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Savege held their own counsel and had done him little good in his former labors. But he was no longer an agent of the crown constantly seeking information. He could now do as he pleased, and he held a beautiful woman in his arms.
    And despite her unwed state, Lady Katherine was no innocent. Of this he was certain.
    â€œBut yer a pretty bundle, lass.”
    She stiffened, the effect of which was to flatten her thighs quite nicely to his.
    â€œI am not a bundle. You should have already released me. You do know that, don’t you? Or is what they generally say of you actually true?”
    â€œAye, yer a bundle, an than some, wi’ that tongue.”
    â€œMy tongue is none of your concern. And I am not a lass. I am six-and-twenty. Rather, nearly so, on February twelfth.”
    â€œNearly? Who woud hae thought it?”
    Her lips were a stony line Leam might soften; laughter would sit well upon them. Her remarkably large gray eyes, the color of wistful fall thunderclouds, slowly drew upward beneath a veil of sooty lashes.
    â€œWill I truly be obliged to order you to unhand me, or were you planning on doing so shortly?”
    By God, she felt good in his arms, her full breasts pressed against his chest, hips nestled comfortably along his thigh. Remarkably good. Would that the rumors spread about him were true. Alas, it was largely smoke and mirrors to start the ladies talking. Informing. After that first job in the East Indies, three quarters of the work had been encouraging gossip.
    â€œEventually,” he said.
    â€œAh. Finally a word I recognize. Unfortunately, the wrong word.”
    Leam couldn’t help chuckling. Her lashes flickered.
    â€œMy lord, you are a renowned flirt. But perhaps you are not aware that I am not likewise. Unhand me now.”
    He should. He had no desire to. Warm feminine beauty pressing to his body, a cool clever tongue soothing his ear, and a lovely face shaped with intelligence could not be abandoned so abruptly.
    â€œWhit threats will ye level if I dinna, I wonder?”
    She tilted up her nose, releasing upon him the full force of her glorious eyes.
    â€œI would not demean myself by leveling threats at a gentleman. But are you one?” Her voice was frosty. But those eyes … they questioned , far beyond her words. And within the thunderclouds, Leam fancied, a song wept.
    His chest hollowed.
    He released her.
    She smoothed her palms over her skirt. Without again looking at him, and without a word, she went into the building.
    Leam stood on the porch, boots sunk in snow, heartbeat quick and uneven. His stomach sickened at that sensation in his chest, for so long so alien to him. Clearly, that bit of flirtation had been a mistake. He would not repeat it.
    K itty willed her racing pulse to slow. She’d never imagined that the removal of facial hair could transform a merely handsome man into…
    She pressed cold palms to hot cheeks as she hurried from the rear corridor. He was not following. She had insulted him. She’d had to. At the moment she would have said anything to encourage him to unwrap those strong arms from around her waist. Inside, she had been melting. It lingered now, liquid heat mingled with twining nerves.
    She had not been so close to a man in years. Three years. She had, in point of fact, largely convinced herself that that state had come about because of this very man.
    Could such coincidences occur? She must be mad to think it.
    She hurried into the taproom. Emily perched on a bench at a table, wrestling butter onto a slice of bread.
    â€œThe bread is not fresh,” she announced. “Mrs. Milch says the village baker has taken to her bed today due to the snow, and her serving girl will not come to help in the kitchen as she lives in Shrewsbury three miles distant. I told her we might assist in baking if we are to be here long, which it seems we shall. Have you seen the snow? It is extraordinarily deep.”
    â€œYes. Deep,”