Now she rose and followed him through the tavern and out a back door. They emerged into a small yard where damp tablecloths flapped in the breeze from a saggy clothesline. “Why did you come out this way?” she asked.
“I knew he hadn’t come in the front. I wanted to make sure he wasn’t waiting for me in the back. My plan was to then go back around the front and make one last search for him.”
“But the assassin was waiting for you. Here?” She pointed to an area where stones had been laid in a rough pattern.
He nodded. As he moved closer, he spotted the pale splotches of blood that even the recent rains hadn’t managed to completely wash away. “Perhaps I need a pair of spectacles. You found that rather quickly,” he said.
“I just looked for the most likely place someone would lie in wait.”
“If he was waiting across the street, he would have seen me rise from my table. When I didn’t emerge through the front door after a moment, he would have assumed I’d go out the back. In the time it would have taken me to make my way through the crowded tavern and examine all of the patrons, he could run across the street and step into the shadows there. It’s only a few steps from the gate.”
No doubt Holyoake was an excellent agent. That was exactly what she’d surmised. He removed his hat and used it to fan himself. She couldn’t help but notice how handsome he looked. She wouldnotthink about those calluses on his fingers. Margaret cleared her throat. “Er—I suppose we should track the assassin down. That won’t be easy since you didn’t get a good look at him.”
“I imagine if he’s still in Town, he’ll find me.”
“To finish the job,” she said. “I won’t let that happen.”
The look on Holyoake’s face was almost comical. His jaw dropped, and he stared at her as though she’d just claimed to be Queen Victoria. Margaret drew herself up. “That’s right, Holyoake. This timeI’llprotectyou.”
“Is it wrong that you saying that makes me want you even more?” His eyes darkened with a look she knew well. Heat flooded her face and spiraled down to her belly. She took a shaky breath and tried to think of a witty rejoinder. He stepped forward and she licked her lips as he pushed her up against the wall of the tavern. She gasped in pleasure as his mouth came down hot on hers.
They were out in the open, and someone could come upon them at any moment. Not to mention, they were on assignment.
Margaret didn’t care a whit. Her hands came up and she curled her fingers in Holyoake’s hair, keeping him in place. His hot mouth teased and tantalized until she opened her lips and allowed him inside. His tongue lashed at hers, took without asking, and stole her breath away. When he pulled her body tight against his, and she felt the hardness of his erection, she moaned in response. She needed him, needed this so badly. It had been so long.
His hands on her waist slid upward until his palms glided over her aching breasts.
“Yes,” she breathed, panting with need.
His mouth trailed across her jaw and then down the column of her neck, while his hands skated down her body and began to ruche up her skirts.
“Ambrose,” she moaned.
He looked up at her. “What’s this? No Holyoake?”
“Shut up and kiss me.”
He did. His mouth claiming hers again, the scrape of his beard unfamiliar and enticing. And then his hands found her drawers and his fingers slipped inside the slit, finding her skin. He inhaled sharply and pulled away. “You’re ready.”
“It’s been a long time,” she said.
“How long?” he asked as his roughened fingers stroked her gently, causing her to squirm in anticipation.
“Three years,” she breathed. One of his fingers entered her, and then another.
“No one has touched you here in three years?” He kissed her again, stroking her in a way that made her head spin. “A passionate woman like you. How did you survive it?”
“I have no idea,” she said, allowing her head to fall back as he found that spot that gave her the most pleasure and applied a delicious pressure. She caught her lip between her teeth to keep from crying out, and then she did so anyway as he brought her to a quick, hard climax. She thought she might slump to the ground, but he caught her and buried his face in her neck.
“God, but I love the sounds you make when you come.” His tongue flicked out to taste her neck, making her squirm with renewed pleasure. “I want to taste you.”
“Not here,” she said, already appalled at what they had just done. “We shouldn’t even have done...what we just did.”
“Then let’s go back to the flat. I want to strip you naked and lick every single inch of you.”
Margaret shivered in anticipation. Then she shook her head. “Baron,” she said.
Holyoake blew out a breath. “I don’t want to think about the mission right now.”
