Before I could finish, he had marched out of the room.
‘-r.’
‘Dear Lord.’ Shaking her head, Mrs Gibbons looked after him. ‘I pity the girl who that man sets his sights on.’
‘So do I,’ I sighed. ‘So do I.’
*~*~**~*~*
It was about an hour later when I knocked at the dark wooden door of the late Mr Gibbons’s office. There were footsteps, and a moment later, the door swung open, revealing the figure of Rikkard Ambrose looking just as indomitable and hard as ever, and not in the least as if he hadn’t eaten or rested for over eight hours.
‘It’s time,’ I told him.
‘Did Karim get horses for all of us?’
‘What do you think?’
If I were a stable owner and Karim showed up at my door demanding mounts, I would resort to begging my imaginary fairy godmother to turn rats into horses just to get him what he wanted.
‘So…we’re ready to go.’
‘Yes.’
I stood there, waiting. Waiting for Mr Ambrose to say: ‘Well, let’s go then! Knowledge is power is time is money, Mr Linton.’
But he didn’t.
Instead he took a step towards me and said, ‘I suppose there’s no way I can talk you out of this?’
I shook my head. ‘No.’
‘I didn’t think so.’
He moved so fast I didn’t have time to blink. In a flash, he had grabbed me by the arms and pulled me into the empty office. The door slammed shut behind us, and the next moment my back slammed up against it, and he was kissing me. Hard. Fast. Heedless of the consequences. And I was heedless, too. Headless. Mind completely blown. Everything around us vanished, and there was just him, fighting for control of my mouth, and me, fighting back with everything I had.
And then it was over.
Panting, I stared up at him, still pinned to the door. He stared back at me, sea-coloured eyes fierce and cold as ice. ‘Stay!’
My answer was just as determined. ‘No!’
He was on me again in an instant, his lips reclaiming mine - and mine reclaiming his! The kiss was like an explosion. Fire sizzled through my veins. I could almost feel the ground rocking beneath my feet, so hard did he-
No, wait.
That was the ground rocking beneath my feet. Crap!
‘Mmmh!’
I pushed against Mr Ambrose - to no effect whatsoever. There was a rumble, and the earth trembled once again.
‘Nnn! Mmmh!’
My fists thudded into his chest - and still not the slightest reaction. Apparently, an earthquake was not important enough for Mr Rikkard Ambrose to interrupt his kissing schedule. And some part of me had to agree. After all, we were in a pretty important meeting right now, conducting significant business…
No! Bad Lilly! Bad Lilly! Think ‘Feminist’! Think ‘Strong, independent woman’!
Crap, crap, crap. Oh well, if I had to…