A Rake's Midnight Kiss (Sons of Sin 2)

Christopher pointed back through the bushes. “He and his bully boy are armed. Be careful.”

“Miss Barrett, your father and aunt remain at Leighton Court while we await news. It’s so late they’re probably better staying in the rooms I arranged.” The duke spoke as if finding his friend clutching a lady was nothing out of the ordinary. Perhaps it wasn’t. Even that thought didn’t scare her enough to disentangle herself. “Would you like to join them?”

“Thank you. But my maid is at the vicarage.”

“Your men are still on watch, aren’t they?” Christopher asked.

“What men?” Genevieve asked sharply. Tonight had produced too many revelations, turning her perceptions topsy-turvy.

As usual when he’d done something commendable, Christopher looked sheepish. “After the last break-in, I asked Cam to set a guard on the vicarage.”

An hour ago, she’d been convinced that Christopher was responsible for terrorizing her aunt and father. She should be surprised to discover that he’d been guardian, not enemy. But since he’d saved her, she’d admitted that out of every man in the world, she trusted this one. “Thank you.”

“Confounded little good it did.” Christopher said wearily, then turned to his friends as Lord Hillbrook passed him a lantern. “Please remember that a lady’s name is at stake.”

The duke sighed. “Good God, man, we’re not complete dullards. I can handle Fairbrother without damaging Miss Barrett’s reputation.”

Once Hillbrook and Sedgemoor left, Christopher extended his hand. The lantern created a golden circle of intimacy around them. “Let’s go.”

Without hesitation, she took his hand. Odd that earlier tonight she’d wanted to brain him with the soup tureen.

He stepped ahead, white shirt glowing like a beacon. She followed, sinking into a daze where all she knew was his touch and the vivid reality of his nearness. Every moment in this dark forest, the bond between them strengthened without a word spoken. It was like that day on the river, but deeper.

They reached a familiar part of the woods. “Stop,” she said breathlessly, feeling like she emerged from a trance.

He raised the lantern to see her. “Do you need to rest?”

“No.” Although the hike in evening slippers hadn’t been easy. The wet grass was slippery, and damp soaked through her soles, chilling her feet. Her body ached, every step a reminder of Lord Neville’s violence. “Can we go to the pond?”

Her request, seemingly out of the blue, made him frown. “The pond?”

“It’s through those trees.” Once they left this forest, she’d lose her nerve. Or weigh consequences.

Right now, she didn’t want to consider consequences.

She waited for some remark about their meeting there. But he merely shrugged and turned down the overgrown path. When they reached the water, the lantern light spilled across the still, dark surface. Painful yearning rose in her like a spring tide. Yearning to wipe away tonight’s cruel events. Yearning to replace ugly memories with something beautiful.

His coat slid to the cool grass. She straightened her spine and took one uncertain step forward. “Kiss me, Christopher.”

Kiss me, Christopher.

Genevieve’s words hung in the air as if etched in letters of fire. Slowly he turned toward her, the lantern dangling forgotten from his hand.

She faced him, shoulders straight and luxuriant hair drifting around her. She looked so beautiful, she made him want to weep. And of course he couldn’t touch her. Hell, he still didn’t know what Fairbrother had done. At the very least, the swine had frightened and brutalized her. The last thing she needed was another rapacious male mauling her.

Standing before Richard in her torn dress, she was breathtaking. Irresistible. Still, he had to resist. He ground his teeth on a silent prayer for control to a God who by all rights should ignore such a miserable sinner. Frustration roughened his voice. “Let’s make for the vicarage. It’s cold out here.”

She flinched as if he’d struck her, but didn’t budge. “No, it’s not.”

“I’m cold.”

Her lips curled into a seductive smile that set his heart capering. “I doubt that.”

Good Lord, what was she doing? Desperation frayed his question. “How can you want a man near you? After—”

“He didn’t rape me.”

Richard dragged in his first full breath since she’d left Leighton Court. “Thank God. I thought… When I found you… He was…”