Chapter Seventeen
Town Tattler
Oh, dear readers! London is quite in a tizzy this morning, what with news of Lord Fullbridge’s sudden return to town, along with Lady Dory popping up in the most unusual of places! If that were simply all of the news, Society could manage, I should think. But it is not! Not by half!
For the last four evenings in a row – and yes, days as well! – who should be seen out and about together but Lady Penny and Mr. Greer (who is rumored to be named heir to Viscount Westerly by month’s end) laughing and enjoying each other’s company, seemingly without a care in the world.
Really? Though they have been spotted together before, I could have sworn I heard rumors that Lady Penny was destined for a match with another, though hardly a love match in that case I would say, as the happy couple seems completely enamored with each other! How would either of them find the time to become infatuated with another?
And, well, we all know Mr. Greer’s long-standing flirtation with Lady Dory. Was that truly all it was? A mere flirtation? After all, the man is not known for his grand passions and yet, he seems to be thoroughly enchanted with Miss Marshwood and unafraid to at least hint at those affections. For a rather buttoned-up, usually elusive, and occasionally stoic man like Mr. Greer, that is indeed saying something.
-Lady A
For four days, Harry suspected that Penny lived in, if not security, then at least comfort with the knowledge that she was not alone any longer. Indeed, she even seemed to be enjoying herself, at least as much as one could while still knowing that fate had not yet dealt its final hand. And Harry did everything he possibly could to help her feel that comfort.
Even though he was certain that her uncle’s spies were still watching them. Spies that had been there all along apparently, responsible for the sensation of being watched that Harry had felt so often since Penny had entered his life. Spies that Nick had known all about and hadn’t thought to mention to Harry. Bloody bastard.
Still, Harry couldn’t be too upset. As long as Nick knew the spies were there – and he had yet to say how he knew – then that was enough. Or so Nick insisted.
So Harry continued along as planned, spies or no spies
He took Penny driving on Rotten Row at the Fashionable Hour. He escorted her to Gunter’s for her first ice. They attended the theater together one night and then a musicale the next. There were also two balls mixed in, and though Penny arrived at each event with Miss Bridget, her Gray Lady, trailing behind, the two of them still gravitated toward one another like magnets the moment they walked into the same room.
For Harry, the entire experience was a bit…odd. There was simply no other word for it. He was accustomed to paying court to women, yes, but never seriously and never for more than a day or two at a time. Lady Dory hadn’t counted for theirs was a complex relationship that, as the days passed, Harry came to realize had never been all that serious for either of them. Yet here Harry was, escorting Penny about London as if he was some foolish and besotted swain. Which, in a way, he was.
Because the more time he spent with Penny, the more he wanted to spend with her and the more he came to believe that perhaps, just perhaps mind you, this curious feeling that occasionally sprang up in his gut was not indigestion as he had first believed but rather, well, not quite love and a great deal more than simply “like” but something undefinable that fell in between the two. For a man like Harry who had only ever viewed himself in the role of protector of women, the realization that he was something more – and perhaps even an actual suitor – was confusing.
Nor did he quite know what to do about the matter.
Nor did he know how to handle Penny’s lingering distrust of him. Oh, she trusted him, certainly, but only to a point. For every so often when he gazed into her eyes – something he was doing more and more of as of late – Harry could see a hint of distrust still lingering there. As if she wasn’t absolutely certain he was not playing her for a fool and toying with her affections.
He could see how she would think that, certainly. Nor could he blame her. He had lied to her and come to know her under somewhat false pretenses. But they hadn’t been all false. He really had felt that magical, powerful flare of attraction the first time he had seen her. He just didn’t know how to make her believe that.
Harry also hoped he might have more time to convince Penny of his good intentions, but on the fifth day after their pre-dawn carriage ride to her town home, Penny’s Uncle Charles arrived in London with his daughter Josie in tow. And the man was not happy. Not at all.
At least according to Nick, he wasn’t. And Nick, of course, was all too happy to show up at Harry’s front door at an ungodly hour – not to mention once again completely unannounced – and deliver that bit of news in person.
“So Lord Telford has finally made his way to London, has he?” Harry was thankful that Nick had at least allowed him the proper time to dress that morning and not come barging into his bedchamber as he had done so often lately. The man had a nasty habit of doing that whenever he pleased, both to ladies and gentlemen.
Now they were both comfortably seated in Harry’s breakfast nook, though Nick already had a tumbler of scotch in his hand at this early hour. At least Harry assumed it was an early hour for the duke. For all Harry knew, Nick hadn’t been to bed yet from the night before.
“Arrived last night while you and Lady Penny were attending Lady Darby’s ball.” Nick yawned and reached for a scone, indicating he had likely been awake since sometime the previous day. “He was furious to find the Willfield town home empty.”
“And likely even more furious when he read the Tattler this morning.”
“Which is why Lady Penny and her maid are currently ensconced in my sister’s guest rooms and not back at Willfield House as expected.” Nick chewed his scone thoughtfully and fought back another yawn.
Two days ago, when word had reached London that Lord Telford had packed up himself and his daughter and they were now headed south toward London, both Nick and Harry had decided that it was far too dangerous for Penny to remain at the rented town home alone with only a maid for protection. Neither of them had any real way of tracking the earl’s movements either, as Telford had slipped away from his country estate under cover of darkness, and the man Harry had assigned to trail the earl had lost him in a thick fog after only a few hours of travel.
Given the haste of Telford’s departure, however, one could and should assume that he had learned that his niece was no longer following his directive and had, instead, taken up with Harry. Just as Nick had planned. At least according to Nick himself.
Lud, Harry hoped that Nick knew what he was doing.
In any case, it was now imperative that Penny and her maid leave the rented town home and go someplace far safer. In this case, Ben and Julia’s town home which had once abutted some sort of fortification or another in London’s distant past and was now all but a fortress in its own right. Not even Harry could break in there – and he had tried two days previous, just to test security, of course – so it was unlikely that a man as slow and lumbering as Telford could.
After that, Nick had insisted that they all simply sit back and wait. That in due time, Telford would come to them. And that part of Nick’s plan, at least, was going rather well.
“And Penny is well?” Harry had to know. Though he had just seen her last evening, he still worried when she was out of his sight. Especially now that he knew her uncle was in town.
“Sleeping soundly, at least when I checked with Julia’s maid this morning.” Nick swiped another scone from the plate. Harry would happily hand the man the entire plate if he managed to keep Penny safe until her uncle was properly dealt with. “Telford, however, is not sleeping so soundly.”
“Oh?” This was news Harry simply had to hear.
“He was at Bow Street first thing this morning, demanding your head for, how did he so charmingly phrase it? Oh, yes. Despoiling and debauching his precious and cherished ward.” Nick chased that scone down with more scotch. “They all laughed at him, of course, as you would expect.”
Harry squinted at his pocket watch. Given the still-early hour, Telford must have been at Bow Street before dawn. “And his daughter, Josie?”
Now Nick sighed in annoyance, the first sign that not everything was going quite as he wished. “Telford took her with him, unfortunately. If he had left her behind at the town home, this would have been ever so much easier. My men could have grabbed her and had her spirited safely away before anyone even knew they were there.”
Currently, the plan was to somehow remove Josie from her father’s care and smuggle her to Ben and Julia’s so she could be with Penny. If what Penny said was true, and Harry had no reason to doubt her, then young Josie would not mind being away from her tyrant of a father, at least not in the short term. Then, once the girl was safe, Nick planned to somehow wrangle a confession out of Telford and then convince him to abandon his plans for revenge. Or make him disappear if the earl decided to be less than cooperative.
How Nick planned to go about those last two parts were rather vague, but Harry had the impression he probably didn’t want to know the specifics. Nick was not known for being gentle with men who harmed women, nor was he known for politely asking that something be done the way he wished. Threats and torture were more his style. Oh, and the occasional removal of a body part or two, if that required, as well.
“So now what?” Harry sipped at his tea, wishing he had skipped the tame beverage in favor of a harder drink this morning. If this was any indication of what the day was to bring, like Nick, he needed something a bit more bracing.
They were so close to setting Penny free from her uncle’s plans that he could almost taste her freedom. Harry knew how much she longed for just that and he ached to give it to her.
And then what? After Penny no longer had to worry about her uncle, then what came after that?
Well, Harry didn’t know, and he hated to think that far ahead, though normally, he would have every last step planned out from beginning to end. Except this was Penny and his gut, the one he had relied upon so very often in the past, was telling him that nothing was certain where she was concerned. She was still suspicious of him, though he had long since concluded that she was now being completely honest with him.
Still, if that suspicion lingered in her mind, then what? Was whatever lay between them, this indescribable feeling he could not name but delighted in just the same, enough to keep her by his side. Or once she gained her freedom would she run from him, just as one of those zoo animals she spoke of might? Harry really had no idea.
“Now you escort Penny to Frost’s ball this evening as planned. All evening, though, and not only part of it.” Nick said this as if it should be obvious and felt Harry a bit of a dunderhead for not realizing that.
“We were supposed to attend Lady McHugh’s soiree first,” Harry reminded Nick but the other man shook his head adamantly.
“I need you both in a controlled environment. One where I have the freedom to do whatever is necessary to ensure the success of our plan. The McHugh’s are friends, of course, but I don’t know them well enough to go tromping through their home the way I would Frost’s.” The way Nick smiled a bit nastily made Harry distinctly uncomfortable. “As long as I don’t spill too much blood on Lavinia’s carpets again, she will forgive me just about anything, I imagine.”
“Spill blood on the carpets? Why on earth would you do such a thing?”
Turning, Harry watched as Penny swept into his breakfast room as if she owned it. Which, if things continued as they were, she just might – in a fashion. Yet, upon closer inspection, she wasn’t quite as serene and calm as she had first appeared. Her hands seemed to be trembling and there was evidence that she had been crying.
“Penny! You should not be here! Is something amiss?” Harry was on his feet and hurrying to her side in a flash.
“Harry is right, Lady Penny.” Nick was a bit more sedate in his actions, though he too quickly pried himself from his chair. “I left you with my sister and her husband for a very good reason. It is not safe for you to be out of their home. Not without one of us.”
“Nor is it safe for me to be there, apparently,” she countered as she plunked herself down in a chair next to the one Harry had just vacated without any hint of the propriety and grace he had come to expect from her.
Harry could see now that her hands were indeed shaking and he let out a long, low growl as he sank down beside her. “What happened, sweetheart? Are you well? Please, tell me you are well.”
Behind him, Nick made a snorting sound that might have been mixed with a bit of an amused snigger.
“There was a fire in the kitchens. Or a good deal of smoke anyway, though no real fire to speak of. We had to evacuate the Radcliffe residence. All of us.”
That made Nick gasp and suddenly he was no longer amused.
“Is my sister well? Ben? The children?” Harry could see the real fear in Nick’s eyes and heard the obvious tremor in his voice.
Penny nodded quickly. “As I said, it was more smoke than fire, really, and easily put out. A rag left on the stove that merely smoldered, though it never actually caught fire. However, no one knew that at first.” She picked up a discarded teacup and her hand shook so badly that it rattled against the saucer so she was forced to put it back down. “According to Julia’s cook, an errand boy for the costermonger was in the kitchens this morning without permission. She chased him out, but we all fear he was likely one of Willfield’s errand boys paid off by my uncle to flush me out of the house. Servants talk and I am certain at least one of them knows where I went. My uncle is not a fool and he probably knew that he would not be allowed into Ben and Julia’s home to fetch me.”
“Damn it! That bastard Telford will pay for this! Willfield as well!” Nick swore as he ran a hand through his hair, pacing angrily now. “I need to attend to this immediately! Harry, if you will excuse me?”
“Of course. Do what you must. You have my full support, as well as Bow Street’s and the Home Office’s, I imagine.” Harry was nodding calmly, though he too was a bundle of nerves and anger inside. “But as for tonight?”
“We stick to the plan.” Nick grabbed his hat as he made for the door, obviously unable to contain his anger. “Frost’s ball this evening. All evening. Telford has attacked my family. He has gone too far and he will pay!”
As the duke thundered off, Harry simply sat and watched him go, his heart still racing. Once he heard the slamming of the front door however, he sprang into action and immediately took Penny into his arms.
“Oh, sweetheart! I had no idea your uncle would do something like this!” Harry was gratified when Penny snuggled closer into his embrace.
“Neither did I!” she sniffed, her body still trembling a bit, though she was coming back to herself. She was strong, his perfect Penny. “I was in my room with Janie, and then we heard people yelling about smoke and, well, it is all a bit confusing after that.” She wiped at her eyes as she had begun to cry again, though that, too, was quickly subsiding. “But Lord Radcliffe took charge immediately and made certain the fire was out after we were all directed to the back garden rather than the street. Then Lord Breckenright appeared and took me out some back gate before placing me in a carriage and sending me directly here.”
Of course, Ben would have sent them to the garden first. Given that this fire had happened only two mornings after Penny had come to reside until his roof, there was no question he would be suspicious of such a turn of events. Not to mention that on the street, anyone could have come along and harmed a member of his household. Or kidnapped Penny.
It also made sense that Marcus was hanging about, since all of the men had agreed that with Telford in town, they would need to be on the alert for tricks and the like. Out of all of them, Marcus was the most skilled in disguises that allowed him to go unnoticed and thus able to spy on someone without being seen. The viscount might be a peer but with his damaged leg, his battered cane, and the proper clothing, he could also easily be mistaken for a beggar. Or a vagrant or random sort of unsavory man and go virtually undetected, even by the most seasoned of Runners.
Or nefarious lords up to no good.
Penny’s uncle might be clever, but he was not smarter than Harry or his friends. Not by half.
“Shh. It is fine. All is well, Penny. Sweetheart. You are here with me now and that is all that matters.” With her still in his arms, Harry maneuvered them to a small settee just outside of his breakfast room. “There is no need to fear any longer.”
“But I did! Oh, Harry, I was so afraid! And I thought…well, I….”
The way Penny was shaking told him that her sweeping into his house had been her final act of false courage before that same strength and courage deserted her entirely. Still, he was extremely proud of her that she had managed so well on her own and he told her so.
“I know you were, sweetheart.” Harry pushed Penny’s hair out of her eyes and pulled back so he could meet her gaze. “But you were brave enough to follow Marcus’ instructions and you are here with me now. That is all that matters.”
“It is?” She sniffed again, but she was no longer trembling quite so much, as if some more of her strength was returning to her.
“It is,” he affirmed. “Because I will not allow you out of my sight again, Penny. You are far too precious to me and now that your uncle is in Town, I refuse to lose you to his nefarious plans. I just won’t.”
“Oh, Harry.” He could tell that his words had touched Penny’s heart and once more, he felt an odd tingling in the general vicinity of his gut. “Thank you. But you don’t have to ply me with sweet words in order to make me feel better. Not if you don’t mean them.”
“But I do mean them,” Harry insisted as he eased Penny down onto the oversized settee beneath them. “Don’t you understand, sweetheart? The idea of your uncle taking you away from me? Of him hurting you in some fashion? It terrifies me. It truly does. You mean so very much to me, Penny. I would never allow you to come to harm.”
There was a part of Harry that wondered if he should say that he loved her and be done with it, but he couldn’t just yet, for those words would be a lie. Maybe. Or not.
For Harry still wasn’t quite certain that he did love Penny. He felt something very strong for her, yes, but was it love? Again, as he had never been in love before, he had no idea. And he had vowed, at least to himself, that he would never lie to her again.
But Harry did desire Penny and, at the moment, he thought they both needed a little bit of confirmation that she was still alive and unharmed. That she was here with him. Precisely where she should be.
“I need you, Penny. More than I have ever needed another woman.” Harry cradled her head in his hands as he loomed over her, overly aware of her small body pinned beneath his much larger one. “Don’t you understand? I need you.”
She nodded, her eyes wide and her lioness’ gaze fixed on his. “I do understand. At least I think I do. And I…I need you too, Harry. More than I realized. Probably more than I should.”
“Then I will…” He started to rise but she clutched him tightly to her, refusing to let him go.
“No. Please, Harry, no. Don’t leave me.” Penny’s voice still rang with a hint of real fear. “I need…I need…”
Harry had the feeling that he knew exactly what Penny needed. She needed to know that she was still alive and unharmed. He had seen this same thing before, many times. Though she hadn’t escaped death or anything so dramatic as all that, whatever she had endured under her uncle’s care – or perhaps even in that horrid boarding school – had likely been traumatic and the very thought of going back to him probably scared her witless, especially after this morning’s events.
Harry understood that Penny needed to feel alive. And if he was a different sort of gentleman, he might offer to take her driving or allow her all the sweetmeats she liked. Something simple and innocent.
However, this was Penny and just last night, she had all but crawled into his lap and begged Harry to take her rather roughly on the carriage ride home. For she was becoming rather insatiable in that regard, especially for a woman that, until recently had been a true innocent. So yes, he had a very good idea of how he could help her realize that she was still alive and unharmed.
“Shhh.” Harry shifted Penny more fully onto his lap so that she straddled him. “Penny. My beautiful, perfect Penny. You are fine. You’re here with me and all is well.”
“I…ah…oh, Harry!
He could tell the moment she felt the hard evidence of his desire begin to prod at her bottom. Harry had been hard for her since the moment she had swept into his breakfast room. Now, having her so close to him, all he wanted was to be inside of her again. Now. So that they could both reassure themselves that she was, indeed, alive and well.
“I need you, Penny,” Harry whispered as he drew down the bodice of her morning dress so that he could suckle at her nipples. They were quickly becoming one of his favorite parts of her body. “And I want you. Oh, God, how I want you.”
Penny arched her back, pressing closer and offering him more of herself, both of her nipples now hard little nubs peaked with need. “And I need you, Harry. I need you to make me feel alive. Please!”
“With pleasure, sweetheart. With pleasure.” Then that was the last Harry spoke for some time.
Unlike the first night that they had fucked, which had been slow and sweet at times, this coupling was only wild and uninhibited. Penny’s brush with the possibility that her uncle could have had her in his clutches once again had loosened her inhibitions and now, she met Harry eagerly, offering him her body without hesitation.
Harry suckled at her nipples while his hands caressed her backside, spreading her thighs wide until she was fully spread over his lap and her skirts about her waist. She kissed his jaw and tugged at the buttons on his shirt after she dispensed with his cravat. When his shirt was undone, she wound one arm around his neck and used her other to explore the muscles of his chest.
“Please, Harry,” Penny begged, the raw desire in her voice evident. “I need you now. Please.”
“As my lady likes.” For Lord only knew that he needed this too.
Reaching between them, Harry easily freed his cock from his breeches and then unerringly found the slit in her drawers.
“This will likely sting a bit,” he cautioned. When he had taken women in this fashion before? Well, they had all been whores with a great deal more experience. He had no idea what it would feel like to a proper lady like Penny who had only recently learned of passion.
“I don’t care.” Penny rose up and allowed Harry to position his cock at her already slick entrance. “I need this. I need you.” Then, without waiting for him to guide her, she sank down onto his waiting erection and cried out a mixture of both pleasure and pain, her face awash in what could only be described as pure pleasure. “Oh, God! Harry!”
That was all he needed to hear and quickly, he took control, easing her up and down his shaft while slowly widening her legs until she was seated upon his stiff cock as comfortably as she could be. That only seemed to embolden her however, and while she was not particularly skilled in her movements, she was extremely enthusiastic and was soon riding him with abandon as he pushed up hard into her with each thrust, her breasts bouncing in time with the rocking of her hips.
Unable to help himself, Harry captured one of those perfect breasts with his mouth while he steadied her hips to make sure she didn’t injure either of them in her wild abandon.
“Oh, Penny! You feel so bloody perfect!” Harry had once vowed never to swear in front of a lady but in this case, he couldn’t help himself. Penny just felt so damn good! Even better than the first night they had coupled!
“Harry!” she gasped again as she rode him hard, and that seemed to be the only coherent word she could manage.
He thrust up again, even harder now and she moaned louder as she bit her lip before clawing at his chest. He could feel her feminine sheath tightening around him as his cock swelled even more inside of her. He could smell the musky scent of her arousal and he could hear her breathy cries echoing through her mind. He felt her arms tighten around his neck and the weight of her spread wide across his thighs as he drove into her again and again. She was everything to him. And she was his. And he was never going to let her go. Ever.
“I am going to release,” Penny gasped when Harry thrust into her again, still harder than before.
“Perfect,” he ground out as he tilted her toward him so that he could penetrate her even deeper. Which was perfect because if he did not spill inside of her soon, he was afraid that he would explode.
Then there were no more words. Just the frantic coupling of two people who could not seem to be sated of one another. And finally, when Harry let himself go and spilled inside of Penny, he felt himself coated in her answering wetness as she came apart in his arms with a keening cry of release.
And at that moment, Harry was both happy and sated. He suspected Penny was as well, at least if her gasps of pleasure were any indication, her earlier fear now long forgotten.
Just as he had hoped.
They were both alive and well and had found each other. What more did they need?
Freedom, Harry suspected. Freedom from her uncle at least.
But as they both struggled to return their breathing to normal, Harry didn’t say that. Instead, he simply pulled Penny closer and kissed the top of her head. Right now, he only wanted to hold the woman in his arms even closer and bask in the pleasure they had both just enjoyed. For now, this was enough. All the rest could come later.