A Disgraceful Miss (5 page)

“You are a bastard, Vine.”

The hour was exceptionally early, but Daniel neither tempered his voice nor betrayed an ounce of regret for his appearance in Julian’s study at the socially repugnant hour of seven. In the morning.

Not that Julian had been abed. Most of the night he had passed in the study with a brandy and a headache, heart overflowing with self-recriminations. Julian felt as if he’d been run down by one of Trevithick’s steam engines. His ribs actually creaked when he moved and it hurt just to breathe.

Through sleepless, burning eyes, Julian watched as Daniel took a seat on the far side of the desk, looking clearheaded and groomed. Well, someone had managed to get some rest. And calm down.

“Yes,” Julian said. “I am.”

Silence stretched between them as Daniel assessed Julian in the bright light of day. Looking for the quickest way to eviscerate him? Or studying the weak shell of a man Julian had become?

“I should hate you, Julian.”

“Yes.”

“I could emasculate you.”

Julian winced. “One can only hope you manage to stifle that particular impulse.”

“But I won’t do either.”

“My thanks,” he said solemnly. Of anyone, Julian knew what Daniel was capable of.

Another pause. What was he to make of Daniel’s stony face? This wasn’t farewell…was it?

“What I am is furious.”

“And you have every right to be. I am ashamed of my behavior, of letting you down in the worst possible way.” Julian swallowed hard. “I tried so hard to resist my feelings for her, Daniel.”

“That’s not what I’m angry about.”

Julian blinked. What?

“Don’t mistake me. I’m not happy about it, but I understand the nature of overwhelming…passions. I knew you were attracted before we learned she was my daughter. I saw the look on your face the other night as you led her away from the competition for her affections.” Daniel barely smiled. “But I’m more distressed that you didn’t tell me, Julian, before matters progressed so far. You are the most open and honest person I know. Why didn’t you trust me enough to understand?”

Julian’s heart thundered as he considered Daniel’s unexpected response.

“Fear,” Julian said and ran a hand through his hair. “All of those years fighting in India, and I was never so afraid than at the thought of losing the both of you.”

Daniel stood and Julian rose with him. This was the moment Julian had sought to avoid, but had always been inevitable.

Leaning across the desk, Daniel narrowed his eyes and glared. “Whatever you do from this day forward, Julian,” he growled, “remember one thing…”

Cold dread seeped through Julian and his blood slowed, thickening as if it had turned to sludge in this veins.

“…I’ll expect better of my son-in-law than I do of my friends. Don’t let it happen again.”

God, Angelica was lovely. Especially when she glowered at him as she was doing right now. Apparently, she wasn’t quite as excited to see him as he was to see her. All he had to do was think of her and he went hard as a stone.

Julian just wanted to pounce like a wild animal, to claim her in as base and permanent a way as possible. Right there on the rug in front of that monstrous desk that Daniel had hauled back from India.

He was going to hell. He was convinced of it.

“What are you doing here?” she croaked as she scanned Daniel’s study for other occupants.

“Waiting for you.”

Frowning, she watched him closely. “Why?”

“I had further discussions with your… Daniel.”

“Oh.” She worried her lip, biting down on that plump flesh like he had dreamed about doing. “What happened?”

“We’ve come to terms on a few things. Want to tell me what the puppy wanted?” It had not improved Julian’s mood to discover Angelica entertaining a suitor in the garden when he arrived.

“Who…oh, you mean, Bradley?”

“Who else has been here sniffing at your skirts?” So help him, he’d better have this sorted out today or he’d be throwing more than fists. Visions of tossing young Carston into the Thames nearly made him smile.

“Don’t be crude.”

“That’s no insult to you, Angelica.” He grabbed her by the shoulders when she began to turn away. Her light fragrance teased him, amplifying the tension in his muscles, the blood that still ran hot in his veins from the “discussion” with her father. “Now tell me, what did he want?”

“He wanted me to marry him.”

Fury blossomed in his chest. Just the thought that the boy had mustered the nerve to approach her was enough to elicit images of precisely how Julian was going to end the interloper’s life.

And where had that defiant gleam in Angelica’s eye come from? She was his. She’d given herself to him in the most awe-inspiring, soul-searing way imaginable. It was irrevocable. So help him, if she had even thought about accepting that offer… Goddamn it.

“Is that so?” Julian snarled, unable to help himself. “And how did he take your refusal?”

“Who said I declined his offer?”

“Don’t trifle with me, Angelica.” He didn’t like the sound of his own voice, didn’t like the way she responded, either. As if she’d like nothing more than to kick him where it hurt and bid him farewell. That was not going to happen. “What did you tell him?”

“Does it matter?”

Julian wanted to shake her. He wanted to crush her to him and brand her so that no one—least of all Angelica—would doubt that she was his.

And she was going to be
his
wife, not some infant schoolmate’s from her childhood.

His.

Unable to help himself, he pressed forward, herding her until he had her penned between his arms and the silk moiré wallpaper. Slowly, keeping tight reins on his anger and the lust that was running amok, he pressed into her.

“Of a certainty it matters, sweetheart.” Hip-to-hip. Chest-to-chest. Her lips just there, just a handbreadth away. “It matters when you spend a moment, a thought, an ounce of energy on any man but me. It matters because of the way you eradicate the loneliness in my soul, and the way that you melt in my arms, respond to my kiss. In the way that you spread those lovely thighs and welcome me home. It matters because you’re mine.”

And then, he couldn’t help himself. He didn’t want to. With the heat and lush softness of her body cradling his and her scent filling his head, easing his fury while stoking his lust, he was lost.

Angelica welcomed him as she always had, with a little start of surprise as if she couldn’t quite believe that he
was
kissing her, and then unrestrained response. A purr of excitement reached his ears, followed by the teasing flick of her tongue, encouraging him to deepen the kiss, to quest and duel with her own. For long moments, he lost himself to the taste of her.

Then he leaned back, panting like a thoroughbred at the end of a race. “I love you, Angelica.”

Lips glistening and slightly swollen from his attentions, she opened slumberous eyes that glinted like glass caught in sunshine. “I told him no,” she whispered. “I told him my affections lie elsewhere. With you.”

His heart squeezed painfully. “Do they now?”

She nodded. “I once told you that I couldn’t imagine caring enough for a husband to kill myself over him. But that was before I fell in love with you,” she said, her eyes tender. “It’s you I love, Julian. None other.”

Abruptly, he let her go and stepped back.

She looked stunned by his action, and he couldn’t blame her. But he was determined.

“What’s the matter, Julian?”

His hands shook as he fumbled with his pocket, tearing a seam in his haste. Then he had the tiny object free, pinched between his fingers and glittering wildly. Angelica glanced from Julian to the ring, then back to Julian. For a moment, he didn’t think he could speak for the knot that had settled in his throat.

“Marry me,” he finally managed to say in a ragged whisper.

“Oh, Julian.” A fat tear escaped and rolled down her cheek and for a heart-wrenching moment he thought she was about to decline. But then, with a brilliant smile and a trembling hand, she whispered, “Yes,” and opened her arms to him.

The kiss that followed touched his soul. It was a celebration of their love, and a promise.

The sound of a throat clearing eventually reached his muddled brain and Julian came up for air only to find Daniel staring at him with raised brow. He didn’t look exactly happy, but he also didn’t have that promise of retribution in his eye.

“Rumor has it you’re going to marry my little angel.”

With a smile, Julian was delighted to admit that rumor did indeed have it right.

Don’t miss Charlotte and Daniel’s story in
An Imprudent Lady
by Elaine Golden, available now wherever ebooks are sold!

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Since writing a report on Pompeii in the 6th grade, Elaine has been fascinated with history. Growing up, she daydreamed about how people lived in other eras. After all, she was planning to be an archaeologist so it was good practice! When Elaine discovered historical romance, she was immediately hooked.

Elaine Golden is a debut author with Harlequin Historical Undone! and her current work is set in Regency England.

When she isn’t writing, Elaine loves to travel and explore historical sites first-hand, from Bath and Stonehenge to the catacombs of Paris and the ruins of the Port Arthur penal colony. She also loves to make heirloom quilts for family members, but only manages one or two a year.

Today, Elaine lives in the Nashville, Tennessee area with her husband, her real-life hero of over 20 years.