Read Online Kate Moore by To Kiss a Thief - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: To Kiss a Thief
Ads: Link
case we should need it.”
“Yes.”
“Well then, you must satisfy yourself that the stolen papers are not on my person.”
At that she looked up. “Oh, no, I could not,” she said, shaking her head emphatically.
“But I insist,” he replied. “It will be good practice for the role you must play in Portugal.”
“Role?” she questioned.
“You are safe in this company, Meg, only as long as our companions believe, as Croisset did, that you are my mistress.”
“But I could never be your . . . I could never touch . . .” Why did she hesitate? Why did the words seem like lies?
“Not be ,” he said quietly, “ play .”
“But I do not know the least thing about mistresses or what they must do or say, and surely I do not look . . . look . . .” She faltered.
“In that garment, I assure you do look . . . quite.”
She was watching his face now, and only his evident amusement at her expense enabled her to regain a bit of composure.
“Very well.” She leaned over him again and pulled at the remaining buttons determinedly, but her haste made her clumsy so that she lost her balance and would have fallen on him except that he caught her by the shoulders. To her great discomfort he held her there, her face just inches from his, his heart beating against her hand, his eyes, blue as deep water, urging her closer. Abruptly he pushed her back onto her knees and rolled away from her. He rose and turned from her to gaze out the window above the water stand, his fingers deftly fastening the buttons she had released. She retreated to the berth and pulled the blankets about her. She thought she heard him say something. “Fool” it sounded like, but the word was too faint for her to be certain.
Without turning he spoke again. “Do not be alarmed, Miss Somerley; I shall not require another such show of desire from you. You have only to dress the mistress’ part and allow me to do the lying.” More quietly he added, “I believe our lives depend on it. Can you do it?”
“Yes,” she said. In the same quiet voice he explained what he had gleaned from the captain and crew about the men the Viper would send to meet them and how Croisset managed with such escort to convey messages beyond the English lines. In parting he urged that she wear the sapphires.
“If anything should happen to me,” he said, “the jewels will buy you protection and a safe passage home.”
“I could never sell them,” she protested. “They must be returned to their rightful owner.”
“The woman who owned them is dead, Meg.” He paused. “Until this afternoon, then.” He bowed and turned.
“Wait,” she cried, as a new thought occurred. “What am I to call you before others?”
“My lord, of course.” She was relieved to see him grin again and offered him a smile of her own.
5
F ROM THE SOUTH railing Margaret watched the shore where cream-colored buildings with red-tiled roofs climbed steep hillsides. She had taken her position hours before when the land was no more than a blue outline above the eastern horizon, and had watched through all the transformations their approach had wrought, through an hour in which everything before her had been rosy in the setting sun’s light, the windows flashing gold, then through still another until she could see browns and greens and the cream of the buildings and at last people on the beach. All hands were now on deck, each with some task necessary to maneuver their craft through dozens of others of every description. Margaret knew Drew would join her at any moment. Imperceptibly she had accepted the name in her own mind though she refused to speak it.
Since morning she had berated herself repeatedly for misusing an opportunity to stop him and for being so foolish as to smile at him. Eager to escape the scene of her weakness, she had dressed with haste and left the cabin. Now she meant to be strong-minded, to remember at every moment that he was a thief and a traitor,
“Yes.”
“Well then, you must satisfy yourself that the stolen papers are not on my person.”
At that she looked up. “Oh, no, I could not,” she said, shaking her head emphatically.
“But I insist,” he replied. “It will be good practice for the role you must play in Portugal.”
“Role?” she questioned.
“You are safe in this company, Meg, only as long as our companions believe, as Croisset did, that you are my mistress.”
“But I could never be your . . . I could never touch . . .” Why did she hesitate? Why did the words seem like lies?
“Not be ,” he said quietly, “ play .”
“But I do not know the least thing about mistresses or what they must do or say, and surely I do not look . . . look . . .” She faltered.
“In that garment, I assure you do look . . . quite.”
She was watching his face now, and only his evident amusement at her expense enabled her to regain a bit of composure.
“Very well.” She leaned over him again and pulled at the remaining buttons determinedly, but her haste made her clumsy so that she lost her balance and would have fallen on him except that he caught her by the shoulders. To her great discomfort he held her there, her face just inches from his, his heart beating against her hand, his eyes, blue as deep water, urging her closer. Abruptly he pushed her back onto her knees and rolled away from her. He rose and turned from her to gaze out the window above the water stand, his fingers deftly fastening the buttons she had released. She retreated to the berth and pulled the blankets about her. She thought she heard him say something. “Fool” it sounded like, but the word was too faint for her to be certain.
Without turning he spoke again. “Do not be alarmed, Miss Somerley; I shall not require another such show of desire from you. You have only to dress the mistress’ part and allow me to do the lying.” More quietly he added, “I believe our lives depend on it. Can you do it?”
“Yes,” she said. In the same quiet voice he explained what he had gleaned from the captain and crew about the men the Viper would send to meet them and how Croisset managed with such escort to convey messages beyond the English lines. In parting he urged that she wear the sapphires.
“If anything should happen to me,” he said, “the jewels will buy you protection and a safe passage home.”
“I could never sell them,” she protested. “They must be returned to their rightful owner.”
“The woman who owned them is dead, Meg.” He paused. “Until this afternoon, then.” He bowed and turned.
“Wait,” she cried, as a new thought occurred. “What am I to call you before others?”
“My lord, of course.” She was relieved to see him grin again and offered him a smile of her own.
5
F ROM THE SOUTH railing Margaret watched the shore where cream-colored buildings with red-tiled roofs climbed steep hillsides. She had taken her position hours before when the land was no more than a blue outline above the eastern horizon, and had watched through all the transformations their approach had wrought, through an hour in which everything before her had been rosy in the setting sun’s light, the windows flashing gold, then through still another until she could see browns and greens and the cream of the buildings and at last people on the beach. All hands were now on deck, each with some task necessary to maneuver their craft through dozens of others of every description. Margaret knew Drew would join her at any moment. Imperceptibly she had accepted the name in her own mind though she refused to speak it.
Since morning she had berated herself repeatedly for misusing an opportunity to stop him and for being so foolish as to smile at him. Eager to escape the scene of her weakness, she had dressed with haste and left the cabin. Now she meant to be strong-minded, to remember at every moment that he was a thief and a traitor,
Similar Books
