Page 15 of Seduced By a Scoundrel

“Not to worry, gov’ner,” the driver said in his thick, London accent. “I’m as bent as a crooked board and enjoy being nailed just as much.” He added a saucy wink to prove his point.

Jeremy blew out a breath and forced his shoulders to relax. He supposed the advantage of belonging to an organization like The Brotherhood was that help was available from men who would not only turn a blind eye to the same things that others would have them thrown in gaol for, but that they all shared those traits. That was a comfort in such dark times.

He turned toward the cottage again, forcing himself to replace his fear and uncertainty of the wild unknown with gratitude and perseverance. “It is a pretty place,” he said. “The garden needs a bit of tending and I am certain if the estate has been abandoned for years the interior might need some improvement as well.”

“The estate isn’t entirely abandoned,” Derrek corrected him as he moved their things farther out of the way of the carriage as the driver replaced the straps that held their things. “A vastly reduced staff has continued on at the main house to keep it from falling entirely into disrepair, but they are more loyal to Lord Moreland than to Lord Linton, which Ashton saw to deliberately when his uncle and cousin fled for the Continent. We will be quite safe here.”

Jeremy relaxed even more as Derrek restated he would not abandon him. As unnerving as the prospect of spending time alone in a forest cottage with a man he fancied who could overpower him without any effort at all was, it was better than staying in London for a moment longer.

It had hurt to leave his shop and the necessary repairs to his business in the hands of Artie, Timothy, and Jonty. They were good lads and Jonty in particular showed a great deal of promise as a leader. Lord Wilmore had pledged to oversee anything the lads might need, declaring himself Jeremy’s chief patron, all in the name of The Brotherhood, so Jeremy had faith that all would be well with the premises of his business, its contents, and its people.

He loathed leaving his life and all the things that were familiar and that made him happy behind to flee into the forest, though. The forest intimidated him. Almost as much as the man with whom he would bide his time in said forest.

He just wanted his life back as soon as possible.

“I’ll be heading back to London now,” the driver said, touching the brim of his hat to Derrek. “If you need help, you know where to send for it. I’m sure Lord Moreland will dispatch me to fetch you all in a trice if needed.”

“Thank you, Frank,” Derrek said, moving to shake the young man’s hand and to hand him a few coins.

Jeremy said his goodbyes to the young man as well, then stood by the pile of his and Derrek’s luggage, trying not to feel forlorn, as he watched the carriage pull away until it disappeared around the trees.

“Well then, my dove,” Derrek said, turning to Jeremy with a toothy grin, rubbing his hands together. “Looks as though it is just you and me now.”

He spoke with such a growl in his voice and fire in his eyes that a shiver passed through Jeremy. The energy of that shiver settled hotly in his groin.

“Now,” Derrek said, crossing his arms and eyeing Jeremy as if he were a tasty tart. “Whatever shall the two of us to do fill our time here in this quiet, remote, intimate wood?”

A tiny sound of alarm and arousal escaped from Jeremy before he could stop it. His mind suddenly filled with images of Derrek chasing him and catching him and having his way with him.

Those images were not entirely unwanted.

Before Jeremy could shake himself out of those carnal thoughts and form words, Derrek laughed and shifted to clap a hand on his shoulder.

“No need to look so frightened, dove,” he said, squeezing Jeremy’s shoulder. “I am not a wild animal. I have no intention of forcing myself on you in any way. You are as safe as a newborn babe with me.”

Jeremy let out a breath. He believed Derrek, truly, he did. It was himself that he wasn’t certain he trusted.

“Shall we go inside?” he asked, his voice cracking on the question. “Is the door locked?”

“It is,” Derrek said, picking up two of their bags and losing his teasing demeanor as he marched forward to the cottage. “But Ashton tells me the key is hidden in a small box that has been carved to look like a snail somewhere in the garden.”

The moment of intense flirtation passed as Jeremy carried his valise to the cottage’s front stoop, then joined Derrek in searching the garden for the snail. Even more of Jeremy’s fears and reservations melted away during the search as his mind focused on other things. The garden truly was in desperate need of attention. Part of him was eager to take care of it, but the other part had no idea how one tended a garden. He truly had spent his entire life surrounded by stone and dirt, and though his mother had had a garden in his youth, it had been her pride and joy and he had never been allowed to touch it.

“Found it,” Derrek said after nearly ten minutes of searching. He’d been leaning over, running his hands through the grass.

Jeremy had been admiring his backside.

He blinked and blushed as Derrek straightened and carried the small snail statue over to him. He clearly knew Jeremy had been staring at him, but the only teasing Jeremy got for it was a cheeky wink.

Derrek turned the palm-sized, stone snail over, revealing a tiny, metal panel that had been built into its underside. It was a bit rusted, but with some effort, Derrek was able to slide it aside to take out a key.

“That is clever,” Jeremy said, following him to the cottage door, which opened easily once unlocked.

“Never underestimate the ingenious tricks of a stone mason who likes to keep secrets,” Derrek said, tapping the side of his nose then nodding to Jeremy.

Derrek’s easy manner and larger than life confidence worked well to settle Jeremy as the two of them entered the cottage. It was amazing to Jeremy how Derrek could be so comfortable in nearly every situation Jeremy had seen him in. He radiated certainty and command at all times. If anyone was able to keep Sir John Conroy and his accomplice from finding him and killing him, it was Derrek.

Those thoughts, and the dreamy smile Jeremy directed at Derrek’s back, shifted to take in the interior of the cottage once they were through the door. As he’d suspected from viewing the outside, the interior of the cottage was in good order for a place that had been empty for a long time.

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