Page 25 of Keeper of Secrets

“You and all your debaucherous friends at that filthy club.”

Ryker’s chin reared back.Adam knew about the club and its members.Sick dread tightened his stomach.“Is that a threat?”

“A threat.A promise.Take it for whatever you like, but I will see you again, Keeper.Honestly, I expected to meet you before now.”

“And why is that?”

But the man didn’t answer as he started down the hall again, his slow saunter proving he wasn’t the least concerned that he’d just threatened a duke.

“Keeper?What does that mean?”Chloe asked, her hand coming to his back.

He tensed at her question and the feel of her delicate hand, so small and fragile against his skin.“I’ll explain later… right now, it’s time for us to leave.”

He tucked her against his side and started back toward the ballroom.

CHAPTEREIGHT

The silencein the carriage was deafening.

Outside, the gaslights illuminating London’s streets hummed as horses and carriages passed, street vendors still selling their wares as they called out to passersby.

But Ryker hadn’t spoken a word, and Chloe had so many questions.She gave him a side-eye glance since he’d settled on the forward-facing bench next to her.Another oddity.

“What do you want to ask, Chloe?”he finally said, his tone sharp and not at all conversational.

But she didn’t hesitate.This was her future too and that man they’d met had been as frightening as he was enlightening.She shivered, remembering his words.Ryker was a man of many secrets.“Why did he call you Keeper?What does that mean?”

“It’s a nickname some of my friends have given me.”

“That man didn’t act like a friend.What does it mean anyway?”

“Some say I don’t share very much.That I keep information about myself a secret.”

Now that rang with truth.“Oh.I see.Who was that man?”She had to press him.The stranger had called her a whore.But if he wasn’t a friend, why else would he know Ryker’s nickname?She wanted to believe her fiancé wasn’t engaged in suspicious behavior, but how could she know for sure?She touched her chest, feeling her heart gallop.

“Doesn’t matter,” Ryker snapped.“Never speak to him again, Chloe.Do you hear me?He’s not a man you should ever be near.”

“Are you worried?”There was a protectiveness to his words that had her pulse fluttering wildly.

“Of course I’m worried.He’s dangerous and you are about to be my wife.”

Those words melted her hesitation away.Of course, that kiss in the hall hadn’t hurt either.But him calling her wife… She leaned against his arm, then, her hands wrapping about his biceps.“You’ll keep me safe.I’m certain of it.”

He rumbled, a guttural sound that sent a thrill racing down her spine a moment before his lips crashed over hers again.

She gasped at the riot of sensation, but he swallowed the noise and her breath as he kissed her like a drowning man gasping for air.She did her best to give him all that he needed, kissing back as their lips ground together, their tongues tangling.

This was so much more than she’d ever dreamed possible as wave after wave of passion crashed over her, her body humming with a need she’d never imagined possible.

An ache had begun at the apex of her thighs.As if he sensed her discomfort, he pulled her into his lap.The moment her behind settled against his powerful thighs, she gasped into his mouth again.

He was just so… much.

But he wasn’t done.Leaning her weight back against one arm, he half laid her across his lap, his other hand running the length of her leg where his fingers circled one of her ankles.“So small,” he murmured against her lips before his hand began travelling back up her leg.But this time, his fingers were under her skirts and petticoats, skimming over her stockinged calf.

His touch tickled and tingled as he slowed the pace of their kiss, his palm tracing every angle and line of her leg until he reached the ribbon of her stocking.And then, all five of his fingers pushed up above her stocking and onto her bare thigh.

She gasped and then let out a low moan as he moved higher and higher, smoothing over her thigh until his thumb brushed over the curls at her center.

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