A Disgraceful Miss (4 page)

Desire rushed her, returning with alarming speed, and she was once again needy. She shifted to counter the rocking motion of Julian’s hips, intensifying the sensations. Julian reached down and loosed the buttons on his trousers, then paused. She looked down, wanting to see that most private and mysterious part of a man’s body, but his hand blocked the sight.

“Are you certain, Angelica?” Julian tensed and watched her closely. “If we continue, if you allow me to touch you further, there is no regress.”

“I know, Julian.”

“Do you?” Silver eyes drilled into her as if he could see into her core, to divine the truth of her words.

“Yes, I’m certain.” Angelica arched into him. “I want to experience this with you, Julian.”

“If we do this, you’ll be mine. In every sense of the word.”

Impatience made her restless, but Julian’s intensity reached her. Just the thought of belonging to Julian was enough to send her pulse leaping. But she knew what he really asked was if she understood the larger implications of their actions tonight. That she would be ruined in the eyes of society, if it were known.

Angelica, of anyone, knew what the worst consequence of their actions could be. And she’d willingly accept it in exchange for this moment.

Angelica placed her hand on his cheek. “I want nothing more than to be yours, Julian.”

With a groan, he crushed her to him in a greedy kiss. He pushed his trousers aside and he was
there
, his hot flesh to hers. Julian kissed his way down her neck as he rubbed his penis along her once, twice. Tremors of pleasure threaded through her. He guided the length, probing at the entrance to her very center. And then he shifted, pressed forward and, on a shaft of pain, he pushed in with a groan. Filling her. His head pressed into the crook of her neck.

Tears clouded her eyes as Julian reared back to look at her. “Are you all right?”

“Yes,” she said and touched the warm skin at his hip, under the long tail of his shirt. “It’s easing already.”

When next Julian moved, it was a tentative probing, a deepening of the penetration until she felt impossibly full, raw. Sensitive.

As if to bide his time, Julian licked a path to her breast, laving her until she ached with need. When he drew the peak into his mouth to suckle, she felt the sensation deep inside and her inner muscles clenched at Julian.

In response, Julian tensed then began to set an intriguing rhythm that Angelica was helpless but to follow. Heat flooded her, stole her breath until she was gasping, emitting those little sounds again.

“Oh, God, yes,” Julian groaned, his voice thick and muffled where he burrowed into the crook of her neck again. “Wrap your legs around my waist. Just like that, sweetheart.”

The new position offered an exquisite angle, and Angelica could feel tension building, the room fading and then… Julian cried out and nipped at her collarbone, the little sofa lurched and Angelica was lost in wave after wave of sensation.

Long moments later, Angelica felt Julian move. As if he didn’t want to disturb her, he eased away, then tugged her skirts down and smoothed the folds into place.

Angelica couldn’t look; she didn’t have the energy to lift a lid at the moment.

“That’s my girl,” murmured Julian.

Girl? She’d never felt more like a woman in her life.

Julian had to get her clothed, covered up. Get all of that sweet flesh hidden again, or he’d be tempted to do more. He fumbled with the tapes of her dress, and finally managed to get them tied.

Actually touching her, the scent of her arousal, heavy in the air from her orgasm, filled his senses and the taste of her… God, the taste of her was still rich upon his tongue. How he managed to dress her when every impulse in him screamed to strip her, bare her and take her again, he did not know.

But he needed to get it done, before they were discovered. Before it was revealed that he had deflowered the daughter of his closest friend.

Angelica didn’t even crack an eyelid she was so replete. She’d given herself to her passions so deeply, so trustingly…. Angelica emitted a soft shushing sound and Justin couldn’t restrain a smile. It wasn’t really a snore, but it was indicative of the deep sleep she’d succumbed to after her release.

He carefully tucked a stray curl behind her ear and rose to pour a drink, anything to clear his head.

Two fingers of brandy looked pretty shallow, so he measured out a third then stoppered the cut-crystal decanter. He paused at the window and looked into the inky night that had absorbed the tiny town-house garden. There wasn’t anything to see, save the glow of the odd carriage clattering down the alley to a neighbor’s mews, but it suited his mood just fine and he sipped leisurely from the glass.

He’d done it now. Crossed some invisible threshold between admiration and declaration. He’d known it the minute he let her pull him back into her embrace, and he’d let it happen. Like the tumblers of a well-crafted lock, the facets of his life—what he wanted and needed most—fell into place and he’d known. Known that everything that he was to become began and ended with this warm little bundle of a woman.

For a man who had spent nearly his entire life alone, it was a stunning proposition to consider that his world was not his own, that he didn’t have to be alone any longer. He could choose her, claim her for his and fill the void.

So, when she had wrapped her silken arms about his neck and hugged him to her breast and whispered “please” so prettily, he
did
choose. He decided then and there that he was going to marry Angelica, whatever it took to make it so.

Selfish bastard that he was, he chose Angelica. God help her.

And what would her father have to say on the matter?

The door to the drawing room opened and for one heart-stricken moment he thought that she was trying to sneak away from him, away from meeting his eye and acknowledging what they’d just done.

“You’re still here, Vine? Charlotte’s fine. Didn’t Angelica tell you the news?”

Julian turned from the window, the sudden arrival of Angelica’s father clearing his musings as effectively as a bucketful of snow dumped over his head.

“Indeed, I was just availing myself of your best brandy to toast your good fortune. Congratulations!”

Daniel grinned as if he’d never stop and slapped Julian on his back. “I’ve only just left her, sleeping finally. I have to tell you, it’s amazing. This morning when I awoke, it was just another day and that fast—” he snapped his fingers “—everything’s changed. It’s another second chance, and don’t I feel overwhelmed with blessings!” Daniel walked over and claimed the brandy that Julian poured, and they clinked their glasses together. “Would that you receive such blessings, my friend.”

“Indeed,” Julian said. He eyed Daniel and wondered if this mellow mood would lend itself to the news that his friend wanted to wed his overprotected daughter.

“What…?” Daniel frowned at the sofa, and Julian swallowed hard. God, could her father see the fading flush of passion on Angelica’s cheeks?

Then Daniel’s face cleared, replaced by a doting glow. “Oh, did she fall asleep? She’s probably overtired from the worry over Charlotte.”

Julian held his breath and his words, unwilling to lie.

Daniel knocked back the rest of his drink. “Well, I suppose I should send the dowager a note that Angelica’s to spend the night again, and then put her to bed. Never got to do it when she was little, so it’s a queer, happy feeling I get when I look at her in repose like this. All innocent and sweet.”

Julian choked and nearly swallowed his tongue. She was sweet, all right, but not so very innocent any longer, thanks to him.

How in the world could he broach the subject?

Just as Daniel leaned over Angelica to pick her up, she shifted and then sighed. “Oh, Julian.”

The soft sound was like cannon fire in the quiet room, the house still as if the world had ceased around them. Her eyes were closed, but the tiny smile of a well-satisfied woman now curved her lips. A smile that no innocent could sport.

Daniel froze then jerked back as if stung. He straightened, staring at Angelica as he moved back one step, then two. Then he pivoted with military precision and impaled Julian with an accusatory glare.

Unblinking, Julian met his gaze, guilt and dread binding like mortar in his gut.

“My
daughter
, Julian?” Daniel’s voice rumbled with accusation, as deep and threatening as thunder before a violent storm. “You defiled my
daughter?
”

Julian cleared his throat to find his voice. “It isn’t like that, Daniel.”

Shoulders back, hands fisted at his side, Daniel moved forward, eyes glittering with righteous fury. “What was it then, Julian? Are you going to tell me that you
didn’t
touch Angelica?”

Of course he couldn’t. Not without lying.

Daniel’s anger grew in the moment that Julian hesitated, the silence revealing. “Did you take her?” Daniel was hoarse with ire, his stance menacing.

More silence as Julian struggled with words. What could he say? He’d never been in such a circumstance before, being generally more circumspect in such things.

“You son of a bitch!” In two steps, Daniel was close enough to swing and mean it. The blow landed on Julian’s left cheekbone. He felt the skin tear where Daniel’s knuckles connected, and he absorbed the brunt of the blow.

Julian stood still, accepting the emotion-laden punch as his due. Hoping for atonement and silently praying that this might begin the path to forgiveness.

A flurry of silk indicated that Angelica was now awake and alert to the proceedings. “What—?”

“I thought you were my friend,” Daniel continued and swung again. This one connected with his gut and he grunted as the air left his body. Julian forced his body to relax further, penitent. “I trusted you.”

Swing. Connect. Grunt.

“Daniel! Stop it! You’re hurting him!”

“By God, I’ll do more than that by the time I’m done. Let go of my arm, Angelica.”

“No! Please stop and listen to reason.”

Daniel turned on her, his hands fisted at his sides, nonthreatening but indicative of the depth of his rage. “Reason, is it? What would you consider a reasonable reaction, then, for a man who’s discovered his daughter defiled in his own home. This is the one place my children should be safe. I wasn’t there to protect you as you were growing up, Angelica, and now I’ve failed you as an adult.”

“Oh, Daniel.” Angelica began to cry, horror etched on her face. “You mustn’t think that!”

Julian couldn’t stay silent any longer. Perhaps if he reassured Daniel that his intentions were honorable, the worst of this situation could be diffused. He took a deep breath, wincing from the pain in his ribs. “It’s not a flirtation, Daniel. I’m in earnest.”

Daniel flinched. “Somehow, I think that makes matters worse. That you planned her seduction before me.”

“I never intended things to go so far.”

“Well, they have. And what’s to be done now?”

“I’m prepared to offer for her. We wouldn’t… I wouldn’t…” A glance toward Angelica showed shock still gripped her, and she pressed a fist to her mouth as if to stifle further outburst. This was not going well. Angelica wasn’t listening and Daniel just purpled further in fury.

“No,” Daniel said in an ominous voice as he glared at Julian with something like hatred, and Julian felt as if he’d been hit in the stomach all over again. “Don’t bother. I won’t force Angelica to anything. I know firsthand the consequences of a meddling father. If I can give her nothing else, I’ll be sure that she is free of that.”

What was this? Daniel wasn’t going to insist they wed? But that was what Julian wanted, why he’d allowed himself to take her.

Julian stared at his friend, helpless. He knew Daniel well enough to recognize the older man was on the verge of losing control again, and while Julian knew a sound thrashing was his due for letting matters go so far, this was neither the time nor the place to have matters out.

If there was one thing certain, Daniel wouldn’t harm Angelica, either with words or action. It was Julian he was furious with. If Julian knew anything of his friend, the best recourse was to allow him the chance for his anger to cool so he might see matters with some distance. Daniel would see reason. Eventually.

With a nod, Julian moved across the room then paused at the threshold. “I’ll call in the morning, Daniel,” he said firmly, unwilling to leave matters unresolved for long.

For a moment, it seemed that Daniel wouldn’t respond. And when he did, Julian felt his heart shatter.

“Don’t. You’re not welcome here.”

Julian left without another word. He was willing to yield the moment, but by no means was he giving up. Julian would fight for both his future wife and his friend. This couldn’t—wouldn’t—be the end of everything he held dear.

The door closed behind Julian with the finality of a judge’s gavel. Angelica trembled, her emotions riotous, swinging like a pendulum between ecstasy and misery in mere moments.

Daniel stood with his back to her, unmoving. Could he not stand to look upon her?

Finally, she could take the silence no more. “Daniel?” she asked, her voice a timid thread of sound in the quiet room.

Daniel shuddered but took a deep breath and turned toward her. His soft brown eyes were ringed with dark circles, as if bruised. His pain was a tangible thing, and her heart wrenched in response.

“I’m so sorry, Daniel.”

He moved across the room with surprising speed and pulled her into his arms. “Don’t. Don’t you ever apologize to me, little angel.”

“I’ve disappointed you. Let you and Charlotte down.” For the first time, Angelica realized that it mattered to her what this man thought of her, more so than she’d ever cared what her faux parents thought. The tears flowed more rapidly, soaking his shoulder.

“You never could.” Daniel rocked her back and forth, soothing.

“Truly?”

His smile was a sad, twisted sort of thing, but it was sincere. “Truly.” He cupped her cheek. “I am so proud of the woman that you have become, Angelica. Nothing will ever change that.”

“But your anger—”

“Is directed at Julian, not you. I thought he was a better man than to lead an innocent young miss astray. Worse, still, that it was my own he chose.”

“What if—” Angelica inhaled deeply then hiccupped. She couldn’t let him think the worst of Julian, that he was some sort of rover. “What if Julian were the one being led astray?”

Daniel frowned and narrowed his eyes, watching her closely. “Do you mean because you flirted with him?”

“Or something.” Angelica tried to look away, but insistent fingers pulled her back to look at him.

“What do you mean?”

She braced herself. By telling him the truth, she very well might jeopardize the affinity and regard he felt for her. For good. But something told her this was the most important thing that she could do to help salvage the relationship she knew Daniel valued every bit as much as Julian did.

“Julian tried to be noble, tried not to succumb to what lay between us, but I encouraged—nay, I
invited
Julian to make love to me.” Heavens, she’d got the words out, but she couldn’t meet his eye. Not yet. “And I’d do it again.”

A long pause. “So, you care for him?”

She hesitated to consider. The fist that squeezed her heart at the thought of doing without Julian confirmed her mind. “I do. More than anything.”

“Do you want to marry him?”

“He, uh, hasn’t tendered an offer.”

Anger, still so close to the surface, flared back to life, and she could feel Daniel’s muscles tense. “Oh, he hasn’t, has he? We’ll just see about that.” He pulled away as if prepared to set off after Julian at that moment.

“No, please. You said that you wouldn’t interfere.”

“I’ll be damned if I do or don’t, won’t I? What would you have me do, then? Sit by and watch him break your heart?”

“You don’t trust him to do the right thing?”

“The man I thought that I knew, I trusted with my life, on many occasions.”

“Then why won’t you trust him with your daughter’s? He’ll come to me of his own accord or he won’t.” He still would after all of this, wouldn’t he?

“As you wish. But I don’t have to like it.” Daniel shook his head. “No matter the outcome, know that I still love and care for you very much.” He kissed her forehead.

“Thank you, Papa.”

It was the first time she had called him anything but his given name; it was the first time she felt like this man was her father, by more than biology.

His smile was watery. “I’ve waited a long time for you to call me that, daughter.”