The Notorious Proposal

by Terry Long

  Ally made her way to the rose garden outside. She kicked at tiny stones with the tip of her slipper when she lost interest in simply standing amidst the budding rose bushes. Lifting her face, she frowned. Not a single puff of cloud dusted the blue sky. It seemed even the heavens above didn’t wish for her to have anything to do to pass the time. Like guessing what animal or objects the clouds formed- one of Nana’s favorite sport.

  Ally stopped when she realized she’d reached the stables.

  “Milady.”

  She gave him a smile, wishing he wasn’t recalling what had transpired a few days ago in this very spot. “Good day, Mr. Thomason.”

  “Good day.” He looked as though he wanted to bolt.

  “Mr. Thomason, please do not worry yourself.”

  His shoulders relaxed considerably.

  “I suppose a short ride in the courtyard wouldn’t cause too much…No, never mind. I won’t request anything that shall place you in an unpleasant situation.” Additionally, she would not risk the dear man’s employment.

  Thomason casted his eyes to the ground and stared at his boots. “Milord believes you’ll run away again, milady.”

  “He would think so. But, I have an understanding…of a sort, with my husband, Mr. Thomason. It’s just as well.” She couldn’t suppress a sigh as she turned away.

  “Milady,” he whispered with a hand pausing in midair, and regarded her with clear, bright eyes. “Milord never said you couldn’t ride in the courtyard. I am going to take my luncheon now. When I do, I believe no one is here to watch the stables. I wouldn’t know if anyone borrowed a horse or two,” he said softly with a tiny smile that she thought adorable for a man of his size. Then his words settled in.

  “Oh, Mr. Thomason!” Ally said with delight, clasping her hands together. “I promise I shan’t get you into any trouble. I shall ride only in the courtyard. No, Mr. Langdon never said I couldn’t ride in the courtyard, did he?” She beamed, barely able to contain herself. “I will return it shortly. Thank you!”

  “I really don’t know what you’re thanking me for, milady.” He grinned. “I’m just about to partake my lunch.”

  After the stable master left her alone at the stables, Ally went in search for the small mare she rode days ago, but she didn’t see it in any of the stalls. There were only gigantic thoroughbreds that whined and reared when she contemplated riding them. She guessed they sensed her unsettling energy. It wasn’t her fault, she allowed. They were enormous and terrifying, these beasts- just like their master. She liked the timid ones, much like her own personality. She grinned at that.

  Standing before a steel grey stallion that looked right back at her with a soft eye, Ally noticed that he did not exert any uncomfortable reaction with her. He was calm and unmoving; he looked to be her perfect candidate for this afternoon’s ride.

  Ally realized she did not know how to saddle a horse when she opened the wooden gate to let him out of his stall. She led him by his bridle, and he quietly obliged to her wishes. In fact, he seemed pleased to leave his stall, his ears pricked forward and his tail swished with enthusiasm.

  Deciding to ride bareback, because that was the only way she could ride under her current circumstance, she guided him to the stepping ladder and climbed onto his back. And Ally wished she hadn’t done so.

  The horse took off in a flighty pace, yanking her in its wake.

  “Stay put. Sweet Mary!”

  Ally tried to appease the stallion with her calm words. She also tried to pet it, but was too afraid to let go of the reins. “Mr. Thomason!” she cried out with all the intensity she could rally. “Help me!”

  She was bounced around atop the mad horse and taken towards the end of the stables and then back again where it stampeded for some time before finally rearing its way out into the courtyard. There, he tossed his head, snorted and stomped. “There, there,” she crooned. It bucked, trying to unseat her. “Goodness!”

  Just as her grip weakened around the bridle due to her sweaty palms, and her bottom favoring one side of the horse, Ally knew she was about to be thrown onto the graveled courtyard. She shut her eyes, expecting the soaring fling into the air, followed by the hard landing that would likely break a few bones in her body.

  She opened her eyes to someone’s harsh voice.

  “I said take my hand, damn it!”

  She’d never been so pleased to see Michael.

  Chapter Eleven

  Belatedly registering what he wanted her to do, Ally released the reins and reached for Michael’s extended hand with trembling ones. With one blink, he had wrenched her off her horse and tossed her onto his own, where he clasped a firm arm around her waist. The steel-like band surrounding her gave Ally the impression he would never let go, but for once, she welcomed his solid, unyielding grip. She felt protected, secured, comforted.

  Ally watched in pure disbelief as her horse settled into a state of serenity, sighing and lowering its head as if it hadn’t just tried to kill her.

  Without so much as a word, Michael rode toward the stables, maneuvering both horses. He pressed his chest to her back, his breathing labored against her ear, harsh, almost as if he was howling with grief.

  They reached the stalls and his voice rang out, seething with rage. “You’re dismissed!”

  Ally gasped when she spotted a man running toward them with a look of utter horror across his face, the person of her husband’s fury. “No, you cannot do that!” She turned her head in time to catch a murderous glare cross Michael’s features. He didn’t return her gaze. Rather, he pinned Mr. Thomason with feral, dark eyes.

  “When I give an order,” Michael continued hotly, fully disregarding her, “I demand you conform by it.” He jumped off his horse, dragged her off it, and kept a firm hand on her wrist that felt like steel. This time, she didn’t receive it willingly. Trying to wrench her hand away resulted in a more obstinate grasp.

  Thomason looked on with wide, petrified eyes.

  “Mr. Thomason did not know!” she wailed. Stomping a heavy foot into the dirt ground when Michael took no interest in her words, she added, “You cannot dismiss him!” That seemed to get his attention.

  He turned to her. “In no means are you to question my actions with my staff members.” The darkening eyes made Ally snap her mouth shut, squashing any attempt she had in further assisting Thomason. She swallowed audibly. His gaze flew back to his stable master. “When I said that you were never to give my wife a horse, I meant ever.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “You may see Matthews. He will disburse your outstanding salary to date.”

  “No!” Ally wasn’t about to allow someone to be punished for the fault she committed. “Mr. Thomason wasn’t present when I had taken the horse. Punish me if you are so inclined.”

  Michael looked down his nose at her with a hot, penetrating gaze. For the first time in her life, she despised her lack of stature. She’d never before had a problem with being four inches above five feet. He continued his close assessment without a word, further irritating her.

  “Lock me in my chamber again if that pleases you.” Michael narrowed his eyes and Ally had a distinct feeling he could read all the way to her soul. She pulled her hand back, but he refused to let go of her wrist. When he appeared to be considering her words, she went on, “Dismissing Mr. Thomason will prove nothing. I snuck into the stables and attained a horse on my own, and I’ll only do it again should you hire another stable master. See,” she said with a flick of her free hand, “it isn’t even saddled. Do you believe that Mr. Thomason would offer an unsaddled horse?”

  She waited for Michael to turn and review the object of her discussion, but the man didn’t even bat an eye. An ice cold shiver ran down her spine when Michael continued to watch her with absolutely no trace of expression. She speculated he might not have even listened to a word she just spoke. “It’s me you ought to punish,” she grumbled.

  “Oh, I will,” Michael bit out, and Ally’s heart began
racing with dread all over again.

  Without sparing Thomason a glance, he said in a few words that he’d speak to the man anon. His stable master was quick to comply, bowing low while he avoided eye contact- even hers. And then Michael took her arm and dragged her after him like a child who’d behaved poorly and needed a good thrashing.

  While she glanced back at Mr. Thomason, the man gave her a fleeting look laced with sympathy and gratitude. All Ally could manage was a slight, meager smile to reassure him that she was going to be all right. She was going to be all right, wasn’t she?

  Michael hauled her up the stairs while Ally wished she could expire on the spot. All of his servants looked as if this was of common occurrence when they saw the pair pass, but as soon as Ally craned her neck behind her, they all looked petrified. Discrepancy in private was agreed upon, she supposed, but among his servants? It was more than shameful. How would she ever look upon his servants without feeling humiliated?

  “Mr. Langdon, please. Must we do this overtly?”

  “You have given up whatever privileges you had when you’ve so determinedly challenged my orders.” He pushed open her door and slammed it shut behind them after he stepped inside. “Where did you attempt to go, Ally, back to Dartford?” he asked, slumping forward to drop her legs. As soon as both her slippered feet touched the carpeted floors, he removed the arm that curved around her back, as if not wishing to touch her longer than he had to.

  “I only wanted a short ride.”

  “Don’t you defy me and then lie to me!”

  She was bored to tears and depressed, and alone, but she was certain the brute would not likely believe a word she spoke. Ally held her tongue, but she couldn’t keep the contempt she felt for him from brewing out- contempt she didn’t know she had.

  He was vindictive when he wanted to intimidate her. How could such a handsome visage be so cruel?

  As he towered over her, Ally contemplated swooning, but quickly terminated the preposterous notion. He’d probably just step aside and let her artfully fall at his feet.

  He continued to frown at her, so she gave him back everything she had, full force.

  ***

  Michael stared at her. Hard.

  She carried on as if her life hadn’t been in danger, and glaring right back at him. His stomach felt as if it had been in his throat when he witnessed her atop that feisty stallion. Michael knew that if she fell, the horse would undoubtedly trample her, and being as small as she was, there’d be no bones left unbroken.

  Michael told himself it was merely the fact that he didn’t want her death on his conscience.

  But there was something else that made his knees weak and his heart slam against his chest. The Devil take him, he wouldn’t embark on analyzing it now.

  “Do you have any idea what kind of danger you exposed yourself to out there?” Ally did not argue, but still looked damned angry, which only enhanced his frustration. “You could have died!”

  She remained silent. But this time, she lost her glower.

  “You should never ride bareback.” He paced the floors, telling himself that she wasn’t dead, she was fine, and hell, that he could breathe now. “Christ!” He let his head drop and he rested his weight on the scripting desk with the palms of his hands. Shutting his eyes from the image that kept appearing in his mind, he blew out a forceful breath. He refused to let the picture come to life. But still, even with his eyes closed, he could see it clearly: Ally’s crumpled body on the ground, lifeless, broken.

  “I…I didn’t mean to frighten you,” she said in a low voice behind him.

  Turning, he noticed she still hugged herself, her eyes downcast. He wagered the tremors she tried to smother now came from the frightening escapade. She looked so small. He wanted to ease her fears, the Devil only knew why. He wanted her to forget what happened several minutes ago that caused her restlessness now.

  “Why are you willing to sacrifice your freedom for Thomason?”

  She lifted her gaze to his. “He didn’t do anything wrong.”

  Michael took a menacing step toward her, hoping that she’d go back to glowering at him, forgetting the whole near-death incident. “I hired the man myself nearly ten years ago. He takes his job very seriously.” He forced a scowl.

  “He is a good man.”

  Michael did all he could not to roll his eyes. Thomason never left the stable grounds unsupervised. When he did leave, his sons took turns guarding the bloody stalls as if it was something holy. “I do not believe for one second that you were able to get yourself a horse out of that bloody stable without being seen or helped.”

  Ally swallowed.

  It was obvious that she wanted to defend his stable master. A little part of him was relieved, knowing that perhaps she wasn’t such a selfish woman, after all. There was, in fact, a small part of her that was good, decent. But the knowledge made him uncomfortable. She wasn’t supposed to have any good qualities.

  “I ought to dismiss him,” he said, mostly to himself. She frowned, which was a far cry better than seeing her morose. “Now why in God’s name are you upset? I should be the one entitled to get upset.”

  “Then go ahead, you ogre!”

  He wanted to throttle her now. If he hadn’t saved her in time, she wouldn’t be standing here coddling his temper. “Whatever I do, it’s never good in your eyes,” Michael said, not needing to force a scowl any longer. His jaw throbbed from clamping down too hard.

  “You have never done anything for me, Mr. Langdon. Everything you’ve done has always been for your own benefit. A man like you will never have good intentions for a woman of my means.”

  His stomach tightened. She was right, of course. But her words unsettled him, none the less. Had any other person put this to him, Michael couldn’t have been bothered. Hell, he would have nodded and agreed, but coming from her…

  Ally’s glare dissipated by the second as she stared at his face, and he wondered what she saw there. He assumed his scowl again. “So in your eyes, I’m always a detestable, loathsome man?”

  Her chin lifted a notch.

  He cursed. “What did I get myself into? Victor,” he accused under his breath. Looking back at her, he said, “Victor wouldn’t know what to do with you.”

  “And you do?” she asked scathingly.

  He raised his brows. “I’d like to think I do.”

  She glared at him.

  “See? Like that. If you looked at Victor the way you do me, he wouldn’t know what the hell to do.”

  “So tell me, what would you do?” she prompted, her eyes still flashing with anger.

  “You’re sure you want to know?”

  “Yes.” Clearly, she was bothered by his declaration. Her chin jutted out, a tiny, barely detectable pout pulled on her lower lip, but he noticed.

  “Well, that’s easy. This,” —he hauled her body to crash against his. “And this,” —he lowered his mouth to hers. Against her soft lips, he went on, “And this.” He licked the crevice of her mouth that allowed no entry. “And then…this,” —a hand cupped one of her breasts. His tongue forced an entrance when an outraged gasp escaped her.

  After a short moment of holding her firmly in place while she struggled in his grasp, Ally complied, letting him lap at the heat of her mouth, tasting.

  Once his breeches grew too uncomfortable, Michael forced himself to stop. Lifting his head, he licked his lips slowly, letting his tongue run from the right side to the left of his bottom lip that curved into a smile. Damn, he was proud of himself. She practically melted.

  “That, m’dear, is what I’d do.”

  As his words settled, she shoved at him. “Pig.”

  He let out a chuckle. “Is that all you’ve got?”

  “Cad. Insufferable…goat! Smug…vile…man!” Her mouth opened and closed several times, but no other humorous words spilled out.

  A rumble of laughter vibrated from his chest. “No ogre? Or fiend?” he asked with what he hoped was an arrogant s
mile and an even supercilious raise of one brow.

  Aside from an aggravated shriek, she couldn’t seem to voice anything else. He broadened his grin and put his fingers to her chin to demand her gaze. “You are so damn adorable.” His smile vanished as soon as those words left his mouth.

  Ally parted her mouth as she stared at him. Still silent.

  She closed her eyes when he took her sultry mouth again. It couldn’t be helped. He’d dreamed of these lips for weeks. This time, he was deliberate in his actions, hoping she wouldn’t come too quickly to her senses and shove him away again. He didn’t want her to realize she was letting him kiss her. If it didn’t feel so damned good, he would have laughed. Infuriating Ally is allowing me liberties. Even the hand at her chin dawdled, calculating his movements as it shifted to bury itself in her hair. Her mouth was hot, and soft, and pleasant to say the least.

  His other hand had a will of its own, grasping the flare of her hip, and then roving lower to cup her derrière.

  Ally’s eyes flew open. Damnation!

  “Let go of me!” Her breath came out rough and uneven.

  His movements stilled with abrupt speed, startling him out of his arousal. “Ally. I didn’t- God, don’t cry.”

  At that, she raised her face to his. “I’m not crying, you beast! Let. Go.”

  Relieved, he loosened his hold on her hips, just a little, while applying just enough pressure to keep her standing between his legs. And then he couldn’t suppress his amusement. This wee little thing would fight him until her last breath, wouldn’t she? He let out a roaring burst of laughter when she cursed him to hell, including all his socks as well.

  “Let me go!” she said through each struggling breath while shoving at his chest and pounding on his shoulders.

  He snaked his arms around her, pulling her closer and chuckled. “Where did you learn to curse like that? You have no idea how amusing it is to have one’s shoes and socks be cursed at the same time as its possessor.”

  Ally glared up at him. She was so furious, it was damn fascinating. Her flamed cheeks and devilish eyes in contrast to her size, it was all entertaining, really. He wanted to kiss her again. After watching her for a moment, mulling over that thought, he did.