Page 44 of Ruthless with a Rogue
“It’s not funny,Miss Forester.I’m not the one who is supposed to be worried about your reputation.I am the one trying to ruin you!What do you think you’re doing sneaking into my home?How did you get here?Who knows you’re here?Where did all that cleverness you hide away in your brain go?”
His pulse stuttered.How had she managed to sneak into his home?A…woman insists you called for her services.He almost laughed, which was incredible considering his current state.She’d pretended to be a prostitute.This clever woman.She’d never cease to shock him.
And now, said shocking woman was shaking, hiccupping with laughter.She was clearly dicked in the nob.She waved a hand in front of her face and let out apheeeeewf.“It’s nice to see a bit of you coming back.”Her amusement danced through her words.“My aunt is currently out cold, drunk as an emperor.Imayhave continued to ply her with claret with this little outing in mind.And then I simply took a hackney using some of my winnings atThe Devil’s Eye—”
“Youwhat?”Derek’s heart rate spiked, flew through his veins.She took a hackney?At Christ knew what time it was?Probably well past midnight.His hands tightened where they clenched his knees.Bloody fucking hell.She could have been abducted, raped, killed.All of the above.
She made a soft crooning noise, one that sounded very much like it was mocking him.“Lord Dunmore… Is that worry I hear in your voice?Concern over my welfare?”
“No,” he scoffed.“Don’t be absurd.I’m not worried over yourwelfare.I am just upset because I cannot bed you if you get yourself killed.It is simply my prick that is upset.Not me.”His chest rose and fell roughly.His lungs were clearly working now.
“Of course,” she said solemnly.And also so-very mocking.“But never fear, we womenfolk are not so helpless as you men think we are.How could we possibly do anything, travelanywhere,without a man to gallantly escort us.It might surprise you, my lord, but there are countless women who live in London without husbands, without fathers, without brothers.Do you believe they never leave their homes?”
Well, of course they left their homes.But they weren’t her.It was different.For some reason.He just couldn’t remember what that reason was at the moment.“I still stand by that it was bloody daft,” he grumbled.
“I don’t disagree.But I’m not sure it’s any more daft than going to a mysterious location to meet a notorious rogue just because he commanded me to do so.”
She had him there.
“You seem to be feeling a bit better.”Her words were slow, hesitant.Like she was afraid to bring attention to it.
He relaxed against the wall, realizing his arms weren’t gripped around him any longer but hanging loosely.Not as heavy as before.He felt a bit more…human.The slow flicker of coming back to life seemed closer, brighter, like he was approaching the opening of a cave after having been lost in its darkness.
“I suppose I just needed a clothes-stealing chit to shock me.”Apparently, a wild minx was just the balm his melancholy didn’t know it needed.The light at the end of the tunnel.
She nudged his shoulder, and something warm and foreign swirled in his chest.
“It may not have been the wisest decision, but I’m glad I came.Call me naïve, but from the little I’ve learned of you thus far, you don’t seem the type to go back on your word.Or at least not without sending a note.”
An amused snort escaped him.She may be the only one to believe that.And honestly, he wouldn’t hesitate to break his word.For someone who didn’t deserve it.But that wasn’t Miss Forester.
They fell into a comfortable silence, nothing but their soft, even breaths, and their shoulders pressing together.Her presence did help.He was still exhausted; the thought of getting off the floor was much too arduous a task.But for some reason, having her beside him…made it a little more bearable.
26
Livy
Livydiscreetlystudiedtheman next to her.His features were so harsh, even in the darkness.His jaw was stern and angular; his cheekbones were prominent in a face many would call gaunt.Combined with his jet-black hair and heavy brow, he reminded her of a black wolf she once read about in the zoology books in Papa’s library.Especially hidden in the shadows.Nothing like the jovial boys she’d grown up with.She fixated on the lines of his jaw.Sharp enough to cut.
She never once thought she’d feel such a desperate, soul-shattering ache for the debauched scoundrel.But she did.Inside, small slices were widening into jagged cracks, like a pond’s surface in winter, stepped on when it was too fragile.This man wasn’t who he pretended to be.And Livy recognized so much of his hurt.Finally saw the parts of her she’d recognized even before she’d truly known what they were.Like staring into a looking glass.At loneliness, at hopelessness.
“Some days…my past haunts me.”His words cut through the room, and they both jolted, shoulders smacking into each other, as if he was just as surprised by his words as she was.“Some days I struggle to…face the memories when they resurface.Unfortunately, the night of our commitment—tonight—was one of those times.”
They fell into silence again, and she studied him carefully.She couldn’t put her finger on it, but something about the way he shifted ever so slightly, the way his hands flexed where they rested atop his knees…he looked like he was warring with himself.
“Do you want to discuss it?”she prodded.He turned to her then.Glared at her.She tilted her head in question, and he let out a huff.
“I don’t understand why, but I think I do.I think it’s your smell.It’s making me dizzy and confused.”
“Are you…telling me I need to bathe?”
He groaned.“And now I’m picturing you bathing.”
She swatted his thigh.“Rude.”
“It’s your own fault for putting the image in my mind.But no, I don’t mean you’remalodorous.I mean, you smell like vanilla.It’s bloody annoying, always being assaulted by the scent of vanilla biscuits.”
Livy nodded seriously.“Yes, I can most definitely see that.The mark of an evil woman, smelling like shortbread.”She caught his gaze, and something glimmered back at her, even in the obscurity of the study.A soft levity.But then it went dark, and he looked away.
