by Matilda Hart
The dress was modestly cut, without much in the way of extra adornments, and yet the very lack of those extras was attractive in itself, drawing his eyes to her bodice, which showed the magnificence of her bosom to such advantage as to make his body stir in places where he had felt nothing for more than a year. Not since his last disastrous encounter with the woman his friend Jack had introduced him to had Gray felt such a primal lust. He was particularly adept at controlling his baser instincts, even in the company of the most outrageously seductive of women, but there was nothing about Juliana’s attire to suggest she was interested in seducing anyone. That fact did not seem to matter to his wayward cock, which began to strain at the fall of his pantaloons. He dragged his eyes away from her dewy skin and softly curving lips, and forced himself to attend to his mother’s conversation.
“Your cousin is to come for a visit in two days, Gray,” she informed him. “I hope you had not forgotten.”
“You skirt around the conventions very neatly, Mama,” he said dryly, smiling to take the sting out of his accusation. “How long will Edgar be visiting with us?”
“Upwards of a fortnight,” she replied. “He has been chomping at the bit to return since the funeral.”
While Gray would dispute the horse metaphor, he knew that Gray had had some small interest in Deborah, before Charles had swooped in and stolen her away. He had been scarce at the manor since then, and Gray could well understand how he might have felt it better for his heart if he were not present to witness the new couple’s joy. He had gone abroad, the last Gray had heard. He asked about that, wondering when he had returned.
“His mother apprised me of his return from the Continent a month ago,” she said, “and I immediately extended an invitation to him. It cannot have been too happy a time for them in London, as their country house was being restored after the fire there.”
“I rarely saw Aunt Mary while I was in London,” Gray said. “They kept mostly to the house, I imagine. It was dismal enough for me, and I had the club. I cannot imagine what it must have been for her and the girls, especially with Edgar gone.”
“Well now he has been back a month, they are back at Hawley House, and Edgar can pay us a visit.”
“Why not invite the whole lot for a house party?” Gray asked. “Surely Aunt Mary and his sisters would appreciate the break as well?”
Gray knew his mother was up to something, and that it somehow involved Edgar. What it was exactly, he couldn’t say, but he would hazard a guess that it might have something to do with a second wedding in the family. He had never understood his mother’s affection for Deborah, though he supposed it might have something to do with how obedient and docile she was in comparison to her younger sister. And it certainly didn’t hurt that she was every bit as materialistic as his mother.
His thoughts having wandered once again to the young woman sitting next to her sister, eating quietly, he cast a glance in her direction and found her watching him. Their eyes met, and Gray felt his awareness of her sharpen as the connection between them deepened. He blinked, wondering how neither her sister nor his mother noticed the charge in the air at the table. Perhaps he had overtaxed himself earlier, because he could find no other explanation for the way his body was reacting to her. And now that he knew she was interested in him -- there was no mistaking the look he had surprised in her eyes as he caught her watching him -- he was hard pressed to deny his own riotous emotions.
He turned to find his mother’s eyes on him, a searching look in them, as though she knew what he was thinking and disapproved. As no doubt she would, were he to show any interest in the woman who even now was chuckling at something that her sister said. He turned again to look at her, at the same time as she looked over at him and smiled. He returned it, bemused and enthralled.
His mother cleared her throat, and Gray tuned his eyes to her face, secretly amused at her discomfiture. He loved his parent, and would not hurt her for the world, but she would continue to suppose that he would be ruled by her as though he were a mere boy, and to treat him as she used to when he was in knee breeches.
“Are you quite well, Mama?” he asked solicitously, hiding his smile.
She glared at him, and sipped the wine at her fingertips. “I am perfectly all right, Graham,” she snapped.
He smiled politely at the reprimand implied by her use of his full name, and resumed his meal. He would refrain from teasing his mother any further. Instead, he would finish dinner and take himself off to his study, leaving the women to their after dinner card games.
Chapter 6
Juliana smiled at the groom who helped her to mount Alpha, and settled herself in the saddle before setting off down the well worn path. The morning air was warming, but still chilly enough to require her to wear a coat. She let the horse have his head. She would put him through his paces on the way back. For now, she wanted to think about the man whose eyes had held her captive last evening at dinner, the man who had managed, with just a look and a few words, to breach her defenses, so that her thoughts turned to him more frequently than was comfortable. She had been disappointed not to have seen him this morning in the stableyard, but she supposed he would not deign to be in her company two mornings in a row, especially if he was as averse to female companionship as her sister had reported him to be.
Still, she could not deny the sparks that seemed to smoulder in his eyes as he had looked at her at dinner. His regard had seared her where she sat, trying to maintain her equilibrium in the face of his attention. She had felt her body warm when their eyes met the second time, and was glad that Deborah had distracted her with some silly bit of gossip. Now she rode out to meet the morning, trying to decide how best to handle this new and unaccustomed attraction to a man she had never even had an inkling she might be interested in.
The sound of a horse’s hooves coming towards her made her turn Alpha’s head, and she watched a lone rider canter towards her. It was Gray Wingrove. She tightened her hands on the reins, suddenly unsettled. She had wanted to see him in the stableyard, but not out here, where they were alone with God in the wide open spaces.
“Good morning, Miss Lockhart,” he said formally.
“Good morning. I thought we had agreed on first names,” she replied coolly, worried now that he had decided to withdraw the privilege.
“Indeed we had, Juliana,” he agreed. He smiled as he spoke, and Juliana felt her insides warm inexplicably.
“Would you object to my riding along with you?” he asked, before she had had a chance to shore up her emotions.
“Not at all, Your...Gray.” she caught herself before she made the same mistake that he had just made. “I was really just letting the horse have his head for the moment. I have not as yet put him through his paces.”
“I shall enjoy doing that with you. Ajax loves to run, and Alpha will help him keep his head.”
“Is that my mount’s name?” she asked, reaching down to stroke his mane and pat his large, powerful neck.
“Indeed. He has sired a number of horses over the years, some of which we still keep here at the estate.”
They rode along amiably, while Gray pointed out some of the landmarks and other places of interest. Juliana found that she was totally relaxed in his presence, after that first awkward moment, and that the sound of his voice soothed something inside her, filled up a space she hadn’t known was there until he had spoken to her the first time. She was not a fanciful woman, but she began to wonder whether or not this was how a woman felt when she began to have feelings for a man. She had never been in love, had never felt any emotion towards a man other than indifference, until Gray Wingrove had greeted her the day before. She did not understand her feelings, and wished she had someone she could confide in. But Deborah could not be trusted to keep a confidence, and Juliana was not even sure that her sister knew what love was.
“Juliana?”
His questioning use of her name brought her back from woolgathering.
“I apologize, Gray,” she began, searching for a plausible lie to explain her inattention. “I was just enjoying the beautiful scenery.”
He looked at her keenly, as though he could see right through her, and she felt her cheeks color. There didn’t seem to be anything she could do to stall the blush, which annoyed her. She was not a coquette, and did not favor those women who used their feminine wiles to seduce men. In her view, blushing was a sign of such behavior, and it irritated her that she seemed to be unable to control her reactions around Gray. Even if she were losing her mind enough to find him powerfully attractive, he did not need to know it.
“You are even more beautiful when you blush, Juliana,” he said, after an excruciatingly long pause. “And if I am not mistaken, you only do so when you are hiding something you do not wish others to know.”
He chuckled at the startled look she threw his way. It was disconcerting to meet a man who could read her so well, and one in whom she had apparently conceived an inordinate interest. And that he thought her beautiful was a shock to her system. This would not do. Gray Wingrove was not the marrying kind. And even if he were interested in marriage, he was certainly not going to choose her, when he had had his pick of women of greater wealth and beauty than she possessed. Her father was merely a baron, not even a member of the peerage. And he had had enough exposure to her sister to be forgiven for assuming that she was cut from the same cloth. The thought depressed her, but she fought valiantly against it. So he had caught her in a fib. She would not confess to it. Instead, she smiled and turned her horse’s head.
“I should like to try this path today, if you please,” she said, and led Alpha into a quick canter.
Gray followed her, and when she urged her mount into a gallop, they ended up racing together along the path. Juliana felt a freedom she had rarely felt in the past, and a smile creased her cheeks, parting her lips and freeing something buried in her heart...joy. Unadulterated joy flowed out of her, and before long she was laughing as she had not laughed since she was a child. Gray won, naturally, but she didn’t care. It had been exhilarating, and as they slowed to a walk, entering the stableyard at the same moment, she wished for a second that she could stay in the moment forever.
Peter helped her off Alpha, and when Gray dismounted, the groom led both horses away to the stables where he would tend to them. She turned to her host, her cheeks ruddy with exertion and pleasure, and the look she surprised in his eyes was a look she had seen on many another man’s face when they looked at her sister, or at other beautiful women of her acquaintance. But she had never seen it directed at her. Gray Wingrove wanted her. The thought should have shocked her, and in the past would have annoyed her, but now, in this pristine space, it only made her whole body heat up in a kind of anticipation. She felt as though if he touched her in that moment, she would go up in flames. He regarded her with such concentration that it seemed like they were alone in the world.
“I enjoyed my ride today, Juliana” he said, coming to stand before her. “I hope you did, too.”
Juliana found she could not be aloof with him in that moment. Something special had happened as they rode, unleashing a need for honesty in her that she could not resist.
“Yes, I did,” she said. “Thank you for accompanying me.”
“It was my pleasure.”
His eyes said there was more he wished to say, but chose not to, and Juliana recognized immediately that he also knew they could not stay in this bubble indefinitely. The real world awaited them inside Coulby Hall, where he had responsibilities as the Duke, and she was her sister’s companion. So she did what she had to do, though this time she was averse to doing so. She stepped away from him, smiling politely, and said,
“I suppose we shall meet again at breakfast.”
He smiled but did not reply, and she walked quickly away before she gave in to the temptation to say more than would be appropriate. Inside, she hurried up to her chamber, where she found her sister waiting for her.
“Good morning,” Deborah said. “Where have you been?”
“Riding,” Juliana replied in clipped tones, not wanting to share any more of her morning with her sibling.
“I don’t know how you manage to rise so early every day,” Deborah said languidly.
“What do you need, Deborah?” Juliana asked. “I need to clean up for breakfast.”
“I shall help you,” her sister announced. “I’ve sent Rose away. She has already laid out your morning dress.”
Juliana resigned herself to not having any further alone time, and with Deborah’s help, she dressed, listening disinterestedly as her sister talked about the Duke’s cousin who would be with them the next day, about the village gossip going round among the servants, about any and everything. Thankfully, she made it down to breakfast in time, heaving a sigh of relief when she found herself arrived ahead of the Dowager Duchess, who swept into the room regally, her son at her side, five minutes later, made a general greeting and sat down.
Juliana fought the blush that was threatening to heat her cheeks, and studiously avoided his gaze. She had never been a coward, but these feelings were new to her, and she didn’t wish to give anyone any inkling of any changes happening in her by altering her behavior in any way. She helped herself to what she thought she could manage to eat without choking, and sat in her place, eating quietly, not engaging anyone in conversation, listening to the desultory conversation around her.
“Will you be going to the dinner party hosted by the Viscount and his new wife?” Lady Eleanor asked her son. “Coulby Hall should be represented.”
“I have already accepted the invitation, Mama,” Gray said, sipping his coffee.
“Shall I have Hudson leave a late supper for you?” she inquired.
“No, Mama. I shall probably arrive home too late.”
So he would be away for dinner. The thought made Juliana feel curiously deflated. She might not wish to acknowledge her interest in him, but she found herself wanting to hold on to the moments when they shared the same space. It was a silly feeling, she was sure, and she deplored it, but she could not deny her disappointment that she would not see him again after dinner. Perhaps he would ride with her again tomorrow. She let the hope cheer her.
Chapter 7
The house was quiet, and it was very late by the time Gray returned home. The dinner party had stretched interminably long, and he had had to fight the increasing boredom he felt. The Viscount was a rotund little man of sixty years who had managed to snag a beautiful young bride, one of the milkmaids he had used to play with as a boy. She was as robust as her husband, and though she was significantly younger than he, she seemed happy enough, and the Viscount was clearly besotted with her. Gray knew the man wanted an heir, and so the choice of a young wife was not just a matter of infatuation but also of practicality. He wished them well when he left, and he meant it sincerely.
Now, as he walked into his study for a nightcap, he wondered if he would arrive at the grand old age of sixty without a wife. He imagined it would continue to be a source of despair for his mother if he remained unmarried, but he had no wish to tie himself to any woman. Well, he had had none, until Juliana Lockhart had broken through the hedge of disinterest that had grown up around his heart. He had observed her earlier, at breakfast, avoiding his eyes, trying to make herself invisible. She was the first woman of his acquaintance who did not try to make herself the center of attention, and it made everything about her even more attractive, if that were possible. She would be a worthy wife for any man she decided she would tolerate in her life. He sighed, knowing that his decision not to marry was being seriously eroded by his desire to kiss her soft lips, to caress her dewy flesh, to find out what other depths she possessed and to plumb them.
Draining the glass, he poured himself a second glass and sipped as he strolled to the window overlooking the rose garden. The moon was out shining brilliantly in a cloudless sky, and it cast eerie shadows on the flowers in their beds. What w
ould it be like to stroll through a midnight garden with the beautiful and enchanting Juliana? He could imagine holding her hand as they walked, pausing by the tall rosebush to kiss her cheek, pulling her around to the front of the little garden shed, out of sight of the house, so he could explore the rich sweetness of her mouth.
He knew, somehow, that she would be sweet to taste. He imagined how her hands would feel as she touched his face, or other more hungry places on his body. She was not in the room with him, and yet Gray could almost feel her there. He swung round suddenly, aware that he was indeed not alone.
“I beg your pardon, Gray,” Juliana said, the candle she held in her hand trembling. “I did not know you were here.”
Gray marveled that he had been so lost in his lustful thoughts of her that he had not heard her enter. He had left the door ajar, but had not bothered to light a candle as the moonlight was so bright, and he had been in a foolishly amorous mood. Now the object of his thoughts stood before him, clearly embarrassed to be seen in her night attire, her hair unbound and falling in sensuous coils over her shoulders and down her back. His body hardened as he watched her standing in the doorway.
