Page 29 of The Lady’s Sweet Revenge (Safely in Scotland #3)

A fter a good cry, Harlow felt much better. Reese was a perfect gentleman to not mention the way she’d fallen apart in his arms. He’d also not mentioned the mess she surely looked or the dampness she’d left all over his shirt.

She’d thought she was fine, but it seemed this near-death experience was one too many.

It did give her an idea though.

“I’ve thought of another thing I’d like to do to get back at my uncle for what he did,” she told Reese.

He chuckled and drew her closer. “It was already quite devious, but tell me your plan.”

For the next hour they discussed the elaborate details of how she could ensure her uncle would be begging for mercy.

Reese offered his own ideas and between the two of them she felt confident it would be even more terrifying than their previous plan.

The man deserved everything she had devised to torment him.

And when she was done, and he was broken before her, she would be able to put all of this behind her.

At least that was what she was hoping for.

“He will rue the day he betrayed me,” she said sounding a bit sinister with her rough voice and threatening demeaner. “Do you think your mother will help me with my costume?”

“The woman seems determined to stir up scandal of late, so I’m sure she would be elated to help ye with your dramatic revenge plot.”

“You don’t think it’s too much?” she asked.

He laughed and she realized how much she liked hearing it. He didn’t laugh as much as he should, she would make it her goal to have him laughing more often.

“I definitely think it’s too much, but it’s perfect.”

When her eyes grew heavy, he kissed her softly and got out of her bed where they’d been lounging comfortably.

“I shall leave you to your rest. You had a tiring day and if I stay I’ll be in danger of falling asleep here.”

The idea of sleeping next to him all night, where he might banish her nightmares, was tempting. She thought of how nice it must be to wake up next to someone in the morning. All the things they could do in their room before starting the day.

It wasn’t until she was snuggled down in her covers and she heard the soft click of the door that she realized they hadn’t been intimate as they’d been before. He’d said he’d wanted to hold her, but she assumed he would get to those other things when he was assured she was fine.

Perhaps, she thought, lying together talking and touching was the most intimate they’d ever been. Even if their bodies hadn’t joined, their hearts had. She knew he truly cared for her. And she certainly cared a great deal for him as well.

If he proposed again, she wouldn’t hesitate to accept, for it was clear he didn’t want her for money, or simply because he’d taken her virtue. They could be quite happy together. Especially when they could share a bed without having to sneak around.

If he asked simply because he wished to rather than because of his mother’s threats and pressure she would be happy to become his wife. And until then she would be satisfied being his lover. And friend.

The next morning after dressing, she made her way to the breakfast room and smiled when she found the earl in his place at the head of the table.

“Good morning, my lord.” She dipped a curtsey to Reese before turning to the countess. “Lady Breckenridge.”

“Good morning,” his mother greeted her while Reese simply winked and waited for her to take her seat before he dug into his meal.

“I was going to tell my mother of your plan, but thought you might want to share your diabolical scheme yourself.”

As they ate, Harlow shared her thoughts. At first, the countess seemed shocked by Harlow’s deviousness, but then after some thought she agreed to help. And even came up with some ideas herself.

“That is very good,” Reese said. “Shall we meet after luncheon to start working on things? As for now, I am going to take Harlow and Belle on a stroll that hopefully results with the three of us returning to the house.”

His mother raised her brow at Harlow. “See that you do, young lady. We’ll not have you hanging about on a cliff all day.”

“I wouldn’t think of it,” Harlow promised and got up to take his offered arm.

They were quiet as they walked across the lawn to the gardens.

Belle had already run off to chase a rabbit, leaving them alone.

As soon as they were ensconced in the shadows of the trees, Reese turned to her and kissed her thoroughly.

“I wanted only to hold you last night, but I woke up wanting you fiercely,” he admitted while kissing up her throat.

“Here?”

“Yes. I’ll not make it to the evening. I need you now. No one comes out here but us. My staff is busy and my mother abhors the outdoors. We will be alone.”

He kissed her again. This time his need shifted to something deeper.

Opening her eyes after his kiss she looked into his chocolate gaze and wished he would be the man who wanted her for the rest of his life. But he’d already asked—or tried to—and she’d turned him down. How was she to communicate that his offer would be better received now?

She let out a breath heavy with disappointment. She’d known the earl had only proposed that first day out of obligation. For he’d not known her at all. Definitely not enough to warrant sharing his life with her.

Maybe he wouldn’t ever offer again. She’d not met a man more dead set against marriage.

Even her horde of bachelor brothers did not detest the institution as ardently as Lord Breckenridge.

Though she did wonder if he protested a bit too much.

Could it be that the man was doing his best to convince himself it was something he didn’t want because he saw it as something unattainable under the conditions he’d mentioned?

He’d said he only wanted to marry a woman who wanted him, not a title or what he could give her.

And definitely not because they were forced to marry because of society’s dictates.

But she did not want him for material things.

She genuinely liked spending time with him.

Perhaps without meaning to they had inadvertently met the criteria of an agreeable match.

Interesting. And she may have thought more on it if the man had not leaned closer and kissed her again. This time instead of a single, soft press of his lips against hers he consumed her mouth, thrusting his tongue inside to spar with hers.

She didn’t realize he had pulled her onto his lap until they broke for air and she realized she was pressed up against him. A place she liked extremely well, but would have enjoyed better without their clothes in the way.

“I wasn’t sure if you would want this today,” she said. When he’d only wanted to hold her last night, she’d wondered if he’d tired of her already, but she realized that they both needed something deeper the night before, after such a trying day.

He kissed the edge of her jaw with a smile on his lips. “I imagine I will want this every day until you shoo me away.”

She was the one to lean in this time. Placing her palms against his cheeks she held him so she might kiss him as deeply as she wished. Kissing, however, didn’t seem like enough.

It was absurd to think that she had only kissed him for the first time days before when now it seemed like it was her sole reason for living. Or perhaps it was what they’d done in his bed. How could she want something so intensely she’d gone years without?

The answer didn’t matter for as she moaned and shifted restlessly on his lap she knew what she wanted and didn’t care about the reason why or that it was too much.

She felt his cock pressing against her leg and it pushed another wave of heat and need through the core of her body.

“I need you,” she said, unsure if she should have admitted to such a thing, but not caring about that either if it got her what she wanted sooner.

He looked around in a daze as if surprised to find them outside in the garden. She did the same, realizing that they would likely have to wait until that night to meet in his room and quench their desires. It seemed too long to wait.

He must have seen her need, for he reached low and slid his hand under her skirts. His warm fingers heated her skin as they slid up to the place she wanted him to touch.

When he did, he groaned.

“So wet,” he said more to himself and she felt his cock lurch against her as if it were of its own mind to free itself from his breeches.

When his fingers delved into her, she gasped and settled against the exquisite invasion. “Yes.”

He continued to touch her both inside and outside her body until she felt that spinning she’d felt the night before.

“Yes,” she said again or maybe for the hundredth time, she couldn’t be sure.

And then his thumb pressed more firmly against that spot and her body jolted and throbbed as the air left her body and didn’t return for some time later.

She gasped against him as her body sagged in release, but she felt him still hard against her. When she was able to open her eyes and the world came back into focus, she slid back and reached for him, touching him through the fabric.

He grunted as if in pain and pulled her hand away.

“I just need a moment.”

“A moment to finish?” she asked wondering what she might do to help him as he’d helped her.

“No. For it to go away.”

“Why would you wish it to go away?”

“Because it will be some time until I can do anything to relieve it.”

He had used his fingers to bring her to climax; she looked at her bare hand and thought surely she could do the same for him.

She reached for the buttons of his breeches and he took her hands into his.

“What are you doing?”

“If I were to touch you… there.” She nodded to his engorged member. “Would it not feel as good as your touch felt for me?”

“It would feel wonderful, but we are in the garden and you are a lady.”

She cocked her head and laughed.

“You just touched me intimately and sated my overheated body in the garden. Why would I not be able to do the same to you? Our crimes are not negated by only completing half the infraction, my lord.”

She gave him what she hoped was a saucy grin and reached for his breeches again. This time he didn’t stop her while she struggled with the blasted buttons that eventually gave way so she could put her hand inside to grasp him.

“Dear God, Harlow,” he said as he squeezed his eyes closed. She knew she had done the right thing as she stroked him, mimicking the movements they had engaged in the night before.

Reese’s breathing picked up and he held tight to her until he groaned and stilled. She felt hot liquid spill through her fingers. The same as she’d felt on her stomach the night before.

She pulled her hand free looking down at the mess and wondered what she was to do now. But after a few deep breaths, the earl reached into his jacket and pulled out a handkerchief. He cleaned her hand while looking at her instead.

“Thank you,” he said.

She smiled, feeling quite powerful in having been able to bring him release on her own.

“You are quite welcome. Now that we have seen to that, should we find out who stole the art from the rook’s tower?” she said mentioning the book they had yet to finish. He’d brought it out with them.

He grinned and handed over the book so she might start reading first.