A Spinster's Awakening (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 2)

“What about Mrs Vernon? Is she all right?” Charity asked.

“I will bet she was cross at being disturbed at this time of night,” Edwina snorted.

“That is what is odd. There is nobody there at all. The fire is going, the candles are lit but nobody is at home,” Augusta reported.

“It is just as though she has gotten up, walked out of the house, and vanished.” Monika waved a hand in the air. “There is nobody in the garden either, and nobody out on the street. God knows where she has gone, but she isn’t at home.”

“I wonder if we heard her front door slamming,” Augusta murmured, more to herself than the rest of the group.

“But it is past one o’clock in the morning. Where could she have gone at this time of the night?” Charity asked.

“I don’t know but we will check again in the morning,” Oliver murmured, his brows heavy with a deep, dark frown. “How is Angus?”

“I think the others are getting him settled into bed. I am just going to get him something to drink and will be up in a moment,” Charity replied.

Oliver nodded and promptly disappeared upstairs.

“Right, well, we had better be going ourselves,” Monika cried. She was cold, tired, and so worried about everything that she suspected she wouldn’t be able to sleep despite her exhaustion, but she had to try. Right now, she wanted to go home, mostly because she was truly starting to feel like a third wheel in the presence of Angus and Charity. If the looks on the ladies’ faces were anything to go by, she wasn’t the only person who felt that way.

Jasper stepped forward. “You ladies have to be escorted home.” His tone didn’t encourage argument.

He was just repocketing his gun when Oliver and Justin appeared in the doorway.

“We will leave Aaron here on watch. Get some sleep everyone. We will reconvene here in the morning. I think you ladies need to be back here to listen to what we have to say, so we will meet again here at eleven o’clock. However, given the odd things going on around here, do not venture out alone not even in daylight. We will come and fetch you between ten forty-five and eleven. Wait for us, we will come for you,” Oliver ordered.

“What is this all about?” Monika asked curiously. “We haven’t done anything wrong.”

“We need to make sure you ladies are protected. If Mrs Vernon’s disappearance isn’t normal, then there is far more of a problem in this village than we all first realised. Until we can establish who is responsible, nobody is to go anywhere or do anything without checking with us first,” Oliver commanded.

A somewhat awkward silence settled over everyone as they filed out of the house. Charity watched the front door close behind the ladies and turned around in time to watch Aaron slam the bolt closed on the back door. Quietly, Charity gathered up some wine for Angus, and hurried back upstairs to him.

Her knock on the door was barely audible, but Angus heard it. He was still sitting up in bed, trying to decide if he dare lie down, when Charity appeared in the doorway.

“Thank God you are here,” he growled. “What’s going on?”

Charity briefly explained. “I have no idea where she might go at this time of night. The only thing I can think is that one of her friends has taken ill and she has gone to sit with them or something. There is simply no other reason for her to leave like that.”

“Don’t worry about it right now,” Angus whispered. “Come and sit with me.”

His soft command was accompanied by a gentle plea in his eye Charity found impossible to refuse. She looked about the room but realised there was no place she could sit except on the side of the bed. Cautiously, she edged closer. It felt scandalous to perch so closely against him but with the bed so narrow, and there being no place else she could go, she had to press her hip against his thigh.

Angus leaned back against the fluffy pillow and heaved a sigh of contentment. It wasn’t absolute. Far from it. He eyed Charity’s awkward position. With a sigh, he used the last of his waning strength to haul her bodily across the bed until she was almost draped over his chest.

“Lie with me,” he ordered softly.

Charity’s eyes widened. She eyed Angus’s bare chest warily and knew from the sight of his breeches on the floor that he had nothing on beneath the crisp white sheets. To even think of being this scandalously close to a naked man was enough to make her writhe with acute embarrassment. Unfortunately, this made her nudge against him.

When he winced, she froze.

“I am sorry,” she gasped.

“I know this is going to raise eyebrows, but my friends won’t bother us. Just lie down, cover yourself over with a blanket.” Slowly, Angus rearranged them both until they were lying side-by-side. With him beneath the sheets, Charity, still fully dressed, lay atop the covers, draped in a thick heavy blanket. Her cheek rested against the hollow of Angus’s shoulder with such naturalness that she sighed in contentment.

“Go to sleep,” Angus pleaded huskily.

Now that Charity was safe in his arms, Angus knew he could finally sleep. With his colleagues on watch, and the ladies back at home where they belonged, life couldn’t be more perfect, and he intended to savour every moment.

Once Charity had started to relax against him, Angus lifted onto one elbow and blew out the candle. They were immediately engulfed in a gentle amber glow from the fireplace which cast them in a serene haze which only enhanced the seductive atmosphere. It wound around their lambent forms and encompassed them both in a healing serenity that drew them closer together than ever before.