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

nces. It was surprising that nobody had seen the fight. “If the armor fits.”

He scooped a bucket of water from the horse trough and flung it over Greengrass. “Get up, you scum.”

The man jerked upright, spluttering and shaking his head. “Fuck me dead!”

The curse emerged thickly through his torn mouth. With his good eye, he scowled at Richard with malevolent intensity. The other eye was swollen shut and turning purple.

Richard tossed the bucket to the cobblestones. “Get off this property. If I catch you here again, you’ll suffer more than a good thrashing.”

“You and whose army?” From his dirty puddle, Greengrass’s bombast struck a false note.

“Get out. And tell your swine of a master that he’s not welcome either.”

Greengrass stumbled to unsteady feet. “His lordship won’t take this lying down.”

Richard’s voice hardened. “Too bad.”

Greengrass cast a salacious glance at Genevieve. “Aye, I’ll go. But wait till his lordship hears how Miss High-and-Mighty Barrett is spreading her legs.”

She flushed but refused to cower. Richard took a threatening step toward Greengrass. “Unless you’re gone in the next thirty seconds, I’ll horsewhip you back to your master.”

Sirius growled.

“Call off your mongrel,” Greengrass snapped.

A daredevil smile curved Richard’s mouth. Genevieve’s yen for him, barely restrained since the fight, surged anew and made her ache to take him into her body. Right now, she wanted to claim him as hers and to the devil with the world’s disapproval.

“Sirius, chase,” he said softly.

The dog bounded forward with a happy yip. Sirius was so well trained, he hadn’t moved a muscle during the struggle.

“Bugger me!” Greengrass limped at a clumsy run toward the gate, Sirius worrying at his heels.

Richard bent over the trough and splashed his head and shoulders. When he looked up, dripping hair clung to his face. He smiled at Genevieve with that glowing fondness that always made her belly cramp with longing. “I doubt we’d pass muster at Almack’s.”

“I never aspired to elegance.” She made herself smile back, but the reminder of his real life punctured her foolish hopes that he’d stay.

“I certainly did. I’d be tossed out of my clubs if they saw me now.”

Richard’s breathtaking display of skilled violence had fended off immediate danger, but other, long-term threats remained. Greengrass wouldn’t hesitate to attack her reputation. She’d face scandal alone while Richard was far away in London. Choosing a diamond of the first water to marry, if Mrs. Meacham’s magazines had it right.

Richard’s lips quirked as he strolled forward, drops of water sparkling on his coat in the bright sunlight. Under the coat, ridges of muscle banded his bare torso. She should have realized long ago that his lean strength was handy for more than turning a lady’s knees to custard.

“I think you look very nice,” she whispered. As he approached, shyness gripped her. Which was insane, given what they’d done.

“Passion has turned your mind.” He spoke lightly, but the hand that curled around the back of her head was hard and his kiss sizzled with a fierce possessiveness that made her shake. She’d loved his gentleness last night, but his ardor today thrilled her beyond imagining.

Far too soon, he raised his head. His tender smile threatened to make her even more besotted, curse the reprobate. “We’re asking to become the talk of the town, standing here.”

She curled her hands around his biceps, this time recognizing the power beneath the grubby superfine coat. She forced a practical tone. “We can use the elm to climb into my study. I hear that it’s an effective way to break in.”

His face lit with laughing admiration. “Only the best people arrive via the window,” he said solemnly and extended his hand. “Come, Juliet. Let’s get you onto your balcony.”

While Genevieve slept upstairs, Richard commandeered the parlor to write to Cam, suggesting a meeting to plot Fairbrother’s comeuppance. Apart from Dorcas, Richard and Genevieve were alone in the house. Daylight added a respectability that darkness lacked. The vicar called on a parishioner—and dodged his daughter—while Mrs. Warren visited Mrs. Garson. She hadn’t wanted to leave her niece, until Richard had alerted her to the watching footmen.

Fairbrother should hang for attempted rape and kidnapping, but involving the law meant unavoidable scandal. Scandal already loomed too close. Greengrass wasn’t well liked in the village, but his tales of Genevieve’s fall from grace would find an avid audience.

The quiet afternoon shattered. Upstairs, glass smashed. Richard leaped to his feet and sprinted toward the noise before conscious thought kicked in. On the landing, his beloved hovered in front of her study.