A Reckless Redemption

by Laura Trentham

  “My courses started that morning. Then after I heard about Dugan and Sutherland, I didn’t require your protection anymore either. I was free.”

  “I almost chased you down the road. Maybe I should have.” He rose and paced, too agitated now the moment was on him to pretend this was a normal social call. This was life and death. “But I had urgent business in Cragian.”

  “What sort of business?”

  “I needed to see to my inheritance,” he said drily.

  Bryn’s eyes widened. “MacShane left you something after all.”

  “A small stipend, the cottage I grew up in, and some prime land around it.” Maxwell stopped and faced her. “Bryn, the cottage. You had it repaired and expanded for Mother. It’s lovely.”

  “It was falling down around Eden’s ears.” She squirmed and dropped her gaze to his knees. “After you left, there was no one to plug the holes that grew bigger by the week. I gathered up some of the local lads who owed me favors and appealed to Lord MacShane.”

  So many owed so much to one woman.

  “The baskets. Why didn’t you tell me it was you all along?” he asked. Her words from weeks before haunted him. Of course I care. I always have. He had been blind. She had never failed him from the time she was twelve. Twelve years old and she had recognized and eased his pain. She had been the one he prayed for daily.

  “I didn’t want you to feel ashamed or, even worse, obligated to me. Not like that.”

  “Most children either called me names or ignored me. How did you notice?” He’d left his shame in Cragian. What he felt now was more akin to awe.

  “You don’t remember, but you were kind to me once after I took a tumble off my horse. You acted a gentleman and treated me like a lady. I took to spying on you when you came to work in the gardens. Sometimes I would climb a tree, sometimes I would hide behind a hedge. I was drawn to you even then.” Her tentative smile made his heart ache. He had to clench his hands from pulling her to him.

  * * * * *

  Maxwell’s hands were balled in fists at his side and his body taut. If she didn’t know him better, she would label it anger. But it wasn’t. Or at least not just anger. It was a passion and fear and need he kept well hidden.

  “Do you think me too stoic? Too unfeeling, Brynmore?”

  She popped up to face him. This was her final stand. She’d not live her life filled with regrets like Winnie. She was stubborn, too, but in a different way—too stubborn to give up on Maxwell Drake.

  “I can’t read your mind, Drake. You must tell me.”

  “Christ! It’s a lark really, the fact you can’t see what feels etched on my heart.” Maxwell’s face was pained, and he ran his hands through his hair.

  The man who’d scaled a wall to ransack an office and chase a would-be killer into the dark night was scared. Of her. The truth hit her like a bolt from the sky.

  “Tell me.” She gentled her voice and cupped his cheek. He let out a long breath, his body curling into hers enough to signal his surrender.

  “I feel too damn much. The pain of my father not acknowledging my existence, powerlessness to help my mother, the humiliation I endured as a boy. It was like a knife to my heart, bleeding it little by little until your sister finally tore it into a thousand pieces. I buried the scraps deep. I protected myself from the good and bad of life, and I was perfectly content.”

  His voice crackled with emotion now; his eyes danced with it. He’d never looked as handsome.

  “Is that what you want? To go back to being content?”

  “I can’t go back, damn you.” His jaw worked. “You made me feel again. Live again. I bless the day I found you waiting in my bed. You’re the first thing on my mind in the morning, and you haunt my dreams at night. I would give my life to protect you and want nothing more than for you to be happy. Even if that means you destroy me and marry another, probably more deserving, man. I love you, woman, don’t you know that?”

  His words melted the ice that had formed around her heart and made it leap into a rhythm that breathed life back into her soul.

  “I do now.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and feathered kisses over his face.

  Her lips slid to his. The kiss was one of rediscovery and exploration. He roamed his hands over her back, her hips, her bottom. It felt like they’d been apart for months instead of days, and the passion between them grew at a rate she couldn’t control. If he lay her down on the rug in front of the cracking fire, she wouldn’t peep a protest.

  “I’ve missed this.” The rawness in his voice had only been partially smoothed.

  “What? My arse?” she asked.

  Maxwell laughed and nuzzled behind her ear. Erotic shivers coursed through her. “All of you but most especially your arse. I love you.”

  His kiss seemed imbued with all the love and passion he’d kept dammed up for too long. It stole her breath and tried to steal her reason.

  She turned her head away and pushed lightly against his chest. She had something to say. “You know I love you and want to marry you more than anything in the world, don’t you?”

  Maxwell’s smile was sweet and knowing but most of all full of love. “I do now.”

  Epilogue

  At their small wedding in Kinross, the earl, Mr. Masterson, Mrs. Winslow, and Penny proclaimed their intention to depart Scotland, perhaps back to Wintermarsh, the earl’s home. When Mr. Masterson idly mentioned a set of druid ruins in Northumberland he wanted to investigate, good-natured groaning rose all around. Bryn would be sorry to see them go.

  “I can’t express my thanks to all of you. We wouldn’t have survived without your help, of that I’m sure. But for all the danger, it brought Bryn back in my life, and for that I’ll be eternally grateful.” Maxwell took her hand and bussed the back.

  “It was great fun, Drake. A story to tell for certain. I’m glad it had a happy ending, and I couldn’t be more thrilled the two of you finally made it official,” the earl said with twinkling eyes. “In fact, I have my own glad tidings to share. Mrs. Winslow has most kindly consented to become my wife.”

  Mrs. Winslow blushed as David Drummond, the earl of Windor, brushed a kiss on her lips. Back thumping, hand shaking, and hugging occupied them in the aftermath of the announcement.

  “Drake, you and Miss Bryn—ahem, excuse me, Mrs. Drake—must come to Wintermarsh for a visit. I’m sure Rafe and Minerva would be thrilled—as would we all.” The earl’s sincerity wasn’t in doubt.

  “We’ll do that. I’d like to show Bryn London. It is one of the great cities of the world.”

  “Excellent, excellent. Just send a note ahead—or don’t. I love a good surprise.” The earl laughed.

  After two nights in Kinross and with promises they would return soon, Bryn and Maxwell traveled back to the Barrow Street town house in Edinburgh. She stepped inside, and contentment filled her. It was home. Actually, Maxwell was her home.

  Maxwell scaled back on the number of appointments he kept over the next days, but he was working hard to establish himself. Plus he had work to do in Cragian. When he shared with her his plans for his inheritance, she was torn between thankfulness and amazement.

  His old cottage would be turned into a school where everyone was welcome. Vicar Mitchell would oversee it but hire a tutor to see to the actual teaching. If a family was poor and they needed their son or daughter to work instead of attend, Maxwell would provide jobs on his land, tending sheep or small plot farming to allow the children to make coin while they received a decent education.

  Maxwell would manage his brother Albert’s properties. The commission would be paid back into the school to buy books, clothes, shoes, or even food if needed. He’d also met with Craddock and Mary and convinced them—blackmailed might be closer to the truth—to donate money as well. It seemed a fitting use for the cottage where Maxwell spent his youth. And Bryn would see Sarah, Mrs. Kidd, and all the others on their trips back. The meld of past and present was perfect.

  On
their fifth morning as man and wife, Bryn settled herself in the bed of the master suite in their home on Barrow Street. The sheen of sweat from their rather energetic lovemaking against the door of his study had chilled her, and she burrowed under the covers, waiting for Maxwell to join her. She’d left him recovering on the study floor, his breeches around his knees and his shirt ripped from collar to hem.

  Served him right for working her into such a fervor at ten in the morning. The things the man whispered in her ear at the breakfast table were positively indecent. Now that he’d stopped suppressing his feelings, the man was downright scandalous expressing his love and desires. She loved every debauched minute.

  His heavy tread sounded on the stairs, and she flipped the covers down, exposing her nakedness in the sunlight. The door crashed open, and he stood there looking like a pirate with his mussed hair and torn shirt. He hadn’t even managed to get his breeches properly fastened.

  “You left me,” he said accusingly and kicked the door closed with his heel.

  “What was I to do? You couldn’t do more than lie there and grunt at me. I got cold.”

  “I’ll have you know Elspeth walked in to clean the grate. I’m surprised her scream didn’t bring the entire house running. My breeches nearly at my ankles, my shirt torn—she probably thinks she’s out of the pan and into the fire coming from Sutherland’s to here.”

  A fit of giggles overtook her at the picture he painted. As soon as they’d returned from Kinross, she’d insisted they find and hire the young girl. She was skittish and quiet but settling in well, according to Mrs. Soames. Maybe Bryn hadn’t been able to save them all, but she could make sure Elspeth and Gertie had a safe, decent place to work, minus some midday mischief from her and Maxwell.

  He shed his clothing and joined her in bed, pulling her into his body. The best part of every day had been waking to stare into Maxwell’s sleepy, love-filled eyes as the dawning sun cast its light into their room, knowing neither of them wanted to escape the other’s embrace. Knowing that every morning for the rest of their lives, she would wake in his arms and could stay there forever if she wished. And as she closed her eyes, exhausted and sated, she wished for just that.

  Did you miss the first two books in the Spies and Lover series?

  Book 1, AN INDECENT INVITATION…

  Keeping her safe is difficult, keeping a proper distance from her is downright impossible.

  Lady Lily Drummond understands only too well the danger of spy work. Her father, a preeminent master spy, has been missing for months, and her brother barely survived his final mission for the Crown. Lily is still determined to help find her father, no matter how hard her brother and his best friend try to keep her in the dark.

  Busy trying to untangle the web of deceit surrounding the Earl of Windor’s disappearance, Crown spy Gray Masterson also has to ensure Lily Drummond, the gangly, awkward child who was his constant shadow growing up, doesn’t get herself ruined at her London debut. But the girl with scraped knees and elbows has evolved into a lush, sensual beauty surrounded by a bevy of suitors.

  Realizing Lily is going to investigate on her own if he doesn’t let her join the hunt for her missing father, Gray assumes he can give Lily a few minor tasks to pacify her, but he quickly learns she is a valuable asset. Moreover, she fairly crackles with life and warmth—things he craves after his dark years in service.

  Warning: This book contains spies, scandals, naughty liaisons in houses of ill repute, men who think they know everything and women who know they do not.

  Learn more about AN INDECENT INVITATION…

  Book 2, A BRAZEN BARGAIN…

  Love soothes the deepest of scars.

  Minerva Bellingham is at her wits' end. Her younger brother, Simon, will have them penniless and on the streets if his extravagant gambling habit isn't curtailed. An enormous debt to Lord Rafe Drummond is the final indignity. Signing over her dowry is their only choice. Until Lord Drummond suggests something much more scandalous. She can keep her dowry-in exchange for the Bellinghams working three months as a housemaid and stable boy.

  Scarred from his service to the Crown, Rafe recognizes the young Simon Bellingham has the makings of a good duke. Minerva is a different story. Her pure, delicate beauty only underscores Rafe's tarnished, bleak soul. Yet he delights in cracking Minerva's icy reserve to reveal a fiery, stubborn woman. And Minerva discovers the gruff master of Wintermarsh has the heart of a poet. But before they can find a future safe in each other's arms, a menace from Simon's licentious past slithers back into their lives, forcing Rafe to plan the most important rescue mission of his life.

  Warning: Contains a paragon of the beau monde who gets the hang of polishing silver, and a master of the house who'd like her to make his bed-preferably with him in it. Also passion unleashed with the mere touch of a finger. Readers are encouraged to swoon.

  Learn more about A BRAZEN BARGAIN…

  About the Author

  I hope you enjoyed A Reckless Redemption! If you have a chance please leave a quick review! Although, many readers know me from my Southern-set contemporary romances, the first books I wrote were the Spies and Lovers series! I grew up reading the historical “bodice rippers” of the late eighties and early nineties along with wonderful gothic romances. Now that I have the opportunity to publish all of the Spies and Lovers series, I’m so excited! There will be (at least) five full length books, but I have ideas for more…

  I was born and raised in a small town in Northwest Tennessee. Although, I loved English and reading in high school, I was convinced an English degree equated to starvation! So, I chose the next most logical major - Chemical Engineering- and worked in a hard hat and steel toed boots for several years. Now I live in South Carolina with my husband and two children. In between school and homework and soccer practices, I love to get lost in another world, whether it's Regency England or small town Alabama.

  My first two Falcon Football books received TOP PICKS from RT Book Reviews and a STARRED review from Library Journal. KISS ME THAT WAY, Cottonbloom Book 1, won the Stiletto Contest for Best Long Contemporary and finaled in the National Readers Choice Award. THEN HE KISSED ME, Cottonbloom Book 2, was named an Amazon Best Romance of 2016 and was a finalist for the National Excellence for Romance Fiction. TILL I KISSED YOU, Cottonbloom Book 3, is a finalist in the Maggie contest. LEAVE THE NIGHT ON, the latest Cottonbloom book, was named an iBooks Best Book of the Month and a Recommended Read from NPR. AN INDECENT INVITATION and A BRAZEN BARGAIN were both finalist for the 2014 Golden Heart® Award.

  Come find me:

  Laura@LauraTrentham.com

  www.LauraTrentham.com

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  NOTE: This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  A RECKLESS REDEMPTION

  Copyright © 2017 by Laura Trentham

  Cover by Angela Waters

  Edited by Heidi Shoham

  eISBN: 978-1-946306-03-6

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.