Captive Surrender (16 page)

Prudence’s eyes popped
wide and she stared at him in horror. “Spies?” She studied him
suspiciously for a moment. It all sounded ridiculously adventurous
but the steady way he continued to study her, the fierce
determination in his gaze began to burn its way through her doubts
and fears until she realised that he was telling the
truth.

“
I was
watching the house the other night because I wanted to make sure
that you were alright, that’s all.”

“
You
threatened Robbie,” she whispered.

“
I don’t want
him near Dinnington, Prudence. It is a dangerous place to be. I
don’t know how much gossip you have heard, but Levant has purchased
a lot of the land in the area, and most of the coastline, for about
two miles in either direction. He has pressured Simpson to sell him
his share of land just the other side of Dinnington and, when
Simpson couldn’t get his brother to sign his half away
-”

“
Simpson paid
with his life,” Prudence whispered.

“
I saw
Humphrey leave Simpson’s body on the shoreline. I think they were
hoping that it was going to be swept out to sea or, if it was
found, the finger of suspicion would point in your direction rather
than his.”

“
But we
wouldn’t murder anyone,” she gasped, horrified at the
thought.

She wanted to deny that
anyone could be that callous; that cold-heartedly duplicitous, but
couldn’t forget the destruction of the garden. Levant had
ruthlessly destroyed the main source of their food supply, and they
faced starvation because of it if she couldn’t come up with some
way to raise the funds they would need to pay for the things they
now didn’t have the time to grow. She knew, deep inside, that if
Levant could get them put into jail for his crimes, he wouldn’t
hesitate to set any one of them up, including Robbie.

“
I know that,
but Levant is greedy and ruthless. It is imperative that we keep
Robbie as close to home as possible, and ensure that we enlist the
services of Rufus. I can bring him up to date on what I have
uncovered so far, but I need to call for reinforcements from my
associates in the War Office.”

Prudence gulped and
stared at him. Throughout the day, she had begun to feel as though
she was getting to know him. The matter of fact way he calmly
discussed the details of his life amongst the government and, in
particular, the War Office, left her stunned and confused. If he
was telling the truth, he was a spy.

A government
spy.

She wasn’t quite sure
what to say, but Stephen did.

“
Right now,
Levant doesn’t know where I am. I have simply vanished. He may
think that I have decided to leave his employ, or he may consider
that I have had a confrontation with someone and lost. I don’t
really care. I am fairly certain that he does not know that I am
here. If he did, he would have yelled at the top of his lungs for
me while he was pounding on the door earlier. Last night, Humphrey
went back to Dinnington once he had left Simpson’s body on the
beach and, as far as I am aware, nobody was around to witness me
being brought back here.”

“
Right now,
you don’t exist,” she whispered.

“
It has to
stay that way, Prudence,” Stephen growled. “I can move about
unhindered during the night, keep watch on the house and see what I
can find out about Levant while I am at it and they won’t be any
wiser.” He tipped her chin up until she looked at him. “You have to
carry on as though I am not here.”

There wasn’t really any
way she could object. She was still shocked at his revelation and
felt slightly weak at the knees, although wasn’t entirely sure if
that had anything to do with his revelation that he was a
government spy, relief in the knowledge that he wasn’t one of
Levant’s men after all, or just the fact that he was so close to
her.

“
There is one
more thing,” he whispered. When he saw nothing but curiosity in her
eyes, he smiled gently and lowered his head. He swallowed her gasp
and didn’t move any closer for fear of frightening her. The fact
that she allowed him steal a kiss after such a short acquaintance
was reward enough.

Prudence couldn’t move
away. The gentle warmth of his lips against hers held her captive
as efficiently as the ties she had used on him last night. She felt
his warm breath on her cheek, and the pressure of his hands on her
waist, but he neither moved away nor drew her closer. She didn’t
know whether to be glad or not. It was over all too soon and she
sighed as he slowly eased backward and dropped his
hands.

“
What was
that for?”

“
Just
checking,” Stephen drawled wryly.

He now knew that the
dreams that had plagued him had been based on reality and were not
just wishful thinking. Although he couldn’t remember the details
yet, he knew with absolute conviction that he had kissed Prudence
on the beach last night, before someone had hit him on the head for
a second time. It didn’t matter now. In the grand scheme of things
it seemed a mere triviality given that his situation had changed so
much in such a short space of time. He had looked for miracles to
find a way to get close enough to protect the family, and it seemed
that lady luck was, for once, smiling down on him.

He couldn’t have asked
for a better outcome. Not only did he now have a distinct advantage
over Levant, but he could protect the innocent, and use the
sheltered protection of the house as command central while he
ensured that justice was served and Prudence and her family were
kept safe.

“
Get some
sleep. I will be back in a while.”

Prudence watched him
disappear into the house and waited. She listened closely but
couldn’t detect any further sound beyond the door. After several
moments of stunned silence she crept into the hallway and peered
around. It was dark, especially with the shutters closed, but she
was fairly certain that he had left the house. The rooms downstairs
felt empty as she wandered around in search of him.

How had he crept out so
silently? She frowned and hurried upstairs only to stand in the
upper hallway and stare into the darkness while she searched for an
explanation. Nobody of his size should be able to move about like
that.

She fell into a fitful
doze sometime before dawn. The last time she had checked outside,
sunlight had just started to creep over the horizon. It was now
light enough inside the room to eradicate even the darkest
shadows.

He hadn’t returned. Did
that mean he wasn’t going to? Was he alright? Had Levant caught up
with him?

Determined not to worry
about him at all, she sternly reminded herself that he was a grown
man and perfectly capable of looking after himself. Rather than sit
and worry, she put a pot of water on to boil and stared blankly at
it while she tried to figure out what to do. What should she tell
the others? They would undoubtedly ask where he was when they got
up and realised that he had left the house while they had been
asleep. Should she tell them that he had left in the night and
returned to Dinnington? Had his story about working for the
government been nothing more than a lie? She had no idea, and the
constant flow of unanswered questions continued to swirl around in
her mind until she thought that she might go quietly
mad.

She yawned and slumped
wearily into the chair beside the fire. Her practically sleepless
night had left her feeling exhausted and more confused, alone and
afraid than ever. She almost wished that someone would get up so
she could at least go through the normal chores of the morning, but
then she desperately needed a moment to herself to try to stem the
growing unease that settled deep in the pit of her
stomach.

She absolutely refused to
consider that her fear for his safety was anything to do with the
fact that she had already started to form an attachment to him. He
had barely been in her house more than a day and she was already in
knots over his safety. If he had gone back to Levant, it was
probably for the best. At least now she could put him very firmly
on the other side of the invisible line that lay between herself
and her arch enemy. She leaned forward and rested her aching head
in her palms and willed herself not to cry away her disappointment.
She had hoped that he really was of good character, and someone she
could rely on rather than suspect. As it was, she now didn’t know
what to think, or what to do. She was so lost in thought that she
didn’t realise that she was no longer alone.

“
Prudence?
Are you alright?” His wonderfully familiar voice, so close to her
ear, made her squeak and she jumped up in alarm.

“
Stephen,”
she whispered and, without thinking, launched herself at
him.

A dark frown of concern
settled on his brow and he glanced around the kitchen while he slid
his arms around her to draw her closer. “What’s happened? Are you
alright?”

“
I am fine, I
was just worried,” Prudence lapsed into silence having realised
that she had said far too much. The twinkle of mischief in his eyes
made her want to snatch the words back but she knew that it was
already far too late. “I didn’t know if Levant had got you.” She
hastily assured him in a desperate effort to backtrack. “Given what
happened to Simpson, I didn’t know -”

Whatever else she was
about to say was cut off by the warm pressure of his mouth. For the
third time in the last couple of days, he kissed her. This time
though, he was very firmly in control and was more delighted than
stunned. The worry on her face had concerned him greatly and, for
one brief moment, he wondered if something had happened to the
others, or the house, while he had been away. To find that her fear
was for him made him want to shout with joy.

With a groan he cupped
the back of her head and deepened the kiss in a way that left her
unable to do anything other than clutch at his shirt and hold on.
The soft glide of his lips grew firmer until she had no choice but
to open her mouth under the persistent onslaught of his. The next
few moments passed in a blur of wanton sensation that left her
gasping for breath and unable to do anything other than stare into
his eyes when he eventually lifted his head.

“
Thank you
for bothering,” Stephen growled huskily. “I must say that it is the
first time that anyone has ever really cared whether I came home
dead or alive. I am just relieved that you are alright. Nothing
happened while I was gone, I take it?”

Prudence shook her head
slowly. She was unable to tear her gaze away from his lips and
watched his mouth move as he spoke, but the words barely
registered. “Where did you go?” She whispered when he slid an arm
under her knees and swept her off her feet.

Once in the sitting room,
he took a seat before the fire and settled her onto his lap. He
knew he was deliberately taking advantage but was deeply touched by
just how worried she had been about him. If he was honest with
himself, it was the same worry he had felt for her while he had
been out of the house.

“
I have left
a note at Rufus’ house to ask him to come here at the earliest
opportunity. I didn’t explain why, but we will do that when he
turns up.” Stephen sighed and settled back in his chair. To sit
with her so companionably and tell her about his night was a
strange thing for him to do, but he loved the familiarity of it. He
was relieved that she hadn’t objected to sitting so intimately with
him, even though he needed to shift to ease the ache in his loins.
“Mr Simpson is still on the beach where we left him. We will inform
Rufus that he is there and leave it to him to ensure that the man’s
relatives are informed of his demise. I have also sent word to my
boss in London, and asked for a couple of my colleagues to come and
help. Given that Levant intends to step up the pressure now, I want
to make sure that we are not caught off guard. I cannot investigate
Levant, and protect you at the same time, even with the assistance
of Rufus. I need support from people I know I can trust; someone
who knows what my work is all about.”

“
You look so
tired,” Prudence whispered. Her hand shook as she lifted it. One
finger tenderly swept across the dark circles beneath his eyes.
“Does your head hurt much?”

“
Not now. It
ached a bit when I first got up, but the fresh air has cleared away
a few cobwebs. I now feel fine.” He didn’t really feel back to full
health just yet, but wasn’t far off it. He was usually the very
last man who would sit and accept anyone’s ministrations, but he
couldn’t bring himself to move away, or stop her.

She felt as though she
had known him all of her life, but how was that possible in such a
short acquaintance? Prudence should have been embarrassed, or
horrified at the familiar way she sat in his lap. Until last night,
this man had been a veritable stranger to her and someone whom she
had looked upon with suspicion. Now, here she was, practically
lying in his lap while she listened to him detail the work he had
done overnight in order to protect the family. He should have been
in bed recovering from the injuries she had inflicted upon him.
Instead, he was traipsing about the county, investigating her arch
enemy.

“
You look
thoughtful,” he murmured with no hint of rancour.