Page 64 of The Return of the Rake

She pressed her hand to her mouth, smothering the little cry she uttered.

“It wasn’t his fault, Anne. But earlier in the day, Dearborn had threatened to kill the man when we discovered him attacking his wife. There were witnesses.”

Anne stared, her eyes growing wide with dismay as she realised what had happened. “You helped him hide the body,” she said numbly.

King nodded. “I’m sorry,” he said, white with anxiety. “I could not let a good man risk the noose for the sake of that miserable devil, and I could not allow his wife to suffer for years, unable to marry again if her husband’s body was never found. And selfishly, I feared I would be entangled in the affair myself, for I’ve never been exactly popular around here.”

“Until now,” Anne said faintly, wondering with a sick feeling in her stomach what he’d done with the body. She looked at him steadily, waiting.

King swallowed. “Dearborn helped me get him into his boat and I rowed it out to sea and put out his nets. Then I threw him in. It’s hardly a rare thing for him to go fishing whilst in his cups, and it was only a matter of time. No one will bat an eyelid. Dearborn was here because a body was found on Camber Sands this morning. It’s not confirmed yet, but it must be him. It shook the captain so much he’s jumping at shadows. I think I have ensured he holds his nerve.”

Anne digested this as she wondered what he had done, and why he had done it. Yet one thing troubled her. “The boat?” she asked, frowning. “If you left it out at sea, how did you—”

“I swam back,” King said with a shrug.

Though she felt she had received this explanation with remarkable sangfroid, at this Anne shot to her feet, suddenly incensed. Her blood turned to ice as she considered the risk he’d taken. “You did what?”.

He looked at her a little warily. “I… swam back.”

“At night,” she said, glaring at him. “In the dark and the cold.”

“Well, yes,” he replied, cautious now.

“Had you taken leave of your senses?” she demanded, her heart beating faster and faster as thought of him alone in the great expanse of frigid dark water. “You grew up here, devil take you! Surely you know better than I how strong the tides are that far out, especially at this time of year, just how easily you might have been swept under and out to sea?”

King avoided her gaze, rubbing the back of his neck and looking rather guilty. “Well, I’m here, aren’t I?” he muttered. “No harm done.”

“No harm done,” she repeated, feeling sick to her stomach as she considered how easily she might have lost him. “No harm done,” she said again, strongly tempted to strike him.

“Darling girl,” he coaxed, holding his hand out to her once more.

“Don’t you darling girl me,” she retorted. “I have never been so… so furious in all my life. I swear, if you ever do such a dangerous and ill-considered thing again, I shall… I shall…”

He lifted his eyebrows, a glint of amusement in his eyes, which only made her crosser.

“Well, I don’t know what I shall do, but you’ll be sorry is all,” she muttered, glowering at him.

He reached for her, pulling her down into his lap. She went, for there was little option and sighed as he pulled her closer.

“If you want the truth, love, I was scared to death,” he said softly, nuzzling her cheek as he spoke. “It was a fight for a while there, between me and the tide, and I came close to losing it. But I thought of you the whole time, it was then I realised how much you meant to me, how much I wanted you in my life, and that I’d do nigh on anything to get you, and the world could damn me and curse me as much as it pleased for having the audacity to marry so far above my station. That is, if you’ve not changed your mind?”

Anne sighed, her fury evaporating. She threw her arms about him and buried her face against his neck. “Ridiculous man,” she mumbled. “As if I would be so craven. I shall never give you up, not for anyone’s sake, and certainly not to the sea.”

His hold on her tightened and he let out a sigh that seemed to come from deep inside him. “Then kiss me and show me you forgive me for causing you such trouble.”

Anne did, swept away in a moment as his arms wrapped around her, his mouth beguiled and enchanted her, drawing her on, making her want more, need more. She moaned softly, pressing closer as his hands slid down her back, down over her hip and lower. He gathered her skirts, fistfuls at a time, drawing them higher until his hand slid beneath, finding the bare skin of her thigh. Anne gasped, the feel of his hand upon her naked flesh incendiary.

“I want you,” he murmured, nipping at her ear. “I want you now. If you’ve no objection, we’ll be married the moment the banns have been called, but three weeks seems like a damned long time, love. I’ll lose my mind if I cannot make love to you now, to make you my own, for now and for always.”

Anne whimpered as his hand slid higher and his lips pressed to the pulse that beat wildly beneath the skin of her throat.

“Do you trust me enough to be with me now, tonight?” he asked her, his face burrowing into her hair as her heart beat wildly out of control. She wanted to scream her answer, to throw caution to the wind and take him to her bed, but she could not do so, not yet. Not until she had made her confession.

She withdrew a little, breathing hard, regretting the need to delay even for a moment, but she must tell him all. Yet she could not meet his eyes.

“I want to,” she whispered, her voice unsteady. “I want to very badly, and I shall, but… but first I have a confession of my own.”

“Oh? What devilry have you been up to?” he asked with a smile, which faded as she forced herself to look at him, and with such an expression of dismay his demeanour changed at once. “Anne? What is it?”