Without hesitation he swung her up into his arms and rounded the bed to gently lower her to the mattress. She lay back and felt her body quicken as he bent down and stole her breath with his kiss, petting her breasts through her gown.
He stepped back.
She shivered in anticipation. He slowly began to unbutton the placket of his trousers. She licked her lips as hungry desire consumed her. She feasted on the breadth of his wide shoulders, the clean sweep of his taut waist, and the sculptured planes of his chest, the marble-like skin covered with sparse brown hair.
She rose to her knees, kissing his tantalizing skin, stroking his fine velvety flesh, exploring with mouth and hands his powerful chest and rippling belly. Her fingers traveled over his skin reverently. She luxuriated in the feeling of his broad shoulders and the rock-hard curve of his biceps and strong forearms.
He gripped her wrists and removed her hands from his body, pushing her gently back onto the bed. “Enough, my wild beauty. I want to last long enough to render you speechless.”
Her body thrummed with impatience as he bent to remove his boots. Then her mouth dropped open as he pushed his breeches and the rest of his clothing down over his slim hips. Her breath hitched as she took in his naked body. Her gaze stayed riveted on his enormous jutting erection. “You are a ... magnificent specimen, Lord Strathmore,” she whispered.
He laughed softly, lifted his lashes, and captured her as she reached to stroke him. He wove his fingers through hers and pulled her into his arms. “You’ve seen me naked far more often than I’ve seen you, and I’d like to rectify that anomaly.”
Her cheeks filled with heat, but she boldly turned around and lifted her hair out of the way, eager for him to proceed. His fingers set about unfastening her gown in the back. She felt her gown gape open, and he ran a finger down her spine.
“I do love your trend of not wearing a corset.”
His husky words sent her heart racing out of her chest. He gently slipped the gown off her shoulders. She moaned as his hands skimmed over her shoulders and he molded his palms to her breasts, his thumbs flicking over her hardened nipples.
Impatient, Rheda wriggled out of her dress and watched with delight as Rufus tossed it on the floor, his eyes never leaving hers. Like a sinful Madonna she rolled onto her back, adoring the way his eyes caressed every inch of her exposed skin.
His warm, sure hands moved up her calf, and he fumbled in his haste to remove her stockings and garters. Once he had her completely naked he stood back, his chest heaving with desire. Under his lashes his chocolate-colored eyes devoured her, and she rose onto her elbows, crooking her finger and beckoning him.
He stood silent for a moment, continuing to drink her in before slowly joining her on the bed. As he moved over her, Rheda discovered the powerful aphrodisiac of skin against skin.
“I can’t believe you’re mine,” he whispered. “I thought I knew the type of woman that was perfect for me. A quiet, pious lady to honor my family’s name. But you—you, my golden temptress—have shown me I desire, and deserve, so much more. I want you and only you. My wild and irrepressible goddess.”
She drew in a sharp breath as the pain and irony of his words almost destroyed her. She’d won his devotion only to lose him due to her past sins. But he was not the only person with honor. She, too, could be truly selfless and do what was right. What was best for him.
She watched as his head lowered to her breast, as he opened his mouth. When he took hold of her and began to suckle, Rheda closed her eyes and blocked out everything but his touch, his kiss, his body, hard and unyielding above her.
He moved and spread her open with his massive thighs. He rose onto his hands above her; she opened her eyes and watched him—watched them, their bodies joining and separating. He teased her to the edge of insanity with the tip of his cock, moving in short, provocative little strokes.
She lifted her hips, begging for more. “Yes, Rufus. Take me—God that feels so good.”
“All good things come to those who wait, little hellion.” But his ragged breath told her she was not the only one on the very edge.
Moving down over her body, he bent his head and tortured her woman’s petals with his clever tongue, laving and flicking and sucking her rigid nub until she was mindless. He was relentless in his quest to bring her pleasure. Again and again his wicked mouth brought her to the sheerest edge of climax, but when her moans heralded her oncoming release, he stopped, returned, and slipped the tip of his enormous member just a little bit deeper than before.
He teased her mercilessly. Letting her scale the cliff face but never fly free. Wildness beat its drum in her blood, and she arched uncontrollably against him, her legs wrapping around his hips.
“Please, Rufus, for the love of God,” she groaned, tightening her arms until his hard chest chafed against her aching breasts.
In one swift movement he plunged deep within her, and she felt him quiver above her. “So tight, so hot ...”
Closing her eyes at the feel of him filling her so completely, she moved her hips, willing him to go deeper.
He needed no further encouragement. He kissed her lips and began to withdraw and reenter her wet sheath in a quickening pace. She joined in, her hips matching his powerful thrusts, the frenzy of their desire shaking her very soul. She could not help the budding cries sounding from within her battered throat. Just when she felt her climax start he slipped from between her thighs and lay back pulling her atop him. He paused, panting hard. “Take me, siren. I want to witness your complete abandonment. I want to hear and feel my wild wanton ride me to completion.”
Rheda couldn’t think of anything more pleasurable as he lifted her hips and guided her down over the full length of him. He was deep inside her, buried to the hilt, and she felt every hard inch of him. His strong hands grasped her hips as she began to ride him. When he slipped a finger between their joined bodies to touch her throbbing center, she shuddered and dropped her head back, quickening her pace.
“You’re so beautiful,” he gasped, watching her with dark, glittering eyes.
He reached up, caught her bouncing breasts in his hands, and then with a ripple of stomach muscles, surged up and took one peaked nipple into his mouth. The feel of his rock-hard muscles rubbing against her mound tipped her over the edge, and she abandoned herself to her shattering climax, heedless of the pain radiating from her throat as she screamed his name over and over and over ... Then she was conscious of nothing except the exquisite feel of him deep within her—touching the edges of her womb.
Before her cries of passion had started to ebb, he gave a rough growl and rolled her beneath him only to possess her again. He grabbed her wrists and entwined her hands with his as he drove into her like a wild beast. She relished his frantic coupling, and she opened her legs wide and took everything he had to give. His muscles corded and tightened in his neck as he cried out and pulsed deep within her—he shuddered—and collapsed sated in her arms.
“I’m not the only incorrigible one now, am I, Rufus?”
He opened one eye. “Did I hurt you?”
She shook her head and stroked back his damp hair that covered his face.
“Thank God.” He sounded almost shaken. He laid his head on her breasts, his body still joined with hers, and pressed a single, tender kiss to her skin. He rolled on his side and pulled her tightly against him. Wearily he said, “Just give me a minute,” he muttered, “and I’d love to pleasure you again.” Only moments later he fell into an exhausted sleep.
She lay watching him sleep. He looked younger and more vulnerable with his face relaxed and happy. Her heart felt full seeing that he slept with a smile on his face. Rheda decided he deserved to always look happy. No more shouldering life’s trials on his own. She wanted to be there to help him.
She would be there to help him. To love him. To protect him.
She thought on the situation with Lady Umbridge, and slowly a plan formed. Rheda was not opposed to being underh
anded. When fighting an opponent no better than a gutter rat she had to think like one.
She inwardly chuckled so as not to wake Rufus. She knew what to do. She’d use the fact that Fleur had no idea who Meg was.
Rheda would disappear, pretending to flee as per Fleur’s instructions. Fleur would think she’d won and perhaps let her guard slip. Meanwhile Meg would follow the bitch’s every move and steal back Christopher’s journals.
Rheda pressed a light kiss to Rufus’s cheek. He didn’t even move a muscle, his exhaustion seeing him sleep like the dead. “Please don’t think I’ve given up,” she whispered into his ear. “I’ll be back, and we will have our happy ever after. No one is going to stop us, certainly not a desperate, oversexed slut.”
She slipped carefully from the bed, pulled on her clothes, and went in search of Meg.
Chapter 25
The sunlight streaming in through the windows woke him. Like the big bad wolf in the tale of Little Miss Riding Hood, he thought all the brighter to see the beautiful woman beside him. One part of his anatomy was certainly big and wickedly hard. Damn his exhaustion last night. He’d wanted more than that brief encounter.
He rolled to face Rheda, his groin throbbing at the prospect of making love to her again.
But the space beside him was empty—the outline where her head had rested on the pillow and her lingering scent on his sheets the only evidence that she had ever been in his bed.
A sense of unease gripped him before his rational mind told him she’d probably been called to see Lady Hale.
He rolled away to look out the window, and a lingering flicker of doubt became a certainty. The sun was only just over the horizon. It was too early to have been summoned anywhere.
He tossed back the bedcovers and collected his clothes. Where the hell was she? He should have stayed awake last night and talked. There were things that needed to be said. Thanks for saving his life. Assurance he would honor his proposal ...
His rejuvenating sleep seemingly forgotten, Rufus dressed and strode to the bedchamber Rheda had been assigned. It was empty, the bed not slept in.
Downstairs the breakfast room, too, lay empty. He stopped Lady Hale’s butler and inquired if her ladyship was awake and was told she had been given another dose of laudanum during the night and would likely sleep until midday.
“Has any of the staff seen Miss Kerrich?”
“No, my lord. Not since last night. She may have taken an early-morning stroll. I saw her brother, Baron de Winter, out near the stables.”
“Thank you.” Rufus almost ran down the steps and across the stable yard.
Daniel looked up from saddling his horse as Rufus approached. “Well met, Rufus. Stephen’s asked me to ride into Deal and request more men to help search for Samuel, but I need to talk with you urgently.”
“Have you seen Rheda?” he asked.
Daniel’s eyebrows rose. “I visited her room just now and it was empty. She’d obviously not slept there last night. I assumed she was with you.” The young baron gave him a thin smile. “Actually, it is of Rheda which I wish to speak.”
Rufus held up his hand. “I am marrying her, Daniel, if that sets your mind at rest.” He paused. “If she’ll have me. Her opinion of marriage and of men in general is not high.”
Daniel’s face relaxed, and he laughed, his grin infectious. “Rheda taught me that nothing worth having comes easy. I’d love to be a fly on the wall when you propose.” He gave Rufus a shrewd look. “I’m counting on you to convince her. I’ll not stand by and see her suffer a further scandal when, once again, she is the innocent party.”
“I intend to lock her in a room with me until she says yes.”
“If I know my sister, that could take a while. I hope you have plenty of provisions.” Daniel laughed.
Rufus looked around the yard. “I have to find her first.” Both men shifted uneasily.
“You don’t think anything has happened to her? Daniel voiced Rufus’s deepest fear. “We still haven’t caught Samuel.”
In unison they turned and ran for the house.
“My goodness, where’s the fire?” Lady Umbridge called as she descended the stairs, a vision in layers of lavender silk.
Daniel’s mouth fell open, but Rufus found himself totally unaffected by the bountiful amount of flesh on display. “We’re worried about Rheda. She appears to be missing, and with Samuel on the loose ...”
The woman flashed Daniel a dazzling smile, and the boy gazed at her like a lovesick calf. “Rheda left a short while ago. The poor child felt awkward at having to face Helen when she woke.”
She’s lying, thought Rufus. With calmness he did not feel, he asked, “Did she say where she was going?”
“Why, home to Tumsbury Cliff of course,” Fleur replied with an easy smile. “I’m famished.” She took Daniel’s arm. “Come. You men need sustenance. Why don’t you keep me company for breakfast?” And this time the look she focused on Rufus told him food was not what she hungered for. It made the thought of eating repugnant.
“You keep Lady Umbridge company, Daniel. I must find Miss Kerrich.”
He was already halfway down the steps before Daniel called, “Of course, Rufus. I’ll expect an announcement later this afternoon.”
An hour later he stood outside the baron’s house rubbing the back of his neck and trying to get the mixed emotions of panic and anger under control.
Jamieson swore she wasn’t at the manor and that he hadn’t seen her. Rufus believed him only because he, too, seemed to grow concerned when he learned that Rheda was no longer at Hastingleigh.
“Where else would she go?” he asked the man. “Where would she go if she had some issues to think about?”
Jamieson’s eyes narrowed, and he frowned. “Meg. She’d go to Meg.”
Rufus swung up onto Caesar’s back before Jamieson finished the sentence and was galloping down the drive a few seconds later.
He pounded on Meg’s door like a knight besieging the castle, rescuing the damsel in distress. It only took a few thumps before the door was thrown wide, and Meg stood there wiping her hands on her apron.
“Is Rheda with you?” he demanded.
“Good morning, my lord.”
Her greeting tempered his impatience, and he gave her a proper greeting, adding, “My apologies. It’s just Rheda has gone missing and with Samuel still at large, I’m worried.”
“Rheda hasn’t gone missing.” Meg hesitated before adding, “She felt it appropriate to leave.”
“She’s confided in you? Appropriate?” He captured Meg’s wrist as she made to close the door. “What are you not telling me?”
Her gaze flicked to his hand wrapped around her wrist, then up to his eyes. She glared at him until he let go. “Rheda doesn’t wish to see you. I think it best you leave.” And she shut the door in his face.
Rufus stood staring at the door in shock. How could she have given herself to him with such tenderness, such passion, and then coldly walk away?
He tried to tamp down the flare of panic inside him. It was quickly replaced with anger. How could she give up on them before they had a chance to ... ?
He sunk down on the doorstep. He’d never told her of his love for her. Or how much he admired her.
But he couldn’t rid himself of the sick feeling squeezing his heart. Perhaps she had meant every word she’d thrown in his face. Perhaps marriage was an institution she would never contemplate entering. What filled him with overriding dread, however, was the thought she had never loved him. That perhaps, all along, her true goal had been to protect her smuggling operation.
Abruptly he rose and mounted Caesar. He had every intention of establishing the truth—no matter what the cost.
As Rufus stalked to his horse and galloped off, Rheda’s breath let out in a rush. She’d had visions of him forcing his way into Meg’s house and carrying her off. That would destroy their plan. She didn’t want Rufus to know the truth; he’d likely strangle Fleur and rise
to Rheda’s defense, destroying any chance of the Strathmores taking their rightful place in Society.
She was a tad disappointed that Rufus had so little faith in her ability to aid his endeavors. He should realize that she wouldn’t run away.
Meg filled the kettle and sat it on the fire. “A cup of tea is in order,” she said over a lot of banging and clashing of kettle, cups, and saucers.
“I take it you’re cross with me, Meg.”
Meg’s lips thinned, and she ignored Rheda’s question until she’d placed a cup in front of her. Then she snapped, “You should have told him the truth. He’s a grown man and can make his own decisions. Besides, look at the worry you’re putting him through.”
Rheda looked up through eyes welling with tears. “How could I put him in that position?” She wiped her cheeks. “No. I’ve done the right thing. I’ve caused this mess, and I’ll fix it. For once I’ll help someone else—selflessly for a change.”
Meg sighed. “The two of you need your heads banged together. You’d probably deal with Fleur quicker with Rufus’s help.”
Rheda kept her silence. But what if Rufus told Fleur to go to hell, which he likely would? If he lost his only chance of redemption, would he come to resent her? When he looked at her in years to come, would the fact he gave up everything for her destroy the love he had for her? She couldn’t risk it. Not when this plan would work. A little while later, after the two women had almost finished clearing the plates from the boys’ midday meal off the table, there was more pounding on the door. Rheda looked at Meg and shook her head.
Wiping her hands on her apron, Meg moved and opened the door. Before she could react the door was pushed open and Lord Worthington and one of his men entered. His narrowed gaze latched on to Rheda. “You’re to come with me, under orders from the king.”
Meg pushed between Stephen and Rheda. “On what charge?”
“Smuggling.”
Rheda gasped, and then fury overtook her common sense. She’d underestimated her foe. “But I did exactly what Lady Umbridge said—” she began.
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