The Veiled Heart (The Velvet Basement Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

open for me to see. Can you do that for me?”
    Her body subtly started to shake. All her control was needed to hide it as she nodded, yes.
    She was rewarded with another of those angels taking flight smiles. He was alert, awake, and vibrant as though a candle was burning inside him. Alight with the possibility of what could happen between them. She had done that. It scared and exhilarated her at the same time.
    “Are you sure?”
    He was giving her a chance to step back. It was gallant, noble, in a man who was trawling the shops that spoke of darker desires.
    Despite the blind fear flashing through her, his concern made her want him even more.
    “I want to know everything about the sheaths.”
    His eyebrows rose again. “I think we can accommodate that.”
    As the words were said, the reality was that neither of them believed this was about the sheaths, not really, not anymore.
    Somehow, that made the panic subside.
    Then he stepped out of the carriage.
     

4

CHAPTER FOUR
    Outside, the air was cool, dense with the promise of rain. The night hung above him tight with anticipation as it waited for the sky to break open.
    Worthington drew it into his lungs. Was he really going to do this?
    Around him was a whole world of fresh clarity and thick warning that he should be taking in.
    The problem was that Lily still rippled through him like a promise of summer sun on a man who couldn’t remember what real warmth felt like.
    You didn’t walk away from that, no matter how ominous the sky.
    Instead, he focused on what he had some control over.
    “It seems I am at your disposal.”
    The cabbie beamed and showed him the wheel.
    It wouldn’t do to work things out too quickly, so he ran his hand over the steel-encased wood. Bent down, made a few noises of consideration, and then stood up.
    “So can you fix it?” The cabbie milled around him.
    “Should do; give me a hand we need to have a closer look.”
    His heart was beating steadily in his chest; it should be racing like the wind.
    She’d made a remarkable request and every single part of him wanted to fulfill it. Hell, many times over if he was honest.
    “Right, put your hand here and lift.”
    Worthington positioned the cabbie so the man looked away from the wheel while lifting some of the weight off it. They rolled the carriage back a little taking the pressure off the grind, a piece of metal. It made the whole thing sound impressively ominous and ensured they didn’t actually move very far without causing irreparable damage. Or even worse, endangering her.
    He should fix the wheel and back off, step away. She’d been terribly nervous with a flying leap of bravery to ask him what she had. Vulnerability was seeping out of her like a siren’s song.
    He slipped his hand in his pocket, removed the missing wheel pin, and dropped it under the carriage. Coughed and stamped his foot to cover the sound.
    Organizing a distraction was easy, his own cab driver had pulled the man aside for a smoke. The carriage was relatively light while empty. Enough for him to knock the pin out. Every cabbie had tools and his man lent them to him for a much-inflated price of his fare. Now here he was thinking about walking away.
    “Alright, let go. Looks like one of the pins has fallen out. It can’t be far if the carriage was functional when you arrived.”
    The cabbie swore and they both bent down to look for the missing wheel pin.
    He should step in and tell her no.
    As they searched, the carriage moved, a few small dips and rocks of the cabin.
    There was no reason for her to be moving around except one, his request. Now his heart started to speed up.
    She was removing her underwear.
    The image of that shot down through the center of his body and curled low and deep in a firm squeeze.
    Each small bounce and tilt of the cabin touched him more intimately than the bawdiest of approaches.
    He just had to avoid thinking, not listen to the barrage of extremely wise and responsible