Page 10 of Seduced by a Scoundrel (Tales from the Brotherhood #1)

Ten

I t was uncanny how swiftly Jeremy was able to adapt to the new life he suddenly found himself living. When Derrek had whisked him away from his shop in the middle of the night over a fortnight ago, he’d expected to be dripping with misery and anxious to return to his work, his customers, and the lads who depended on him with all due haste.

Instead, he’d adapted to life in a rural village with almost alarming ease.

“Everything you ordered is packed in the parcel, Mrs. Norton,” he said with a smile as he handed the latest gown that he and Clary had finished together to the miller’s wife. “If you need anything at all, please do let Miss Jones know.”

Mrs. Norton accepted her parcel with a gracious smile. “You are so kind, Mr. Wilkes. And pay no attention to the whispers and gossip about you that swirl in the sludge of this town. You are a right and proper gentleman and not a stranger in our midst at all.”

Jeremy kept his smile in place as the woman departed, but it was a brittle smile that shifted to a perplexed look once the woman was out the door.

“I cannot determine if that was a compliment or an insult,” he said, shaking his head and turning back to where Clary was tidying up from the work they’d spent all day doing.

Clary laughed. “It was a compliment from Mrs. Norton hidden in an insult from some of the less desirable people of this town. Villagers do not take quickly to strangers.”

“Well, if that is all it is,” Jeremy said, keeping his eyes downcast as he moved to help Clary with the tidying.

It did not matter that he’d been given a warm welcome by Clary and many of her customers, Jeremy was acutely aware that several of the other villagers had noted his closeness with Derrek and had raised their eyebrows. He was uncertain whether country folk would be more or less vicious than their counterparts in the city if they discovered men like him and Derrek among them, but he had no wish to find out.

His thoughts of Derrek had him peering out the window as he gathered some of the pins he’d discarded while working earlier and put them in the cushion where he should have stuck them to begin with. The village high street was growing dimmer by the moment as the sun set over the western horizon. Derrek should have been there already. He’d come to fetch him every day just as the sunset began so that Jeremy did not have to walk home through the woods alone.

“Looking for your man?” Clary asked with a hint of teasing in her voice as she packed away bolts of fabric.

“He is ordinarily here by now,” Jeremy said, half to himself. He failed to catch the implication of his reply quickly enough and stood straight with a jerk when he realized what his words truly said. “That is, he is not my man. Not in that way,” he rushed to defend himself, twisting to face Clary.

Clary wore a knowing smirk that grew even wider when she saw Jeremy’s discomfort. “You cannot fool me, Jeremy Wilkes. I know the look of a man in love when I see him.”

“Do you?” Jeremy asked with a bit too much challenge.

He did not realize how his question might be taken until Clary’s clever look fell.

“Yes, I do,” she said with a sigh. “I know what love looks like when it is in full bloom and blush, and I know how it can appear when it has faded and taken a fancy in someone else.”

There was most certainly a tragic story behind his friend’s words. “I am so sorry,” Jeremy said, his heart going out to Clary.

Clary sucked in a breath, squared her shoulders, and went back to sorting the bolts of fabric and boxes of thread and ribbon that they’d taken down throughout the day for their work. “That’s enough about that. The past is the past, and I’ve no wish to revisit it.”

Jeremy rather wished she would revisit it and tell him everything so that he could be a true friend to her and give her a needed shoulder to cry on. The chief reason he had adapted to village life so quickly was because he’d found a true friend and kindred spirit to spend his days with.

Not to mention a handsome and strong champion to while away his nights with.

Not that anything had happened between him and Derrek in those nights. Not unless waking in a certain state every morning and suffering through until it went away counted as something.

He glanced out the window again, brow furrowed as he tried to guess how much longer the twilight would last.

Clary seemed to read his thoughts. “You might as well go now,” she said, the teasing twinkle back in her eyes. “You’ll need the light to find your way home to your man. I’d wager he’s waiting there for you with a supper of sausage already waiting.”

Jeremy instantly flushed hot. “You are a lady,” he said, turning away from the window and walking to fetch his coat and hat from the hook where he’d hung them earlier. “You are not meant to have knowledge about such things.”

Clary laughed. “I’m a country lass with a colorful family,” she replied. “I know more than is good for me.”

Jeremy had no doubt about that. He sent her a mock look of wariness before fixing his hat on his head, making his goodbyes, and heading out into the village.

It was ridiculous for him to feel so alone and intimidated as he walked the path that he’d walked every day for a fortnight. He was a man approaching thirty and perfectly capable of strolling through the teeming streets of London without a care in the world.

The countryside and forest of Kent were not London streets, however. As magnificent as the view across the hills and fields was, it felt too open to Jeremy, too exposed. Worst of all, from the moment he left the edge of the village and started across emptier space, he had the uncanny feeling that someone was following him or watching him.

That sensation of being observed only increased when Jeremy reached the edge of the woods. It did not matter how many times he twisted or took a few backwards steps to scan the vista behind him for anyone who should not have been there, the feeling of being watched, of being a target, followed him. Once he was surrounded by trees and the path narrowed, he felt those eyes everywhere.

“Hello?” he called into the darkening forest. “Derrek? Is that you?”

The deeper he walked into the forest the darker things became. He wished that he’d thought to bring a lantern, or even a candle, from Clary’s shop. The trees were not yet in full leaf so early in the season, but with the sunlight almost completely gone, the budded branches made Jeremy feel as though a shroud had been pulled over him.

“Derrek?” His voice grew weaker with every step he took.

It wasn’t just the darkness of the woods that unnerved him. The forest was filled with the sounds of unfamiliar birdcalls and the rustling of unseen creatures in the undergrowth. At one point he heard the hair-raising cry of a fox and picked up his speed to a near run.

Where was Derrek at any rate? Why had his champion not come to the shop for him that evening? Had something happened? Had Conroy caught up with him at last and dispatched Derrek so that he could pounce on Jeremy when he least expected it?

The thought had a pitiful sound of fear escaping from Jeremy’s throat. He hated himself for being so timid. He was a man, a businessman with a thriving reputation in London. He should not have turned into a whimpering child simply because he’d had to walk himself home in the dark. But a great many things about what made a man brave or stole that bravery changed when he knew that someone had a mind to kill him.

By the time Jeremy reached the cottage, his nerves were as frayed as the muslin he’d hemmed earlier that day. He ran the last few yards through the garden and up to the cottage door. Another burst of panic hit him when he discovered the door was locked and when he saw no lanterns lit inside. Derrek was not there.

He retrieved the key from above the doorframe, where Derrek had taken to putting it when they left. His hands shook as he fit it into the lock and pushed the door open. Even though the cottage was still warm from that morning and the embers in the fireplace glowed orange in welcome, Jeremy felt as though the place was hollow and missing something.

For a moment, he stood lamely in the middle of the front room, fighting the panic that had welled up within him. He had no reason to fear. He was home, and soon Derrek would be, too. His champion had probably gone into Aylesford to send a message to London, or perhaps to Maidstone on some other errand. The chance of foul play being involved was small. Derrek would be home soon.

Clinging to that tentative thought, Jeremy finally shrugged out of his coat and went about lighting the lanterns, refreshing the fires, and preparing supper for when Derrek did come home to him.

“This is all a simple misunderstanding,” he spoke to himself as he walked out to fetch water from the pump for tea, sloshing some over his breeches in his frightened clumsiness. “You’ve no need to fear. Everything is as it should be. All is well.”

He’d come close to believing himself after returning to the relative warmth and safety of the house when the sound of something large rustling outside nearly scared him out of his wits. He’d been turning sausages in the pan over the stove and dropped the fork with a loud clatter. He nearly cried out when a shadow passed close to the window, heading for the cottage’s front door. Had someone been following him after all? Was it Conroy and his accomplice?

The door handle turned a moment later, and the door opened to reveal a weary but smiling Derrek.

“Hello, dove,” he said, taking off his hat and undoing the buttons of his coat. “I see you made it home safely.”

“Where have you been?” Jeremy shouted, relief and anger blending into something that came out as loud and frantic. He abandoned his cooking and flew across the room as if he would box Derrek’s ears. “Why did you not come to the shop to fetch me?”

Derrek’s eyes went wide and he nearly dropped his coat as he moved to hang it on the hook by the door. “Easy there, dove,” he said, hanging his coat and hat before turning to Jeremy. “I was delayed at the manor house earlier.”

“The manor house?” Jeremy shouted, his fear causing his emotions to fly off in several directions at once. “You went to the house to have tea and cakes with the lord of the manor while I was forced to walk home in the dark alone, terrified of my own shadow?”

Derrek’s expression flashed from frustrated to compassionate and back to annoyance so fast that Jeremy could hardly follow his emotions. “We have established that Lord Linton is not there,” he said, his voice cautious and calm. “I received word from one of my informants in London that his son, Lord Albert, has been spotted after all, and so I decided to walk around the house to investigate.”

Jeremy was too far gone with upset to rein himself in. “Lord Albert Howard has returned to England?” he asked, suddenly finding it difficult to breathe. Was that who he’d felt watching him from the shadows on his way home?

Dear God, he was going to die. Conroy and his accomplice, who must be Lord Albert, were going to find him and kill him.

“How could you leave me alone at a time like this?” he asked, ashamed of the way his voice came out in a squeak. “I rely on you, Derrek. I depend on you. I am terrified without you. You are my…you are mine.”

He gulped for breath as the last of his words came out, still too upset to wrap his mind around what those words implied.

Derrek stared at him strangely, as if Jeremy were a runaway horse that he was uncertain how to catch. “I am sorry,” he said, his voice tight. “I did not realize you relied on me so much.”

“Of course I rely on you!” Jeremy shouted, the scent of burning sausages from behind him fueling his roiling emotions even more. “You are everything to me at the moment, Derrek. You are my savior and my saint. I cannot imagine this existence without you anymore. I?—”

Before he could barrel on with more sentiments he hadn’t thought his way through, Derrek took one, large step toward him, grasping him by his upper arms, and brought his mouth crashing over Jeremy’s.

At first, the kiss stopped every thought and emotion Jeremy had in its tracks. He’d been kissed before, but never like that. Never with such overwhelming strength and passion. Derrek’s lips crushed his, and it seemed as though the only thing he could do about it was to part his lips to give Derrek more.

That show of acquiescence only encouraged Derrek. He adjusted his hold to pull Jeremy fully into his arms and thrust his tongue in to explore Jeremy’s mouth. The sensation of invasion sent warm, swooping pleasure through Jeremy’s gut, sending blood straight to his groin. He melted into Derrek’s larger, firmer body, instinctively closing his arms around him and gripping Derrek’s shirt.

If Derrek had stopped there, Jeremy’s panic might have been eased and he might have settled and felt ashamed of himself for his outburst. But Derrek wanted more. He lifted Jeremy clear off his feet, pivoting and carrying him to the settee.

Jeremy let out a gasp of surprise as Derrek laid him back on the settee, then covered his body with his own. It felt glorious to have all that weight and heat on top of him. Even the fabric of Derrek’s shirt and breeches was not enough to hide the hard bulge that pressed into Jeremy’s thigh as Derrek devoured him with another kiss.

It was carnal bliss, and Jeremy felt himself spinning in it. He moaned as Derrek ploughed his mouth and shifted his thighs open a bit so that the important bits of both of them could press together. Even fully dressed, it felt wonderful.

“Jeremy,” Derrek growled as he shifted to kiss Jeremy’s cheek and jaw and neck. “I’m sorry. I won’t ever leave your side again if you do not want me to.”

Jeremy was incapable of words, but he did manage to groan in response and grip Derrek’s shirt tighter. He wanted the man. He wanted to experience everything that Derrek had teased and hinted about for the past fortnight. Derrek was right, they were secluded in the woods where no one knew how to find them. They could rut like horses outside in the garden, completely naked, and no one would ever see them.

“Derrek,” he gasped, kissing him and brushing his lips along the rough stubble of Derrek’s jaw. “I want you. I want?—”

The scent of burning was suddenly overwhelming. More than that, when Jeremy turned his head toward the smell, he spotted smoke curling up from the pan of sausages he’d left on the stove.

With a decidedly ungentlemanly curse, he pushed up, attempting to roll out from under Derrek.

Derrek wore a ravenous look, and the bulge in his trousers was prominent. For a moment, he looked indignant that Jeremy would stop what they’d started so abruptly, but he quickly smelled the burning and saw the smoke as well. “Bugger,” he growled, climbing off the settee and allowing Jeremy to get up.

Jeremy made a mad dash for the stove, only barely remembering to wrap the handle of the pan with a cloth before grabbing it and running the whole thing outside. Still not thinking clearly, he tossed the sausages, pan and all, onto a patch of green grass. The hiss of hot meeting cold filled the air.

“So I suppose it’s bread and cheese for supper again,” Derrek said, coming out into the darkness behind him.

Jeremy winced as the catalog of stupid things he’d done in the past five minutes struck him. “I am sorry,” he said, turning to Derrek. His face felt as red as a berry, and he hoped Derrek couldn’t see it in the darkness. “I wasn’t thinking. I should not have done that.”

“Burned our supper or thrown yourself at me like a strumpet?” Derrek asked, teasing in his voice.

“Both,” Jeremy said, taking the question seriously. He bent to pick up the pan, though he rolled the ruined sausages into the singed grass as he did. “I will prepare something else for us.”

“Or we could forgo supper and eat each other instead,” Derrek suggested with a twinkle in his eyes that Jeremy noticed as they stepped back into the cottage.

Jeremy was tempted. He was sorely tempted. But with the weight of shame now pressing down on him and his emotions steadier than they’d been when Derrek had arrived home, he did not see how he could let himself be that free.

“I am sorry for shouting at you,” he said, avoiding Derrek’s gaze as he walked back to the stove. “I was upset and frightened. I should not have been, I know. I am perfectly capable of walking a familiar path alone. I was worried about you is all. Those feelings got the better of me.”

Other feelings had gotten the better of him as well, but he wasn’t certain he wanted to face that quite yet.

Derrek hovered close as Jeremy fumbled through preparing them something different to eat. Jeremy could feel the conflict of what to say and whether to attempt to continue their previous activity rippling from him.

“I truly am sorry that I was unable to be there for you when you expected me,” he said in a quiet voice. When Jeremy turned to him, his brow was furrowed. “I understand if you wish to keep me at arm’s length for a bit longer.”

Jeremy puffed out a breath and turned to face him. “It’s not that,” he said, forcing himself to meet Derrek’s eyes. “If not for the sausages, I would have given you everything and probably have been glad of it. But I am so unsettled right now. This might sound laughable and childish to you, but rather than buggering like two dockhands, could we not simply sit together on the settee after our supper, I do not know, reading or engaged in some other quiet activity such as that?”

Derrek’s tense, frustrated expression melted into a smile. “Yes, I believe that would be lovely,” he said. “I will even read to you, if it would soothe you.”

Jeremy smiled, though part of him still felt as if he were giving Derrek the thin end of the wedge. “Thank you,” he said. “And I am certain we will resume our previous activity at some point.”

“Just not tonight,” Derrek finished his thought. He did not seem to have any ill feelings about it.

Jeremy smiled at him, and for a moment he second-guessed his decision not to go to bed with Derrek that night. He wanted him, really he did. But the more he thought about it, the more he felt that an evening of closeness with a book might be just as lovely. Especially since he had no feeling of certainty at all that they would be able to continue that sort of intimacy once Conroy’s plot was foiled and he no longer needed protection.