The Accidental Courtesan by Cheryl Ann Smith Page A

which you speak.”
    Ham-Fist and Cudgel-Wielder darted befuddled glances at each other, then began a full minute of angry whispers back and forth. They outmanned him with brawn but were unarmed with wits. They had obviously been hired for the former.
    Finally, they turned back to him. “The leidy stole the necklace with the spider clasp. The leidy with the pretty hair,” Ham-Fist said slowly, as if speaking thus would help Gavin to understand their request.
    Noelle had lovely hair. Noelle stole Charles’s necklace? His confusion grew. He had a lot to contemplate with this curious turn of events. However, first he needed to get free of the trio and their desire to beat him senseless.
    Â 
    W ith his relaxed stance, the man holding his arms had loosened his hold slightly. It was enough for Gavin to pitch forward, breaking the hold. He came up under Cudgel-Wielder’s chin with his head, hitting him hard enough to loosen teeth.
    The man let out a pained yelp as Gavin gripped his arms, swung him about, and shoved him into Ham-Fist. The two men staggered back. Gavin dipped down when the third, thinner man made an attempt to reclaim him, and launched the man over his back to the ground. The stranger landed with a choked grunt.
    Seeing his opportunity, Gavin ran for the stable while his attackers untangled themselves and tried to regain their feet.
    Thankfully, the stable boy, Elot, was efficient as always and had his horse saddled and waiting. The boy lay curled up in a corner of the stall. The lad barely opened an eye when Gavin rushed inside. Gavin pulled the beast from the stall and swung onto his back, kicking the horse into motion before he was fully settled in the saddle.
    â€œMy thanks, young man.”
    The sound of running feet caused him to let out a whoop as he broke through the open stable doors. Cudgel-Wielder took the full force of Gavin’s boot to the chest. He cried out and fell backward into a post.
    Gavin didn’t look back but bent over the bay’s neck and plunged into the comforting cover of darkness. The trio of attackers was quickly left behind, with nothing but shouted curses to show him their displeasure.
    Normally, winning a fight would give him immense satisfaction and bring a confident grin. Not this time. Something stank tonight, and it wasn’t rotting fish bobbing lifeless on the Thames.
    The game was over. It was time to get answers.

Chapter Eight

    N oelle wandered the darkened halls and rooms of the
    Harrington town house until well past midnight, unable to find any relief from the heavy burden of her thoughts. The house felt stuffy, and her body responded to the lack of any noticeable circulation of air with a thin sheen of perspiration dampening the entirety of the skin beneath her corset.
    She could not imagine lowering herself to become the unwilling courtesan of an American colonist, yet if she couldn’t discover a way to convince him she was not his erstwhile lover, the consequences could be deadly.
    Certainly, should she agree to the disturbing proposal, her body would keep him occupied and his mind off searching for the real reason for her nocturnal visit. The necklace. Maybe he hadn’t put her together with the sudden appearance of the sapphire beauty in his room. She could be worrying for naught.
    She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. It wasn’t her body that took issue with her becoming his courtesan. He made her feel hot and cold mingled together in a mishmash of sensations. How easily his touch caused her to lose any measure of sanity and sent her rushing eagerly down a path toward ruin. Like all young women of her class, she’d been raised with the deeply ingrained knowledge that a lady saves her virginity for her wedding night. She doesn’t fall headlong into the arms of a handsome groom, she doesn’t allow a wicked lord to take a close-up peek at her drawers, and she doesn’t get caught in the bushes with her