Theo stood up and left all the papers on the floor. He walked over to her and drew her close. “Sarah, you can’t imagine I’d let you be in danger for this. I’ll plan it out so you’re covered the whole time.”
“How can you do that when it’s just you?”
“Who said it would just be me?” He smiled. “Now that I know what to expect, I have a few reliable people to lean on. I’m not letting anything happen to you.”
He bent his head and kissed her. He only intended to reassure her, but one touch of her mouth was enough to remind him of all that just happened upstairs. He wanted her all over again. There wasn’t enough time to do everything he dreamed about doing with her. Frustration gnawed at him.
“What is it?” Sarah asked. “You have that look on your face.”
“What look?”
“The one you get when you’re deciding whether to speak or not.”
How the hell did she read him so well? “Sarah, are you a mind reader?”
“If I were, I’d know what you were thinking. But I just know that you are. Won’t you tell me?”
He almost laughed. “If you knew what I was thinking, you’d faint.”
“I didn’t faint before,” she protested. “I was quite scandalous. Admit it. You were a little shocked by my behavior.”
“A little. But I like it.” He ran his hand lightly over one breast, drawing a soft oh from her. “I’d keep you here for days if I could get away with it.”
“That sounds like an invitation for debauchery.”
“It would be. But all the same, I’d do it. Once just isn’t fair.”
“You said spies don’t use the word fair.”
“I’m not speaking as a spy. I’m speaking as a man.”
Sarah stretched to kiss him, then wrapped her arms around his neck. “Make me faint,” she whispered. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”
Theo would make her regret that bit of boldness. “All right. Just tell me when you want me to stop.” He slid one hand down her back and cupped her bottom before bringing her against him. Sarah gave a little gasp of surprise but didn’t pull away.
“I am thinking that you’d look beautiful lying on that table, right where the sun is hitting now. I’d take off your clothes and have you—me standing up, you on your back, sweetheart—and I’d bury my face in your hair while you beg me for more.”
Sarah’s eyes grew round, but she said, “I’m not fainting yet.”
“I’m just getting started.” He shifted so he could touch her between her legs. “You like it when I touch you there.”
“Yes,” she said in a shaking voice.
“You’d like my mouth there even more.”
“That’s not a real thing,” she said, disbelievingly. “People don’t do that.” She paused, her expression speculative and not nearly faint enough. “Do they? I mean, you want to do that to me?”
“Find out,” he said. “Come upstairs with me.”
She let him take her to the bedroom again. She let him take her clothes off and lay her back on the bed. She let him kiss her whole body. She let him lick her in places, some innocent, some not, until she nearly did faint, even though she denied it. At the end she sighed, her expression both peaceful and astonished. And through it all, she never once told him to stop. She asked him for more.
They lay together on the bed, warm under the covers. Sarah propped herself up on one elbow and kissed him sweetly.
He loved to hear her reactions, raw and unaffected. He wanted to be inside her again, but he doubted whether he’d be able to withdraw in time. Sarah was too arousing, too tantalizing. And she trusted him.
But then she touched him, and he remembered he could also trust her.
“You don’t mind?” she whispered.
He felt her running her fingers along his erection. He felt slightly faint himself. “Just the opposite.”
“I thought…because I liked it when you touched me, that…”
“Keep thinking, sweetheart.”
She smiled at his tone, and continued to touch him. He lay back, extremely willing to see where Sarah’s thinking took them. She went slowly, which delighted him. She was an amazingly attentive student, and he was soon ready to explode.
“If you let me keep doing this,” she said shyly, “will it satisfy you? I mean, earlier when you made love to me, you didn’t want to…for my benefit…” she trailed off, not sure how to explain herself.
“Keep your hand on me,” he said. “And yes, it will be satisfying.” He came when she leaned forward to kiss him and crushed their bodies together. The combination of her skin and her mouth on his was all he needed.
She curled up by him afterward, saying, “Well. I wonder what I could say to make you faint.”
“Don’t give me more ideas, sweetheart.” Theo resented every minute that slipped by. He kept her in his arms as she dozed, selfishly wanting to hold her as long as possible, even with the threat that they’d delay too long and destroy Sarah’s alibi. He didn’t care. Sarah was his.
But his better sense fought back. Ruining Sarah’s reputation when he had no way of correcting the issue was a terrible way to treat her. He slipped out of the bed and dressed. If he was dressed, he’d be less inclined to want to return to the bed.
“Sarah, sweetheart, you have to get up,” Theo said, putting his hand on her shoulder. “We have to go back.”
She blinked, trying to wake up. “Is it time?”
“Sadly, yes.” He smiled, though, hoping to stave off the inevitable.
She dressed while Theo finished tidying up the lodge. He had already cleaned up most of the evidence of the art destruction, burning what couldn’t be hung back up. It wasn’t perfect, but it would have to do.
“All right,” he said, giving the place a final look in the dying light. “We can leave as soon as you’ve put on your coat.” He moved around in a circle, uncharacteristically nervous.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing. That is, nothing I can put my finger on. I just don’t want to leave a trail.”
“A trail for who?” Sarah asked. “Do you think someone else knows about this place?”
“It’s not a secret he owned it. But anyone interested in Charlie’s past had ample opportunity to break in.” He still worried. “I just have an odd feeling.”
“Then let’s get moving,” she said. “What will you do once you return to London after dropping me off? With the letters, I mean?”
“Take them to my superior. We’ll find out if any of them still have value—beyond the one. And if needed, we’ll destroy them.”
“Good,” Sarah said. “Though I hate to travel all the way back carrying such things. It’s worse than carrying gold and yelling the fact out loud.”
“I’ll feel better when they’re in a safe place,” he agreed.
Sarah put on her boots and her warm cloak. She had only her reticule to carry. “I’m ready to go,” she announced.
He surveyed her, not particularly ready himself. “Sarah, when we both return to London, I can’t promise you anything.”
“I didn’t ask you to promise anything,” she said, her face set. “I’m quite capable of making my own mistakes, and I’ll decide which ones I choose to regret.”
“So I am a mistake or a regret?”
“You’re neither. You made me happy, at a time when no one else could.” Then, she opened the door and walked outside.
Theo stared after her, moving through the snow to the stable. How could she do that? Say he made her happy, and then just walk away? Theo doubted he ever made a woman happy before. Satisfied, probably. But happy?
He closed the door behind him, and made sure the latch was caught. The air was clear and cold, but not bitter. In the early evening light, everything seemed pure and still. They were a bit behind schedule, but he rationalized that Sarah’s perennially distracted parents were unlikely to remark on her absence, even for a full day.
He passed Sarah on the way to the small outbuilding that served as the stable. Then a faint jingling sound teased his ears. Horseshoes. Just within earshot. “Sarah,” he hissed. “Get over here now.”
She stiffened at his tone, but came without questioning. “What’s wrong?”
“Someone is coming,” he said.
“It doesn’t mean they’re coming here,” she said.
“What else is around here?”
“You think it’s them,” she guessed. “Rossi and that woman. Giselle.”
He nodded once. The feeling in his gut rarely betrayed him. “I asked her about the art Charlie bought. It must have made her think too. She must have learned the location of this place and come out to look, just as we did.”
Theo glanced at the stables. “Listen to me very carefully, Sarah. The carriage won’t work now. If someone unfriendly sees us, we need to be able to move fast.”
“Then what do we do?”
“I’ll take one horse and ride away in the opposite direction from town. You hide here until you can’t hear anyone. Then saddle the other horse—you can do that?”
She nodded mutely.
“Saddle it and ride to London. Don’t stop.”
“But where will you go?”
“I’ll distract them from you. You’re the more important person.”
“I am? Why?”
“Because you’ll take the letters to the Zodiac.”
Sarah blanched. “That’s mad!”
“That’s exactly what they’ll think.” He handed her the leather bag. “Take the papers. If they catch up to me—which they won’t—I’ll tell them I didn’t find anything.”
“They won’t believe that if they catch you!”
“Let me worry about that.” He kissed her. “Be careful, but go as fast as you dare.”
“But where am I going?”
“There’s a large red brick building at Powell and Gate Street. You’ll find the Zodiac inside.”
“What?”
“Hide, Sarah.” He pushed her toward the stable.
“Theo,” she said, fear in her voice. “Why would they trust me? I have no proof I’m connected to you. I don’t even know your sign, for God’s sake.”
“Yes, you do. You already guessed it.”
“Taurus?”
He grinned and gave her a final swift kiss. “Remember, it’s a secret.” He pushed her back into the darkness of the stable. “Wish me luck, sweetheart.”
Sarah looked like she wasn’t going to let him go without a fight, but all she said was, “Good luck, and be careful!”
He saddled the horse within seconds. He was seen before he could mount and ride away, though that was a good thing. He wanted to be seen. It was Sarah who had to be invisible.
A shout came from the woods. Rossi emerged, riding a horse giant enough to accommodate his massive frame. Theo ignored the order to stop, of course. He swung up and nudged the horse. Sensing pursuit, it needed no urging.
He wheeled about and rode away. Away from Sarah. Away from the papers. Away from London. Rossi and the other rider—Giselle?—followed close behind. Theo laughed to himself. He’d bet any money neither of those two could ride half as well as he could.
The trick would be to keep them close enough that they wouldn’t give up the pursuit. Excitement built up in his veins. He wasn’t reckless by nature, but when his back was to the wall, he could always call on his inner daredevil.
The pursuers were so hot blooded that Theo had no trouble keeping their interest. The horse navigated the snowy woods with ease, and Theo made sure to keep visible, offering a clear trail for them to follow.
A shot rang out, and the snow exploded about twenty paces away. He glanced behind. The smaller rider, who had to be Giselle, was holding a pistol out. So they didn’t care who he was, not even to keep him alive for questions. They just wanted the papers he might have. Nevertheless, Theo had no intention of getting killed. He urged his horse to a slightly faster pace and darted through the winter woods. The light was draining from the sky, and soon they’d be chasing a shadow.