Assassin's Kiss by Kate Monroe

you are in no danger if you are not with me. Once you are clear of the vicinity, I shall descend and deal with whatever threat awaits. Only when I have done so, Esther, will I permit you to leave the safety of these rooms and -”
    He looked down and abruptly fell silent. Esther was furiously shaking her head, and it seemed the thunder on her face was enough to stop him in his tracks without her having to speak the words she could not find. It did not matter that danger waited for them the moment Seth set foot outside. Whatever trap the duke had set for him, he would not face it alone. Without speaking, she retrieved her cloak and took out a gleaming, well-oiled pistol from a hidden pocket in the lining.
    Seth swallowed hard, frustration and lust mingling with the spark of awe in his dark eyes. “You are impossible, sweetheart!” he said, his low words for her alone. “Am I to take it you intend you shoot your way out of this at my side?”
    She tossed her tousled hair out of her face, her heart racing in anticipation of the battle so surely ahead of them. It was one she would not let him fight alone. “Yes. You favour your knife, but I prefer not to let my enemies get that close.”
    “On the contrary, Esther, you let them get far too close to you!”
    He scowled, and in that moment she realised how powerful the bond between them already was. Struck dumb by the force of that revelation, she caught hold of his shirt and stared wordlessly up at him until he swallowed hard, his face softening as he seemed to read everything that went unsaid in the depths of her eyes.
    “I cannot stop you from fighting at my side for this unexpected battle, and nor do I even want to,” he said. “But Esther, sweetheart, what then?”
    The world seemed to slow around the two of them. Her tongue darted out across her lips, and it took all her nerve to meet his steadfast stare. “What then?”
    “When the battle is through.” Seth drew a deep breath, then slowly nodded as he spoke again. “Esther, whilst we were alone in these rooms we could pretend the world outside could not touch us, but we can no longer do so. It is time to decide. Do we leave here and go our separate ways, or...”
    He did not finish his sentence, but he did not need to. She knew what he wanted to say; and what was more, she knew what she wanted to say in return. “Or you could come with us,” she said impulsively. “Seth, you must have made more than enough to see you through comfortably now – you cannot need the money! We cannot pay you the fees you are no doubt accustomed to, but I can offer you something I think you want far more than money.”
    Esther held her breath. This was a crazy, reckless gamble, but she had never been surer of anything than she was of this.
    A flicker of desperate, forceful desire shot through his eyes as he seized hold of her free hand. “And what do you imagine I want, sweetheart?”
    “What you’ve wanted from the first moment we caught sight of each other. You want me, Seth, and if you come with us you can have me. I won’t pretend it will be easy, for the life I lead is just as dangerous as yours, if not more so – but I have the strangest feeling you’ll enjoy it just as much as I do. Stay with me, Seth, and fight at my side.”
    He did not answer with words. Instead he lifted his hands to her face, taking hold of her head and lowering his until their lips met, clearly caring nothing for the audience she had forgotten about until now. Even though she remembered now that Martha was watching them, Esther did not care either. All that mattered was Seth. Danger awaited them, perhaps more potent than anything she had faced before now their fates were so inextricably entwined, but so long as he was at her side she would face it all, and together they would win. Her throat constricted by a tight lump of emotion, she poured all her feelings into the impassioned kiss they shared, and when they broke apart his darkened eyes