Page 38 of The Rogue’s Redemption

“Your training in this area will be much more . . . intense soon.” His hands moved upward, cupping her breasts. The thin material of her shirt was hardly a barrier and very much a threat to his control. “It unfortunately must wait until after the wedding, though I will admit, it will not be an easy task.”

Wedding.

He was actually planning to take this woman as his wife. He’d never thought he could look upon such an event with anticipation. Nay, eagerness. If he was scared, it was only because he was most assuredly not worthy of such a woman.

“I don’t deserve you,” he murmured against her neck.

Planting the tip of the sword into the ground in front of her, Allie gave herself to him completely. She leaned back against him, a soft moan escaping her lips as Reid moved on from her neck, trailing the gentlest of kisses upward.

“You underestimate yourself,” she said. The tug in his chest warred with the one against his breeks as he pressed up against her. The sensation of his fully hardened cock making contact with Allie’s backside, separated only by a few thin layers of fabric, threatened the promise he’d made to himself.

He had nearly killed his brother-in-law for taking his sister’s virginity before they wed—he would not be fool enough to make that same mistake. They could wait.

He could wait.

Or could he?

“Though a wee bit of early training—”

“Allie!”

Reid let go of her so quickly she nearly fell. He’d reached for his sword before he even realized the voice was a woman’s.

Gillian’s, to be precise.

Allie’s sister stood much too close. How had he not heard her approaching? Reid had never been so careless before. He had never seen Gillian look anything but proper, although that might be because he’d never seen her this angry before. Her chest rose and fell with heaving breaths, her eyes flashed at Allie.

“What are you about?” she demanded.

Reid restrained himself from answering, knowing she would not be pleased with any response from him.

“You.” Her eyes narrowed. “You are despicable—”

“Nay, Gillian, do not.”

“My sister is not some tavern wench you can mishandle, Reid Kerr.” She spat his name out as if it were an epithet. “Get away from her.”

“Gill,” Allie admonished her sister, her hands visibly shaking as she stood by his side. He had the urge to grab her hand and steady it, to let her know that Gillian’s words affected him only because they upset her. But he didn’t dare.

“What could you have been . . .” Gillian finally looked down toward Allie’s other hand “Is that a sword?”

He expected Allie to attempt to explain. To show her sister some of the fire she so often showed him. Instead, a single tear dropped down her cheek.

Reid hated seeing her so defeated. His Allie was a warrior.

“Allie . . .” He could not allow her to be in such pain without showing her—

“Do not touch her.”

He looked back and forth between the sisters. Though he knew Gillian did not care for him, he was surprised by the vehemence of her words. “Lady Gillian, I can assure you—”

“And I can assure you, if you dare lay another hand on my sister, you will no longer be welcome here at Highgate End. Leave us.”

He would not engage with Lady Gillian now, but he couldn’t bear to leave Allie alone with her.

Allie must have seen the indecision in his eyes.

“I will be fine, Reid. Go,” she said.