You are on your own, cousin.
He dragged hand through his hair again. He wouldn’t pry, no matter his curiosity. But they did need to get home and out of this rain before the wind picked up.
He took her arm. “Shall we make a dash for it? The carriage should be around the bend ahead of us.”
She nodded. “Let’s go.”
“Wait.” He tucked a wet, matted strand of hair behind her ear. “Do you want to cover your head with my jacket?” His gaze dropped to his jacket that she still wore. That still clung to her body. Not like second skin, but like his skin.
All this, Christ, and Heaven.Where are your thoughts going, man?
Not in any good damn direction.
“No need.” She patted her head. “My hair is already wet, and I don’t mind it. It’s rather refreshing.”
Dare didn’t question her. He nodded. “Very well, let’s go.”
He took her hand and they dashed through the rain to the carriage, each step feeling more like they were running through mud. The shallow puddles of water were quickly being replaced with rivers running down the narrow street.
“Heavens! Where did all this rain suddenly come from?”
“The sky.”
She shot him a filthy look, and Dare laughed, the tentacles that seemed to squeeze around his neck loosening.
Yes, that was right. He was Dare and she was Leonora. There was comfort in that, comfort in who they were: an heiress who had no intention of reforming a rake and a rake who could never be reformed.
The tentacles disappeared.
However, he could be imagining this, but something lingered in their stead. A shadow of their presence. A whisper of something unexplainable, curling at the edges of his senses. A slither of a touch that should not exist. Because the air had shifted. The silence had a pulse. And whatever had been there... was not entirely gone.
He cursed.
It would vanish eventually.
They had just reached the carriage when a shout echoed off the buildings lining the street. Leonora skidded to a halt and glanced over her shoulder.
“Heart?” he asked.
She nodded. “Sounds like him.”
“A furious him.” Dare yanked open the carriage door, nodding at the driver. “Let’s go before we are beheaded today.”
A light, amused chuckle. “How dramatic, even for you.”
Dare began to follow her into the carriage, but a chill skittered down his spine. Nothing good would happen if Heart caught them together. His foot halted midrise before he lowered it back to the ground.
Her eyes cut to him. “What are you doing?”
Dare nodded at the driver. “Take her home.”
“Dare? Aren’t you coming?”
He shook his head. “I can’t.”
“Heart . . .”
“Don’t worry. I still have something to discuss with my cousin, and it’s best for you if your brother doesn’t catch us together. You have enough to worry about as it is.”
