Page 24 of The Agent and the Outlaw
“Ha! You can certainly try,” I challenged, but the bluster was gone from my tone. In its place was a throaty breathlessness I almost didn’t recognize.This man is rattling me, shaking my composure.Heat blazed between our bodies.
One dark brow arched at my defiance, flexing the scar across his temple in a way I could only describe asdevastatingly handsome. I tried to recover my senses—tried to stop staring at his strange, strong, handsome features long enough to ready myself for hisforcible retrievalof my precious letter. I braced myself for the violence I suspected would come.
Instead, he kissed me.
His firm lips, so often set in that restrained frown, softened against mine. His tongue slid out, licking gently, tentatively, until I opened to meet him with the force of my unspent lust.Dieu, he tastes delicious.Like this morning’s apples and mint tea, and the faintly salty taste of masculinity—nothing like the rank, perfumed sweets of my courtly lovers. His passion seemed to intensify, and he pushed closer to me, crushing me against the wall. I felt his excitement press against my abdomen and it seemed to unleash a new wave of desire in me.
I didn’t hear choirs of angels singing. Rather, it seemed to be legions of demons, moaning and writhing and goading me on, encouraging me to toss my skirts up and sink down to the floor on top of this glorious man.
I realized with a thrill that Antoine’s hand was caressing me around the front of my skirt, reaching for the ties at the side and—
“Ha!You were saying?” he grinned, cheeks dimpling, holding my letter just out of reach.
He’d reachedrightinto my skirt pockets and thieved it from me while I was lustfully compromised.
I gaped.
“You complete and utter cad! I cannot believe you did that!”
I was less embarrassed about the pursuit of my own carnal pleasure than I probably should have been. More than anything, I was angry at myself for letting him get the better of me, especially when I had to begrudgingly respect his unscrupulous tactics. I, myself, had often employed the same kinds of deception to extract information and influence. The rogue had beaten me at my own game.
There was also the possibility—as much as I didn’t want to admit it—that I was disappointed he hadn’t been as passionately moved as I’d been. My pride smarted.
He chuckled and stepped back, and I gritted my teeth at the sad loss of his warmth and the even sadder loss of the upper hand. I scowled at him and grabbed at the letter, which he held above my head as if I were a small, unruly child demanding sweets. Rather than embarrass myself further, I harrumphed and turned my back on him, hoping that even if he read the words I’d written to Daphne, he would merely think I was putting my cousin’s worries at ease.
He frowned as he read, then handed the letter back to me.
“Why were you so protective of such drivel?”
I snatched the letter back from him. “Because a lady’s personal correspondence is just that—personal. It’s not for the eyes of every rapacious brute who doesn’t respect a woman’s privacyorpersonal boundaries.”
“That’s rich coming from the woman who crossed some very intimate boundaries early this morning,” he snapped.
I put my hands on my hips and raised my chin haughtily. “It’s really rather ungentlemanly of you to remind me.”
“What does the letterreallysay?”
“You read it. It’s familial drivel, as you say.”
He snapped his fingers. “It must be some kind of coded message—rheumatism? Youarea spy! Is she in on it, then? Your cousin? Of course, she must be. Who are you working for? The crown?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. The idea of me—acomtesse!—working. You’ve clearly taken one battlefield blow to the head too many. I’m simply being cautious with what I reveal in the event the letter falls into the hands of thebêtes de sang.Really, it’s common sense,” I sniffed. I busied myself by packing my small parcels again, and once more looking for any supplies we might be able to use on our journey. Antoine stared at me, his characteristic frown tugging at his features once more.
“I told you last night, I can’t abide deceit. Your actions may be putting us in further danger.”
My temper was reaching volcanic proportions.
“How careless of me to put the both of us into great danger. If onlyIhadn’t murdered a marquis in a palace, kidnapped an aristocrat, traipsed about the countryside with a bounty on my head, and run afoul of a murderous mercenary vampire death squad!” I snarled.
Antoine winced.
“But yes, you’re right. A silly letter to my worried family with precious little traceable information issurelywhat will send us to our doom. Never mind the fact that we’d probably be in even more danger if Daphnedidn’thear from me and sent a search party out after you. You think you have much to fear from thebêtes de sang? They’d be nothing compared to the wrath of my cousin if she knew you’d knocked me out and kidnapped me,” I finished. I was breathless with anger and frustration.
Antoine folded his arms across his chest and stared hard at me.
“Fine,” he conceded. “Keep your damn secrets.”
I snorted. “As if I’m the only one keeping secrets! Why is there a bounty on your head? Why did you murder Sade? Why are there mercenaries after you? Why did you kiss me?”
