Page 55 of What A Rogue Wants (Lords Of Deception #1)

Circling her arms around his back she clung to him, until she could not hold back any longer and pushed her hips upward to meet him as he thrust deep within her once again.

Tremor after tremor racked her body, leaving her floating, spent, and breathless.

Yet, Grey was not done. A thrill coursed through her as he slid her legs over his shoulders, his body glistening with sweat, the muscles of his arms straining with his effort.

He delved into her hard and fast. Madelaine welcomed every thrust. She rose with him in wild pleasure once again as his own release found him and took him over the edge then dropped him down to her where he rolled off of her and brought her with him to lay against his side.

One of his arms draped around her shoulder, while his other hand came to her hair and stroked it.

Their heavy breathing filled the room, slowly growing into the barest hiss.

Grey’s hand stilled and then came to her chin.

He turned her to look at him. “Feel free to come to me at any time no matter who I’m with if you want to try to persuade me of something without riling my temper. I vow to drop everything for you.”

Madelaine’s answer was a sleepy, sated chuckle.

The next day before departing for their new home where Madelaine would settle in while Grey was on his mission, they decided to take one last ride around the castle grounds.

As they neared the lake, Madelaine pulled up on her reins.

“I do believe Constance is having another rendezvous,” she said, watching as the maid adjusted her cape, tidied her hair and then started trudging in their general direction.

“Do you want to go back the way we came, so we don’t embarrass her?” Grey asked.

Madelaine smiled at her husband’s consideration, but kept her gaze trained on the cave. “I don’t think it’s necessary. Whoever she was with is not following her.”

“Maybe the man already departed.” Amusement laced Grey’s tone.

“Likely. Go ahead for the castle. I never got the chance to thank Constance for helping me, so I could see my father.”

“I’ll not leave you alone anywhere until I know who helped Sutton get his information.”

Madelaine scowled, though secretly pleased Grey was protective of her. “All right. Wait around the bend where you can see us, but we cannot see you. That way I can thank Constance, without making her worried that someone else knows she helped me to leave the castle, besides she and I.”

“Agreed.” Grey kissed her on the cheek and rode toward the turn in the path.

Some minutes later, Constance crested the hill and Madelaine rode toward her, waving. “Constance!”

The maid’s face drained of color and the small pouch she held in her hands slipped to the ground.

Madelaine frowned as she scrambled from her horse and strode toward Constance.

Was it embarrassment or something else that held the woman still as a stone?

Maybe the man she’d met was still in the cave after all.

Madelaine scooped up the pouch and held it toward the maid.

“You dropped this.” The pouch held coins if the weight and noise were any indication.

Constance did not reach for her money. “You’re alive.”

The whispered words, reverberating with accusation, sent tendrils of fear racing down Madelaine’s spine. She shuffled backwards, her gaze darting to the bend in the road where Grey awaited. Blast! Her dagger was by her bedside. She forced a smile. “Of course. Did you think otherwise?”

The maid blinked as if a trance had been lifted. A shaky smile pulled at her lips. “I was worried for you when you never returned from seeing your father.”

The hair on the back of Madelaine’s neck stood on end.

She’d never told Constance that she was going to see her father.

She’d just offered money for the maid’s clothes and help and let Constance assume a lover was waiting for her.

Madelaine stepped back again, but this time Constance moved forward, her lips pressing together and her hand darting down toward her boot.

Madelaine lunged past her, but Constance caught her by the arm, whirled her around, slapped a hand over her mouth and pressed the sharp point of her dagger into Madelaine’s neck. “That was a stupid slip of the tongue,” Constance said.

Madelaine didn’t dare move. The point of the blade was digging into her pulsing vein.

“Can’t say I’m sorry for it, though. If you’re alive, it means Sutton is dead, and my lord had promised to take me and my siblings away from here once you and your man were dead.

Lord Sutton was nothing to look at, but he was generous and put food in my baby brother’s and sister’s bellies.

I would have been a proper lady married to him. ”

Madelaine scanned the path for Grey, but it was empty. Cold sweat broke out on her skin, and her stomach rolled. After everything to die here, with Grey so near yet too far to help her. Her heartbeat roared in her ears. “Goodbye, Lady Madelaine.”

The words pushed Madelaine into a frenzy.

She bit down on Constance’s hand while reaching for the dagger and tugging the hilt.

The blade scraped across her neck as she struggled with Constance, but with a scream of fury, she ripped the blade out of the maid’s hands and swung Constance around while pushing the dagger’s tip into the woman’s back.

“If you move, I’ll plunge this dagger through your back and pierce your heart. You’ll die instantly. Understand?”

“Yes,” Constance replied, her tone stiff.

From behind Madelaine, hooves pounded down the path, and her name was a ferocious cry that filled the air.

Grey was beside her before she could question Constance.

He dropped down from his horse, pistol in hand and pointed at Constance’s back.

He brushed Madelaine’s neck where blood trickled down. “Are you all right?”

“A small cut,” Madelaine replied, her voice steady but her legs trembling with relief that she would live another day to be Grey’s wife. “Darling?”

“Yes, dearest,” Grey replied as if it were every day the two of them stood with dagger and pistol in hand and an enemy before them.

A high keening came from Constance, her hand’s clenching at her sides.

“I’ve discovered who helped Sutton,” Madelaine said, over Constance’s loud noise.

“Indeed,” Grey replied. “I cannot believe I ever thought you a weakness to avoid.”

Madelaine flashed a loving smile at her husband. “You’ve much to learn about me, Lord Drivel.”