Silence Is Golden (Storm and Silence 3)

‘Indeed.’

For some reason, a smile twitched at the corners of my mouth. ‘You do realise that if you hadn’t been so stubborn about keeping your clothing on, this wouldn’t be a problem? You could just reach down there and sweep away the-’

‘This is not the time to discuss my sartorial choices, Mr Linton. Take my trousers off!’

It was very hard to keep my lips from breaking into a full-fledged grin. Very hard indeed. ‘Sir! Are you trying to persuade me to get you naked? I’ll have you know that I am a decent girl, and not in the habit of pulling down the trousers of any gentleman who asks.’

‘Mr Linton!’

‘Though I might consider it, if he looks nice enough.’

‘Mr Linton! It’s at the knee already. Get a move on.’

I sighed. ‘All right, all right. Don’t get your knickers in a twist. I’ll be taking them off now anyway, so it’s not worth the bother.’

A seraphic smile on my face, I started forward. I didn’t hurry, particularly. I had been waiting a long time for this and was going to enjoy every moment.

‘Mr Linton!’

‘Coming, coming…’

Stopping a few feet away, I eyed the belt buckle of Mr Rikkard Ambrose. Oh dear. This looked as if it was going to take some work. Checking for spiders on the ground, I knelt down in front of him. From under my lashes, I looked up at him.

‘Oh dear.’ I smiled an innocent little smile. ‘What a compromising position.’

‘If you don’t get on with it,’ Mr Ambrose ground out from between clenched teeth, ‘I’m going to find a really compromising position to put you in!’

My smile widened. ‘Don’t tempt me.’

‘It’s on my thigh now!’

‘Lucky spider.’

‘Mr Linton…!’

‘All right, all right.’ Batting my lashes up at him one last time, I reached for his buckle. The thing was just as stubborn as its owner, and felt as if it was rusted shut, although it gleamed like freshly polished silver. Still, I was nothing if not determined. With a clink, the buckle opened, and a moment later, Mr Rikkard Ambrose’s legwear slid to the ground with a soft rustle.

Aah…

Closing my eyes, I took a second to appreciate this unique moment. He was there, right in front of me. And he couldn’t move.

Then I opened them again to see what he had to offer.

My mouth went dry.

‘Mr Linton?’

‘Wrgsfgl?’

‘Mr Linton! The spider!’

‘S-spider? What spider?’

‘The spider!’

‘Oh, that spider.’ I blinked, trying to shake of the daze. It was hard. Very hard. After all, I was only human. ‘Well…let’s see, where is it…?’

My eyes swept over his thighs, taking in the sleek, smooth skin, the hard muscles, and, oh, of course also looking for spiders. But…there weren’t any.