Silence Breaking (Storm and Silence 4)

Chuckling, he moved down from my ear, over my neck, caressing my skin with his lips all the way. ‘You’d be surprised. Once I have her in my clutches, I would press her up against the nearest wall so she can’t escape-’

In flash, his arms shoved my wrists together over my head until he could keep me pinned with one single hand. His free hand began to travel down my side, eliciting a dangerous shiver.

‘-then, I would drive her wild.’

‘Y-you would?’

‘Oh yes.’ His mouth had reached my collarbone now and followed the curve until it reached that most sensitive little spot right at the centre. ‘If I ever want a woman to be truly mine, I will stoke the fire inside her until she thinks about nothing but me and her, and she will submit. There will be no going back. All that she has, all that she is, all that she dreams will be mine, forever and ever.’

‘Oh…’

‘So you see,’ he said, stepping abruptly away and letting go, nearly causing me to topple over, ‘it’s absolutely ridiculous to think that I would be interested in Lady Caroline. Shall we go?’

I stood there, panting and gaping at him. ‘G-go?’

‘Yes, go. To join the others. Or do you wish to waste more time leaning idly against that wall? If so, be advised that that time shall be deducted from your pay cheque. Knowledge is power is time is money, Mr Linton.’

And without another word, he turned and marched out of the room.

*~*~**~*~*

Suffice it to say that Mr Rikkard Ambrose’s version of reassurance was not particularly reassuring. I mean, think about it. The man of your dreams kisses you to convince you he cares - then suddenly stops, glances at his watch, and says it’s time to stop wasting time and join the lady you’re jealous of. That just makes you feel great, right?

Clearly, this battle wasn’t over. It might be for Mr Ambrose - but I would be damned if I let that ice queen sink her cold claws into him! He was mine! And anyone who disagreed had better watch their back.

I entered the small green parlour hot on the heels of my employer. Immediately, my eyes zeroed in on him standing in a small group with Lady Caroline and his mother. Ordinarily, that would have reassured me - there was no better buffer against romantic atmosphere than the presence of a mother. But in this case, the eager glow in Lady Samantha’s eyes made me suspect she wasn’t so much a buffer as a screw compressor clamp.

I was just about to start towards them when, from beside me, I heard a familiar voice.

‘Mr Linton! There you are. How fortunate. I’ve been wanting to have a word with you.’

Dread roiling in my stomach, I turned and came face to face with a smiling Captain James Carter.

‘Um…right now isn’t really the right time…’ My eyes strayed towards Mr Ambrose again. Had he just smiled? At one of her comments? No, surely that was a trick of the light!

‘Please. It is important.’

‘I’m sorry, but I’ll have to-’

‘It’s about your sister.’

That stopped me in the middle of my sentence. My eyes snapped back to the captain.

‘My what?’

‘Your sister? Miss Lillian Linton?’

‘Oh. Haha. Of course. My sister. Yes.’ The dread in my stomach had a growth spurt and prepared to develop into full-blown, adult panic. ‘What about her?’

The captain glanced around. ‘This is not the best spot for this discussion. I wonder if we could go somewhere more private?’

Any hope I’d still had that he wanted to ask me about a suitable Christmas present for my female alter ego disappeared into thin air.

‘Of course,’ I groaned. ‘Lead the way.’

Beaming, he opened a door to a small side room and stepped inside. I followed, wondering how the bloody stinking hell I was going to get out of this!

Altar Ego