Page 72 of To Love A Spy
Anger?
“Of all the bloody,bloody,reckless stunts . . .”
Lynsley wasn’t angry. He was absolutely furious.
“For the love of God, how dare you risk your neck and the mission like that?”
Her mouth dropped open, but she was too breathless to answer.
Just as well.Words might have goaded him to violence. As it was, his fury so palpable, she could feel it quivering in the air. Great waves, like stormtossed seas, buffeted her flushed face. In the next instant, it crested a rumbled oath. He grabbed her and shook her like a terrier toying with a rat.
“Bloody hell, what made you do such a damn foolish thing!”
“You!” cried Valencia without thinking. “In case you hadn’t noticed, I was saving your damn neck, you ungrateful odious man.” She tried to break free but to no avail. His grip was like an iron band around her wrists.
As she struggled, her hip hit up against the limestone wall. She sucked in her breath at the sharp pain. Tears prickled her eyes, blurring her vision.
“Let. Me. Go.”
But rather than accede to her demand, the marquess flattened against her, pinning her to the wall. Trapped betweenthe mortared stones and his unyielding body, she reacted on pure instinct, lashing out with her knees, her elbows.
Lynsley gave a grunt, and then suddenly his mouth was covering hers in a bruising kiss.
Her lips parted to protest, but as his tongue slipped inside her, all coherent thought dissolved in a low, wordless sigh. Valencia felt her muscles melt. His heat was overpowering, a sweaty, savage masculinity that left her shaken to her very core.
“Don’teverdo that again,” he growled, his whiskered jaw abrading the sensitive skin of her neck. His hands speared through her tangled hair as he brushed his lips to her earlobe. His teeth nipped her flesh, sending a surge of conflicting sensations through her limbs.
She slumped a touch lower. Their eyes met, and through the haze of her own shock she saw that he, too, looked surprised as hell.
The sound of hobnailed boots shattered the silence. A patrol of soldiers was approaching.
“This way.” Lynsley was the first to recover.
She followed along blindly, stumbling, speechless and near limp with shock.
When at last they emerged near a busy café, Lynsley waved down a passing hackney cab and shoved her inside. After calling a curt order to the driver, he followed suit and slumped back against the squabs.
Lynsley didn’t trust himself to speak.Didn’t trust himself to think.Sliding to the far side of the seat, he turned to stare out the window. But in the fogged glass, he caught only a self-mocking glimpse of his own brooding reflection.
It was the last thing on earth he wished to see. The guilt was great enough without seeing it writ plain on his face.
Bloody hell.Perhaps the sad truth was that he wasn’t fit for active duty anymore. He had lost his head in the heat of the moment. Allowed fear to overwhelm reason. Seeing a blade flash so close to her flesh struck terror in his heart.
Even now, his body was still shaking.
Clenching his teeth in disgust, he quelled the urge to bury his head and in hands. Likely it was unrequited lust sending the spasms through his limbs. That momentary kiss had only ignited a far baser urge. Had the soldiers not saved him from perdition, he might have well have shucked off her breeches and taken her right up against the wall.
Damn him for a devil.Damn him for a fool.
As the hackney clattered through the maze of streets, Lynsley felt utterly lost. He was perilously close to losing command of the moment. Of the mission. Somehow he must master his mutinous mind and body.
Make them obey orders.
Duty, duty, duty . . .The drumming of the wheels against the cobblestones finally skidded to a stop in front of their mansion. Thank god he given the servants instructions not to wait up. Surely his self-loathing was etched in every line of his face.
His key clicked open the lock, and he motioned Valencia to hurry inside. Her steps slowed and he heard her turn in the unlit foyer.
But before she could speak, Lynsley slid the door bolts home and stalked for the stairs, taking them two at a time.
