Again, Theo said nothing, but the tension in his body shifted. He would go along with the plan, Giles was certain, as long as he could charge in the next day and save him.
Giles smiled against his shoulder, pressing a kiss into his flesh. He wished Theo had been there to save him ages ago, and he wished he’d been there to rescue his bear from captivity as well. If all went according to plan, they could rescue each other, once and for all.
ChapterSeven
Theo hated every last bit of the plan Giles had concocted to search for the evidence he would need to bring Augustus Pennyroyal to justice—if the man was even one of the shipping conspirators in the first place. He hated the idea of returning Giles to a man who had harmed him. He hated the idea of putting his minx in any sort of peril at all, even for one night. And he hated the fact that Giles was right and that this was his best chance of thwarting the conspiracy and remaining employed with the Runners.
“You’ve no need to worry so,” Giles reassured him as he and Theo prepared for the mission ahead of them, with the help of Potts and his lover, George Mulgrew. “I most definitely know how to play my part in this farce, and I will play it well.”
Theo only grunted in response.
The four of them stood in Giles’s bedchamber, dressing Giles in a manner that would support the story Giles planned to tell his father. Instead of the brightly-colored clothing he usually wore, when he wore clothing at all, Potts and Mulgrew had fished items out of the rag bag to make it appear as though Giles had fallen on hard times in the two years since he’d run away from his father’s house. They fit poorly, which part of Theo thought was a crying shame, since Giles’s natural form was so delectable and should be showed off to its greatest advantage at all times. Giles himself had taken great care to muss his hair and apply dirt and grime to his face as though it were a lady’s cosmetics.
“You don’t look right,” Theo said as he, Potts, and Mulgrew surveyed their handiwork by walking around Giles.
Giles had his arms outstretched, as though he would take a bow on the stage, and he smiled his most mischievous smile at Theo. “That is because I am in disguise and not dressed—or rather, undressed—as you prefer me to be.”
The comment struck Theo right in the groin, causing his face and neck to heat. Indeed, since he and Giles had arrived at Perdition the day before, Theo had done his best to keep Giles completely undressed at all times. Theo hadn’t thought he possessed the energy to enjoy his little minx so many times and in so many ways during the past twenty-four hours, but every time he thought he might rest and recover, Giles grinned that wicked grin of his, crooked his slender finger, and closed his hand or his mouth or his arse around Theo’s cock.
Theo was certain Potts and Mulgrew—and everyone else in the house—knew precisely what they’d been up to the whole time. The two men exchanged knowing looks, and Potts had muttered something at one point about seeking out a new young man to replace Giles when he moved on.
If only the owners of Perdition knew that Theo didn’t have a free farthing to his name, and that it was far more likely he would have to beg them to take him on as a guard, or as a prostitute himself, just so he could feed himself.
That was a problem for a different day, however. Capturing Pennyroyal and breaking the conspiracy was the only problem he could give his attention to now.
“We should be gone if we wish to reach Pennyroyal’s house before supper,” Theo grumbled, miserable about everything.
“Yes, we should,” Giles said with far more brightness and enthusiasm. He bounced over to Theo, lifted to the tips of his toes, and hooked a hand around Theo’s neck to pull his head down for a kiss. “The quicker I am able to breach my father’s house, the quicker I will be able to discover what you need and be done with the man forever.”
Theo merely grunted in response. He hated every last detail of the plan that would separate him from Giles.
With one final nod of approval from Potts and Mulgrew—who had been suspiciously silent about what sort of payment they would ask of Theo for his room and board—Theo and Giles set out for Fitzrovia. As much as Theo dreaded what was to come, he moved at a swift pace, eager to get it done with. He had other plans for after he delivered Giles, plans that would ensure he would be able to extract his love in the morning.
His love. The word squeezed its way around his heart as the two of them traveled on in silence. There was no use in denying that Theo loved Giles. Love had always seemed like such a silly emotion to him, something best reserved for fainting young maidens or ridiculous schoolboys. But with every moment he spent in Giles’s spritely, joyful, impish presence, that feeling grew and blossomed within him. If only Theo had the slightest idea what he could do about it, if anything.
“Cheer up,” Giles told him as they reached Margaret Street and came within sight of Pennyroyal’s house. “You are about to thwart a villainous conspirator. Imagine the reward that awaits you.”
“The reward will go to the Bow Street magistrate’s office,” Theo grumbled. “None of it will come to me personally. And Mr. Baker does not—”
He stopped short and pursed his lips. It was no use complaining that Mr. Baker did not like him. Telling Giles would only worry him, and as long as Giles felt excited and confident about what must have been a terrifying mission for him, Theo did not want to dampen his spirits.
“I am certain all will be well in the end,” Giles laughed, risking too much by grasping Theo’s hand as they made their final approach to the house and leaning into him. “Once this is done, you and I can be together for good and all.”
Theo peeked sideways at his minx. He was a dear for believing it was possible for the two of them to have any sort of future.
A moment later, Giles moved away, cleared his throat, and shifted his expression to stubborn insolence of a level that Theo had barely seen before. “Grasp my wrists tightly when we reach the door. I will feign a desire to get away. Pretend that you have brought me back here entirely against my will.”
Theo nearly huffed a laugh. They were certainly there againsthiswill.
Moments later, they were at the door, the bell had been rung, and all they could do was wait. Giles squirmed and grunted, beginning his act before the door even opened to reveal a stone-faced maid well past her middle years. The woman glanced at Theo in annoyance, but the moment her gaze shifted to Giles, she gasped and staggered back.
“Mr. Giles?” she said, clapping a hand to her chest. “Oh, my word. Mr. Pennyroyal! Mr. Pennyroyal! Come quickly.”
Theo took that as their invitation to enter the house. His heart beat so furiously that his head began to ache as he dragged Giles into the house.
He actually had to drag him, as Giles played his part well.
“Let me go!” Giles growled and stomped his foot. “I’ve no wish to be here. I ran away on purpose. You cannot make me come back.”