A stately lady stood before the fire. Her curly golden hair hung in immaculate tresses to her shoulders and tumbled over her ivory bust. Her lace bodice set off her perfect skin, and her ornate gown brushed the floor. It rustled when she glided forward to offer Bishop her hand. “Knox dear! How I’ve missed you.”
Bishop kissed her hand, and a strange haunted look came into his eyes. “It’s good to see you again, Angela. Your company always gives me a restful feeling I can’t find anywhere else.”
Raleigh couldn’t resist the opportunity to needle Bishop. “Knox dear?”
Angela waved her hand aside, but a rosy blush flashed over her cheeks. She resembled a beautiful porcelain figurine, preserved for all time in her most perfect state. “Leave all that flattery at the door, my dear, and introduce me to your charming companion.”
She turned her sparkling blue eyes on Raleigh, and Raleigh shrank into herself before that gaze. It reduced her to a crude, brutish outsider in this world of beauty, manners, and propriety.
She understood now why Bishop wanted her to wear that dress, but it would only have made Raleigh feel even more out of place. She might not be as beautiful and elegant as Angela, but at least she was herself. No one could ever take that away from her. She belonged in her own context.
“This is Raleigh Douglas,” Bishop was saying. “She’s my new apprentice.”
Angela’s face fell. “Oh. It’s such a waste of a beautiful woman, working as your apprentice. There must be some way we can preserve her a little longer.”
“I think you’ll find Raleigh is not like my other apprentices. She has proved herself most skillful on a number of occasions, and I’m really starting to believe she just might actually survive.”
Raleigh’s head whipped around and her mouth fell open. Did he just praise her like that—in public? She never dreamed he could value her that much. His words changed her whole conception of their working relationship.
Angela took a few steps toward Raleigh and extended her hand. “It’s so wonderful to meet you, Ms. Douglas. Any friend of Knox’s is a friend of mine.”
Bishop showed no sign of annoyance at Angela calling him the name he told Raleigh he hated more than anything. “This is Ms. Angela Cross. She’s a very old friend and colleague of mine, and she knows even more about Hinterland than I do.”
Angela spun around to face him. “There you go again with your flattery. Am I an old friend and colleague? I thought I was so much more than that.”
Bishop grimaced and looked away. “You always knew how I felt about you, Angela. Let’s not forget it was you who broke off our relationship, not me.”
Angela bit back a grin. “So I did, so I did, but I don’t think you came here to renew our acquaintance. You mention Hinterland, so I assume you’ve told Raleigh about it.”
“She’s seen it,” he returned. “We went there yesterday, and she fared very well. I was impressed.”
Raleigh couldn’t stop staring at him. Impressed, was he? He told her that. Telling a stranger was a different matter.
“So what is it you want from me?” Angela asked.
“Soto is trafficking in twen. I’ve been hired to locate it before he passes it along to his customer. Can you help us?”
The beatific glow evaporated off Angela’s face, and a dark cloud took its place. Raleigh never suspected such a graceful and composed lady could change her mood so fast. “Do you want my help to locate the twen, or to combat Soto?”
“Both,” Bishop replied. “You know Soto better than anybody. You worked for him for ten years. You can tell us where he went. You might even be able to tell us where he would keep a creature as valuable as the twen for safe-keeping.”
As fast as Angela changed her expression, she changed back even faster. She burst into peals of glorious laughter. “You want me to turn against Soto? That’s a great joke.”
Bishop didn’t bat an eyelash. “You don’t have to turn against him. Just tell us where he’s got it hidden.”
“If I told you anything about Soto, he would come after me with everything he has. You know that. If I told you what color underwear he usually favors, he would take that as a betrayal. You seem to forget I’m retired from that business. I’m living the rest of my life here, away from Hinterland and all its troubles. If I turned against Soto, he would track me down and destroy my life. I shouldn’t even have to explain that to you.”
Bishop lowered his voice to a rumble. Raleigh never heard that tone from him before. “Please, Angela. Do it for me. I won’t be able to find Soto or the twen if you don’t help me.”
Angela turned her head aside and closed her eyes. That voice worked on her in ways Raleigh couldn’t believe. What would it feel like to have Bishop talk to her like that, to cast his spell over her to get her to do what he wanted? Could she resist it? Could she protect herself from that voice?
“I can’t tell you, so don’t ask me,” Angela murmured. “The truth is I don’t know half the hiding places Soto uses. He keeps every part of his business secret from every other part of it so situations like this don’t arise. No one who works for Soto can tell anybody anything. If he had a secret hiding place when I was working for him, he would have changed it the minute I quit. That’s the way he operates.”
Bishop moved away. “I feared as much.”
“You don’t need me to find the twen,” Angela went on. “You can find it all on your own. You’re the best in the business. If anyone can find Soto, it’s you.”
He didn’t seem to hear. He moved toward the door. “I suppose we better carry on with our investigation, then.”
She took a rapid step after him. “Wait, Knox. Don’t go yet.”
His eyes swiveled around to stare at her. “What is it?”
She waved her hand. “I just….talk to me. I never see you anymore. You’re always too busy to visit.”
Bishop’s eyebrows twitched together once before he instantly regained his impassive countenance. He looked around at Raleigh. “I’m sorry, Raleigh, but would you mind waiting for me outside? I have something private to discuss with Ms. Cross.”
Raleigh headed for the door. She moved into the passage outside the room. She took one step away before she heard Bishop’s voice murmuring in a low whisper. The door still stood open behind her. Burning curiosity drew her back to the opening. She stole a peek around the door frame to see Bishop standing next to Angela in front of the fire.
He eased up close to her and breathed into her ear. His fingers entwined in hers. “You’ll never change your mind, will you? We could have been great together. We could have had it all.”
Angela closed her eyes and turned her head, but she didn’t pull away. “I’ll never change my mind. Go back to your laboratory and forget about me.”
His voice rasped between his teeth. “I’ll never forget about you. I can’t forget you.”
“Don’t!” she squeaked.
He started back, and the spell shattered. “You know where to find me if you want me.”
He set off toward the door with his sure strides. Raleigh raced ahead of him and dashed down the stairs to the entrance so he wouldn’t see her eavesdropping on his intimate conversation with Angela.
So he had something going with her, and she dumped him. He still carried a torch for her. That’s probably why he didn’t come to visit her. He still wanted their old connection.
So that’s the kind of woman he favored. All the more reason he would never have anything to do with Raleigh. She ought to put him out of her mind—that way, at least. They worked together. That’s all they could ever do.
He came up to her standing on the sidewalk outside. Dax sat on the coach seat and waited for them. Raleigh grinned at Bishop and sang in a syrupy voice, “Knox dear!”
He rounded on her with his jaws clenched. “Don’t you dare start calling me that!”
“Isn’t there any woman in this world you haven’t been involved with?”
He cast a desperate gl
ance at the high windows behind him. “I never stood a chance with her. I never stood a snowball’s chance in hell. She’s too fine for a man like me. She always was.”
“What did she do for Soto?”
“She was his hatchet man—or hatchet woman, if you want to call it that. She did his dirty work. You wouldn’t think of it to look at her, but she used her beauty to get close to her targets and disarm them so they never saw her coming. She’s far deadlier than I am. I would never want to stand against her or make an enemy of her.”
“It’s too bad she doesn’t know where Soto keeps the twen hidden.”
“She does know. She just wouldn’t tell me.” He slammed his fist into his palm. “Blazes! I thought I could use our old connection to find out. That just goes to show what a fool I am. She’s ice cold, and she’ll never change. She changed her life, and protecting her investment means a lot more to her than I do.”
“So what are you going to do next? How are you going to find the twen without her help?”
He shrugged. “I’ll find a way. I always do.”
“But how? We’re at a dead end.”
“We’re going back to Hinterland,” he replied. “We’ll go back tonight.”
Raleigh stiffened. Go back to Hinterland? The thought thrilled her and horrified her at the same time. “What if Angela tells Soto we’re coming?”
“She won’t do that. We can trust her.” He spun around to face her, and the burning intensity of his stare stopped her breath. “I have something important to say to you, Raleigh. You can trust Angela. Whatever else you may think of her and her motives, she’s the best you can get. If anything ever happens to me and you need help, you can go to her. She’s got a heart of gold under that frosty exterior.”
“That’s funny,” Raleigh murmured. “People say the same thing about you.”
He leapt into the coach. “Let’s go. We have some planning to do before tonight.”
Chapter 17
A steady drizzle misted through the air when Dax pulled the coach into the buggy house behind Bishop’s kitchen door. The horse purred through its nostrils, and the coach rocked when Dax jumped down. He set to work unhitching the harness.
Bishop and Raleigh climbed out. Bishop started toward the wide-open barn door, but Raleigh migrated toward Dax. “Let me help you put the horse up.”
Bishop’s rough call sounded through the stillness. “You come with me. I want you to help me prepare for tonight.”
“That’s okay, Miss,” Dax told her. “You go ahead. I’ll take care of things here. This is my job. You’ve got more important things to do.” He led the horse away to its stall and rushed for the kitchen door.
Raleigh sighed and joined Bishop by the door where he gazed out at the rain. “All right. Here I am. What do you want me to do?”
He growled under his breath. “I certainly don’t want you hitching and unhitching the horse. What do I pay him for, if you’re going to do it? You’re a trained fighter. He’s a servant. I don’t want you associating with him anymore.”
Raleigh’s temper flared. “I’ll associate with whomever I choose, thank you very much, Knox dear, and I didn’t come to work here to be ordered around. He’s a person, and if he needs help with something, I’ll give it to him. I can tell you that right now. I won’t treat him or Mrs. Mitchell or any other servant as though they don’t exist, so don’t waste your breath ordering me to.”
He loomed large over her head. He spat the words out so his breath hit her in the face. “This is my house, and as long as I’m in charge, you’ll do it my way. You’re nothing but an apprentice here. If you don’t follow my orders, you’ll be dead in a matter of hours. If you want to go back down to Hinterland, you’ll fall in line.”
“Fall in line! Is that what you want? It looks to me like what you want is to play lap dog to a real woman downtown. If you want to work with the likes of Angela Cross instead of me, then go do it. I won’t doll myself up, just to make myself more appealing to you.”
He frowned at her. “What are you talking about? I never said I didn’t want to work with you, and I never wanted to doll you up to make you more appealing—certainly not to me.”
“Don’t lie. What did you send me that dress for, if you weren’t embarrassed to be seen with me in her company?”
“If I was embarrassed to be seen with you in her company, I wouldn’t have taken you along. You heard what I said to her about you, and it’s true. You’re a very good apprentice, much better than I ever anticipated. I don’t want to change you.”
She chopped her hand through the air. “Just forget it. You want to go to Hinterland and hunt the twen? Great. Let’s go. Just don’t pull your attitude on me, Knox dear, because I’ve had about enough of it.”
He charged at her and bellowed within inches of her nose. “How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?”
She seethed in rage. A thousand withering retorts blasted into her mind, but she was too mad to say any of them out loud. She already succeeded in making him mad. She glared back at him in matched hatred. She wanted to hurt him. She wanted to say every wounding thing in the book to cause him maximum pain and discomfort. She would call him Knox dear for the rest of her life if she thought it would infuriate him.
He glared at her with smoldering eyes. His whole face contorted in rabid fury until she wondered if he would haul off and strike her. That would be just wonderful. That would be the ultimate capper to a stellar morning.
He didn’t strike her, though. To her horror, he darted forward and kissed her so hard he drove her a step back. Her shoulder blades hit the stout beam against the barn door. He kissed her just long enough and just hard enough to awaken all the buried chemistry in her guts.
She wanted him, and now she knew for certain he wanted her, too. He didn’t want her dolled up for society. He wanted her tough and capable and deadly. He wanted her exactly the way she was.
Her lips just started to respond when he broke away to stand back away from her. A tempest of emotion convulsed in his face. His eyes searched her soul for any answer to this perplexing dilemma, but neither of them found any clarity there.
He glanced one more time down at her mouth. Raleigh didn’t know what to do. He kissed her. What now? Were they friends? Were they enemies? Were they lovers or anything close to it?
Passionate desire for him burned through her insides, but she dared not make a move toward him. That kiss was a random mistake. He didn’t really mean it. He couldn’t possibly want a woman like her when he still wanted Angela, too.
She refused to let herself soften toward him. She couldn’t lower her guard to let him kiss her. She wouldn’t let it happen again.
She glared at him in the same confronting hostility. That kiss only shoved in her face the impossible nature of their interaction. They could never be anything more to each other than master and apprentice. She took a firm grip on herself and refused to believe he could care. He kissed her to hurt her. He kissed her to grind his heel into her face.
He clenched his teeth tighter and started to turn away. He glanced back once, and the tortured anguish in his face told her all she needed to know. He needed comfort. He needed affection. He needed a woman, and he couldn’t find shelter from the storm in a woman like Angela. Angela herself must have understood that. That must be why she broke it off with him.
He valued her, not as a doll, but as a warrior. He wanted her that way. He wanted her guns and her blades and her bolts. He wanted her exactly the way she was. That’s why he kissed her in the first place.
She recognized that bottomless need for one person in the world who understood. The same need burned in her heart. They were two of a kind, alone in the world but for each other.
That realization released the long-buried desire locked away in her. She wanted him. She wanted to kiss him and hold him and give him shelter. She wanted to be the one who guarded his back. She wanted to stand back to back with him against the terrible world
of Hinterland. That kiss asked her to, begged her to, and she could do it. She could lower her defenses to let him in.
In an instant, they rocketed at each other in all their furious desire. She attacked him with the same passionate intensity he attacked her. She flung her arms around his neck and met his kiss coming the other way. He strapped his muscled arms around her waist and lifted her off the ground against his chest.
Raleigh mangled his lips, but not as fast as he devoured the kisses from her mouth. He gnawed her lips apart, and his fiery tongue sizzled between her teeth. She raked her fingernails down his back in a desperate race to get him before he slipped through from her grasp.
His fists tightened in her shirt behind her back, and he growled into her mouth in animal madness. He shoved her back against the door frame and pinned her there under his iron bulk.
She never imagined such a solid core could exist under his nice clothes. His muscles heaved and strained to hold her in place, and his breath rasped through his nose. His lips gobbled at her mouth in ravenous bites to excite her deepest longings.
How long had it been since she enjoyed the company of a man? She made friends with Quentin Hodges, a boy from the village, when she was fifteen. He was eighteen, and she met him sometimes at the stile. They kissed and rolled in the grass before they both ran home in guilty delight.
This was nothing like that. Bishop wasn’t some innocent farm kid. A beating heart pounded in his chest. A world of experience and hardship smoldered in his eyes when he gazed at her. All the mysteries of Hinterland played in his face.
Before she knew what he was doing, he went to work on her pants. He flicked the clasp open and slipped his fingers down flat against her stomach. She caught her breath, but he didn’t dive down into the dark. He just stayed there while the storm flared in her deepest recesses. He couldn’t be doing this. He couldn’t be touching her like that in the barn on a rainy day.
In a flash, he slid his fingertips up her stomach to her shirt. He didn’t try to get it out of the way. He slithered his hand underneath it and up to her breast. He massaged her breast through the winding of fabric around her chest until she mewed in agony. Her crotch throbbed in delicious moist hunger for any touch of his hands or mouth or body.
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