Twice Tempted by a Rogue (Stud Club #2)(42)

“What makes you say that? Because she challenged you?” Rhys chuckled. “She’s a strong woman.” And sweet, and soft, and secretly vulnerable, and like hot silk between her thighs. But he preferred to keep those sides of Meredith to himself. “She works hard, and she won’t brook any nonsense.”

“I could see that.”

Rhys flexed his hand until his knuckles cracked. “A man like me has no use for delicate porcelain types.”

“Point acknowledged.”

“How’s Lily?”

Bellamy sighed roughly. “Delicate. As porcelain. Leo’s heir will arrive from Egypt in a matter of months, and she’ll have to vacate the house. I don’t know what Lily expects to do then, but she refuses to discuss it. Says she’ll deal with it on her own.” He finished off his brandy with an angry draught. “On her own. What is the world coming to, with these modern women? A man can’t tell them what to do.”

“Don’t I know it,” Rhys muttered, still thinking of Meredith’s frown. If she was unhappy about his decision to stay on the moor, she could easily change it by marrying him. After that incident in the pool, he knew he’d never make it through another night under the same roof without bedding her.

“Lily’s after me to cease hunting for Leo’s killers. Says it’s useless.” Bellamy shook his head. “There’s no way I’ll stop. Not until I find the men responsible and see them hanged. Or worse.” He looked to Rhys. “That’s where you come in.”

“Let me guess. I’m the ‘worse.’”

He nodded. “I’ll admit, these past weeks have been fruitless. I’ve been searching for two nameless, faceless brutes … not an easy task. Cora’s story has given me new hope. It’s much easier to find a dandy than two common ruffians. There are fewer of them, to start, and gold embroidery does stand out in a crowd. I’ll find him, mark my words. And when I do, I’ll send word to you. We’ll need to get the truth out of him. And you promised to lend muscle, if you recall.”

“I recall.” He tapped his stiff finger against the tankard. When he’d made that offer, he’d have picked a fight with anything big and angry, just in hopes of losing for a change. “But things are different now. I have responsibilities here. And I think I’m done with brawling.”

Bellamy leaned over the table and drilled him with a look. “Well, you’ll come out of retirement for this. You’re a member of the Club, and Leo was our founder. You owe him that much, to avenge his death.”

Uncertainty quirked the corner of Rhys’s mouth. Just what did he owe Leo Chatwick? This Club of his had done nothing for him. But it was Leo’s murder that had finally convinced Rhys of the futility of chasing after death. If Leo hadn’t been killed, Rhys might not have returned to Buckleigh-in-the-Moor for years. This one chance at redemption might have been a long time coming.

Perhaps he did owe Leo a great deal.

“Find the man first,” Rhys said. “Then we’ll talk.”

Chapter Ten

During his brief stay at the Three Hounds, Mr. Julian Bellamy did precisely one thing to endear himself to Meredith. He left before dawn.

By contrast, she’d expected Cora to sleep until noon—wasn’t that what ladies of the night must do? So the girl’s appearance during morning baking was a true surprise.

“Good morning, Mrs. Maddox.”

Meredith lifted a board lined with risen yeast rolls and sneezed at a puff of flour. “Mr. Bellamy has already left for London.”

“Yes, ma’am. I gathered as much.”

Cora was all fresh-faced innocence this morning. No paint or powder to obscure her fair complexion, and her blond hair was styled in a simple knot. Her china-blue muslin day dress was low-cut and in want of a fichu, but otherwise unremarkable in style or quality.

And despite all this, she was still a very pretty girl. Perhaps prettier than she’d been yesterday. Which made Meredith think the girl would be trouble.

She didn’t like having Cora in the inn, but she liked the alternatives less. There was no way this harlot was staying in any private residence—be it a London town house or moorland hovel—belonging to Rhys. Meredith might have refused the man’s offer of marriage once or twice, but she wasn’t resigning all interest in him. Not after yesterday at the pool, when she’d been inches away from making years of fantasies come true.

She wrenched open the oven door, and a wave of heat swamped her. Sweat beaded instantly on her brow and neck. Her defenses were momentarily stripped. Memories rushed in.

His strong arms anchoring her in the pool. Their tongues, mating with wild abandon. The hot, swollen tip of his arousal gliding under her touch, silky as twice-milled flour.

His fingers, so thick inside her …

She thrust the bread into the oven and banged the door shut. Focus, Meredith. Her torrid daydreams had already scorched the first batch of rolls.

“Breakfast is over,” she told Cora, wiping her hands on her apron. “And the noon meal will be awhile yet. But there will be fresh bread in a few minutes. Do you take coffee or tea?”

“I don’t suppose there’s chocolate?”

A pretty face and a taste for sweets? Trouble. “I’m afraid not.”

“Then tea, please.”