by Josie Dennis
“Hello, Miss Holbrook,” she said. “Welcome to Hawksfell Manor.”
“Diana, please,” Diana said. “Thank you. I daresay I was nervous, pushing myself on Derek…on Baron Holbrook to accompany him here.”
“The more the merrier,” the earl drawled. “Or so my wife and her cousin tell me all the time.”
“Yes,” Michael said. “It’s a pity Patrick and Mary couldn’t join us.”
“Another Hawk cousin and his new wife, Diana,” Millicent said in explanation. “They are settled at Eyrdale Park this evening, or so Grantley told me.”
“Grantley?”
“The earl’s man-of-affairs,” Michael said. “Didn’t the baron tell you it was Grantley who extended the earl’s invitation?”
Diana shook her head. After learning he was leaving her, again, she hadn’t given a care to the particulars.
“At the inn?” Matthew asked. “Hmm, I wonder if the circumstances were similar to when the earl found Patrick there. Lord knows the inn can be most…intriguing. Isn’t that true, my bride?”
Posy gasped then giggled. “Matthew, do stop!”
Matthew winked at his wife, and Diana’s cheeks flamed. How much more could she take of this? Everyone was quite amiable, but there was so much electricity in this room she feared the lit sconces would burst.
“Ah, Derek,” the earl said.
Diana turned her head to see Derek entering the room. He was dressed impeccably, like the other gentlemen present, but there was something about the breadth of his shoulders and his long stride that made her lungs seize. The others in the room faded from notice as he neared.
“Good evening, Gabriel,” Derek said.
The earl introduced Derek to his family and the dinner bell sounded. As they made their way into the dining room, Diana just prayed she’d be able to keep her countenance. She had no notion where she’d be seated, but it didn’t matter. With a room full of Hawks and their women who loved them, she was doomed to feel her own bleeding heart most keenly.
* * * *
Derek managed to make it through dinner. God, it was unbearable. They were all so bloody happy. He didn’t begrudge any of them their wedded bliss. He just found it impossible to believe.
He’d watched Diana through the meal, and afterward. She’d looked as perplexed as he felt, but the one time he’d caught her gaze she’d still carried that light in her eyes. The carnal knowledge he’d given her. God, he was cursed. Cursed by more than his Hawk lusts, apparently. He couldn’t take her love. It would all but kill her.
Cabot caught up with him in the hall outside his room in the bachelor wing.
“Are you ready to retire, baron?”
The footman had served him as valet earlier this evening and was apparently given to his care throughout his stay.
“Yes, Cabot. I’ll see to myself, however.”
“Very good, my lord.”
The footman made his way down the long hallway toward the back of the house. Derek let himself into the room and removed his jacket. Flames crackled and popped in the fireplace and the room was decorated in rich colors of burgundy and gold. The lamps were lit, so he went through the room unbuttoning his shirt and turning off the lights. He left one burning near the bed. He heard the door open as he reached for his dressing gown.
“I’m fine on my own, Cabot,” he said.
“I would say you are,” Diana said softly.
He turned to find her standing there in his room. Again.
“Diana, you can’t be here.”
“I need you to love me, Derek.”
Her color was high and her breath coming fast, but he suspected she meant more with her request.
“You will ruin your reputation if anyone were to learn you were in my room.”
She clicked the lock on the door as she had in his room at Holbrook Hall. “I want you to take me, Derek.”
His lusts stirred as he caught her orange blossom scent. “I told you, that’s not going to happen.”
She grabbed onto his shoulders. “Don’t take one of the maids.” She sniffed. “Please.”
She knew about the earl’s offer? “How did you…?” He shook his head. “I’m not going to fuck one of the maids tonight.”
His coarse language made her eyes widen. “You were thinking about it?” She swallowed. “About f–fucking one of the maids?”
“Or one of the footman,” he went on. “Cabot is pretty enough. What do you think?”
She covered her ears. “Why do you delight in torturing me?”
He let his dressing gown fall open. Her gaze fell on the bulge in his trousers. “Are you sure you want me to fuck you?”
She licked her lips, and he felt it like a caress along his shaft. “I don’t know.”
He unbuttoned his trousers and freed his cock. He gave it a long stroke, feeling every beat of his pulse along the shaft. He couldn’t keep up this game much longer. His lusts would rise soon, and then he would have to have her. “You want my cock in your pussy, Diana?”
She gave a shaky nod. “Y–yes.”
He thumbed the head of his cock and hissed a breath. “You don’t.” He stuffed himself back in his pants. “Go.”
Tears welled in her eyes. She walked to the door and placed her hand on the knob. She faced him again. “Derek,” she whispered.
“Go! Before I fuck you and ruin your life.”
She covered her mouth with her hand and ran from his room. Derek locked the door behind her. Her shock and sadness seemed to do the trick on his beast. His heartbeat slowed, and the throbbing in his cock subsided.
He rubbed at his burning eyes. It was better this way. Let her resign herself to the fact that they could never be together. She might be upset now, but that pain was nothing compared to what would certainly follow if she gave him her heart.
Chapter 8
Diana ate breakfast with the countess then used her familiar excuse of seeing to correspondence to get some time to herself. The earl and his wife, and her cousin, Michael, were very nice people indeed, but she couldn’t bear to be around their happiness today. Not after what Derek did, what he’d said, last night.
He’d tempted her with his body. With his words. Foolish girl that she was, she’d wanted to make love to him anyway. She donned her overcoat and went back down to the entry. She nodded to the butler, told him she was going out for a walk, and left through the front door.
The drive circled back toward the way they’d come yesterday but also branched off around one corner of the great house. With no clear direction in mind, she followed the path and discovered a carriage house. The wide doors were open, and she saw several vehicles inside. A shaft of sunlight caught something bright and shiny, and it drew her eye. As she stepped closer, she saw that the sun had found a man with blond hair. He was bent over an engine, obviously tinkering with something or other. She admired his fit body in its tidy uniform. She stilled. Uniform. This must be the chauffeur Lily was going on about last night. The oh-so-lovely Mosley.
“Hello,” she said.
He started and straightened. He was tall, nearly as tall as Derek, and possessed wide shoulders. When he turned she realized Lily had every reason for her infatuation. He was beautiful.
“Hello, yourself,” he said, wiping his hands on a rag.
His hands looked strong and not very dirty, considering the work he was doing. His gaze slid over her even as his cheeks turned pink. She felt an answering rush of heat to her face.
“I’m Diana Holbrook,” she said quickly. “I’m a guest of the earl’s.”
“Evan Mosley.” He leaned back against the car for a moment, then his mouth dropped open. “Wait. Diana?”
“Yes. Why?”
He said something under his breath then shrugged. “No reason. I’d heard the earl was expecting a guest, but I thought Baron Holbrook would be on his own.”
“I’m sure he wishes he was.” Tears burned in her eyes and she couldn’t keep them back. “I’m sorry,�
�� she said, wiping at her eyes with chilled fingers. “I don’t know why I’m crying. I shouldn’t be surprised.”
He walked closer. “Surprised about what?”
She sniffed and looked into his face. He really was quite lovely. Very different from Derek but just as compelling. “Derek told me he doesn’t want what I want. Yet I pushed and pushed.”
Evan smiled, causing her stomach to flip.
“And what is it you want?” he asked.
“Oh, I can’t say it!” She could smell his scent, warm and bright, and she breathed in deeply. “It wouldn’t be proper.”
He arched one brow. “You’re down here talking to the staff, Miss Holbrook. I imagine you don’t care much for propriety.”
She pulled herself away from him and chose instead to study the car he’d been working on. It was sleek and shiny, but she couldn’t identify it. No doubt Eddie or Harry could. They were both motor mad. The tufted seats were plush and covered with leather. “This motor is quite pretty.”
“Pretty?” He stepped next to her. “I don’t know about that.”
She smiled up him. “You can’t tell if something is pretty or not?”
He leaned his face closer to hers. “Oh, I can see beauty, all right.”
She licked her lips and his gaze fell to her mouth. How could she want this man she’d just met to kiss her? How could she think about anyone other than Derek that way?
“I wager I would get a nice ride,” she said softly.
His blue eyes flared with something different now. Something she’d seen in Derek’s eyes last night and that night back at Holbrook Hall.
“A nice ride.” His nostrils flared. “You’d like a ride?”
She should have run screaming from the garage, but she couldn’t make her feet move. She must be so twisted up about Derek her nerves were overly sensitive. That was the only reason she could think of for wanting this man to ride her. She stifled a giggle. A ride! No wonder he was looking at her like she was truly the wanton she longed to be.
“I thought I’d find you out here,” Derek said from just outside the open doorway.
Evan stepped away from her and she turned. Derek strolled inside, a big smile on his face. He lost that expression the moment his gaze fell on her.
“You must be Baron Holbrook,” Evan said.
An odd expression crossed Derek’s face, like he was holding his breath. “Yes. And you are?”
“Evan Mosley.”
Derek nodded and looked around. He seemed to be looking everywhere but at her.
“Why would you think I’d be in the garage?” she asked him.
He shrugged and faced her. “I didn’t see you in the gardens.”
“I wanted to take a walk.” Why was she explaining herself? He’d made it perfectly clear he wanted nothing to do with her despite what he’d done to her the other night. Despite the fact that she’d taken his cock in her mouth!
“I was talking to Evan here,” she said. “About getting a nice ride.”
Evan made a choking sound behind her.
“What?” Derek asked.
“Excuse me,” Evan said, stepping back toward stairs at the back of the garage. “A pleasure meeting you, Miss Holbrook. Baron Holbrook.”
Derek followed Evan with his eyes then rounded on her.
“What is this about, Diana?”
“Why do you care?”
He growled and grabbed her arms. “You’re out here with Evan, talking about getting a ride?”
“Evan, is it?”
Something like guilt crossed his face, but why should that be?
“That is his name,” he bit out. “Didn’t he say so?”
She turned away, walking slowly as she let her hips sway. “Evan was telling me he would take me for a ride, Derek.” She looked over her shoulder. “Why should you care? You told me you would never give me a ride.”
His mouth dropped open. “Are you serious?”
“There is nothing for me at Holbrook Hall.”
She let her words settle on him. He clenched his jaw. “You don’t even know Evan.”
“I’ve known you forever, Derek. Please tell me what good that does me now?”
He stalked around the garage, raking his fingers through his hair as he muttered something about curses and women and fools. Diana watched him, her heart in her throat. Was he jealous?
He stopped and faced her again. “You want a ride with Evan?”
She shrugged in a way she hoped looked carefree. “I have no future at Holbrook Hall. Not with Sir Simon or anyone else my mother throws my way. Why am I holding on to my virtue?”
His lips curved in that carnal manner she’d seen before. Her nipples tightened, and her pussy pulsed to life.
“You want a ride?” he asked again.
“Yes.”
He turned and pinned her against the nearest wall. “I should fuck you right here. Give you the ride you’ve been begging for.”
Her pulse pounded in her ears. “Derek.”
“Or maybe I’ll call Evan back down here and he can fuck you. I bet he’s got a big cock, Diana. He looks fit, doesn’t he?”
“He is very attractive, yes,” she managed to say.
“I bet he’s gifted with his tongue, too. You’d like him to lick your pussy, wouldn’t you?”
The thought of Evan’s pretty face between her thighs caused her traitorous body to weep. “Please, Derek.”
He breathed in. “I can smell it on you. Your pussy is soaking wet. You want to get fucked.”
She slapped him. “That’s enough!”
He released her and rubbed his cheek. “Fine. I tell you what. Use our visit here to gather your thoughts.” His gaze was hot on her body. “Or indulge your desires. I don’t care.”
She lifted her chin. “You have never cared about me.”
Somehow his eyes grew darker. “I do care about you. That’s why I won’t take you.”
Something shifted in her chest, a decided shattering of her heart. “You won’t take me because I won’t give myself to you!”
She stomped out of the garage and back out into the chill autumn day.
* * * *
Derek took long, deep breaths as he tried to recover. He wanted Diana. That was clear to him and anyone within earshot. She wanted him, too.
“What are you going to do about her?” Evan asked.
Derek turned to him, watching as he stepped out of the shadows near the staircase.
“What the hell can I do?” he asked. “The girl wants to get fucked, for God’s sake. She wants to escape Holbrook Hall and thinks this is the way to accomplish that. She doesn’t care about the consequences.”
“She wants you, Derek.” Evan held up a hand to still any objections Derek thought to make. “She might have been flirting with me, but she wants you.”
He leaned against the motor Evan had been working on. “Well, that’s a bloody shame.”
Evan shook his head. “I never took you for a cruel man. Then again, I suppose I don’t really know you.”
Derek met his gaze evenly. “You know me, Evan. We’ve been together. We’ve talked about anything and everything. Hell, we’ve fucked a woman together, too.”
“I suppose.” He polished the already-shiny bonnet of the motor. “What are you going to do about her?”
“What should I do?”
Evan shrugged. “I’d take her.”
“Then please do.”
Evan’s mouth dropped open as he faced him. “I meant, I’d take her if I were you.”
“That doesn’t matter. She wants a ride, and apparently she’s quite taken with you. Fuck her.”
“You don’t want me to fuck her. You don’t want anyone else to have her.”
“That’s not…entirely true.”
“You care about her, Derek. I think you could love her if you thought your blasted Hawk heart was capable of it.”
Derek found a smile. “And you have the audacity to say you don�
�t really know me.”
Evan returned the expression. “I admit she’s the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen. There’s a quality about her, too. A vulnerability and a bravado. I find the combination enchanting.”
“And she has a stellar pair of tits and the sweetest pussy you’ll ever taste.”
Evan flushed. “She must, if you’re this torn up about her.”
“I’m serious, Evan. You don’t have to fuck her, but indulge her. Show her there’s more than martyrdom in her future.”
“You really believe marriage to you would destroy her?”
“Marriage? Hawks don’t marry, evidence here at the manor aside. But giving her heart to a Hawk would destroy her. It killed my mother.”
“You’re not your father.”
“How the hell do I know that? I never knew the bastard.”
“Then what about the earl? His brother? His cousin, for Christ’s sake? You say to put the evidence aside, but how can you deny the fact that some Hawks have been able to find happiness?”
Derek blew out a breath. “If you’re going to be rational about this, I can’t argue with you.”
Evan came close and stroked his hand over Derek’s cheek. “You care about Diana. You don’t want her to get hurt.”
“I know you. You would never hurt her.” He was certain of this. From what he knew about Evan, from their time together, he knew the man was tender and passionate. He’d be good for Diana, for the time being. “Just indulge her. If she pursues you…” He shrugged.
“Let her catch me?”
Derek clapped him on the shoulder. “Exactly.”
Chapter 9
Evan smelled Diana first, that intoxicating orange blossom scent that had lingered in the garage after she’d stormed off yesterday.
“Evan?”
Her voice was tentative. The sound of his name coming from her was like a caress. It was late afternoon and his work was over for the day. He should tell her he was off to the village and certain escape. He should leave her to Derek. He glimpsed her in the soft autumn light, her raven hair limned blue and her blue eyes dark. She really was quite lovely.
“Miss Holbrook, you shouldn’t be here.”
