The Lady Plays Her Ace (The Langley Sisters) by Wendy Vella Page A

brave, Mr. Dillinger," she said quietly. "However, today I was not. The fear that he would kill me and I would die there alone in that park has made me weak." Her fingers tightened around his wrist. "I have never been so scared before."
    He closed his eyes briefly at the pain and fear he saw in her gray eyes.
    "Not weak, my lady, only human like the rest of us. I felt some of your fear when my father told me what had happened. I made my driver race through the narrow streets to reach you so I could assure myself you were all right, that they were not lying to me." He shouldn’t be speaking this way to her; he had no right to do so.
    "Oh," she sighed as he leaned closer.
    "Tell me to leave you, my lady. Tell me to walk out the door and never return, as I fear what I am about to do is wrong."
    "I-I cannot."
    She was breathing fast now, and her eyes were wide as they held his. Ace rose and moved to close the door; he then returned to where she stood and took her hands in his.
    "Why have you closed the door, Mr. Dillinger?" Her tone didn’t suggest she was concerned, it was merely a question.
    "Ace or Oliver."
    "Pardon?" A line appeared down her forehead as she struggled to comprehend what he was saying.
    "My name is Ace or Oliver. I would have you use one of them, but not Mr. Dillinger."
    "And my name is Thea," she whispered. "Will you use that also?"
    "Yes, but only when no one else can hear me." The fingers inside his were shaking. This wasn’t some kind of miss-ish display. She felt what he did, the need to be close to each other.
    "I saw you this morning, Thea, and you were laughing at my ineptitude whilst cantering. In fact, I believe you compared my skills to those of a six-year-old child." Ace gave her a soft smile. "Yet here you sit, pale and hurting and many miles from that woman, and seeing you like this makes me ache. How I wish I could take your pain away."
    "I have rarely had reason to question the confidence that I walk through life with, Oliver." She turned her hands over in his and he gripped them tighter. "I have been protected my entire life. Oh, I believed I had taken risks." Her laugh held no humor. "Yet today I realized that was in fact not true, and that in a matter of minutes, the life I believed I was in control of could have ended and there was little anyone could do about it."
    "You will have to trust me when I say that your reaction to what you believed a life-threatening situation is normal, and add that in a few days those anxieties will ease," Oliver said.
    She looked at him, her soft, gray eyes vulnerable.
    "You sound as if you are talking from experience."
    "Perhaps," Oliver said as he pulled her into his arms. This strong, beautiful woman was hurting, and he wanted to comfort her. He felt her fingers clench around his lapels as she pushed her face into his chest and heaved a shuddering sigh. Ace kissed the top of her head as he held her. She felt good in his arms, her head brushing his chin, her body pressed against his. Of course with that came the rush of lust he felt having her so close. Inhaling the orange blossom, he tried to control his body. This woman needed his comfort and nothing more.
    "I’m sorry to be so pathetic."
    "I think a blow to the head and jaw would reduce most people to a pathetic state, therefore you have done nothing that you need apologize for. Although," Ace added, "there was that moment yesterday when you called me hard-headed, and followed that up with several unflattering descriptions of my intelligence."
    She gave a little snort. "I believe those words were spoken with regards to your equestrian skills, Oliver, not to your actual character."
    "Lord, you frightened me." The words were dragged from him as he thought again about what could have happened to her today. Cupping her cheeks, Ace turned her face towards his. "And I do not frighten easily."
    Instead of answering him she wrapped one hand around the back of his head and pulled him down for a kiss.
    Sweet