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

Jeremy stroked the back of his head. Eventually, he looked up. “We should dress and eat lunch. I’m starving.”


“Are you anxious?” David asked as the noise from the hallway heralded Charnley’s arrival


Jeremy gave him a look and straightened his coat. “No. I’m terrified. I’m a footman. I wait on people. I don’t invite people to dinner.”


David rolled his eyes. “Well, if you want to put it like that I am a thief and a pickpocket from the rookeries who usually steals from the gentry,” he said, running a hand over his immaculately groomed hair. “I think I win on that score. Come, let us thumb our noses at the aristocracy.”


Jeremy laughed. “I don’t want to thumb my nose at anyone. It’s you who’s the revolutionary. I suppose you would behead them all like in France.”


“Don’t be giving me ideas,” David said as the door opened, and Spencer announced Charnley and Kingston.


They were ushered in, and Jeremy tried to stand tall and act with confidence in the way David had showed him.


Chapter 79