by Robyn DeHart
“Say it. I need to hear you say it.”
“I want you, Harrison.”
“Again,” he insisted.
“I want you.” This time she emphasized the words by running her palms over his chest. “Only you, Harrison.”
He stripped back the coverlet, and it fell in a crumpled mess onto the floor. He gently pressed her down to the bed so that she was lying on her back. He nibbled at her inner thigh, laving kisses up the inside of her legs. She squirmed beneath his attentions, tried to pull him up to her face. Then he covered her center with his mouth. Her fingers threaded through his hair, her nails scraping over his scalp.
He dipped his tongue in, and she bucked against him. He grabbed her hips to keep her still as he licked and suckled her folds. Her sensitive little nub got most of his attention, and Prudence didn’t know what to do with her hands or her legs.
And then she climaxed. She cried out his name again and again as she shook beneath him. Her hands fell away from his head, and she lay completely spent. He crawled up beside her and kissed each breast.
He moved her hand down his chest until her fingers brushed against the hard length of him. “Touch me,” he whispered.
She tentatively traced her fingers over him, exploring, growing bolder with each touch. His lips found the sensitive spot on her throat and she arched into him. He cupped her, threading his fingers through her hair until he found that sensitive nub. He slid one finger across her opening, and she spread her legs farther, inviting him to touch her more.
She gripped him tightly, growing bolder.
Then he grabbed her hand to still it. He placed himself on top of her, her body plush and warm beneath him.
He intertwined his fingers with hers, pressing her arms to the bed as he slowly entered her. Her knees came up, and she wrapped her legs around his back, pulling him even deeper inside. He held her down and moved in and out, grinding against her.
Her breathing became tighter and shorter. Her release was so near. She teetered right on the edge while he moved deeper and deeper and increased his speed.
His beautiful blue eyes locked with hers and didn’t look away as he took her. And in that moment, she realized this was not the first time Harrison had touched her, not the first time she’d slipped into his bed. There was a reason his kisses felt familiar. A reason why her body reacted so strongly to him. All those years of imagining it was Harrison she’d seduced when, in reality, it had been him. Her body betrayed her with a powerful release even as she wanted to retreat from him.
His abdomen tightened as wave after wave shot through him. Then he collapsed on top of her.
As soon as she could, she withdrew from beneath him and retrieved her dressing gown.
“Where are you going?” he asked, propped up on one elbow.
She sat on the bed, but kept distance between them. “I can’t believe you let me…” She buried her face in her hands. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
His face fell and he swore. “Prudence, I tried to tell you. So many times I wanted to. That night when you confronted Fenton, I was going to tell you then, but I thought it would cause you too much pain.”
“Why didn’t you stop me? When you realized it was me who’d come to your bed that night. Why didn’t you push me away?”
“I didn’t stop you because I didn’t want to. I wanted you. And I thought—”
“Thought what?” She looked up at him and did her best to focus on her anger and not allow the humiliation eating at her to make her retreat too quickly. “That it would be acceptable for you to take a woman in your bed even though she thought she was in someone else’s?”
“No.” He took a shaky breath. “I thought you’d come to my bed on purpose. I thought you’d come to seduce me. I thought you wanted me.” His tone was so earnest, as if he couldn’t believe that she could have wanted him.
Now it made sense. The way he’d turned up the lamps, the way he’d asked her to tell him she wanted him, to say his name. She felt a pang of affection for him, but she pushed it aside. He had betrayed her. Lied to her.
“You knew that I’d offered myself to Sir Fenton in exchange for keeping my brother safe?” Bile rose in her throat. She wanted to run from the house and disappear into the streets so she wouldn’t have to face him.
“You were doing what you thought was necessary.”
“And that is why you offered Johnston the position in your organization.” She winced.
“I didn’t want what you had done to be in vain. You were trying to protect him and I wanted to honor that.” He moved to the edge of the bed but kept himself covered. “Prudence, come back to bed. We can talk about all of this. I never meant to hurt you.”
She shook her head. “I am a thousand times a fool.” Then she ran from the room.
…
Harrison swore loudly, but did not go after her. She needed time to sort through all of this. This was not how he’d wanted to tell her, but perhaps it was better that she finally knew the truth.
He stood and pulled on his trousers. There would be no sleeping now. He padded his way into the front room and poured himself a drink. He picked up his list of the Seven, stared at the names of his comrades, and searched for the traitor among them. Someone who had tried to set him up for years, and who today had tried to kill him.
Something heavy hit his head. Pain shattered through his skull, and the last thing he remembered was falling to the floor.
Chapter Seven
Harrison flinched at the pain shooting through his skull. He tried to reach up to touch his head, but his hand was immobile. He opened his eyes. The room was dark, with only a few candles scattering sparse bits of light. He wore nothing but his breeches, and he was seated in a straight-backed chair, his arms tied behind him.
“What the devil?” He jerked on the restraints, but they stayed firm, and the rough rope scratched against his wrists. “Where am I?”
“Harrison?” Prudence asked from behind him.
He swore. “Are you all right?”
“I think so. I’m tied to this chair.”
“I’m right here with you.” He shifted his hands and found hers inches away. He touched her fingers. “I know it will be difficult to believe me right now, but I will get us out of this. I promise.”
“Oh good, you’re both awake.” Bailey Fenton walked toward Harrison, his form barely highlighted by the candlelight. “I was losing my patience.”
“You?” Harrison asked. “You are the one behind all of this?” Bailey had been his mentor during those early years. He was the one who had suggested Harrison lead the Seven, recruit the members. The weight of the betrayal fell heavily on Harrison. He’d been a damned fool.
“Don’t look so surprised, boy. I’ve always been smarter than you. I merely didn’t reveal it.”
Harrison opened his mouth to say something, but Bailey held up a hand.
“I know you want to ask questions, but it’s my turn, Harrison. I’m in charge.” He waved a pistol around. “Am I understood?”
“Yes,” Harrison said. “Prudence, love, are you all right?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
Harrison couldn’t tell if she was crying, but if he could just get his hands loose, he’d wrap them around Bailey’s neck for frightening her this way. Not to mention all the other horrible things he’d done. “I’m sorry I put you into this situation. I should have worked harder to keep you safe.”
“As long as I’m with you, I’m safe.”
“The sentiment is touching. Truly,” Bailey said drolly.
“Let her go,” Harrison said. “Your fight is with me.”
Bailey laughed. “I can not be certain what she knows. I know that brother of hers sent her letters, visited often.” He walked away from Harrison and moved to Prudence. “He begged, you know,” he said in a close whisper. Harrison knew the man had bent to be near Prudence’s ear. “He begged for his life before I killed him.”
“Go to the dev
il,” she spat.
Harrison would have smiled had the circumstances been different. He loved her pluck. Her intelligence, her wit, her—he loved her. And he would do whatever he had to do to get her out of here, get her to safety. Then he would do whatever he could so that she never had to leave his side again.
Bailey chuckled and walked back around to Harrison. “I want you to tell me what you think you know.”
Behind him, he felt Prudence wiggling within her restraints. She was doing her best to break free, but he hated the thought of the rope biting into her tender flesh. “I know everything,” Harrison said. “And I’ve already told Remy and Alistair and sent notice to the prince.”
“No one will believe your allegations.” Bailey waved the pistol again. “I have enough documents with your name on them to prove you were the one funding Napoleon’s return.” Bailey turned his back and walked to a table where he took a sip of some drink. Probably bourbon, the drink Bailey had always favored. “And I shall get to be the hero for exposing you and taking you down.”
“You’re a fool if you think that will happen,” Harrison said.
“The money is already raised. Napoleon will rise again. He’ll leave Elba and return as emperor,” Bailey said, topping off his drink from a decanter.
Prudence’s movements continued and then stopped abruptly. Then something sharp pressed to his hand. And again. Whatever it was scraped at his skin. Prudence cleared her throat, then another sharp poke. Another knife. He suppressed a grin, took the blade out of her hand, and sawed at his restraints.
“And you think he’ll make you his special advisor?” Harrison asked. The ropes fell and he released a bark of a laugh to cover the sound. “You’re more of an idiot than I suspected.”
Bailey walked over and leaned forward, pistol in hand. He pressed the gun to Harrison’s temple. “I am going to enjoy killing you.”
“Me first,” Harrison said, then he plunged the knife into the side of Bailey’s neck.
Bailey stumbled backward. Blood sprayed from his throat. Harrison quickly moved to Prudence and untied her feet. Thin streaks of blood encircled her wrists where she had quite obviously squirmed her way free.
“Sorry about your wrists, love,” Harrison said. He grabbed her hand and pulled her out just as Bailey fired a shot. It sailed over their heads and embedded itself in the door before Bailey fell to the ground.
…
When they reached the dark London street, Harrison pulled her to him. “If he’d have hurt you—”
“He didn’t. Harrison, I’m all right and I’m safe now.” She laid her cheek on his chest. Tears pricked her eyes, and she didn’t know if they were from fear or gratitude. She squeezed Harrison close to her. They had done it, they’d found the traitor and her brother’s murderer.
“I love you, Prudence, you must know that. I have for quite some time.” He chuckled. “I think I loved you the first moment I saw you.”
Her heart pounded. He loved her? He loved her. “No, I didn’t know that, but I’m immensely pleased to hear it. To be honest, for a long time I didn’t even think you liked me.”
“I worked hard to hide my feelings. I didn’t want to pursue you. I knew marriage wasn’t—”
“Is it my age that makes me so undesirable for marriage?” she asked.
“What?” He frowned, shook his head. “It’s not you, love, it’s merely that I don’t want to put you in danger.” He spread his arms. “I don’t suppose that’s very believable today, but my work for the Crown puts me in danger along with everyone around me.”
“How would my being your mistress be any different from that?”
“What if I was killed? It happens, as you know, in my line of work. You’ve already lost so much,” he said.
“Yes, but no matter if I were your mistress or simply living elsewhere, unaffiliated with you, once I heard of your demise, I’d be devastated. Losing you, no matter what, would be terrible.” She gripped his arms. “But it is a risk I’m more than willing to accept. To be by your side.” She leaned up and gave him a small kiss.
“If you’re certain?” His voice was whispered, almost awed.
She nodded. “Perhaps I could be persuaded to be your mistress,” she said. “I think I might enjoy having your protection and attention.”
“I think not.”
Her heart fell. “Oh, I see.”
“No, you don’t, you silly woman. I shall not have you as my mistress, I shall have you as my wife. On one condition.”
She was so overcome, she could hardly speak. “What would that be?”
“I’m going to have Emma train you, not to be a spy, but to be able to protect yourself. I’ll feel better when you know how to use those knives you insist on carrying with you.”
Her heart swelled, threatening to burst. How had a confirmed spinster landed the most wanted bachelor in all of London? “It is a bargain. As it turns out, I have more in common with Johnston than I thought. I find I enjoy the adventurous side of things.”
“So you will marry me?”
How much she wanted to say yes, but… “What of my family?” she asked. “They come with me. I know it’s a lot, but I can’t simply leave them in Sussex with Lord Coventry.”
“True. I suppose I’ll need to buy a bigger house.”
She threw her arms around him and held him tightly.
Epilogue
Prudence stood in Westminster, surrounded by her family, feeling overwhelmed with love and happiness. At the front of the church stood Harrison, her beloved, her husband. Alongside him were Remy, Emma, and Alistair, and before them, the Prince Regent himself.
“Were it not for the determination and unwavering commitment to the Crown by these four individuals, an elite group of traitors would have gone on to create chaos in our great nation. And I would most assuredly have been killed.” He moved forward and presented them each with a medal. “Special acclamation goes to the Duke of Sutcliffe for his extraordinary efforts to bring the truth to the surface.”
The ceremony lasted another quarter of an hour, and Prudence found she had to wipe a few stray tears. He’d always loved her, he’d said. Had greedily welcomed her to his bed that night he thought she’d come for him. It still seemed so unlikely, though she knew his words were true. Matilda squeezed her hand, and Prudence looked down upon her sister. All of her siblings had moved into Harrison’s townhome in the last few weeks. He’d made certain that they’d all had new wardrobes and had already begun readying things for Astrid’s Season the next year.
She’d come to Harrison to find justice for her brother and instead found her future, her love, her heart.
Harrison stepped away from the front of the church and walked over to them.
“I’m proud of you,” she told him.
“I couldn’t have done it without you. And I wouldn’t have wanted to.”
She gave him a smile. “Are you reconsidering allowing me into the Seven?”
“Absolutely not.” He gathered Matilda into his arms, and she squealed with delight. “I don’t want the wrath of the rest of the Hixsby brood should anything ever happen to you. That and I think it’s time I retire. I’m told I should be concerned I don’t yet have an heir.” He waggled his eyebrows at her.
She felt the genuine smile that spread across her face. “We should remedy that immediately, my lord.”
“As you wish, my love.”
About the Author
National bestselling author Robyn DeHart’s novels have appeared in the top bestselling romance and historical romance lists. Her books have been translated into nearly a dozen languages. Her historical romantic adventure series, The Legend Hunters, were not only bestsellers, but also award winners, snagging a Reader’s Crown and a Reviewer’s Choice award. She’ll have four releases in 2014 and already has three on the calendar for 2015, all set in the popular historical romance Regency and Victorian eras.
Known for her “strong dialogue and characters that leap off
the page” (RT Bookclub) and her “sizzling romance” (Publishers Weekly), her books have been featured in USA Today and the Chicago Tribune. A popular writing instructor, she has given speeches at writing conferences in Los Angeles, Washington DC, New York, Dallas, Nashville, and Toronto, among many others.
When not writing, you can find Robyn hanging out with her family, husband (The Professor) a university professor of political science, and their two ridiculously beautiful and smart daughters, Busybee and Babybee, as well as two spoiled-rotten cats. They live in the hill country of Texas where it’s hot eight months of the year, but those big blue skies make it worth it.
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Also by Robyn DeHart
For Her Spy Only
England, 1814
Winifred is tired of paying for crimes she didn’t commit and decides to play the seductress London society claims she is. Thinking a night of passion with the reclusive Alistair, Marquess of Coventry, shouldn’t leave any lasting effects, she instead finds her heart marked forever.