In the Eye of the Storm (Storm and Silence 2)

‘Oh.’ He looked disappointed. ‘Well, then… farewell, Miss Linton.’

‘Au revoir, Captain.’ Reaching out, I took his hand, and gave it a gentle squeeze. ‘I look forward to seeing you again in London, and dancing our next galop.’

That brought a smile to his face. He bowed snappily and kissed my hand in farewell. I waited until he was out of sight, outside the hotel - then I let my held breath escape. Thank God! Major catastrophe averted! Secret identity saved! Not bad for one night.

A tickling sensation drew my attention then. Raising my hand, I watched it for a moment, as if it might bite. The spot he had kissed was still sort of tingly. Odd. That had never happened when some of my suitors smooched my hand. The only thing that made me feel was an intense desire for a towel, soap, and a bucket of water. Hm.

Taking a deep gulp of air, I turned and started forward, towards the reception desk. In a matter of minutes I acquired a set of keys from the night porter, and made my way up the stairs towards our suite of rooms. I was bone-tired. From the bottom of my heart I prayed that the bed up there was soft and had a nice, down-filled cushion.

Reaching the top of the stairs, I unlocked the door to my room, and was just about going to go in search of my nice, comfy bed when I noticed the figure standing in the middle of the room. A tall and leanly muscular figure in a black tailcoat, staring at me with freezing intensity.

‘Well, my love?’ Mr Ambrose’s voice was so icy it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. ‘Do you want to explain where you’ve been?’

Suspicions

‘Well?’ Mr Ambrose’s gaze drilled into me like a diamond drill into hot butter. ‘Where were you?’

‘I… um… I…’

Seriously - that was all I was capable of saying. I… um… I… - so pathetic! What business was it of his where I had gone, anyway?

‘Do you have any idea,’ his menacing voice drifted to my quivering auricula auris[18], ‘what I thought when I left Dark Nights of Delight to find you had disappeared?’

‘Um… “Thank you, God, thank you so much!”?’ I suggested.

He didn’t seem to appreciate my fine humour.

‘You,’ he told me, taking a step towards me, gliding through the shadows, ‘don’t just leave without my authorization. Without my permission, you don’t even move a toe, do you understand?’

I opened my mouth to fire back a reply - but then I realized there was only one fitting reply to this, and it didn’t even need words. Bending, I unlaced my shoe, kicked it off and stretched out my foot. Slowly and demonstratively, I wiggled my toes. All five of them. I grinned up at Mr Ambrose. Oh, how good it felt to stretch one’s feet after such a long walk!

‘You…!’ In two long strides, Rikkard Ambrose had crossed the distance between us. Grabbing my shoulders, he pushed me backwards, away from my forlorn-looking shoe. I felt like Cinderella in reverse.

‘Hey! Let go of me!’

‘Not until I have proof that I’ve managed to instil some semblance of sense into that foolish female head of yours! Do you have any idea what could have happened to you out there in the dark alleys of Alexandria?’

‘I’m a Londoner! We have street gangs that are ten times worse than anything they’ve got here,’ I proclaimed with an unusual burst of patriotism.

‘And how much of your time in London has been spent in the darker corners of the East End?’

‘Um…’

About five minutes. And you were with me, then.

‘Exactly!’ His eyes glinted in the darkness. ‘Any city in the world has its dark places! And they’re all deadly to a defenceless girl like you!’

‘Defenceless girl?’ In an instant, my temper shot up to the boiling point.

Ha! I’ll show him how defenceless I am!

My knee surged forward and upward, right towards his crotch. But before it could hit its mark, his legs snapped closed, trapping me in between. I wriggled and writhed, but no matter how much I strained against him, I couldn’t get free. My leg struggled inefficiently against the vice of his iron-hard muscles.

‘Let go!’

‘Yes,’ he told me, tightening his hold. ‘A defenceless girl.’

‘Let go, I said!’