A Reckless Match Read online

  “All right.”

  His easy acceptance gave Maddie the distinct impression that climbing down in tandem had been his original intent all along. Irritating man. She decided to test the theory, just to be perverse.

  “On the other hand, maybe you should go down first. That way, if I fall, you’ll provide a soft landing.”

  She heard a soft snort of laughter at her shoulder. “If there’s ever the prospect of your body landing on top of mine, Miss Montgomery, accidentally or otherwise, I sincerely hope I’ll be alive enough to enjoy it.”

  The image that burned into her brain—her sprawled on top of him, her breasts pressed to his broad, muscled chest, her legs entangled with his own—brought a hectic flush to her body, and Maddie cursed herself for her wayward tongue. She really shouldn’t cross verbal swords with him. The man had an uncanny ability to turn the most innocuous phrase into one laden with promise.

  She turned and lowered her left foot gingerly over the lip, then swung it about until she found a satisfactory toehold. She readjusted her hands and did the same with her right foot.

  “That’s it,” Gryff said encouragingly. “Just think of it as a slightly uneven ladder.”

  Since the natural light from the cave entrance was sufficient, he extinguished the lamps and replaced them in his satchel, then started to climb down the rocky wall beside her. “Good girl. Almost there.”

  Maddie bit her lip in concentration. Her heart was pounding and her palms were alarmingly clammy. Every time a rock crumbled beneath her fingers or fell away from under her foot she caught her breath, but she somehow made it to the bottom without mishap. Rather pleased with her own daring, she brushed her still-shaky hands on her skirts. “Right. Let’s get out of here.”

  Gryff, however, had ventured even farther into the cave and was peering up at the curving walls. He paused beneath another rocky overhang. “One moment. I thought I saw something.”

  He started climbing back up the rock face.

  “It’s probably just some debris, washed up during a storm,” Maddie said impatiently. Now that she could see daylight and smell the fresh coastal air, all she wanted was to be back outside.

  Gryff pulled himself up over the rocky lip, and she reluctantly admired his effortless strength. What would it be like to have all that—

  His soft whistle stopped her wayward thoughts.

  “Bloody hell, would you look at that?”

  Chapter 10

  Maddie braced her hands on her hips and glared up at him. “Now what?”

  “There’s another tunnel, going back into the cliff. And it’s being used as a store.”

  “For what? Lobster pots?”

  “Come up and see.”

  With a huff of annoyance—she’d done enough climbing for a lifetime—Maddie scrambled up to where he stood in the shadowed overhang. She ignored his outstretched hand out of principle, but when she pulled herself over the lip she saw what he was talking about.

  At least thirty small, hooped wooden barrels had been stacked along the side of the enclave, along with several crates covered in oilcloth.

  Gryff bent over the nearest barrel and sniffed at the cork that was wedged tightly in the top. His brows drew together. “Brandy.”

  “Good heavens! This must be a smugglers’ stash.” Maddie sent a panicked glance toward the cave entrance. “It’s low tide. What if they’re coming to get it right now?”

  “Unlikely. Whoever this belongs to won’t risk transporting it in broad daylight. They’ll wait for a cloudy, moonless night.”

  “We need to report this to the authorities immediately.”

  Gryff nodded. “Agreed. Where’s the nearest customhouse?”

  Maddie racked her brains. “There isn’t one, not locally. The riders sometimes make patrols along this part of the coast, but not on a regular basis. The nearest outposts are either at Bristol or Cardiff. And they might not send men for days, maybe even a week.”

  “By which time, this could have disappeared, and we’ll look like fools who cried wolf,” Gryff muttered. He rubbed the flat of his palm along his jaw, and she could practically see his mind working to come up with a plan. This was doubtless how he’d been in the army too, planning the next offensive against the enemy.

  “The smugglers probably know there aren’t any customs men nearby,” he mused aloud.

  “Which means they might not be waiting for a dark night, after all. They might be coming back this very evening.”

  “Who’s the local magistrate? He can arrange to have men come and watch.”

  Maddie gave a silent inner groan. “The nearest justice of the peace is Sir Mostyn Drake.”

  “That old codger’s still alive, is he? My father couldn’t stand him. They almost came to blows when father dressed him down for mistreating a horse, years ago. Old Drake never forgot it.”

  “That sounds like Sir Mostyn,” Maddie mumbled. The man was about as appealing as a week-old fish head.

  Her tone must have betrayed her dislike, because Gryff lifted his brows, unerringly scenting intrigue. “Oh, dear, what’s Sir Mostyn done to incur your displeasure, Miss Montgomery?”

  Only offered to marry me so he can get an unpaid drudge for the rest of his days.

  She bit back the resentful thought. “Nothing in particular,” she lied. “I just find him rather unpleasant. And besides, even if he does agree to help, I’m not sure it’s a good idea to enlist local men. For all we know, they could be the smugglers. Or know them, and tip them off.”

  “That’s a very good point.”

  Maddie experienced a tingle of pleasure at his ready agreement. Unlike many men of her acquaintance, he treated her as a reasonable equal, not as some weak-brained inferior without a thought in her head.

  How refreshing. How … unexpected for a Davies.

  “Come on,” he said. “I need fresh air to think.”

  They picked their way down and around the various tidal pools to the entrance to the cave. The stiff breeze that greeted them plastered her skirts against her legs and played havoc with her hair but it was a welcome change from the dank, still air inside the tunnels.

  She inhaled deeply. “Oh, that feels good.”

  Gryff scanned their surroundings. “Where are we?”

  There were no buildings visible along the craggy shoreline, nor any obvious landmarks. The cave was tucked into a curved bay, enclosed two rocky headlands, one on each side, that shielded it from all but the sea. Fern-laden hillsides descended steeply to the crescent beach.

  She shielded her eyes with her hand. “I’m not sure.”

  Since the tide was out, they crossed the exposed ridges of sand with ease, avoiding the shallow puddles, then clambered over a low section of rocks and started up the hill.

  “This way,” Gryff said. “There seems to be a path.”

  A barely visible trail had been trodden through the greenery—presumably by the smugglers—and Maddie cursed her damp boots and uncomfortably tight corset as she tried to keep up with Gryff’s long-legged strides. Really, men had such an advantage when it came to practical clothing.

  The path led them through a small patch of woodland and they finally emerged onto a narrow farm track. A larger vista opened up when they crested the hill, and Maddie squinted toward a large stone building a few miles farther inland, silhouetted against the sky.

  “Oh, I know where we are! That’s Mathern Palace. I went there once with Harriet for a picnic. Nobody’s lived in it for years, it’s practically a ruin. The village of Mathern is just over that hill.”

  Gryff gave a satisfied grunt. “Let’s hope someone there will lend us some horses.”

  Maddie bit her lip as she belatedly realized her predicament. Here she was, several miles from home, with no horse, no carriage, and no chaperone, in the company of a known reprobate. Her hair, despite its ruthless pinning, was a mess, and the bottom six inches of her skirts were wet and filthy. If anyone saw the two of them together, she’d become a
social pariah.

  She glanced over her shoulder toward the beach. Walking back through the caves, even uphill and in the dark, suddenly seemed a better option than simply walking into Mathern with Gryffud Davies.

  He turned to see why she’d stopped.

  “We can’t be seen together,” she blurted out. “I’ll hide at the edge of the village while you get us horses.”

  His lips twitched. “What? You don’t want to be seen fraternizing with the enemy?” His sparkling green gaze flicked her head-to-foot in a brief, yet thorough, inspection that had her longing for the darkness again.

  “I suppose you’re right,” he continued drily. “Even if you weren’t looking so charmingly disheveled, our arrival would set the rumor mill flying. A Montgomery and a Davies together? Without deadly weapons? People would think it was the end of the world.”

  “I’d be ruined,” Maddie stated baldly. “And you’d be expected to make an honest woman of me. We’d be hounded to the altar quicker than you can say ‘social disgrace.’ And while I truly believe my father would prefer death and dishonor—including mine—to a forced marriage to a Davies, I still think we’d better err on the side of caution, don’t you?”

  He composed his features into a solemn expression, but his eyes still twinkled. “Absolutely.”

  They started off down the lane again shoulder-to-shoulder, or rather shoulder-to-elbow, considering their respective height difference. He shortened his stride to match hers and glanced down at her.

  “We need to do something about those smugglers. As joint landowners we have a responsibility to prevent the spread of crime.”

  “I’m surprised you care,” she taunted. “You haven’t even been here for the past six months. Are you finally planning to stay at Trellech full-time?”

  She held her breath as she waited for his answer, but he shook his head.

  “No. I’ll be heading back to London soon. My steward can run the estate perfectly well in my absence. But since I am here now, there’s no reason we can’t set an ambush. The problem is, I don’t know which of the locals I can trust.”

  He raked his hand through his hair. It was already messy, but the move managed to make him look even more attractive. What would those strands feel like, beneath her fingers?

  “I could enlist some of my old army friends from London,” he continued, mercifully unaware of her ogling. “Half of them have already been recalled to fight Bonaparte, but I could round up the rest. With a bit of luck the smugglers won’t make a move until they get here.”

  “What about your brothers? Couldn’t they help?”

  He made a comical grimace. “Well, Rhys is theoretically in London, but he’s never where you expect him to be. And Morgan’s still at sea, so I can’t call on him.”

  “And if the smugglers come back before your friends arrive?”

  “I’ll keep watch every night. If they do come, I might still hear something useful or recognize one of them.”

  “You? Keep watch all night? Out in the open?”

  He raised his brows in an expression of affront. “Why yes, Miss Montgomery. Does that surprise you?”

  “I thought you’d prefer the luxury of a warm bed, after so many years a soldier.”

  “Rejoining my regiment isn’t an option, now that I’ve inherited the title. If I must remain a civilian, the least I can do is protect these shores.” He lifted one shoulder in a careless shrug. “It’s nothing I haven’t done a hundred times before. A few more nights under the stars won’t kill me.”

  Maddie steeled herself against a wave of reluctant admiration. This wasn’t the reckless, irresponsible Gryff Davies she’d known as a youth. This was an older, darker version she found even more compelling.

  The angry frustration in his tone when he’d mentioned not being able to rejoin his friends was intriguing. Did he resent his position as the new earl? Would he actually prefer to be heading back across the channel to face Bonaparte and possible death?

  She shook her head, irritated with herself. She didn’t need to be intrigued by him.

  “There’s a flaw in your plan, you know,” she said. “If the smugglers are local, you won’t recognize them. You’ll just sit there and watch them carry the contraband away. You need someone familiar with the villagers. You need me.”

  “Absolutely not.”

  “Where’s the danger? You’re not planning to confront them, are you? You won’t be discovered as long as you stay hidden, and I’m perfectly capable of staying quiet when the need arises.”

  He made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a snort.

  “Besides,” she continued quickly. “I have every right to take part. This is Montgomery land as much as it is yours. We have joint responsibility. And since you’re neither my husband nor my father, you have no jurisdiction over me whatsoever.”

  Chapter 11

  Gryff clenched his jaw. Was there ever a more irritating woman?

  “My God, if I was your husband I’d make sure you kept your nose out of trouble. I’d—”

  “Yes?” she taunted. “You’d what?”

  Take you to bed and keep you so exhausted you’d never want to leave. Bloody hell, where had that nonsensical thought come from?

  He sent her a frustrated glare. “Never mind. It’s too horrible an idea to contemplate.”

  She lifted her brows in that amused, supercilious way that made him want to grab her and kiss the smug look right off her face. He’d wanted to do it for the past few hours.

  Years, actually.

  “I think I would make someone a very good wife,” she said.

  “If by ‘good’ you mean disobedient, opinionated, meddlesome—”

  She sucked in an offended breath. “You have no idea how obedient I am. I’m the most dutiful daughter that ever—”

  “You’d actually agree to love, honor, and obey your husband? I don’t believe it.”

  She crossed her arms. “Yes, actually, I would. Because the man I marry will love me. Which means he won’t ask me to do anything I wouldn’t be happy to obey him in doing.”

  He sent her a pitying look. “That is so naïve.”

  The combative light faded from her eyes, as if she’d recalled something that upset her, but she rallied and lifted her chin.

  “Stop changing the subject. We’re not talking about me getting married. We’re talking about me meeting you back here to wait for the smugglers.”

  Gryff ran his hand through his hair. He should never have mentioned the idea to her. The past few hours in the close confines of the cave had been torture, a true test of his gentlemanly willpower. He’d been aware of her proximity every minute they’d been down there, haunted by the tantalizing waft of her perfume whenever she stepped too close.

  Not close enough.

  He shook his head. There must be something about caves that brought out the most primitive parts of a man’s nature. The primal, masculine parts that valued shelter and food, fire and woman. Especially woman. The temptation to extinguish the lamps, catch her in his arms, and lose himself in the darkness and in her had been almost overwhelming. God, the very last thing he needed was to spend any more time in her company.

  Unfortunately, she wasn’t the type of woman who could be dissuaded by the it’s not a woman’s place argument. She was as reckless and as unmanageable as his sister, Carys. The only thing that seemed to scare her was the thought of being seen in public with him.

  Blasted woman.

  Still, the risk to Maddening Miss Montgomery shouldn’t be too great if he allowed her to come tonight. The smugglers were doubtless waiting for a dark night and the lowest tide, both of which coincided with the moon at its lowest ebb.

  The moon had been full a week ago—it had lingered in the dawn sky on the morning of his ill-fated duel. He remembered wondering if it would be the last time he’d ever see it. He’d wondered whether he cared.

  He shook off the memory. A full moon last week meant he probably had another f
ull week to gather his men. It was highly unlikely the smugglers would choose tonight to come back and retrieve their contraband.

  “Assuming I do let you come and help keep watch tonight,” he said slowly. “How would you explain your absence to your family?”

  “Oh, don’t worry about that. I’ll tell Harriet to say I’ve gone to bed with a headache and sneak out.”

  “Fine,” he growled. “You can come. But only if you do exactly as I say, when I say it. Agreed?”

  “Agreed.”

  The first cottages of the village had come into view, so he pointed toward a cluster of windblown trees by the roadside. “You wait there. I’ll go get a horse.”

  “Two horses.”

  “No, one horse. Why would I need two if I’m on my own? You’ll just have to ride with me.”

  She let out a little huff, but plonked herself down on a mossy boulder. “Fine. Off you go then.”

  With her messy hair and bedraggled skirts she looked like a fairy princess who’d fallen into a bog. Sadly, it didn’t make her any less attractive. Gryff gave an inward sigh. What on earth was he tangled up in now?

  It cost him six shillings to borrow the village blacksmith’s horse, and that was only after he’d convinced the skeptical fellow he was indeed the new Earl of Powys by showing him his signet ring, and promising to send the swaybacked creature back that very night.

  “It’s a wonder they bother with smuggling around here,” he groused as he led the animal back to her hiding place. “Six shillings for the loan of a horse. It’s highway robbery.”

  Her lips twitched, but her amusement faded as he gained the saddle and reached down to her.

  “Put your foot on mine, and I’ll pull you up.”

  She looked on the verge of refusing, so he added casually, “Unless you’d prefer to walk?”

  She capitulated, grasping his hand and placing her dainty foot on the top of his booted one in the stirrup. With a tug he hauled her up and twisted her so she sat sideways across his lap. His blood surged at her nearness and he tried to ignore the torturous sensation of her sweet derriere nestled snugly between his thighs.