Page 28 of The Lady’s Sweet Revenge (Safely in Scotland #3)

H arlow heard her name again and shouted with all her might to answer. Unfortunately, she’d lost her voice earlier in the day when she’d been calling for help in vain. And now when she needed it the most, she could barely rasp a response.

And then she saw the light from a lantern. Turned as she was, she could barely make out Reese in the glow. He’d come home.

As the sun had retreated with the approaching evening, Harlow began to worry she’d have to spend the night out there on her small perch. And now he was there, but he couldn’t see her and she couldn’t call out to him with any volume.

She picked up a piece of stone from her hidden crevice and while clutching the wall, she hurled a rock about the size of a peach pit toward the man.

She heard it clunk against the step, but couldn’t be sure if he’d seen it. She quickly picked up another and another. Fortunately this ledge was filled with shards of rock. She could keep throwing them at him.

“Harlow? Might you stop hurling rocks at me so we might rescue you?” Reese asked.

Harlow slumped against the wall and broke into tears.

She’d not cried the whole day despite having no idea how long she might be there before someone found her, but now with a rescue imminent, she couldn’t stop shaking and crying.

“Go get all the rope from the stables,” Reese ordered someone and she saw one of the lights went off up the stairs. “Are you injured?” he asked.

“No,” she croaked as loud as she could, but he must not have heard over the roar of the ocean below.

“Harlow? Can you answer?”

She closed her eyes in frustration and more tears fell. She cast them aside with a brush of her hand and picked up a rock. Instead of throwing it at him, she tapped it against the sides of her enclosure.

Three loud smacks of the stone.

“I hear you, but you must not be able to speak.”

She again knocked along the wall three steady beats.

“Three means yes, and one means no. Are you injured?”

She responded with one.

“Good. That’s good. We’re going to get you. Don’t move.”

As if she had the option of moving. Since darkness had fallen, she didn’t even want to shuffle about in her safe area for she could no longer see the edge.

She heard a number of people descending the steps, the murmuring of voices.

“Finch said you’ve found her,” Mrs. Garrison asked.

“Aye. It seems she fell through the rail and is on a cliff ledge. Please go have blankets and a hot meal prepared, Mrs. Garrison. Are you hungry, Harlow?” he called to her.

She tapped the rock three times, though she wished should could have responded verbally. She would have told him she was famished.

“Why can she not answer?” Mrs. Garrison asked.

“I’m not sure, but she’s able to communicate. Let’s get her off the rocks and we’ll go from there. The rest of you stay back. And watch the railing. It needs to be repaired.”

A few minutes longer and she heard more shuffling, then Reese’s voice came to her in the darkness.

“Harlow, we’ll be tossing over a rope with a stick tied to it. I can’t see where you are in the dark, but if you can cover your face so I don’t hit you. Don’t reach for the rope; let it come to you. I don’t want to risk your falling.”

She didn’t want that either for she knew if she fell from this place there was nothing to catch her fall.

She knocked her rock three times to indicate that yes, she understood.

She heard a stick clatter along the rock, but it didn’t reach the opening.

“Did that reach you?” he yelled.

She tapped the rock once.

“Was it too far or too short?”

She didn’t know how to answer with rock signals.

“Uh, two taps for too short. Four taps for too far. Followed by a pause and then two taps for too high and four taps for too low.”

She tapped twice to tell him it was too short, but she hadn’t noticed the height so she didn’t tap again after the pause.

“I’m throwing again. The same height but farther.”

It took six more tries, with her signaling between each attempt before the stick came to rest at her foot and she was able to step on it. Very carefully she reached down and picked it up. She gave it a slight tug.

“You have hold of it?”

She tapped three times.

“Tie it snuggly around your waist. Do you know a good knot so you’ll not be pulled loose?”

She knocked three times. She’d learned many knots from her brothers. Mostly when they used them to tie her up when she was captured during one of their games.

“Tap the stone five times when you are secure and ready to be pulled over.”

She tucked the stone under her arm as she tied a knot before tying a second and a third knot for safe measure.

She heard shuffling and talking but didn’t know what they said for she was so focused on the knotting of the rope. She gave it a few firm tugs and then tapped with her rock five times.

When the earl spoke this time, he was higher above her.

He instructed her to knock twice when all the slack was out of the rope and she could feel them pulling. She did as she was told.

“You should be able to step out and put your feet against the rock. We’ll pull you up, but use your feet to walk up so you are not dragged against the stone. Do you understand?”

She knocked three times.

Then she paused and took a deep breath. She would need to trust Reese enough to step out into the darkness. She didn’t hesitate more than a few seconds for she trusted Reese.

“I’ve got you, Harlow. I’ll not let anything happen to you. I promise.”

With that she stepped out and hoped for the best.

*

Reese felt the weight of her on the rope and ordered the groom to move the horse forward very slowly. It went against every instinct he had for he only wanted Harlow in his arms. To know she was safe.

But he couldn’t rush. To do so could cause injury to the woman he realized he cared for more than himself. Which was something he needed to keep to himself. For if his staff saw him grab hold of Harlow and kiss her silly, they would be forced before the minister by morning.

“Go slowly, Harlow,” he said when it seemed she was pulling at the rope frantically.

Soon he saw movement within the range of his lantern light.

Her hair was as dark as the night so it was her face he saw first, and he gasped with the pain in his chest. His throat burned with emotion he needed to keep hidden.

When she was close enough for him to let go of the rope to grab her, he did.

Pulling her against his chest. He would tell everyone it was necessary for her safety, but he couldn’t take another breath without feeling her against him warm and alive.

“Hold!” he called. “I have her. Unhook the rope from the horse.”

He tugged at the knot around her waist and when she was free turned to make sure no one was looking before he pulled her close again, kissing her lips and her face and her neck until the light from above moved closer.

Having to pull away from her was the hardest thing he’d ever had to do. Only knowing that he’d have the opportunity to hold her soon when they were alone in his room allowed him to loosen his grip.

“Are you all right?” he asked again.

“Yes. Thank you,” she said in a light, raspy voice. “I lost my voice from screaming. But no one heard.”

“I’m so sorry I wasn’t here. I should have been here. This is my fault,” he whispered.

His staff descended upon her, helping her up the stairs, wrapping her in blankets. Even his dog barked her welcome and ran around in circles, obviously happy with her return.

She was shuffled away from him to be taken care of. Inside the house she was fed and fussed over. Belle refused to leave her side and Reese saw just how much everyone loved her.

Perhaps even himself. In a very different way.

His mother joined the gathering and brushed Harlow’s dark hair over her shoulder.

“I’m glad you are all right. I was so worried,” his mother admitted showing emotions she kept securely hidden away from everyone. Perhaps he was more like her than he’d realized.

The countess left Harlow’s side to come stand by him.

“I’m not sure if it was a trick of the light or a shadow, but it looked as if the two of you were kissing when she made it up from the ledge,” his mother said without looking at him. Her casual gaze was turned to watch all the hustle and bustle.

“It was most definitely a trick of the lighting. Whyever would I kiss a guest?” he lied.

“I’m not sure, perhaps for the same reason you have not been able to take your eyes off of her?”

Apparently, Reese had been hovering much like his dog.

“I don’t know what you speak of. I only want to ensure my guest is unharmed. What kind of host would I be if I didn’t see after her care and make certain she didn’t need a doctor?”

His mother chuckled. He froze and turned toward the sound he so rarely ever heard. His mother did not laugh often.

“Very well. I shall pretend I didn’t see anything.” She raised a brow. “For now.”

He glared at the woman who would do almost anything to see him wed as soon as possible.

“You didn’t see anything, mother. See that ye remember that.”

She waved her hand as if she didn’t care in the slightest about his unspoken threats. So long as she didn’t cause any trouble or put Harlow’s reputation at risk, his mother could think whatever she wished.

A few hours later he was in his room waiting by his door for her to come to him as she had the other nights.

When he’d waited nearly half an hour, and she hadn’t arrived, he tied the belt on his banyan and all but ran from his room.

He lifted his hand to knock lightly at her door, but it opened before he could complete the knock.

She gasped when she all but ran into him.

“I was just coming to your room.” Her voice was still slightly rough from her hours of screaming for help. A wave of guilt washed over him. He should have been there.

“You were late,” he said, hating that he sounded accusatory. She obviously didn’t realize how much he needed to hold her and feel for himself that she was whole and unharmed. He’d not be able to sleep without seeing her.

She tilted her head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize we’d specified a time for our secret meetings in your room.”

She was smiling, but he didn’t find it funny. Later, he would see the humor in her comment, but at the moment he was wrought tight with concern.

“I was worried,” he admitted. His feelings had come to the surface and he was having trouble burying them once again.

“I’m fine. It’s only that Mrs. Garrison had stayed longer than was normal. If you’d come only a few minutes earlier you would have run into her when she was leaving.”

They surely wouldn’t have wanted that. Though Mrs. Garrison was far more preferable if they were caught than his mother who was likely looking to catch them.

“Do you wish to come in?” she offered and since they were standing there conspicuously in the hall, he nodded and entered the room.

He kissed her as he normally did in the evenings after wanting her all day, but for some reason this time when his lips touched hers something seemed to overwhelm him. He was nearly swept away with it.

He pulled back to look into her bright green eyes.

“I could have lost you,” he whispered as if surprised to hear the thought himself.

“If I were a cat one might say I only have seven lives left. Well…” She shook her head. “Probably more like five. There were two other situations when I was younger.”

“It’s not funny,” he said, not liking the cavalier way she was handling the fact that she might have plummeted to her death that afternoon.

And yes, surviving her jump overboard was another close call, but he hadn’t known her then.

He hadn’t cared the way he did now. With his entire being.

“Good God,” he said out loud without meaning to.

But he was just so shocked to realize how very much he cared for her.

“You have that look you get before you avoid me for the entire day.”

“I do not have a look,” he argued, but she was probably right. He didn’t know what to do with his feelings so he’d felt it was best to stay clear so he’d not risk telling her everything.

“Oh, but you do, my lord. I believe it’s the look of surprise to realize you like me more than you planned to allow.”

“Are ye a witch?” It was if she’d called the thoughts right from his head.

“No. Just observant.” She frowned. “Are you going to avoid me again?”

She looked saddened by this possibility and he realized how much he had hurt her by abandoning her. Perhaps as much as he’d hurt himself. But rather than say that, he took a page from her book and made a jest.

“I can’t really leave you alone, can I? Who knows what might happen to you if left to your own devices.”

She smiled, seeming satisfied with his answer.

“We are together now,” she said with a teasing smile.

She tilted her head as she reached for the sash of her dressing gown.

But he put his hands out to still hers. Of course, he wanted her.

He thought if he lived to be a hundred and three he would want her nearly every day, but tonight he wanted something different.

“Not tonight,” he said. When she blinked, he thought his voice might have been too harsh. “I’m not refusing you. I would like to hold you, if you’re agreeable. You gave me quite a scare today and I just want to feel you in my arms, warm and breathing.”

She swallowed and he saw her eyes turn glassy. It seemed she was not oblivious to the danger she’d been in, but had preferred to brush it aside rather than allow it to fester.

“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to bring up things you don’t wish to think about—”

She cut off his words by reaching up to wrap her arms around his neck and pull him close. He heard a few sniffles and felt the way her body shook with quiet sobs.

He held her tight and gave her as long as she needed to deal with her emotions. In fact, he would be quite happy to never have to let her go.