It Takes a Thief by Anne Stuart

Author:Anne Stuart [Stuart, Anne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Impeccably Demure Press

Chapter Nineteen

“Nick’s looking for you.”

Molly jerked, startled. “Don’t sneak up on me!”

“I didn’t,” Campion said in his lazy, aristocratic voice. “Your thoughts were a thousand miles away. It grieves me to realize I’m of so little import that you don’t even realize I’m around you, but since I intend to do something about that, I won’t fret. Nick’s looking for you, has been for hours, and he’s in a rare temper.”

“Why?” She shouldn’t continue this conversation—there was no one around them in the usually crowded rooms of the ken, and she’d been determined to keep from being alone with him. He was too practiced, too seductive, and her heart was starved for his attentions, his smile, his deceptively sweet charm. Because there was no real sweetness in Campion’s soul—he lusted after her, as so many men had, and still did, but he alone had the capability of breaking her heart.

“I believe he’s fussing about that blasted female.”

“Which one?”

“Don’t be ingenuous. The one who keeps sneaking in here.”

“He took her home, last I heard.”

Campion cocked his head, surveying her. “She took off.”

“Of course she did. What did he expect? When did this happen?”

“Sounds like she was gone before he’d even left her brother’s house. How have you missed out on the gossip? Where have you been the last few days?”

“I’ve been here,” she said irritably. “I’ve just been avoiding you.” Damn, she shouldn’t have said that, because instead of looking abashed, his bright blue eyes brightened.

“You give me hope,” he said. “You wouldn’t avoid me if you didn’t care, at least a little bit.”

“You’re annoying,” she snapped.

“You wound me.”

“It doesn’t seem to slow you down.”

He smiled then, a slow, seductive smile that made her toes curl. She kept her own face like stone despite the feelings roiling inside her. He alone had the ability to set fire to her usual equanimity, with a glance, a word, a touch, and she hated him for it. Or maybe she hated herself, it was unclear.

She took a breath. “And exactly where is Nick?”

“In the throne room,” he said, using his cynical term for the main gathering area of the ken. “If you want, I can always tell him you’re busy.”

“I want you to leave me alone!”

Campion merely smiled, and she wanted to hit him. It was a goad, pure and simple. “No, you don’t,” he said in that impossibly gentle tone of voice, the one that made her melt inwardly. “But I won’t tease you. Go see Nick. Unless you’d rather come away with me.”

God, she wanted to hit him. She wanted to kiss his beautiful mouth, to bash in his beautiful head. She contented herself with a magnificent scowl. “Go away.” And she strode out of the small room before she could give in to either temptation.

Campion was right, Nick was in what he called the main room, lounging on his so-called throne, and his expression wasn’t promising. “Where have you been?” he demanded.

“Here and there,” she said airily. “Where’s your little lass?”

“She’s not mine,” he grumbled.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.