Penguin Books Australia

Chapter One

Haven was back. She glanced across the familiar little room. Silver clouds hovered over the skylight high above a rumpled bed. A candle sat on the edge of the vanity, waiting for the sun's weak rays to finally fade. Her gaze returned to the mirror in front of her. She smoothed a strand of her blonde bob and tucked it behind one ear. The reflection in the mirror wasn't hers, but she knew it as well as her own. The big brown eyes rimmed with kohl. The smiling lips shaped into a red cupid's bow. Once again, she watched a slim hand bearing a glowing garnet smooth a robe embroidered with gold. Haven could feel the silk passing be­neath her fingertips.

The girl in the mirror was waiting. A clock on the mantel over the fireplace was frozen at five minutes to six. Time had slowed to a trickle.

Outside, the fall wind wailed. The trees groaned in the park she somehow knew was less than a block away. The crackling fire had ban­ished the evening chill. But the girl felt no need for its warmth.

She heard the sound of ladies' heels on the cobblestones below. Her heart fluttering, she scurried across the rough wooden floorboards to the window, careful not to let the heels of her slippers slide into the cracks. She peeked between the velvet curtains. One story below her, on a quaint narrow lane, two women in fur coats walked past, arm in arm. The shape of their hats and the style of their shoes hadn't been in fashion for almost a hundred years. The women didn't stop, and the girl sighed with relief when they finally disappeared from view. The last thing she needed was a visit from her mother on this, their first night alone together.

Her eyes darted up to the skeleton of a skyscraper being built in the distance and quickly returned to the street below. A dark figure had appeared outside in the lane. The girl's breathing quickened when the figure stopped at her door and stealthily checked both sides of the street. She heard a key enter the lock downstairs, then heavy steps bounding up to the second floor.

In an instant, he was inside her room, his coat and hat in his hands. Auburn hair tousled. Green eyes flashing. Old-fashioned tweed suit slightly ragged about the cuffs. She met him at the door and threw her arms around his neck. He let his coat drop to the floor so his cold hands could find the small of her back. Then his wet lips found hers. She pressed herself against him, feeling the warmth building under his layers of cotton and wool.

'I've been waiting forever, ' she told him.

'I'm here now,' he whispered as his hands passed over her body. 'Ethan,' she murmured as the room turned blindingly bright.