Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Reed had not been expecting a teasing prank to turn into a distressful episode. It was obvious that something dreadful had triggered Sariah’s emotional response. But until she was able to talk about it, he did the only thing he could—be there in her time of need.
With a sniff, she slowly pulled back from him.
Her eyelashes were damp, her amber eyes shining, the gold flecks reflecting more brilliance than ever before.
“Forgive me. It has been years since I have felt that helpless. It is why I generally avoid mazes. I was a child the last time I entered one and it was so traumatic that I vowed I would never go inside one again.” She put a hand to her forehead.
“I do not quite know what came over me.”
“I do,” he noted softly. “Survival.”
She shook her head and turned away. “It should not signify. Just because I feel trapped does not give me a reasonable excuse for losing control like that.”
Losing control…
The simple comment heightened an alternate awareness in Reed. He held his hand out to her. “Come with me. Let us leave this harbinger of sour memories and retreat to somewhere a bit more comforting.”
She accepted his hand and he led her to a white gazebo, surrounded by brilliant panes of glass.
He’d spied it from the manor earlier. That had been his original destination, to find some time to think about his conversation with Lord Richard, but now, he was considering it for another purpose entirely.
“Again, it seems you are forced to rescue me,” she murmured from behind him.
As they reached the enclosure, Reed turned to face her. “I would gladly continue doing so.”
“That may be,” she said evenly. “But I despise the necessity of it. I am not generally some simpering female incapable of taking care of herself.” She gave a slight wince. “Or perhaps I am and I just do not want to accept the truth. The way I responded just now is nothing short of ridiculous.”
This was one comment he could not allow to stand. Gently grasping her shoulders, he said, “That is not true at all. You are one of the strongest women I have ever met.”
He could see her start to waver, the yearning to believe him flowing in those lovely depths. “Truly?”
“Yes. If I did not believe it before, the recent discussion I had with your brother proved that.”
Her eyes widened slightly. “What did he say?”
“Essentially, that he cares about you a great deal, as well as offering an unspoken warning that if I hurt you, I would not have to worry about any sort of retaliation from him, because we both know that you are more than capable of fighting your own battles.”
She lifted her chin slightly. “I have always wanted to be perceived as that sort of woman.”
“Then I should say you have succeeded quite admirably.”
With a sigh, her face softened. “Thank you for being so understanding.” Her nose wrinkled slightly. “And for not treating me as though I am some sort of pariah for acting as I did.”
“Desperation is not something to be taken lightly,” he countered.
“Men have come back from the war with far worse ailments.” He allowed his hands to slide away.
When he revealed this next part, he needed to have some distance.
It wasn’t often that he offered any sort of personal deficiency to anyone, because he knew that knowledge could be used against him.
At the same time, it was important that she understand this was one area she was not alone.
“Everyone faces some sort of demon at some point in their life.” He walked a short distance away.
“I am anxious if I am left alone in the dark.”
“You are?”
He chuckled as he turned back to her. “Do not sound so surprised. I told you that everyone has something that disconcerts them. I generally have to drink myself to oblivion so I do not feel the darkness closing in around me.”
Her expression was empathetic, not sympathetic, which he appreciated greatly.
“I have recently discovered, however, that is not my only weakness.”
“Is it not?”
The way her mouth parted so sweetly Reed could not resist drawing closer. “No. I am particularly powerless when it comes to you.”
“Oh.”
The slightly breathlessness to her voice made him close the remaining distance. He lifted a hand and used his thumb to wipe away the last evidence of her tears. “Do you still want me to show you the little death, Sariah?”
There was a catch in her lungs. “I thought you had declined my request.”
He looked deeply into her eyes. “I am beginning to wonder if I am the one who suffers from hysteria, because whenever I am around you, I cannot seem to think straight.”
Her arms slowly rose to creep up his shoulders. “Then perhaps we can cure each other from our afflictions.”
She turned her face up to him and whispered, “Reed…”
He kissed her soundly, and then moved aside to nip lightly at her earlobe.
“God, you make me insane when you say my name.” He grabbed her about the waist and lifted her, carrying her to the edge of the gazebo where he straddled her on his lap, one leg on either side of him.
He began to slowly lift her skirts, sliding a hand along the silk of her stockings until his palm met smooth, bare flesh.
“Say it again,” he commanded, as he traveled up her thigh.
It did not take more than the initial contact of his mouth on hers before the persistent throbbing began to pulse at the apex of her legs.
Sariah’s nipples began to tingle, the friction against her stays causing the ache to grow.
But the moment his fingers brushed her intimately, fire seemed to ignite in her veins.
“Reed…” she moaned, as he began to stroke the one place she yearned for him the most.
She clutched his shoulders, her head lolling backward. He kissed her neck and the exposed area just above her breasts. Her hips began to move and she soon found a rhythm to match his.
“You are so wet,” he said harshly.
She wondered if that was a good thing or not, but since she could feel the edge of his hardened manhood along her thigh, she decided it was.
For all of her years, Sariah knew she would never forget the tight coiling that wound itself tighter and tighter in her midsection. “Reed…” She pleaded his name because she did not know what it was she yearned for.
But he knew exactly what she needed.
“Let go for me, Sariah. Give me your fears, your insecurities. I will wipe them all away with desire.”
Sariah looked into his eyes, those mesmerizing green eyes—and something remarkable happened. Something broke free inside of her and she found herself floating upward into the heavens, soaring in the land of euphoria.
Her legs shook, her entire body trembling as if she were possessed.
And perhaps she was—by him. Nothing had ever made her feel like this before, and she knew nothing would ever come close.
There might be other men who could bring her pleasure, but not to the dizzying extent that she experienced with Reed.
She could feel that certainty to her core.
As the tremors eventually began to subside, he removed his hand from beneath her skirts. “I think it is true,” she murmured wondrously.
“What?” he rasped.
“I think I just died.”
His eyes warmed, but she could tell by the tight set of his mouth that he was not comfortable.
“Do you require a… release too?” she asked.
He shook his head. “I think that would be too much instruction for one day.”
“But—”
“I will be well soon enough,” he said firmly.
Something disappointing must have shown on her face because he said, “Very well.”
He gently moved her to the side as he began to unfasten his trousers. She could clearly see the outline of his member, but she had not been prepared for the length and girth when it was bared to the naked eye. “It is… remarkable,” she breathed.
He gave a light snort and then wrapped his hand around the shaft and began to move up and down in a similar rhythm. She reached out and laid her hand lightly over his. “Allow me.”
She saw him visibly swallow. “Sariah—”
Rather than argue with him, she peeled his hand away and replaced it with hers. She marveled at how hard he was, and yet, at the same time almost velvety soft. Mimicking the same actions, she began to stroke him.
He groaned, but she could tell by his expression he was in pleasure and not pain. “Faster,” he commanded.
She complied without complaint and watched as the muscles in his neck bunched with the restraint that he was keeping in check, until he finally expelled his breath and he erupted, his erect cock ejecting a steady stream of his seed.
It was a milky white substance that he quickly wiped away with a handkerchief from his vest pocket.
Before she had time to inspect him further, or ask any direct questions, he quickly righted himself just as she heard her mother calling out her name in the gardens.
“Mama!” she gasped in alarm.
“Indeed,” Reed noted with a side grin. “How fortunate she did not intercede a few seconds earlier. She would have demanded I escort you to the altar today, if so.”
Sariah did not doubt that, and was glad that they had been spared any censure.
He extended his arm to her and they left the gazebo just as Lady Foxworth rounded a corner and spied them.
“There you are,” she said, her knowing gaze taking in their slightly disheveled appearances. Sariah told herself not to blush, but she was afraid that she was failing miserably by the way her face heated by degrees. “I thought you would like to know that Ladies Margaret and Ava have arrived.”
“How lovely!” Sariah was glad that her voice sounded almost normal, with just the right amount of inflection to prove she was truly excited to see her friends again.
Her mother did not look as convinced as she shot a glare at Reed, but then returned to settle her focus on her daughter. “The rest of the guests are starting to arrive as well. Everyone is gathering in the parlor.”
“Of course,” Reed interjected smoothly. “I apologize if we got too caught up in the beauty of nature.”
Lady Foxworth’s mouth pursed together. “Indeed.”
Sariah waited until her mother turned around and then she slid a side glance at Reed, who offered her a scandalous wink in return. “Nature, is it?” she whispered with a teasing vein to her tone.
“How can you doubt it?” He gave a shrug that wasn’t entirely innocent. “I certainly witnessed a breathtaking phenomenon.”
As Reed kept watch of Sariah from the corner of his eye in Harville’s main parlor, he realized that her smile had yet to fade from her lovely mouth.
She flitted about the room like a social butterfly with her charming friends by her side.
They had acknowledged him as gracious as ever, but he had the feeling that Lady Margaret was a bit wiser to the world than Sariah or Ava.
Most definitely the latter, as she was the typical English rose, perfectly na?ve and desired by many in attendance.
He had noticed more than one interested glance shot in her direction.
Most of all, they seemed to give him their approval, which he knew was important when it came to female confidences. He might be able to use their influence if something drastic happened at the end of this farce engagement.
A light frown marred his brow and Lord Abbvie asked him if something was amiss.
They had been discussing horseflesh of all things.
It was not a topic of interest to Reed, who did not even stable one single gelding, but he knew it was something of a hobby for most noblemen, to house a stable full of mighty steeds.
“Not at all. I merely recalled something that Lord Carterfield asked of me earlier. If you will excuse me?”
He made a weak attempt to locate the earl in question, but since he didn’t have anything to say to him, merely making his excuses so that he could explain away the error in his actions, Reed made his way toward the perimeter of the room where he could still keep an eye on Sariah without, hopefully, making it too obvious that she was his current obsession.
As he stood, temporarily free from playing nice with the aristocracy, Reed had time to ponder what Lord Richard had told him about making the engagement a reality.
He had never thought that settling down was in the cards for him.
He certainly hadn’t found anyone intriguing enough to spend more than a few nights with in an effort to slake their mutual lust.
However, being with Sariah in the gazebo had made him wonder if he would tire of her.
She certainly fired his blood like no one else had and, not only that, but the more faults he discovered in her, they went further to mask the insecurities in his own life.
It meant a lot that she did not judge him or point out his failings.
He found it easy to imagine a life where the two of them could live in a semblance of harmony.
And something told him that the bedchamber would never grow cold.
His focus temporarily deterred by his own thoughts, Reed glanced up to see a gentleman approach Sariah.
He narrowed his gaze when he saw her eyes light up when she spied him.
It certainly did not help matters that he was dressed as a Dragoon Guard in a red tailcoat with white bands across the chest, as a true decorated soldier of the Crown.
He started to move forward, but then a figure moved next to him.
“Your influence with Sariah has seemed to make a marked difference in her overall reception to other suitors,” Lord Richard drawled.
“Father will be pleased when she makes an advantageous match once it is proven that your engagement has been broken.”
Reed clenched his fists at his sides. He wasn’t certain who he wanted to strike down at the moment. Instead, he said, “I am glad I could be of service to your family, Lord Richard.”
The other man chuckled. “Are you, indeed? Because you look as though you would like to run Lord Michael Feltstone through with his own sword.”
Now that the prospect had been thrown down in front of him, Reed decided that wasn’t such a bad idea after all. He forced himself to ignore the bait and speak rationally. “The arrangement your sister and I have is temporary.”
“As you keep saying.”
Reed was steadily losing his patience. “What would you have me say? That I deserve to have Miss Kent as my wife because I have worked tirelessly to make something more of myself?”
Lord Richard shrugged. “Some would call that honorable.”
“But not everyone in society is in agreement with that assessment,” Reed snapped.
“Then you will lose her on a technicality without trying to fight for the right to court her?”
Reed clenched his jaw. “The real question is you should be asking, Lord Richard, is—was she ever truly mine to begin with?”
He left his prospective brother-in-law and honed in on his host. Lord Harville was one of the main reasons he’d decided to embark on this house party at all.
It was time he remembered that.