A Scandal Most Daring

Once they had turned the corner, he risked a quick glance behind them and heaved a sigh of relief when he saw the road was completely clear.

“Quick,” he ordered as he bundled her into the coaching yard. He snatched her cloak off her as she passed him, bundled it up, and shoved it behind the huge gate out of sight. “Inside.”

Within seconds, Tahlia found herself standing inside the tavern dressed as an ordinary person.

“What now?” she asked nervously as Connor guided her through the patrons gathered around the main tap room.

“Now we wait until they pass. Then, we are going to leave and follow them for a change.” At the back of the room he stopped her and stared deeply into her eyes. “Do you love me?” he asked huskily.

“Pardon?” Tahlia’s stomach clenched with nerves. She didn’t quite know what to say and felt incredibly vulnerable yet desperately reckless at the same time.

“Tahlia, I love you. I always have and always will,” he whispered. “Nothing can part us now, but what we are about to do will require your ultimate trust. If you don’t think you trust me that much then we need to stop this here and now. Two men have been following us and they are armed. Are you with me?”

Tahlia studied him. Everything rested on this moment. It wasn’t quite the location she would have hoped it would be but then nothing with Connor had ever been usual in any way. She was getting used to it. It hinted that life with him would never really be mundane or boring with Connor around.

“I love you,” she whispered.

“I love you back,” he replied.

Resting his forehead against hers, he grinned when a group of men beside them began to beat their mugs on the table and whistle. Happy to oblige, Connor swung her around, bent her backwards over his arm, and landed a kiss on her that left nobody in any doubt that she was his.

Tahlia was red-faced and fanning herself by the time he allowed her to stand upright again.

“Cheeky,” she protested laughingly.

Connor merely laughed, and was still grinning when, to the crowds delight, she captured his head in her hands and kissed him straight back. To the catcalls, whistles and cheers of the patrons, she then sailed out of the tavern with all the regal elegance of a princess, and left a bemused Connor to follow in her wake.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Delighted by what had just happened, and secure in the knowledge of Connor’s love for her, Tahlia tumbled out onto the street.

Her smile sparked with such joyful radiance that she stole his breath. Connor’s grin widened as he walked up to her and possessively threw an arm around her waist. Yanking her forward, he swallowed her smile in a very thorough kiss that was as loving as it was daring.

“We are out on the street,” she chastised him weakly.

“I love you,” he murmured.

It was a new phrase for him. He hadn’t realised until then that he had actually never uttered the words to another living soul in all of his life before. Tahlia was the very first, and would be the only person he would say it to. He had no fear of rejection. He was revelling in the knowledge that she loved him as much as he loved her. It was there, shining in her eyes.

“I love you too,” she replied.

“Come on, let’s go,” he urged when he felt compelled to return to the tavern, rent a room, and spend the rest of the afternoon with her.

Arm in arm they continued to stare lovingly into each other’s eyes as they wandered casually down the street. Anybody who looked at them saw nothing but a young couple in love. To Sayers’ gang, they were nobody of note, and were ignored by the men who doubled back, and began a second sweep of the street in which they had lost their targets.

C

onnor was oblivious. For the first time in his adult life he forgot the dangers surrounding him, and focused on nothing but the woman who owned his heart. Even so, it was entrenched in the back of his mind that he had to get her to a barge so they could leave London. As a protector, he wanted her safe. As a man, he wanted to get her to the carriage that would take them out of Epping Forest and onto their long, winding journey home.

As far as Connor was concerned, Rutland was now his home too. Wherever Tahlia and Joseph were he would call home. If he had to spend several days in a carriage, alone, with Tahlia for company, and nothing much else to do, then he wasn’t going to waste a second to secure their future together.

She didn’t know it yet but, by the time they arrived in Rutland, she would be his fiancée, the wedding date would be arranged, and their future set.

With a renewed sense of purpose, Connor escorted his beloved down one street and into another on a winding journey toward the Thames. It was only when they crossed the street, and he happened to glance behind them, that he realised that they had found the cloaks abandoned behind the tavern gate.

“We need to hurry,” Connor said briskly.

All trace of softness vanished from his demeanour so swiftly that Tahlia was a little stunned by it. She glanced at him warily and was about to turn back when Connor spoke.