The Reformer Read Online Free PDF Page B

temperament, he has your heart. As for ideas, I certainly do,” Brigit said, sitting up and allowing the sheet to fall from her breasts. The late afternoon sun glowed upon her milky skin and set her red hair a fiery gold. Gerard reached over to play with her nipple as she spoke. “I do trust Ryan’s ability to reform. He learned from the best,” she praised, stroking the hand that caressed her breast. “I say that we allow him freedom with this girl. I have not seen him so passionate about anything in a while and feel it would be good for him to exercise his heart, not just his mind. Perhaps she will teach him to curb his temper.”
    “Brigit! Are you playing the matchmaker? You have not even met this girl yet.” Gerard tweaked her nipple lightly.
    Brigit shrugged, arching her back towards his hand, “I am merely suggesting that if this young lady has Ryan so concerned, it might be enough to get him to consider settling. And I desire grandchildren before I am too old to spoil them.”
    “Yes, my darling, as do I. Very well, I will heed your counsel. But there is more… I know that look upon your face. You are either planning on stealing a pot of gold, or you are inventing trouble. Come, now, woman. Speak.”
    “When was the last time you reformed?” she asked, a glint in her eye. Gerard lifted a brow and listened carefully to her plans.
     

Chapter Three
     
     
    “Where is the girl?” Lord and Lady Remington inquired upon entering Ryan’s home the following day. Martha, obviously rattled by the ordeal, quickly informed them of her plight and included Ryan’s demands that he be left unattended in the presence of the young woman. Gerard patted her shoulder with a chuckle before proceeding up the stairs without a word, followed by his wife. The two of them paused in the doorway to witness their son rocking the weeping girl in his arms.
    “What is all the blubbering about here?” Gerard’s deep voice asked, entering without invitation.
    “Her pain is severe, Father. I cannot calm her. I’ve given her a tonic, but she is too frightened to allow herself to relax. Her Christian name is Aryanna. I do not have a surname for her.”
    “Aryanna, look at me,” Gerard ordered, standing over them. “Girl, stop your crying and look at me.”
    “Gerard, she is—”
    Gerard ignored Brigit’s intervention, leaning over to look at the girl in the face. And what a pretty face it was, despite the red nose and swollen eyes. “Aryanna, you must calm yourself now. Enough of this. You are not here to be coddled. Enough, I say.”
    Aryanna held her breath, looking up into the older, but equally handsome, face of the Earl. He had a timbre to his voice that forbade defiance, and she shrunk into Ryan’s arms as she forced control over her tears.
    “That’s better. Good girl,” Gerard praised. He saw the terror in her face when she noticed Brigit. “This is the Lady Brigit, Ryan’s mother. I am Lord Gerard, his father.”
    “Mama and papa of Lord Ryan?” Aryanna sniffed, trying to contain herself in the company of the stern, foreboding man.
    Gerard smiled, nodding. “Yes, mama and papa. Son, I wish to see her marks.”
    Ryan nodded, getting Aryanna’s attention and patting the bed. She blushed, shaking her head. Gerard rolled his eyes, “I don’t have all day. Girl, lay down and pull up those skirts. Obey me.”
    “She doesn’t understand…” Brigit touched his arm.
    Gerard disagreed, “She understands quite well. There is intelligence behind those eyes. Aryanna? Do you understand me?”
    Slowly, Aryanna nodded her head.
    “Are you afraid of me?”
    Aryanna hesitated, and then shook her head. She felt the same sense of safety from the father as she did from the son. Gerard pointed to the bed. “Good. Now lay down so we can see how you have been hurt. We want to stop this from happening again. Brigit, what in the bloody hell are you doing?”
    Brigit was climbing next to the girl on the bed and pulling her