Time Travel With a Rude English Boy from the Nineteenth Century.
Chapter Ten
PAYTON’S POV
The man’s hand trailed closer and closer to undesired areas. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying not to weep or scream or curse at him. Stay calm, stay clam, it’s just a bad dream, you’ll wake up in the twenty-first century in your own bed in a few minutes… I chanted in my head.
The weight of the man was suddenly thrown off of me. I gasped as I saw two figures disappear behind the pillar I was pinned against. A muffled battle ensued in the shadows. There was a loud thud, and then someone’s arm grasped mine and tugged me behind the pillar.
Acting on autopilot, I slammed my forehead against my attacker’s in a desperate head-butt. He groaned and the vice-like grip on my arm loosened. I squinted into the darkness and noticed Dacre clutching his head, and the unconscious creepy man on the ground next to him. Relief flooded me. “Oh!” I cried, helping Dacre up. “I’m sorry, I thought you were…”
“I’m not,” he said, staring into my eyes. “I never was.” He skimmed his hand against mine, and that was all the prompting I needed. Throwing my arms around his neck, I crashed my lips against his.
DACRE’S POV
I saw stars.
Usually both parties were injured when delivering a head-butt, but Payton seemed unscathed. I, on the other hand, temporarily forgot my senses. Before I could gather my thoughts, her arms helped me off of the floor. “Oh!” she cried. “I’m sorry, I thought you were…”
“I’m not,” I said, lost in her bright blue eyes that were dimmed by the darkness. God, why did she have to be so stunning all of the time? “I never was.”
I have no idea why that came out of my mouth or why I would ever think it would even remotely make sense, but it seemed to have worked. Color tinted her cheeks, and unable to not touch her I traced my hand up her wrist. I started to say something what I hoped was suave and romantic, but suddenly she was pressed against me, her lips skimming mine.
She was so brazen. No other girl would kiss a man without a considerable effort on his part. I wondered if it was a future trait, or if Payton was just one-of-a-kind. I liked to think that she unique. I cupped her cheek and deepened the kiss. She pulled away with a curt nod, as if deciding something about my character. I nodded back, slightly out of breath.
Was it even possible that an artist had the skill to steal the pickpocket’s breath away?
Speaking of which, I needed something from her. Leaning in for another kiss, I wondered if brazenness was contagious. Pulling her close to me, I felt around unit l found the compact device I was looking for. Smirking, I pulled away and held up the device just out of her reach.
Recognition flashed across her face before the fury. “You… you hoodlum! You criminal! You thief!” she screeched in vain.
I placed the placed the device into my inner coat pocket. I should be feeling smitten and smug right now, but I only felt guilty inspecting her infuriated face. Still, no man ever became rich by feeling guilty. The bravado had to continue. Plastering on a fake smirk, I replied smoothly, “A little less sass and a little more action, all right, Eliza? It’s going to be a little hard to blackmail me without any threat.”
With that, I disappeared even further into the shadows in a pursuit to find Lionel. Her future device held an odd weight in my pocket. Azalea and Lionel would be happy to hear that they no longer owe Payton a share of the money. And Payton…
Well, she should know better than to trust the best pickpocket in London.
PAYTON’S POV
That ass! He swiped my cell phone, the only blackmail I could use against them…
Fury and regret flushed throughout me. Ugh, I should have known that he never cared about me. I should have known that his focus was only on the money. I had allowed myself to been played like a fiddle.
Well, no more. Dacre wanted money? I’d make sure that he’d have his precious money. With replenished vigor, I focused on the mission at hand and set out to find Azalea. She was flirting with another young man, different than the one she was dancing with earlier. I approached her briskly, mustered my best fake smile and said, “Miss Azalea, I’m afraid you have been distracted from the task at hand.”
Azalea beamed at the young man and waved her hand dismissively. “Ah, yes, thank you, Eliza. I would forget my head if it wasn’t for her. We must be going now, er... kind sir.”
The man bowed, kissed Azalea’s hand and disappeared into the crowd in pursuit of another gullible young girl. Azalea turned to me and pouted. “We were having so much fun,” she whined.
“Oh please, you didn’t even know the man’s name,” I scoffed.
Azalea replied soberly, “Names are unimportant.”
“How… uncharacteristic,” I frowned, eyeing her sudden mood swing warily. “Back to that sharp thing call the ‘point’. The Duke, remember?”
Azalea smiled, but it did not reach her eyes. “Yes, yes, follow me. It’s almost time now, anyway.”
And with that being said, we were engulfed by the surging crowd for the last time before walking into the domain of the Duke.
DACRE’S POV
“I just don’t know if it was the best decision, Lionel,” I sighed as I swung the grappling hook. We had tried to proceed inconspicuously indoors, but the path was blocked so we decided to sneak in from the roof.
“I think it’s a dandy decision, Dacre,” Lionel called while teetering precariously on the steep ledge. “Another dandy decision would be throwing me the rope before I fall to my demise.”
“If you insist,” I sighed again whilst tossing the grappling hook onto the roof. It latched onto the ledge and I tugged it once before lowering the rope to Lionel. We climbed in silence until Lionel said, “It’s a good thing that you took her blackmail device. Maybe I could take it apart, experiment, see how it works…” Lionel went on mumbling to himself about inventions, and I took the opportunity to wade through my thoughts. Payton looked so hurt when I betrayed her, but I am not a stranger to that expression. It comes with being a pickpocket. But on Payton, it was different. I couldn’t quite place my finger on it, and it was driving me crazy.
“Dacre, I suggest you move your rump of the ledge before I move it for you,” Lionel called out from right behind me. With a start I realized that I had stopped climbing and was now dangling right next to the roof’s ledge.
“Right. Sorry, Lionel, I was momentarily distracted.”
“I know,” Lionel snapped. “Now go over the ledge before we’re seen.”
“But I was thinking,” I continued, ignoring his response. “And I decided that… I’m going to share my split with Payton. She’s been doing a great job, and—,”
“Dacre, I really think that it would be best to—,”
“—she is a superb bodyguard for Azalea, so—,”
“—Dacre, Dacre! CLIMB!” Lionel shouted as a bullet ricocheted off of the side of the building.
“Lionel!” I shouted as I scrambled over the ledge. “Why didn’t you warn me?” Lionel shot me a dirty look as I helped him tumble over the ledge. As he pulled his leg over the side of the building, something fell out of his pocket and tinkered into the darkness bellow.
“Lionel,” I said cautiously, “was that what I think it was?”
Lionel blew out a breath that swept his hair out of his face. “Well, that certainly puts a damper on things.”
The man’s hand trailed closer and closer to undesired areas. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying not to weep or scream or curse at him. Stay calm, stay clam, it’s just a bad dream, you’ll wake up in the twenty-first century in your own bed in a few minutes… I chanted in my head.
The weight of the man was suddenly thrown off of me. I gasped as I saw two figures disappear behind the pillar I was pinned against. A muffled battle ensued in the shadows. There was a loud thud, and then someone’s arm grasped mine and tugged me behind the pillar.
Acting on autopilot, I slammed my forehead against my attacker’s in a desperate head-butt. He groaned and the vice-like grip on my arm loosened. I squinted into the darkness and noticed Dacre clutching his head, and the unconscious creepy man on the ground next to him. Relief flooded me. “Oh!” I cried, helping Dacre up. “I’m sorry, I thought you were…”
“I’m not,” he said, staring into my eyes. “I never was.” He skimmed his hand against mine, and that was all the prompting I needed. Throwing my arms around his neck, I crashed my lips against his.
DACRE’S POV
I saw stars.
Usually both parties were injured when delivering a head-butt, but Payton seemed unscathed. I, on the other hand, temporarily forgot my senses. Before I could gather my thoughts, her arms helped me off of the floor. “Oh!” she cried. “I’m sorry, I thought you were…”
“I’m not,” I said, lost in her bright blue eyes that were dimmed by the darkness. God, why did she have to be so stunning all of the time? “I never was.”
I have no idea why that came out of my mouth or why I would ever think it would even remotely make sense, but it seemed to have worked. Color tinted her cheeks, and unable to not touch her I traced my hand up her wrist. I started to say something what I hoped was suave and romantic, but suddenly she was pressed against me, her lips skimming mine.
She was so brazen. No other girl would kiss a man without a considerable effort on his part. I wondered if it was a future trait, or if Payton was just one-of-a-kind. I liked to think that she unique. I cupped her cheek and deepened the kiss. She pulled away with a curt nod, as if deciding something about my character. I nodded back, slightly out of breath.
Was it even possible that an artist had the skill to steal the pickpocket’s breath away?
Speaking of which, I needed something from her. Leaning in for another kiss, I wondered if brazenness was contagious. Pulling her close to me, I felt around unit l found the compact device I was looking for. Smirking, I pulled away and held up the device just out of her reach.
Recognition flashed across her face before the fury. “You… you hoodlum! You criminal! You thief!” she screeched in vain.
I placed the placed the device into my inner coat pocket. I should be feeling smitten and smug right now, but I only felt guilty inspecting her infuriated face. Still, no man ever became rich by feeling guilty. The bravado had to continue. Plastering on a fake smirk, I replied smoothly, “A little less sass and a little more action, all right, Eliza? It’s going to be a little hard to blackmail me without any threat.”
With that, I disappeared even further into the shadows in a pursuit to find Lionel. Her future device held an odd weight in my pocket. Azalea and Lionel would be happy to hear that they no longer owe Payton a share of the money. And Payton…
Well, she should know better than to trust the best pickpocket in London.
PAYTON’S POV
That ass! He swiped my cell phone, the only blackmail I could use against them…
Fury and regret flushed throughout me. Ugh, I should have known that he never cared about me. I should have known that his focus was only on the money. I had allowed myself to been played like a fiddle.
Well, no more. Dacre wanted money? I’d make sure that he’d have his precious money. With replenished vigor, I focused on the mission at hand and set out to find Azalea. She was flirting with another young man, different than the one she was dancing with earlier. I approached her briskly, mustered my best fake smile and said, “Miss Azalea, I’m afraid you have been distracted from the task at hand.”
Azalea beamed at the young man and waved her hand dismissively. “Ah, yes, thank you, Eliza. I would forget my head if it wasn’t for her. We must be going now, er... kind sir.”
The man bowed, kissed Azalea’s hand and disappeared into the crowd in pursuit of another gullible young girl. Azalea turned to me and pouted. “We were having so much fun,” she whined.
“Oh please, you didn’t even know the man’s name,” I scoffed.
Azalea replied soberly, “Names are unimportant.”
“How… uncharacteristic,” I frowned, eyeing her sudden mood swing warily. “Back to that sharp thing call the ‘point’. The Duke, remember?”
Azalea smiled, but it did not reach her eyes. “Yes, yes, follow me. It’s almost time now, anyway.”
And with that being said, we were engulfed by the surging crowd for the last time before walking into the domain of the Duke.
DACRE’S POV
“I just don’t know if it was the best decision, Lionel,” I sighed as I swung the grappling hook. We had tried to proceed inconspicuously indoors, but the path was blocked so we decided to sneak in from the roof.
“I think it’s a dandy decision, Dacre,” Lionel called while teetering precariously on the steep ledge. “Another dandy decision would be throwing me the rope before I fall to my demise.”
“If you insist,” I sighed again whilst tossing the grappling hook onto the roof. It latched onto the ledge and I tugged it once before lowering the rope to Lionel. We climbed in silence until Lionel said, “It’s a good thing that you took her blackmail device. Maybe I could take it apart, experiment, see how it works…” Lionel went on mumbling to himself about inventions, and I took the opportunity to wade through my thoughts. Payton looked so hurt when I betrayed her, but I am not a stranger to that expression. It comes with being a pickpocket. But on Payton, it was different. I couldn’t quite place my finger on it, and it was driving me crazy.
“Dacre, I suggest you move your rump of the ledge before I move it for you,” Lionel called out from right behind me. With a start I realized that I had stopped climbing and was now dangling right next to the roof’s ledge.
“Right. Sorry, Lionel, I was momentarily distracted.”
“I know,” Lionel snapped. “Now go over the ledge before we’re seen.”
“But I was thinking,” I continued, ignoring his response. “And I decided that… I’m going to share my split with Payton. She’s been doing a great job, and—,”
“Dacre, I really think that it would be best to—,”
“—she is a superb bodyguard for Azalea, so—,”
“—Dacre, Dacre! CLIMB!” Lionel shouted as a bullet ricocheted off of the side of the building.
“Lionel!” I shouted as I scrambled over the ledge. “Why didn’t you warn me?” Lionel shot me a dirty look as I helped him tumble over the ledge. As he pulled his leg over the side of the building, something fell out of his pocket and tinkered into the darkness bellow.
“Lionel,” I said cautiously, “was that what I think it was?”
Lionel blew out a breath that swept his hair out of his face. “Well, that certainly puts a damper on things.”