Bronwyn Scott - Breaking the Rake's Rules

Maybe it was the adrenaline of the day, but all he wanted to do was fall into her. His intrepid lady didn’t seem to mind. She’d not shut her mouth against his invasion, her body had not tried to pull away. It was all the invitation he needed. His lips started to move, his tongue caressing the inside of her mouth, running over her teeth. Ah, his lady had a sweet tooth! She tasted of peppermints and smelled of her bath, all lemon and lavender where he breathed in her skin. She was all womanly heat against him, her tongue answering him with an exploration of its own.

Kitt nipped at her lower lip, eliciting a surprised gasp. His hand moved to cup her breast, kneading it through the slippery satin, the belt of her robe coming loose. He slipped a hand inside, making contact with warm, lemon-and-lavender-scented skin, his arousal starting to peak. He had no doubt she could feel it against her thighs where their bodies met.

An ill-timed knock on her door interrupted the pleasant interlude, followed by worried masculine tones. ‘Is everything all right in there?’ Kitt knew a moment’s panic. There were only so many explanations for a voice like that. A father? A brother? A fiancé? Or worst of all, a husband?

His lady jumped away, her grey eyes wide as she mouthed the words, My father ! But she was cool under pressure. Panic was already receding as she stared at him, assessing her choices and their advantages. Would she give him away? Kitt gave her a wicked smile to indicate there were definite benefits to keeping his secret. She smiled back. Apparently the decision was made.

She called into the room, loud enough to be heard through the door. ‘Everything’s fine, I heard a crash. It’s nothing, just the trellis again.’ And then, perhaps realising someone might come in anyway to be sure she was safe, she added hastily, ‘I’m, um, getting dressed. I’ll be down in a moment.’

Satisfied she would be left alone, she turned towards Kitt, hands on hips. ‘Now, for the question of the night, who are you and what are you doing in my bedroom?’

Kitt grinned, letting his eyes appreciably roam the length of her. His rescuer was strikingly attractive. Long chestnut hair hung down her back in a heavy, shiny curtain, the sharp planes of her cheek bones and cool grey eyes creating the impression of intelligence. This was no unseasoned Miss. Maybe things were starting to look up. His cock certainly thought so. He leaned back against the railing, arms crossed over his chest, making no attempt to hide his arousal. ‘My name is Kitt and what I’m doing in your bedroom is entirely up to you.’

Chapter Two

If there was a more blatant invitation to sin, Bryn Rutherford had yet to hear it. Or see it, for that matter. The blond, tanned, mass of male muscle leaning on the rail of her balcony was temptation personified. Even sweaty and wearing the dirt of the day—and from the looks of it, his day, whatever it had been, had been pretty dirty—she could tell he was delicious. He’d tasted delicious, too, like an adventure—all wind and salt as if he’d spent a day at sea.

She probably should have slapped him for his unorthodox silencing, but that would assume she hadn’t liked it, or that she hadn’t willingly participated in it. She was honest enough to admit that she had. And why not? It wasn’t every day a handsome man climbed into a girl’s bedroom. The question now was what was she going to do about it? She ought to throw him back down the trellis, but her curiosity simply wouldn’t allow it, nor would the fact that he’d apparently knocked the trellis over.

Bryn returned his stare with a frank appraisal of her own, running her gaze down the length of him in return. Two could play this game. ‘There isn’t time for what you propose, sir. I have a dinner to attend. My father is expecting me downstairs momentarily.’ As if not having a dinner engagement would have changed her decision. One look at him had told her he would not appreciate a reticent Miss who shirked from stolen kisses. He wanted the woman she’d been in his arms, all courage and fire.

‘Another time perhaps?’ Bryn dared, enjoying this moment of boldness, of not worrying about the rules. Men who climbed trellises were beyond the rules to start with. She needn’t worry about him telling anyone what they’d done. Such a confession would force him to the altar and that was the last thing he wanted. This man was not husband material, he was fantasy material, but she needed him to depart. Her maid would be up any minute to help her finish dressing. He would be rather hard to explain. ‘As lovely as the interlude has been, I do need to ask you to leave.’

He made a show of looking around, past her into the bedroom, down at the garden below and up at the sky for good measure. ‘Exactly how do you propose I do that?’

‘It would have been easier if you hadn’t kicked over the trellis.’ Easier, but far less exciting. It was rather arousing to imagine those arms of his flexing as he pulled himself over the balcony without the help of any support. Whatever he did all day, it was no doubt ‘exerting’. He fairly oozed good health from the pores of that tanned skin. Probably what he did all night was exerting, too. He wasn’t the kind to sleep alone.

Bryn looked over the railing at the ground. ‘Easier, but not impossible without it. If you lowered yourself over the balcony and extended to your full length, you could safely make the drop without any harm, I think.’

‘Or I could hide under your bed until you’ve left,’ he suggested with another sexy smile that sent a decadent trill down her spine. This was the most fun she’d had in ages: no chaperon, very nearly no clothes and this wicked man all to herself. She’d forgotten how much fun flirting was.

She trailed her hand down the open vee at the neck of her dressing gown, watching his eyes follow the motion. ‘What a most erotic suggestion, letting you watch me undress. I must decline out of fear you will rob us blind after I leave. I can’t let a stranger have unsupervised access to the house.’ She flicked her eyes towards the door in warning, a reminder that discovery was imminent if he continued to delay. ‘I really must ask that you go or this time I will scream.’

He laughed and made her a little bow before throwing a leg over the railing. She held her breath. She didn’t want him to be hurt, but she had to get rid of him and she was fairly sure the drop wouldn’t be injurious. He gave her a wink as he levered himself into position. ‘Don’t worry, I’m sure your estimations are correct.’ Then he disappeared. A moment later, she heard a quiet thud. She risked a look over the edge and saw him rise up, brush off the dirt and trot out the garden gate into the night. In the falling darkness, her conscience might have imagined the limp.

* * *

Bryn wished he’d trot out of her thoughts just as easily. He might have if the dinner had been more entertaining. Although to be fair, it would had to have been extremely diverting in order to compete with the episode on her balcony. As it was, the most exciting thing about dinner was the empty chair across from her. It most certainly wasn’t the man on her left, a Mr Orville, a successful importer, who simply wasn’t up to it with his paunchy belly and habit of excessively using the term ‘my dear’ to start most of his sentences. The man on her right was not much better, only younger. But she understood the importance of making a decent first impression, of stroking the feathers of a man’s ego. The nuances of being a lady had been drilled into her quite thoroughly by her mother, a testament to her upbringing, since she’d turned fourteen. She knew how to be a lady and how to use it to her advantage. That didn’t mean she liked it.