The year is 1806. Bastard-born jewel thief David Lambert has few rules in his personal life. Never bed the staff, never more than once with the same man, and never, ever, kiss. Attending an aristocratic party and relieving some of the wealthy of their possessions should be easy, but in the space of a weekend, one by one all his rules are shattered by a footman with a secret.<br><br>Jeremy Naylor thought he had found the man of his dreams, the one man who might understand him. Someone passionate, handsome, and respectable. But in one shocking moment his world is destroyed, and he is forced to run for his life.<br><br>Flung together to escape the hangman’s noose, the passion between David and Jeremy burns fiercely. But Jeremy yearns for respectability, and David refuses to admit what lies in his heart. Will they find a way together, or will their differences lead them to the very brink of disaster and the shadow of the gallows?

Thief of Hearts

“What is it now?” David’s voice was wary.


“I’ve lost all my things. Things which belonged to my parents. My comb and hairbrush belonged to my father and a perfume bottle that was my mother’s.” He blinked rapidly and clamped his jaws together. “It smelled of her.” Grief and loss washed over him anew. He stared at the carpet.


David stood beside him. His fingers tapped rapidly against this thigh. “Which was your room? I will go and get them.”


Jeremy shook his head. “You can’t do that.”


“Don’t be ridiculous…” He sighed. David was unmoving. Basement. Third from the left. You can’t go back. I shared a room. He’ll have taken them.”


A knock at the door interrupted them. David answered it, and the barkeeper brought in a bath and put it in front of the fire, closely followed by a troop of maids with hot water. When the bath was full, and the servants gone, David locked the bedroom door and gestured to the bath.


Chapter 26