Saved by a Rake (13 page)

He held her hand, helping her to navigate the rocks on the river bed, before nearly falling on a slippery rock himself. She grabbed him as he went down, a gasp of worry flying from her lips. But he grabbed hold of the long grass on the bank to steady himself before giving her a rueful grin.

“Some protector I am.”

“
You have not allowed me to fall yet, so you are still protecting me. Can we go back now? My feet really are very cold.”

He agreed
, and they made their way back up the river where Daniel handed her out of the water just as he would hand her into a carriage, then he followed, dropping onto the bank and tugging her hand until she sat beside him.

“
Give me your foot.”

She frowned at him, wondering why on earth he would want to see it. Was he looking for any injuries or
to see if she had stood on something? He held her toes and the front of her foot in his big hands and rubbed. Rebecca could almost feel the blood flooding back into it. He repeated it with the other foot. Then he kissed her sole, her heel, her ankle and placed delicate pecks up her calf.

Excitement and confusion warred within her as he passed her knee and continued up her thigh, pushing her skirts and chemise out of the way as he did so. She opened her thighs at his urging, wondering exactly what he would do when he reached the top.

Then he kissed her—right there on her most intimate part. The place where he had fondled and stroked her, before she had cried out his name and pulsed around his manhood.

N
ow he was licking her, his tongue doing things to her that she was sure must be some craven act but it felt so divine, she was not willing to stop him. He hummed against her skin, making her arch into his touch. How could anything so wonderful be frowned upon?

She felt him place two fingers inside her, just as he had done a few nights before
—the one before their consummation. Within seconds she was rocking hard against his mouth and riding his fingers, caring naught that is was Sunday, or that they were in the woods, or that she had certainly never seen the farm animals indulge in this particular act.

She pushed on, reaching for her release, moaning his name over and over as he flicked his tongue quickly over her sensitive spot.

Then she splintered. Waves of pleasure flooded her being, muscles pulsed around his fingers and sparkly stars danced in front of her closed eyelids. And he was moving up her, fumbling with his placket and freeing his hard length.

“
Forgive me, my darling,” he moaned as he pressed slowly into her.

She had no idea why he was asking for forgiveness but she opened her thighs to accommodate him and felt him sink deeper. The
n he started moving. He was going faster than he had the past few nights and although he held her gaze, he seemed to be not quite there, the way she felt when galloping a horse—in control but carried away by the exhilaration.

Her own body seemed to be pulling her up to another climax as he drove into her, murmuring her name and the word
‘sorry’. She pulled him down for a kiss and plundered his mouth with her tongue. It stopped him from apologising, and their tongues scraped against each other to the same rhythm as their coupling.

The tension became too much again
, and she pulled out of the kiss, arched her back and shattered again. He plunged into her a few more times before an agonised cry rent the air and the warmth of his climax told her he had gained his release.

He rolled, pulling her with him, still joined. Then he adjusted her skirts at the back. She wanted to laugh. Anyone coming upon them would
know exactly what they had been doing no matter how well he placed her skirts over her legs. But she appreciated his gallantry.

“
Why did you apologise?” she asked.

“
Because I was thinking only of myself. I needed to be inside you and though I would not have done it had you refused me, I knew that I would be far from the caring lover I have been this past week.”

“
Oh, Daniel, it was perfect. You have no need to say sorry. You have not hurt me—in fact, I enjoyed it immensely. Though I suspect Betty will be annoyed at the state of my hair and gown.”

“
Tell her you had to fight off a bear.”

“
There are no bears in Britain.”

“
No. Well an angry goat then. They can be quite ferocious.”

She giggled.
“Should we not be getting back? Much though I would like to stay out here all day, wrapped in your embrace and making love, it is Sunday and we will be expected for afternoon tea.”

“
Are we expecting afternoon callers? At a coaching inn?”

“
No.” She laughed. He was still teasing her. She loved that he did not take himself too seriously at times, but he could be a very serious fellow when necessary. She loved how he hummed little tunes when he was concentrating on something, and she loved that now, his eyes told her he wanted to stay here with her, joined together and enjoying one another’s company.

She was torn. She sat up, straddling him, still joined,
her knees nestled under his armpits. He groaned and lifted his hand to his eyes.

“
Oh God, Rebecca Ramsey, you are going to be the death of me. Stop wriggling, woman.” She wriggled again, and her eyes widened as she realised he was hardening again inside her.

Another groan and Daniel sat up, holding her against him. He loosened the laces of her gown then lay back down. Pulling the gown low enough to expose her stays and chemise. He tugged at the material covering one breast,
and then reached up with his mouth to capture her nipple and suckle on it.

She grabbed his hair and started to move her hips. It was almost involuntary but as soon as she started, she knew it was the right thing to do. Her own body seemed to have a fire burning in it
, and his groans and the way he rubbed one hand up and down her thigh to her beat told its own story.

Somehow everything she did with Daniel seemed right. She ground down onto him and forgot about everything except their combined pleasure.

Chapter
Eighteen

“
How far now?”

Daniel looked out of the window.
“About five miles.”

“
Oh, why does the last part of the journey always seem to take the longest time?” She threw herself backwards on the seat, hitting her bonnet off the Padua silk behind.

“
I can think of a way to pass the time.” He sneaked his arm around her and drew her close until his head was tilted at an angle under the brim of her bonnet. What was wrong with him? He had never been so eager to constantly bed a woman in his life. Was it because he had had to wait so long for her, or because he knew he was bound to her for life? Whatever it was, Lady Rebecca Ramsey was one very alluring young woman.

“
Daniel,” she breathed. He cupped her breast, knowing that these were her most erogenous zones and a slight touch from him was enough to bend her to his will. “Please, Daniel, I do not want to arrive at Drumbane house looking as if I have just been ravished.”

“
I am sorry. I know you will want to look your best when you meet the staff. I promise I will keep my hands to myself until we are in our bedchamber tonight. It will be difficult as you tempt me terribly, but I have my memories of this morning to relieve my frustrations during today.”

Rebecca blushed furiously as memories of Daniel sucking and licking her most intimate parts before coming inside her and making love surfaced. He grinned unabashedly.

It took another forty minutes before Daniel tapped her shoulder and pointed out the window. Through the trees, Rebecca could just make out the blond sandstone building beyond. The front door of the large manor was obscured by the trees and a large fountain. But Rebecca could also see a line of the servants waiting to welcome their master and his new wife home.

It was as if the blood drained from her insides as panic seized her. It was silly really
. She had been born and bred for this kind of position.

Her governesses and her mother had prepared her well
, and she was more than capable of running a grand house on a large estate. And she must remember that she was not the countess. Rebecca wondered what state the house would be in since Daniel told her that his mother had died fifteen years before. She was sure that Daniel’s father would have employed a suitable housekeeper, but she was also sure that there would be things that had been missed over the years. Would they think she was interfering in things that did not concern her as she tried to put them right?

The carriage was now drawing up in front of the huge house. It must be at least twice the size of ChapelBrooke House.

“While you may not be the countess, you are the wife of the earl’s son. They will all take your orders and they will all treat you as the lady of the house.”

Rebecca nodded.
“I understand.”

One of the footmen hurried over to open the do
or as the carriage stopped. Lighter footsteps suggested stable boys were hurrying to deal with the horses. Daniel nodded to the footmen as he stepped down onto the path. Then he turned and offered his hand to his wife. Rebecca took a deep breath before placing her hand gently into his and allowing him to hand her down.

Rebecca straightened and nodded to Daniel
, who took her straight to the butler and introduced him. She exchanged a few pleasantries with Anderson before he introduced her to the housekeeper. She was a large elderly lady, with a homely appearance and a twinkle in her eye. She suddenly had visions of a young Daniel sitting on the kitchen counter having his grazed knees tended to by the woman. Mrs McPhee explained the options for dinner that evening. Rebecca agreed that venison was the best option and arranged to meet with Mrs McPhee the next day in order to discuss the running of the house. She was then introduced in turn to stable hands, the stable master, the kitchen staff, footmen and maids. She apologised to each one that she may not remember their name the first time but that she would do her best to learn quickly.

As
Daniel took her arm and led her through the doors into the grand marble-floored hallway with two sweeping staircases up to the next floor, her grip tightened.

“
Oh, Daniel it’s... exquisite.”

“
I am glad you approve. Especially since we shall be here for most of the year.”

“
We shall still go to London though, will we not?”

“
Of course. But travelling will be more difficult once you have a child.” She looked up at him with wide eyes and her lips formed into a little O shape. “You could be with child already.”

“
Yes. Well, I knew that but I must have put it to the back of my mind. All the travel and excitement and getting to know you properly pushed it out of my thoughts.” He frowned at her. He did not believe for a minute that she was naive when it came to the creation of babies. So why had she been so shocked? His heart thudded in his chest as the horrible possibility dawned on him.

Surely not!

“Rebecca, please tell me you are not having Newthorpe’s child.” Rebecca turned a horrified gaze on him.

“
How could you ask such a thing? Do you think I could ever have married you if I was carrying his bastard?”

“
I…well…I guess your reaction made me wonder.”

“
Daniel, we have been travelling for over a week. I am tired, so much has happened and now I look around this huge house, I see so much work that needs to be done. It has been without a mistress for fifteen years and, while I am sure the servants have done a wonderful job, it needs a woman’s touch. It slipped my mind. You must know that I would never deceive you. Had I been found to be with child after he ravished me, I would have broken off our engagement.”

“
I may not have allowed you to.”

Rebecca g
ave a humourless laugh.

“
My lord, while I applaud your generosity of spirit, I doubt that you would be willing to bring up another man’s bastard as your heir. For once we were married that is exactly what he would be—unless it was a girl.”

He had to admit to himself that she did have a point. It was one thing to accept another man
’s bastard into your family as one of your own children, but it was another for him to be the heir of your title and estate.

“
We must give thanks then that I will never be asked to make that choice.”

“
Indeed we must,” Rebecca said, her chin lifted and her lips a thin line—certain signs that she was displeased with him. Good God, the woman was even more beautiful when she was angry.

He showed her around the bottom floor of the house
, and she nodded her understanding and asked pertinent questions. He tried to make little jokes and tell her humorous anecdotes, but her countenance remained unwavering and there was a decided chill in the air.

He then led her up
the stairs and into a large bedchamber.

“
This is the countess’s bedchamber. It is large, has a good-sized dressing area and a lovely view.”

“
And your father’s bedchamber is next door?”

“
Yes. Though I doubt my father will return to this house. I believe the next time I go to town, it will be for his funeral. We said our goodbyes before the wedding.”

“
Where do you sleep?”

“
Just down the hall. Come, I will show you.”

She followed him past three more doors until he
arrived at the room he had used since leaving the nursery.

It was plainly-
decorated room, mainly cream with dark blue and gold accents. Now that he was trying to see the room through Rebecca’s eyes, it looked bare and cold. She walked over to the window, looked out at the view and nodded. Then she turned around and spoke.

“
If it pleases you, my lord, I would prefer to sleep here with you. I see no reason for separate bedchambers. However, some people are old-fashioned and believe it is only right that an aristocratic lady has her own room in which to retire. Some believe that only lower class people share beds. And I would understand if you wanted to banish me at a certain time of the month. But for the most part I would prefer to be with you.”

After the silent treatment Rebecca had given him during his tour of the house, he was surprised she was not banishing him to the dower house. The fact she wanted to share his bed was music to his ears.

“I would like very much for you to share my bed. I have no compunctions about it being lower class. I simply want to fall asleep with you in my arms and wake up to find you sprinkling kisses on my chest.”

“
Good, that is settled. You can use the dower house to entertain your mistresses.”

He was dumbfounded. She kept talking about having mistresses as if she was talking about him owning a horse. She expected it and somewhere deep down believed him to be unfaithful. And that was something that hurt. Daniel may have been a rake when he was single
, but he had always been honourable. And despite his promises to be faithful, she continued to doubt his sincerity.

“
Devil take it, woman. Why can you not just believe it when I tell you I do not want a mistress? I want you and I love you, and that is the end of the matter!”

He punched the wall beside the door as he stormed out. He needed to clear his head and to get away from Rebecca before he did something stupid. Not that he would ever lift a hand to her, but he might start yelling
—again. All the days of frustration and travelling and grief over the knowledge that he would probably never see his father alive again had taken its toll.

He grabbed his hat and gloves and set off for the stables. He needed to ride. To feel the wind around him and to feel the strength of his black gelding
Raven under him. To guide him over the hedges and fences between fields. At least the dashed horse would not keep telling him to go and ride one of the other beasts in the stable. Devil take it.