Redemption for the Rakish Earl

by Jilian Rouge

  Redemption

  for the Rakish Earl

  By Jilian Rouge

  Published by Scarlet Lantern Publishing

  Copyright © 2019 by

  Jilian Rouge & Scarlet Lantern Publishing

  All rights reserved.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  This book contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language.

  All characters in this work are 18 years of age or older.

  Table of Contents

  Prologue Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

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  Prologue

  Anthropshire, England, Nine Years Ago

  He was leaving, and she had to make him stay, somehow, some way.

  Nineteen-year-old Rue was fearful that if he left for London, he would forget all about her and find someone prettier and more ladylike than her. Maybe if she had shunned her hoydenish ways and tried harder to become the demure lady her mother wanted her to be, maybe Alex would see her as something more than just a childhood companion. But she liked herself as she was, and she wasn’t going to change for anyone, least of all a man whom she had been in love with for most of her life.

  Desperation spurred her on to do something drastic, and she had summoned Alex with a penned note that stated she needed to see him with all haste and to meet her at their old childhood haunt, a wide meadow enshrouded by trees on the edge of both of their properties. She knew he was in the midst of preparations to leave for London the next day, and she only had a short amount of time to carry out her plan.

  As she paced back and forth in the meadow, the afternoon sun bearing warmly upon her uncovered head, she hadn’t noticed the sound of footsteps crunching through the tall grass behind her.

  Twenty-one-year-old Alex had begrudgingly complied with Rue’s instructions to meet her here, and he felt rather put out that she asked to see him when he was so busy. There were a million and one things to look after before he started for London, and he was anxious to see to them all, especially since he had no idea when he would be able to come back home to Anthropshire.

  “Rue?” he called out cautiously. “What is the matter now?” he asked, not bothering to hide the impatience in his tone. Having grown up alongside Rue as neighbors and childhood playmates, they had long ago settled into a familiarity that allowed them the freedom to speak their minds with each other. The tone he used with her was nothing new to her ears, and she was used to hearing him speak so candidly in her presence.

  Whirling about, Rue’s eyes widened in surprise, then as was her way, she rushed up to him and spoke plainly, “Alex! I needed to tell you something important, and it wouldn’t have been appropriate for others to hear what I have to say to you.”

  “Well?” he prodded, as a few heartbeats of silence had passed, and she still had not said anything. By the way she was wringing at each knuckle on each finger and the way she tore at her lower lip with her teeth, he knew she was working up the courage to deluge him with some spectacular revelation.

  When she finally did speak, it was not what he was expecting to hear. In a quiet voice, she asked, “Will you please stay?” Her brown eyes searched his own gray ones, pleadingly imploring for an answer he couldn’t give.

  Never before having heard Rue beg him for anything ever, it stunned him speechless to hear a very proud Rue being reduced to ask him such a request.

  “Now, Rue, you know I have to leave. If it weren’t for the state my father had left our finances, I wouldn’t be doing this. Now that I am the earl, I have a responsibility to my legacy here,” he explained.

  “I know,” Rue said, directing her statement towards the ground at his feet instead of straight into his face as was her usual, direct way. “I just wish this didn’t feel so much like you are leaving here for good.”

  Chuckling, he answered, “I could never leave this place for good. Ravenscroft is my home, but it is badly in need of repairs and there aren’t enough funds to do even that. If I don’t leave now, I would be shirking my duty to those who depend on me for their livelihoods on our land.”

  “I know,” Rue said again, but this time directing her forthright gaze up at him. Her brown eyes, a deep brown that seemed to see into the heart of him, looked sad. He knew that she was already missing him, and he hadn’t even left yet.

  Just as quickly, that sad look in her eyes was replaced by a steely determination as she said, “I know that nothing I say can convince you to stay. Which is why I must do this.”

  “Wha—” was all that he uttered before she leapt at him and bore him ungracefully to the ground. With her weight thrown at him unexpectedly, he still had the presence of mind to angle his body around hers to protect her from the impact of meeting the unyielding ground.

  He grunted when they both hit the ground, but because he had shielded her, she was now crawling atop him with her face so close to his, her body molded to his. He had never before been this close to Rue as there was never a reason to, short of their dancing lessons from the same dance master when they were younger. Their age difference was not so vast that he could not remain unaffected by her sudden nearness, and he moved to try to push her gently off of him.

  She must have known what he was about to do, and she swooped in to mash her full lips against his before he could shove her away. Shock reverberated through him that this was Rue who was hovering above him, giving him one of the most unschooled kisses he had ever received. She hadn’t a clue how to kiss properly, but what she lacked in knowledge, she more than made up for in enthusiasm.

  What shocked him more was that he was actually responding to her kiss, despite its slovenliness. One of her little hands was gripping his sandy hair by the roots to keep him where she wanted him, while the other clung to his shirt, crumpling it beyond redemption. Alex decided to take matters into his own hands, and took over the kiss, coaxing her to follow his rhythm.

  A little moan begun from her throat as he feathered her lips with tantalizing kisses meant to stoke the flames of desire within her. Already, she was eager for more and for him to teach her everything he knew. Never before had he played with an innocent like this, but this was Rue. And in this moment, he wanted to know more about this seductive side of her.

  He pulled back just an inch to whisper, “Open for me, Rue.” He saw the surprise flare in her eyes, but her eagerness won out and she moved in once more for him to demonstrate what he meant to do with her compliance. He felt her body tremble subtly at the first touch of his tongue to h
ers, and when the surprise had worn off, she actively mimicked what he was doing with his tongue with her own.

  While their tongues stroked against each other, Alex’s roving hands explored the shape of her through her clothes, just as Rue’s were wandering all over his body. Rue was given a pleasant jolt of surprise when one of Alex’s hands expertly gripped her bottom hard, as though he were laying claim to what was his. Rue herself had pulled up Alex’s shirt from the confines of his breeches and allowed her hands to glide back and forth from his chest to his abdomen.

  Rue’s touch against his own flesh felt wonderful, and Alex groaned when her wandering fingers brushed a time or two against one of his nipples. Breaking from their kiss, Alex commanded, “Touch me again, just like that.” Her soft, roaming hands were driving him wild with lust, making him crave more of her seemingly knowing but innocent touch.

  “Like what? Where? Show me,” she urged, eager to learn more about what he liked.

  “It feels so good when you lightly brush against my chest like you did. And it feels even better when you touch my nipples.”

  “Like this?” she asked as she did what he asked. Innocent as she was, she was an apt pupil and he relished the idea that he was showing her a lot of her firsts. “Does that really feel good?”

  “Yes, in fact, you can see for yourself what it feels like when I do the same to you,” he said as he circled a finger around one of her pebbled nipples, still covered by the confines of her gown. Her gasp was music to his ears, and with the intent of shocking her further, he raised his head to gently bite on the same nipple through her gown.

  “Oh!” she cried in surprise, which soon melted to a sigh of pleasure as Alex tightly sucked on her nipple to ease the sting. Waves of delight rippled through her body, originating at her breast and settling down deep in her core. She undulated against him, squirming against the ache he was causing deep inside her.

  For Alex, the contact of Rue’s body against his only conspired to heighten his level of arousal to the point of almost losing control. With the distraction of Rue moving so sensually above him, he had completely lost sight of the reason why doing this with her was a bad idea. Suddenly, he was starving for her mouth against his, and he captured her mouth once again in impassioned desperation.

  However, Rue did not remain passive, and instead, had her hands roaming frantically about his body, wherever his skin was made bare by her own handiwork. Neither were Alex’s hands idle as he tried to seize as much of Rue’s heated flesh through her simple day dress, and when that wasn’t enough to satisfy him, he hitched her skirts by the handful until he felt the smooth skin of her shapely bottom and squeezed it with both hands. In so doing, he ground her against his hardened flesh, torturing him even more.

  He pulled back from their kiss and commented, “You’re not wearing pantalettes.” Rue’s daring surprised him, and it heated his blood to know that she had left off that particular article of clothing for his benefit.

  Sheepish at his observation, Rue blushed a pretty shade of pink, and he watched as she artfully leaned back and moved to straddle him. “I know,” she said simply and arranged her skirts to better reach for the opening of his trousers. Unfortunately, Rue did not have much experience with the operation of men’s clothing and her fingers fumbled clumsily at the buttons.

  Rue’s fingers served only to tease his engorged cock and he reached below her skirts to unfasten his own buttons. Cluing in on the fact that Rue had planned this all along, he guessed that she also meant to play the lead in this little tête-à-tête, and in light of his heightened state of arousal, he was inclined to let her. Suddenly forced to view his childhood friend in a different light, now grown and obviously all woman, Alex had never seen anything as beautiful or enticing as Rue as she assumed all control.

  Before he could ask her if she was sure that this was what she wanted, Rue had already grasped his cock in one hand, positioned him at her slick entrance, and slid down to impale herself on him. The shocked cry she emitted at his abrupt entry had him certain that he was her first and in a small part of his mind, he was elated that she had chosen him to honor her with her first experience in sex.

  Mostly, it was all he could do but feel her heat and her inner walls sheathed tight around him, and she remained unmoving, still accustoming herself to his size and girth.

  “Are you alright?” he whispered, and he saw that her eyes were tightly shut, a small grimace on her face.

  “Give me a moment,” she said without opening her eyes. Although his every instinct urged him to start pounding up into her, he remained still and did as she bid. He curled his fingers into tight fists to keep from touching her and it cost him almost everything to keep his hands to himself.

  It may have been only a minute or two, but it felt like an eternity that he wasn’t allowed to move. He exhaled a sigh of relief when Rue finally opened her eyes and looked at him. This time, he could not mistake the fiery passion there in her usually forthright gaze. Rue was always a fiery creature, acting instinctually to stimuli around her, but her upbringing as a lady helped to temper her impulsive actions. Until now. This was the most impulsive thing he had ever known her to do, but he couldn’t complain overmuch as he was in the pleasurable position of being on the receiving end of it.

  Then she started to move, finding her easy but maddening rhythm above him. The delicious heat of her surrounded him, inflaming him to the point of madness. Instinct played a large part of how she moved, and it awed him that she was able to find the right tempo for her while he lay back, watching her above him, allowing Rue her own pleasure. Alex had had a few women before Rue, but he could honestly say that none of them were this sweet or glorious as Rue was in this moment. She was passion and fire as she sought her own climax, but not without him, she wasn’t.

  Abruptly sitting up while gathering her in his embrace and catching her off guard, he urged, “Keep moving. Don’t stop.” She complied easily, grinding that little bundle of nerves against the hardness of his belly. She moaned at the delicious sensations that radiated from her core, and Alex could feel her growing slicker, growing increasingly wetter as she rocked against him. He reached around her and unfastened an interminable row of buttons at the back of her dress so that he could easily pull down the front of her dress.

  “I want to see you,” he explained. She hadn’t a clue what he meant until he had freed both of her full breasts from her chemise and zeroed in on them. She squealed when he licked at one pretty pink nipple with the flat of his tongue, causing her to moan at the exquisite feeling he was producing, all while he was deep inside her. He gave the same attention to the other breast, and soon, he was sucking alternately between the both of them. The myriad of sensations assaulted her all at once, and she panted, aching, only knowing that she wanted something at the end of all this pleasure.

  “Alex, I want--oh, I don’t know what it is I want—just make it better,” she breathed between moans.

  “I’ll take care of you, Rue,” he said simply. What he meant by that, she didn’t know. She only knew that what he was making her feel spurred her on to only want more.

  Alex reached between them and gently pinched a spot right above where they were joined. Delight shot through her at his action, and she gasped. Looking down at Alex, who only grinned wickedly at her, she asked, “What did you do?”

  “Making you feel good, I hope. Do you want more?” But instead of waiting for her answer, he proceeded to rub the same spot, sending tingles of pleasure everywhere inside her. The intensity of those feelings was pushing her toward a peak, and she somehow knew that once she got there, she would find the ultimate height of pleasure. As Alex continued his skillful ministrations, she continued to ride him, her hips plunging down forcefully more and more as he drew out her pleasure.

  She felt so much heat, inside and out, like she was soon going to combust, and their combined movements were going to reduce her to cinders. Then, on a gasp, she felt the culmination of her pleasure
implode within her, like falling headlong off a precipice, as Alex encouraged, “Yes, that’s it, Rue. I can feel you rippling around me.” He continued to rub between her legs as she rode out her climax, gasping with huge breaths and shuddering around him.

  When she was fully replete, only then did Alex tumble her sideways and onto her back as he drove into her fully. Mad with lust after having felt her release throb around him, he pounded heavily into her until he had her crying out again, putting him over the edge in his own pleasure. With a hoarse cry, he pulled himself away in time as he jetted into the ground between Rue’s splayed thighs.

  Spent and boneless, Alex sprawled back onto the ground next to Rue who was still trying to catch her breath. Silent and unmoving, the pair remained where they lay, content to let the silence stretch between them. On Alex’s part, his mind raced through the events that led to their encounter, wondering if he could have prevented it in some way.

  After several moments of listening to their breaths quiet down, Alex broke the silence first. “Why, Rue?” he asked as he looked sideways at her. She stiffened at his question, and he was doubly sure that he wouldn’t like her answer.