no
jealousy over who's called to his chambers for the night.
"Kali, however, attempted to change all that. Her entire
existence revolved around working to set us against each
other and on restricting the raja's favor only to her."
"In other words, she didn't share well."
"She didn't want to share at all," Alex clarified, pushing
the needle through the canvas and drawing the yarn into
place. "Mohan doesn't quite understand the dynamics of
what happened and I'd prefer not to enlighten him just yet,
but the truth is that his father wasn't unhappy with the way
we treated Kali. He was unhappy because of the way we
treated him for bringing her into our midst The raja doesn't
like to be treated coolly.”
"Ah," Aiden said, his smile radiating through the sound.
''The coordinated action I warned Mohan about. I can almost
feel sorry for the man."
"Almost?"
''Almost:' he reiterated. "Any man who has more than his
fair share of companions doesn't really merit too much pity
for the complications that come along with it."
She could feel his gaze on her, could sense the bright
light of curiosity in his eyes. "No," she said softly. "I wasn't
one of his companions."
The edge of her vision lit up with his grin. "Well, since
you broached the subject ... Why-"
"Because I'm British," she supplied simply. Before he
could ask another question and before she had to refuse to
answer it, she rose from her chair and laid the needlework on
the seat, saying, "I do believe it's time I retired, as well.
Good night, Aiden. Pleasant dreams."
He scrambled to his feet. "If you must, I certainly understand."
His gaze was assessing as he met hers and added,
"Good night, Alex. Sleep well."
''And the same wish for you, Aiden," she offered, her heart
skittering as he searched her face. It took a substantial measure
of her self-discipline to gracefully, calmly, move past
him and out the door. It took every bit of the rest of it to keep
from looking back over her shoulder in the unsettling hope
that he'd come after her.
Chapter 9
Better, Alex reminded herself for the countless time, to rise before
the peacocks and miss breakfast than to risk being caught
in her nightgown again. She dug her hands into the straw, feeling
for the mate to the candlestick she'd just removed. And it
wasn't as though she'd been sleeping soundly anyway. The
night just past was one of the most restless she could ever remember
having. Twice she'd awakened, short of breath and
her heart pounding, certain that she'd find Aiden Terrell lying
beside her in reality. And instead of feeling relieved ...
The sound of footfalls on the stairs quickened Alex's
pulse and brought her attention up from the packing crate.
She relaxed at the sight of Mohan and smiled.
"Good morning, Miss Alex," he said, beaming as he
bounded toward her. "Mr. Terrell asked me to tell you that he
will be downstairs directly."
"Thank you. Is there any particular reason why I need to
be informed of that momentous event?"
Mohan looked at her as if she had the mental acuity of a
brick. "Your first riding lesson is this morning," he said with
extreme patience.
"Oh. I'd forgotten," she lied, resuming her search in the
packing straw. "I'm really terribly busy, you know. I have to
finish unpacking these crates and then, of course, there's the
putting away and proper displaying of everything. Followed
by the tidying up of the shop itself. I just don't see how I
have time for a riding lesson, do you?"
"Is it the horse of which you are afraid, Miss Alex? Or is
it Mr. Terrell's instruction? I assure you that he is most competent."
As though Mohan had anyone against whom to compare
him. "I'm not afraid of anything," she assured him, finding
and taking the candlestick from the crate. Turning to place it
on the desk, she added, "I simply have work to do. And work
must come before pleasure."
"Why?"
"Because if! don't work there won't be money with which
to buy carriages and hor-" She instantly recognized the two
men coming down the walk, heading for her door. "Mohan,
go upstairs and stay there until I call for you. Go!"
Thankfully he obeyed and she had just enough time to
seize a single deep breath before they pushed open the door
and sauntered in.
"Top o' the mornin' to ya, mum," said the one called
Rupert.
She found a smile and dipped her chin in acknowledgment.
"Gentlemen."
The other one-Willie-stepped from behind Rupert.
Openly surveying the shop, he said, "There's some business
to be finished 'tween us."
"Yes, there is, isn't there?" Alex managed to say pleasantly.
"You disappeared before I returned the other day and
could pay you for your services. The amount was four
shillings, as I recall."
Rupert shook his head. "We've decided eight would be
more fittin'. Took a big chance for ya, we did."
Yes, lolling about in front of a millinery shop was incredibly
dangerous work. Alex bit her tongue and forced herself
to smile. "Eight shillings it is, then~" she said, willing to pay
whatever it took to get them out of her store. "Kindly wait
where you are and I 'll return with your payment in just a
moment."
Hoping that they wouldn't pocket everything small enough
to fit while she was gone, Alex gathered her skirts and retreated
to the silver room. She'd barely stepped inside and
scooped up her cash tin when she heard footsteps behind her.
Her heart thudding, she spun toward the doorway. And found
it blocked.
"I distinctly recall," she said with all the calm she could
muster, "having asked you gentlemen to wait in the front
shop."
Rupert looked around, his eyes narrowing. "Lots of
pretty stuff in here, isn't there, Willie? Look at all this plate.
Too awkward and heavy to be cartin' out of here all at once,
though. But still ... It has to be worth a king's ransom, don't
ya think?”
"Aye," his companion agreed. He smiled thinly at her and
wagged an eyebrow. "Or a chit's."
She couldn't breathe, couldn't make he
r feet move,
couldn't hear anything over the thunderous roar of her heartbeat
As though from a great distance she saw herself hold
out the tin, heard herself say, "Take the cash box and whatever
plate you want and go."
Willie's lips moved but she didn't hear the words. Hope
Dickered when he reached for the tin with both hands. It was
extinguished when he took the tin in one and clamped the
other hard around her wrist instinctively, she pulled back,
trying to break his hold, trying to twist away.
Her flesh burned and the cry caught painfully in her
throat as she was flung forward. Spinning and stumbling, her
heels caught in her hems, she fell hard against the body of
the second man. An iron band instantly slammed around her,
high above her waist, driving the air from her lungs and
another strangled cry past her lips. And then there was only the
sensation of cold metal and deadly sharp pressed hard
against her neck. Alex froze, holding what little breath she
had remaining.
"Scream and it'll be the last sound you ever make," Willie
snarled in her ear as he hauled her toward the door.
Alex dragged her feet, her every instinct telling her that
if she let them get her out of the house, she'd never see it
again. Never see Mohan. Preeya. Her knife was on the desk
in the front shop. Beyond her reach, beyond usefulness.
"Pick up your feet!" he commanded, tightening the band
around her midsection and giving her no chance to comply
on her own before lifting her clear of the floor and carrying
her into the hall. Willie came on their heels, exhorting his
partner to hurry.
"Let go of her. Now."
Aiden. At the entrance to the hall. A gun in his hand, held
level and steady at arm's length. The sight of him, the sound
of his voice, clear and strong ...
"Let her go," he said with steely calm, "or I'll kill you."
So tall, so lethal, so absolutely determined. It would be
all right. Aiden was there. For her. Her knees weakening
with relief, Alex sagged downward and then choked back a
cry as the arm around her crushed the air from her lungs
again and the blade pressed closer to her throat.
"Close your eyes, Alex."
She obeyed, trusting him, knowing that she should and
could.
There was the sudden jangle of metal-the change in the
box she dully realized-and then there was only a soul pounding
blast and a sudden, wrenching weight slamming
against her legs, pulling at her skirts and hauling her down.
The band tightened yet again and she stumbled, trying to
keep herself upright as she was hauled backward. Her lungs
were burning; she couldn't breathe. Scalding tears poured
through her lashes. And her heart . .. Her heart was going to
explode.
'Throw the gun away, guv'ner, or I'll open her up. I swear
I will."
Alex winced at the voice, the threat, issued against her
ear. Aiden kept his gaze steady along the length of the barrel,
knowing that her best chance of survival lay in dropping
the bastard where he stood. "If you so much as twitch," he
warned, "I'll put a bullet in your brain."
Squeezing a cry out of Alex, the man smiled. "You can't
shoot me without hitting her."
"Last chance." He slowly drew the hammer back until it
clicked into place. "Let her go."
The smile disappeared, replaced by a dark scowl, as, for a
fleeting second, the man's gaze passed over Aiden's shoulder
and into the front of the shop. Aiden strained to hear, but
refused to be drawn, into looking, into surrendering what
slim advantage he had. .
"Reach behind you," Alex's captor growled into her ear,
"and open the damn door."
Aiden saw her force herself to swallow, watched as she
carefully turned her head away from the pressure of the knife
blade and stretched her right hand back to blindly search for
the doorknob. Just a bit more, darling, he silently coached her.
Just a fraction more. Give me a clean shot. One's all I need.
He seized the opportunity in the same second that she
gave him that precious space. The blast was deafening, the
smoke acrid and thick. Through it he heard Alex scream,
saw the man's head snap back, saw him stagger and the
blade fall away from Alex's throat. His stomach churned, but
either collapsed onto the body at her feet or fell back onto
the one sliding down the wall behind her.
The revolver still tight in his fist, he covered the space
between them, catching her about the waist just as her knees
gave out. "Gotcha," he rasped, hauling her hard against him.
Her face buried against his shoulder, she sobbed his name
and he pressed a quick kiss to her temple before he bent,
swept her up into his arms, and carried her out of the hall.
"Miss Alex!"
The top of the stairs. A frightened Mohan. "She's all right,"
Aiden assured the boy. "Stay up there! Do you hear me?"
''Yes, sir."
One problem averted. Alex so close was the next one he
needed to solve. His senses had been sharpened by the danger
and were still too raw, too aware, to have Alex in" his
arms. She felt too good, too inviting, and he didn't trust himself
not to take advantage of her confusion. He glanced toward
the chair in the front shop, thinking to take her there.
He froze at the sight of a face peering in the front window.
A pair of obsidian eyes in a burnished male face met his
gaze for an instant. They both started at the unexpected
contact and the hairs on the back of Aiden's neck prickled as
a cold shudder rippled down his spine. Then the stranger
turned and was gone.
And, in that moment, so was his strength. He dropped
down on a lower step, Alex cradled in his arms and across
his lap, and dragged a deep, ragged breath into his lungs as
he struggled to banish the bloody images from his mind.
"Oh, God," Alex brokenly whispered, lifting her face to
gaze up at him, tears still coursing down her cheeks. "Aiden."
He wanted to kiss her. Long and slowly. Until they both
forgot what had just happened. He managed to exercise self-control
and find a smile. "I'm afraid that I've made a mess in
your rear hall. Sorry about that."
"I don't care," she replied on a shaky breath. A fresh
wave of tears spilled over her lashes even as she swiped a
trembling hand across her cheek. "I'm sorry," she offered,
her voice on the verge of breaking. "I'm trying not to cry.
Really, I am."
"It's all right, Alex," he assured her, pulling his handkerchief
from his pocket and gently dabbing her cheeks. "Go
ahead and cry all you'd like. I intend to later."
She sniffled and took the cloth from him to vigorously
scrub her eyes and demand, "How can you be so damn calm?"
Damn? The duchess could swear? He smiled and allowed
that if any s
ituation merited a few curses, this one was it. He
pushed a tendril of tear-dampened hair off her cheek and
gently-tucked it behind her ear. "I wouldn't be doing you
much good if I fell to pieces, now would I?"
The look in his eyes as she gazed up at him ... Gone was
the cold, lethal man who had squarely dealt with her attackers.
This Aiden Terrell, the one holding her, comforting her, was
compelling in an entirely different way. It would be so easy to
melt into him and surrender all of her fears, all of her self. He
wouldn't hurt her, wouldn't take advantage of her lack of
courage. She knew that to the very marrow of her bones.
The tender searching in his eyes was gone in a blink. As
was the gentleness with which he held her. All of his muscles
instantly taut, he turned his head and lifted the gun,
pointing it at the slowly opening front door. Alex held her
breath and pressed herself closer to him, her heart racing in
cadence with his.
"Ah, Mrs. Fuller," he said, lowering the weapon as she
poked her head inside. "Perfect timing. Would you please be
so kind as to find a constable for us? Tell him it's a bit urgent."
The older woman met Alex's gaze for a second, then she
nodded crisply and withdrew, closing the door smartly behind