His hands already roaming beneath her shirt in search of her breasts, he exhaled and nodded before she could change her mind. “That suits me perfectly well, sweetheart.”
But before he could tug her clothing away and lift her onto the bed, there came a low but insistent knocking on the door outside.
“For crying out loud, who can it possibly be now?!” His frayed temper giving way entirely, Seth strode towards the door and spat a series of vicious curses that would surely send whoever stood the other side fleeing for cover.
Esther had followed behind him, and despite the myriad of threats he issued the knocking continued. Her face drained of all colour, she leaned in closer then, to Seth’s unease, visibly recoiled when the intruder whispered a solitary word through the wood.
“
Fever
.”
Esther froze as she stared at the door, unable – and unwilling – to believe what she had just heard. They could not be here. No one shadowed her to Fleetwood’s house last night, and even if they had, they would have come to her rescue long before now after seeing Seth forcibly escort her here. No. It was impossible.
Yet even as she wildly tried to convince herself that was true, again they spoke, issuing the codeword that told her the unwanted truth. One of the society was here, and that meant danger. There was no time to waste.
Her face pale, she tugged on Seth’s sleeve and forced him to look down at her. “Open the door, Seth.”
His dark eyes narrowed. “Open the -”
“The door! Seth,
please
!”
Her lower lip trembled as she silently willed him to trust her, and to her desperate relief he sighed deeply and guided her to stand behind him with his left hand as his blade silently slipped free from its sheath in his right wrist. “Very well,” he said under his breath. “I do so on the condition, though, that you will allow me to defend you should it prove necessary.”
“Certainly, if you give me your word you will wait until I tell you I need your defence.”
Seth gritted his teeth, reminding her inexorably of the dangerous assassin she first met what seemed like a lifetime ago. Despite the gravity of the situation they were undoubtedly in, Esther yearned to surrender herself into his arms and return to the bed where they could shut out the rest of the world, but as he reluctantly jerked his head their visitor knocked again, the urgency of it impossible to mistake.
“Ready yourself,” he muttered, his lips barely moving as his hand went to the key and slowly turned it in the lock. “God only knows what we will find when I open the door.”
That was not quite true. When the door slowly swung inwards, Esther nodded in recognition at the sight of the young woman now stood before them. Martha Swanson raised one brow at the sight of their creased, scant clothing and flushed skin, but it was to the society’s credit that she did not even pass comment on it or let her gaze rest on the grim-faced Seth for more than a heartbeat before she looked past him to Esther and neatly saluted her. “I am relieved to see you, Esther. I fear we have not much time.”
Esther’s pulse quickened when she moved forward to stand at Seth’s side and his hand instantly came to rest against her waist. “How did you know I was here? This was not a planned diversion, I must confess.”
She heard Seth snort softly at her side as Martha replied. “I did not come in search of you, as it happens, but I saw you in the bedroom window some ten minutes ago.”
“I did not see you in the square -”
“Of course not.”
“No.” Esther exhaled. “No, of course not. What news, Martha?”
“You know Kensington has just departed this building, I presume.”
“Yes -”
She was interrupted again. This time, however, it was by Seth. “Enough!” he said curtly, twisting to fix her with his stare once more. She shivered in delight, and it took all of her will not to simply submit to all the fire in his eyes threatened. Now there was far more at stake. “Esther, what the hell is going on? One way or another, woman, I will finally have from you the truth you have been hiding ever since you came to me last night.”
Esther did not doubt that he meant his words and would do whatever was necessary to fulfil them; and what was more, she no longer wanted to lie to him. It was time for the truth. “Seth,” she said quietly, forgetting entirely that Martha was with them the moment their eyes locked. “Seth, you know my reason for going to Fleetwood as I did, and you know too that Kensington was – is – involved. However, what you do not know is why I was risking everything to try and discover Fleetwood’s secret.”
His eyes narrowed, but slowly he nodded and sought out her hand with his. “And will you tell me now why that was?”
“Yes.” She paid no heed to Martha’s sharp intake of breath at their side. “Seth, you were employed by those who wanted Fleetwood’s secret to remain hidden. I...I threw my lot in with a group who took the opposite stance. Two years ago I was approached at a physics lecture by a gentleman who turned out to be the leader of the society Martha and I are now members of. Its aim is to finally find the truth behind the Scarlet Plague and the infestation of the undead, and straight away I knew I wanted to help. It has been a dangerous path to travel, and we have lost many members along the way; so much so that I am now one of the society’s most senior members.”
Breaking off to catch her breath again, Esther warily searched Seth’s face, terrified of his reaction to the confession that must surely have come out of the blue to him. To her relief, though, she saw nothing there but intrigue and a definite spark of admiration beneath the hunger for her he wore in his darkened eyes still, despite all they had shared since dawn broke what seemed like a lifetime ago. “I knew from the very first you were an enigma,” he said, his fingers still entwined through hers as he took another step closer. “This, though, is so much more than I could have imagined. At least I see now why it is you captivate me the way you do, sweetheart. Is it any wonder I cannot bear to let you go?”
They exchanged a swift smile until Martha’s delicate cough recalled to Esther the urgency of the situation. A crimson flush spread across her face, and Seth laughed quietly as he nodded in acknowledgement of the way her eyes flickered across to the other woman.
“I know, Esther. Time has never been our friend. But there is still something else I must know, and I suspect now that the answer is the very heart to all that binds us together – Kensington. How is the duke involved?”
“That is what we have been trying to discover. Whilst I and other members of the society have been working to infiltrate the government and find the truth behind the vaccine that started it all, it became clear to us that Kensington was at the centre of it. We have had people trailing him whenever he leaves London.”
“And today that was me,” Martha interjected. “I followed him here to Oxford, intrigued as to what brought him here when ordinarily he strives to avoid any city the plague has reached. I thought at first he was going to Samuel Fleetwood’s townhouse where I knew you had an appointment, Esther, but he did not do so. Instead he held a conference inside his carriage then came directly here.”
“To settle a bill,” Seth said curtly.
Esther stayed silent. For now, the nature of the bill did not matter to Martha, not when she sensed the other woman still had more to say – and Martha did indeed carry on speaking.
“He may have settled your bill, sir, but he is far from done with you. Esther, your -”
“My
friend
.”
Martha’s lips twitched. “Your
friend
is in danger. I saw the duke marking the door for the men waiting for him outside; they do not intend for him to leave here alive.”
Seth whitened, his hold on her tightening further as she looked up at him in consternation. “Seth -” she began, but he silenced her by swooping in for a fierce, impassioned kiss before he straightened up again and turned to Martha, once more displaying the cool facade Esther saw in that fateful moment they first met.
“I presume he wants to ensure my silence,” he said. “You are certain I am a marked man?”
“Very much so.”
“Then there is no time to waste. I suggest you go first, my lady, as you are in no danger if you are not with me. Once you are clear of the vicinity, I shall descend and deal with whatever threat awaits. Only when I have done so, Esther, will I permit you to leave the safety of these rooms and -”
He looked down and abruptly fell silent. Esther was furiously shaking her head, and it seemed the thunder on her face was enough to stop him in his tracks without her having to speak the words she could not find. It did not matter that danger waited for them the moment Seth set foot outside. Whatever trap the duke had set for him, he would not face it alone. Without speaking, she retrieved her cloak and took out a gleaming, well-oiled pistol from a hidden pocket in the lining.
Seth swallowed hard, frustration and lust mingling with the spark of awe in his dark eyes. “You are impossible, sweetheart!” he said, his low words for her alone. “Am I to take it you intend you shoot your way out of this at my side?”
She tossed her tousled hair out of her face, her heart racing in anticipation of the battle so surely ahead of them. It was one she would not let him fight alone. “Yes. You favour your knife, but I prefer not to let my enemies get that close.”
“On the contrary, Esther, you let them get far too close to you!”
He scowled, and in that moment she realised how powerful the bond between them already was. Struck dumb by the force of that revelation, she caught hold of his shirt and stared wordlessly up at him until he swallowed hard, his face softening as he seemed to read everything that went unsaid in the depths of her eyes.
“I cannot stop you from fighting at my side for this unexpected battle, and nor do I even want to,” he said. “But Esther, sweetheart, what then?”
The world seemed to slow around the two of them. Her tongue darted out across her lips, and it took all her nerve to meet his steadfast stare. “What then?”
“When the battle is through.” Seth drew a deep breath, then slowly nodded as he spoke again. “Esther, whilst we were alone in these rooms we could pretend the world outside could not touch us, but we can no longer do so. It is time to decide. Do we leave here and go our separate ways, or...”
He did not finish his sentence, but he did not need to. She knew what he wanted to say; and what was more, she knew what she wanted to say in return. “Or you could come with us,” she said impulsively. “Seth, you must have made more than enough to see you through comfortably now – you cannot need the money! We cannot pay you the fees you are no doubt accustomed to, but I can offer you something I think you want far more than money.”
Esther held her breath. This was a crazy, reckless gamble, but she had never been surer of anything than she was of this.
A flicker of desperate, forceful desire shot through his eyes as he seized hold of her free hand. “And what do you imagine I want, sweetheart?”
“What you’ve wanted from the first moment we caught sight of each other. You want me, Seth, and if you come with us you can have me. I won’t pretend it will be easy, for the life I lead is just as dangerous as yours, if not more so – but I have the strangest feeling you’ll enjoy it just as much as I do. Stay with me, Seth, and fight at
my
side.”
He did not answer with words. Instead he lifted his hands to her face, taking hold of her head and lowering his until their lips met, clearly caring nothing for the audience she had forgotten about until now. Even though she remembered now that Martha was watching them, Esther did not care either. All that mattered was Seth. Danger awaited them, perhaps more potent than anything she had faced before now their fates were so inextricably entwined, but so long as he was at her side she would face it all, and together they would win. Her throat constricted by a tight lump of emotion, she poured all her feelings into the impassioned kiss they shared, and when they broke apart his darkened eyes instantly turned towards his bed through the open door of the bedroom.
Esther knew exactly what he wanted, for she too craved it above all else. For now, though, they would have to wait, for Kensington’s trap awaited them. Tightening her hold on her pistol, she steadied herself and turned away to lean back against Seth’s chest and look at Martha’s, determinedly pretending not to notice the knowing smile on the other woman’s face.
“Have we a plan?” Martha said.
“I think so, yes. You are in no danger, Martha, so you should go first and find yourself a place of safety; when enough time has passed, Seth and I will descend and together dispatch whatever threat we find facing us.”
Seth nodded his grim assent, his arm snaking around her waist to hold her against him. “And what then? I think this would be a poor place for us to linger. Far safer that we find some place with no connection to the duke.”
“I agree, and fortunately my society has a number of safe houses around the country that we can retreat to. The nearest to here is in Banbury. Martha, do we have transport?”
“Yes, Esther. Given ten minutes I can have a carriage waiting for you on South Street, less than half a mile from here.”
“Perfect.” Her pulse quickening, she pulled her head back to look up at Seth again. “You’ll come?”
He flashed her a smile that made her heart skip a beat. “Esther, now I know at least some of the truth of what you are, I am even more determined to keep you in my arms. All the forces Kensington has to call upon could not tear me away from you.”
Esther shivered in delight, the yearning to show him just what that meant to her almost too much to repress. It was all she could do to pull away from him instead and guide Martha down the stairs before retreating back into the rooms where she and Seth had shared so much and were now alone once more.
“Five minutes, then,” Seth said, his low voice as magnetic and compelling as it had ever been. No matter what awaited them, all she knew now was him. “Not time enough for all I want to do to you, Esther, but perhaps time enough for me to demonstrate to you the fervour with which I want you. Sweetheart, more than ever now I cannot bear the thought of ever letting you go!”