Page 53 of Seducing the Knave

“Who in hell are you?”

Max met his bleary, angry stare with a twisted smirk. “That ain’t the question ye should be asking, mate.”

Jasper pulled himself up to flash an arrogant glare. “Get the hell out of my house.”

Max tsked. “Now that ain’t a question at all. What ye should really be wondering is why I’m here. But since ye seem a bit dense, I’ll just tell ye.” Lowering his chin, he pinned the elegant gent with a menacing stare. “I’ve come to inform ye that from this point forward ye’re to cease all intentions and actions toward yer ward.”

A flush infused Jasper’s puffy face as he sputtered some more. “I beg your pardon.”

“Ye’ll be doing that and more if ye ignore this one and only warning. Ye see, I’ve got me people watching ye day and night. If ye move forward on yer plans fer the young lady—if ye look fer her or talk about her to anyone—I promise...ye’ll regret it.”

“Are you mad?” Jasper asked, yet Max noted how he kept himself across the room. No doubt he sensed how badly Max wanted to split the man’s lip as he’d done to Elle. It was clear the toff wasn’t accustomed to facing an equally matched adversary. The woman had made it clear she didn’t want any revenge and Max intended to honor that. Even so, Max actually hoped the bloke would make a move. Something, anything to give him a reason to punch the arsehole in the face. “The girl is my ward,” Jasper continued. “I can do whatever the hell I damn well please with the annoying little chit.”

Reason enough.

In the blink of an eye, Max was across the room. His fist shot out with lightning precision, connecting sharply with Jasper’s jaw. As the other man reeled from the blow, Max slipped around behind him and twisted Jasper’s arm up high behind his back as he curled his arm around the man’s neck in a tight lock. Then he shoved him across the room.

As Jasper sputtered for breath and stumbled helplessly forward, Max spoke calmly. “Ye really are a dense one, ain’t ye. Ye speak another fucking word against her or make the slightest move to find her, I’ll know. And me actions will be swift and bloody painful. So ye know me words are true...”

Just as they reached the open window, Max gave a quick, sharp whistle through his teeth.

He felt Jasper tense as the shadows in the garden beyond shifted, transforming from innocuous shapes into the forms of half a dozen men. Another whistle and they faded back into the darkness. There but once again unseen.

“One fucking move...” he repeated in a rough growl, allowing the man to fill in the rest. “Face it, mate, she slipped through yer fingers and fell into mine.” His tone lowered threateningly. “And I keep what’s mine.”

Then he shoved Jasper aside and leapt out the window, disappearing as quickly as he’d appeared.

If the idiot toff knew what was good for him, he’d forget all about Lady Elvina Fowler.

If not...he’d be properly dealt with.

Max flexed his hand, enjoying the slight ache in his knuckles where they’d met the man’s jaw. For a moment, he wished he could’ve sent his point home a bit more forcefully. But he’d learned long ago that exerting any more effort than was necessary ended up being a waste of time and resources.

Leaving his men to their appointed tasks, he made his way back to the house alone. His exhaustion miraculously dissipated as his thoughts focused rather exclusively on the woman who’d taken up residence in his bedroom.

He hoped he wouldn’t be so late that she’d be asleep again.

He hated to admit it, but he was looking forward to bantering with her tonight, if for no other reason than to counter the tedium of the day. Though their interactions always seemed to be steeped in conflict, there was something else...layered beneath the challenge and defiance. It was more than curiosity and amusement. More than an overwhelming sexual tension. And even though Max didn’t quite have a name for it yet, he realized he was starting to crave it.

After a brief conversation with Langworth, he turned toward the private spiral staircase instead of the main stairs. It was an impulsive choice and he wasn’t exactly sure what he hoped to accomplish with the decision, but an acute sense of anticipation had invaded his blood and seemed to increase with every step up the winding stairs.

Reaching the closed door, he momentarily considered knocking before deciding against it. He’d made it very clear that this was his domain, despite her presence.

He entered quietly and closed the door behind him. She hadn’t bothered to light any candles after night had fallen yet his gaze found her instantly—as though drawn like steel to a magnet.

She stood at one of the windows, silently staring out over the city in a simple dress of some pale color he couldn’t quite make out in the semi-darkness. Her posture was relaxed—almost serene—and her hair was a glorious fall of golden curls that reached the full swell of her hips.

He had a sudden desire to replace the stench of the streets lingering in his nostrils with the heady scent of her skin—to feel her softness and warmth surrounding him. His hands ached to delve into those tresses, until they wound around his fingers and wrists like silken ribbons, binding him to her.

As soon as he had the thought, he clenched his teeth.

He would not be bound any more than he would bind another. He valued freedom too much and would never take from someone what he wasn’t fully willing to give himself.

He started toward her, expecting her to turn at any moment to the sound of his approach. But she remained as she was, lost in some silent reverie, utterly unaware of his presence.

Only someone who’d lived their life without a single threat to their well-being could be so oblivious to changes in their immediate surroundings. She’d have to learn quickly to be more alert and cautious.

Then he reminded himself that her stay in St. Giles was temporary and soon she’d be back in the gilded world from which she’d come.

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