Authors: Gloria Harchar
Hill
'
s mouth opened and closed several times.
"
You can
'
t do this! I
'
m the president of the Textile Guild.
"
"
I
'
ll have my steward write a letter of resignation for you.
"
A
slight incl
ination of his head was obviously a signal because
Gaspar shifted his grip to hold the two other men by the backs of thei
r coats in one beefy hand. He
grasped Hill
'
s arm in the other.
"
This is an outrage!
"
Hill tried to jerk away with no result.
"
I have connections.
"
Malcolm
handed the keys to
Nicola
, his right hand still sporting the pistol.
"
Will you do the honors, my dear?
"
"
Of course,
"
Nicola
replied, thrilled to be included.
Not only was
Malcolm
going to return the stolen goods, he was going to make certain justice was served. Her throat clogged with such fierce
emotion
that she could hardly breathe. Feeling as if she held the key to his heart, she fit the metal into the lock, twisting until she heard the bolt slide securely into place.
Malcolm
pocketed his weapon, clearly dismissing any threat from Hill.
"
Perhaps you will find a chance to write to your connections. But I don
'
t think they will want to correspond once they learn of your perfidy.
"
Gaspar pulled on Hill
'
s arm, but the man still resisted, throwing a desperate look at
Malcolm
.
"
Nobody will believe you. I
'
ve made certain of that.
"
"
You didn
'
t account for
Nicola
,
"
Malcolm
said gently.
"
Don
'
t you realize
ye
t that she
'
s far more formidable than me?"
At the sight of Hill
'
s wide-e
ye
d incredulity,
Nicola
stepped forward.
"
No, you didn
'
t take me into consideration at all. I discovered the
old ship
logs from your thievery
ye
ars ago, sirrah. And I have the elder Mr. Busby on my side. He
'
s the first of many.
"
She smiled at Gaspar.
"
Thank you for cleaning the streets tonight.
"
"
At your service,
"
the giant rumbled.
With wild
eyes
, Hill struggled against Gaspar
'
s grip.
"
You won
'
t get away with this, Falcon!
"
Dragging Hill away, Gaspar took the thieves to the docks.
Nicola
watched until they were out of sight. Even then, Thomas Hill could still be heard.
Overjoyed
, she swirled toward
Malcolm
.
"
Well done, my lord.
"
"
Let us retire from this rat-
infested street,
Nicola
,
"
he said
, his tone weary
.
"
What? Oh
ye
s, I
'
m ready now.
"
He took her by the arm in a manner quite similar to
Gaspar
'
s handling of Hill, and led her down the street. His carriage had been hidden around the comer.
"
Home, Lawrence,
"
he told the coachman before handing her up. Then he asked,
"
How
did you discover the warehouse?"
"
Glissando
led me to it.
"
Nicola
was still tingling from the night
'
s events and the heroism
Malcolm
had
displayed
.
"
I
'
m quite pleased that you came to your senses about Mr. Hill.
"
"
And if I hadn
'
t? Where would you be now?
"
"
I don
'
t even have to contemplate that. By the b
ye
, how d
id Allegro communicate with you?"
"
I am not falling into your delusions,
Nicola
. I know very well it was you who spilled
talcum powder on your dresser and wrote the address with your finger.
"
Undeterred, she smiled.
"
I knew Allegro could do it.
"
Content and more than happy with the results of the night, she peered at
Malcolm
through the shadows of the dark carriage. The illumination from a gaslight revealed
Malcolm
'
s glittering
eyes
. Her words of praise froze on her lips.
He looked furious.
"
Whatever possessed you to wander around
the docks at this time of night?"
he asked.
"
I started out trying to break into Mr. Hill
'
s offices, but
Glissando
told me he knew where the goods were hidden.
"
"
Cease this nonsense about
pixies
.
"
"
It
'
s not nonsense. It
'
s the truth.
"
"
I
'
m not going to talk to you about your hallucinations right now. I want to discuss your behavior. Do you understand you were in grave danger?
"
"
I knew
it. I also knew you would come to save me, that
Allegro would get you here,
"
she
replied—
although it wasn
'
t completely the truth.
"
What if I hadn
'
t seen your message?
"
"
Why dwell on what-ifs? Everything turned out marvelously.
"
She felt
Malcolm
'
s stare, so she asked,
"
Are you really angry with me?
"
He didn
'
t answer, instead began releasing the fastening to her
Malcolm
cottage mantle.
"
What are you doing?
"
"
Appraising your heat.
"
"
My what?
"
Not bothering to answer, he laid his hand against her chest. The fire of his touch above her breasts ignited her. She should feel vulnerable but she didn
'
t. The heat was so intense that she wasn
'
t certain the source was her or him. Or perhaps their combined energy generated the heat.
"
You are ripe.
"
"
What?
"
"
You have asked about the task of making babes, and the midwife said you would be ready when we reached London.
"
His
eyes
held promise.
"
Madam, I
'
m prepared to oblige.
"
Anger and fear drove
Malcolm
to possess
Nicola
. She had been in incredible danger. The need to examine every inch of her to ensure she was all right propelled him to become lost in her warmth.
"
You don
'
t have to do this,
"
she said.