Page 67 of Heart of Iron
A long silence.“Nothin’.”
She had the feeling he wasn’t talking about the kiss they’d shared.Lena shoved his hand away.“What do you want?What are you doing here anyway?”
Water slicked his hair against his head, dripping down the open collar of his throat.His gaze was hard and flat.He held up a piece of paper and with a start she realized it was the other piece of the letter he’d torn from her.
The last time she’d seen it she’d stuffed it up the chimney, behind a loose brick where she could take the time to try and decipher it.
“Lookin’ for the truth,” he said.“Since I ain’t likely to get it from you.”
“That’s mine.”Lena snatched at it but his grip was firm.They glared at each other.His shirt clung to his shoulders indecently; the sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and his leather waistcoat sculpted every muscle of his chest.A bead of water hovered in the dip of his lip, another sliding down his roughened cheek.God, she wanted to run her hands over his shoulders, to trace that droplet of water with her tongue.
To sink her hands into the wet mess of his hair and drag his mouth down.To hers.
Taking a deep breath, Lena shivered with unrequited longing.“What are you going to do with it?Decode it?”
“Aye.”
Lena licked her lips.“Perhaps it’s for the best.”She wanted to know what it said just as much as he did.“As long as you don’t breathe a word to anyone else about it.”
“Afraid Honoria will yell?”
“Afraid she’ll lock me in a convent.”
“Perhaps you ought to be.”The gold color of his eyes was molten.
Lena froze.He’d made it quite clear kissing her had been a mistake.And yet… Her nipples tightened under his burning gaze.The way he was looking at her was almost edible.This mood of his was unpredictable.
She had to get him out of here before she did something foolish.
“Is that everything you came for?”She let go of her end of the piece of paper.“You scared me half to death.”
Rain battered the windows as he knelt back onto his knees.He didn’t seem in any hurry to leave.
“Will?Whatever this is, you could have waited ’til tomorrow.”
Will’s expression remained hooded.“You and I need to talk.”
“Not tonight.If anyone—”
“Tonight,” he growled, and another low peal of thunder rumbled through the room.“I give you enough chances.Tonight I’ve had enough.I want answers and you’re damned well goin’ to give ’em to me.All you’re goin’ to do is answer yes or no, do you understand?”
Lena nodded slowly.Will always kept his temper even and controlled.He didn’t dare let it loose.Tonight there was a wildness there that urged for caution.
“Do you know who Mercury is?”
Her breath caught.“I don’t… I’m not sure what—”
Will pressed a finger to her lips.“Yes.Or no.Do you know who Mercury is?”
Where had he heard that name?And why would he suspect her of a connection to it?She had to play this right, or who knew how he’d react?Lena nodded hesitantly.“Yes.”
He didn’t like that, she realized.A frown drew his eyebrows together.“Damn it, Lena.What the devil have you gotten yourself involved in?”
There was no way to answer that with a simple yes or no.
As if realizing her intentions, his eyes narrowed.“Do you have any involvement with the humanists?With Mercury?”
“Yes.And no.”
