“… are you sure you lost it here?”
“I haven’t seen it since we got back last night,” came the answer. “It was in my coat pocket.”
“So maybe it dropped to the ground when you took it off, Reed?”
Julianna frowned up at him. Reed and Elise? The expression on his face told her he was just as confused.
Maybe if they kept quiet, the other couple would eventually go away.
“I … hold on. There’s someone else here.”
Oh fuck, they sensed us. When she saw Duncan open his big fat mouth, she shook her head. But it was too late.
“Oi, what’re you two doing here?” he shouted from behind the marble as he craned his neck.
“What the—Duncan?” came Reed’s reply. “What are we doing here? What about you?”
“Just … you know, went out for a run. Er, you and Elise should probably stay where you are, unless you’re wanting a free strip show.” She punched him on the shoulder. “Ow! Fer feck’s sake, Julianna, d’you want them to see you naked as the day you were born?”
“Julianna?” Elise’s voice was filled with amusement and Julianna groaned. “Are you—”
“Yes, I’m here.” She raised a hand high and waved even though she couldn’t see them.
“Oh. Right.” Reed cleared his throat. “Apologies for the interruption.”
“That’s all right, we just finished. Ow! Julianna, keep your claws to yourself.”
“Just keep your mouth shut,” she hissed.
“It’s too late, darlin’,” he cooed. “They already know what we were doin’ here.” His brow wrinkled. “We went for a run this morning, hence our current state of nakedness. Say, how did you guys get all the way here?”
“We rode in on horseback,” Elise explained. “Er, we’re really sorry, we didn’t think anyone would be out here this early. Reed can’t find his phone. He thinks he dropped it here last night.”
Duncan’s brow furrowed further. “Wait a minute, what do you mean ‘dropped it here last night’?”
“Er, Reed couldn’t sleep after we came back from the bar,” Elise said with a nervous laugh. “So, we went for a ride and came here.”
“How did you know about this place?” Duncan asked. “I was told only the Alpha and Oliver knew this existed.”
“You know what?” Reed said. “My phone isn’t really important; I can buy another one. We’ll head back.”
“Wait—”
“Bye!” Elise shouted. “We’ll see you later.”
The sound of the gate closing indicated that the other couple did indeed leave.
“Why did you have to go and do that?” Julianna hissed.
“Do what?”
“Tell them … I mean … that we …”
He chuckled and kissed her nose. “Och, darlin’—first of all, we’re standing here naked as jaybirds; I think they would have noticed us. And”—he gave her a heavy-lidded gaze—“if you think I’m keeping what’s happened between us a secret, you’ve got another think comin’. I would shout it to the world if I could.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“You wanna try me?” When she smirked, he flashed her a smile, stepped back and opened his arms wide. “Helloooo world!” He spun around. “Know that I, Duncan MacDougal, have finally succeeded in getting Julianna—”
“Stop!” She launched herself at him. “Stop, you lunatic!”
He caught her and twirled her around. “Aye, I’m a lunatic. Loony for you, darlin’.”
A warmth bloomed in her chest, and though that practical side of her wanted to squash it away, she set it aside for a moment. Just for now, just for this morning, she would just let things be and not ruin them. “Crazy.” She gave him a peck on the cheek. “C’mon, lets shift and head back. I need breakfast.”
“Whatever you want.”
As they walked hand in hand back to the entrance, Duncan halted, then frowned. Bending down, he picked something up from the ground. “Well, fuck me, here’s his phone.”
“Sounds like we aren’t the only ones making good use of this place.” She shook her head, not wanting that mental image of Reed and Elise doing … well, the same thing she and Duncan were doing out here.
“I don’t think Oliver would have told them about this place.” Duncan stared at the phone. “He made me swear on my grandmother’s grave not to tell anyone I knew about it. And we’ve known each other since we were in short pants.”
Oh Christ. Reed probably knew this place because he’d once been the Duke of Huntington. “Er, maybe they went exploring last night?” That sounded pathetic even to her, and she could tell Duncan wasn’t buying it either. Would he put two and two together somehow? “Anyway, it doesn’t matter.” She slid her hands up his chest. “What are we dilly-dallying around for anyway? I want food. And bed.”
His brow shot up. “Is that so? Well, I can’t keep a lady waiting now.”
After shifting back to their wolf forms and retrieving their clothing, they snuck back into the house. Though Duncan tried to drag her back upstairs, she wanted to have breakfast, so they headed to the informal dining room.
The Alpha, Oliver, Elise, and Reed were already seated at the table. As they entered, Oliver’s brows rose at their linked hands but he said nothing. She sighed inwardly. It wasn’t like they could hide anything, not when everyone saw Duncan go after her last night and then they didn’t come down to join them for their excursion to London.
“Good morning, Alpha,” Duncan greeted as he pulled a chair out for Julianna.
“Good morning, Duncan. Julianna,” Henry looked up from his newspaper. “Sleep well?”
Oliver guffawed, but covered his mouth with a napkin.
“Yes, very well.” He reached for a plate of eggs and piled some on Julianna’s plate.
“Now that you’re all here, I have some exciting news.” Henry put his newspaper down. “We have a special guest tonight. None other than His Royal Highness, Prince Alex.”
“The Prince Alex?” Elise looked confused. “Of Wales?”
“Yes, the Crown Prince himself,” Henry said. “As I promised, I told him that you wanted access to the archives. When he heard that we had Lycan visitors from America, he asked to meet you all.”
“Wait, the Prince knows about Lycans?” Reed asked.
Oliver nodded. “They do.” He relayed the story Julianna had heard the day before about Jeremy and William and how the Crown now knew about Lycans. She couldn’t help but notice Elise and Reed look at each other warmly when they found out what happened, and it was hard to stop from smiling herself.
“I’m a wee bit cross, because I’m not the one putting that smile on your face,” Duncan whispered in a low voice. “But I can forgive you because you look absolutely beautiful with it.”
If she were the type to blush, she probably would have. Instead, she rolled her eyes at him. “Does that work with every girl?”
He grinned. “I can see you’re still not going to make this easy for me.”
“Should I?”
“That’s okay,” he leaned down and bent his head to hers. “I love it when you’re feisty. Because I know later on, you’ll be screamin’ my name again when I get on my knees and feast on you.”
Heat crept up her cheeks, and she suspected they were as red as a fire engine. Damn him!
Henry stood up, folded his paper, and tucked it under his arm. “I have a busy day, especially with tonight’s dinner, so I’ll leave you young ones for now. Oliver, perhaps you can entertain our guests?”
“Of course, Father.”
“Excellent. Have a good day then.” He walked out of the dining room, leaving the rest of them behind.
“So,” Oliver began, the corners of his mouth turning up as he turned his gaze toward Julianna and Duncan. “We missed you last night. I thought you were joining us?”
“We had other plans,” Duncan said smugly.
“I’m happy for you both.” Oliver laughed when Julia
nna gaped at him. “Don’t look surprised. I suspected something was up when Duncan showed up at the last minute. She’s yours?”
“Aye,” Duncan nodded, prompting Julianna to roll her eyes again. “But she doesn’t believe me still.”
“He hasn’t won your heart yet?” Oliver asked Julianna.
“There’s nothing to be won,” she replied wryly. “I’m not a prize.”
“Yes, you are.” The heat of Duncan’s stare could have made her burst into flames on the spot. “The only prize worth winning.”
Dammit, when he said things like that and gave her one of his goofy smiles, it made her heart melt. Stop! She clenched her jaw. I only want him for his talented tongue and the mind-blowing sex, she reminded herself.
“Make her coffee, she’ll propose marriage,” Elise piped in.
“What?” Duncan’s fist landed on the table, making the teacup clatter loudly against the saucer.
“It was coffee,” she said. “Hot and fresh, right when I needed it. I would have proposed marriage to anyone who brought me food at that point.”
Back when they first arrived in 1820, Cross, who had the power to change the form of matter, “made” them fresh hot coffee from thin air. After an uncomfortable night on a sleeping bag in a musty old house, seeing the hot brew nearly made her weep, and she joked that Cross should marry her.
“And exactly how many men have you proposed marriage to?”
Duncan was red, all the way to the tips of his ears. It was adorable, which is why she gambled and asked him sweetly, “This week?”
“Woman, you’re really askin’ for it.”
She sighed. “For God’s sake, that was a joke.”
“But you also said Cross was hot,” Elise added.
Jesus, did she have some sort of death wish? “I wasn’t—”
“I’m going to kill this Cross.” Duncan threw his napkin on the table. “You’re my True Mate and—”
“Can it with caveman act, will you?” She grabbed the basket of bread and took a slice, biting into it. “He’s nobody, okay? He works for the clan, just like I do and …” Shit, how was she going to explain it? “We had a mission, and he made me coffee when I woke up.”
“When you woke up? Like from bed?” Steam was practically coming out from his ears.
“It was the floor, actually.” Okay, she had to admit, that made it sound worse. But she couldn’t help but feel a tiny flare of satisfaction at his reaction. “Look, it was a top-secret mission from our Alpha. Cross left Elise and I alone to investigate something, and it took him a while to come back. When he did, he made—yes, made it, because that’s one of his powers—coffee for me and Elise.” She glared at the woman in question, who seemed to be trying to hide her amusement behind Reed’s shoulder.
That seemed to calm Duncan enough so he could sit back down on the chair. “No more proposin’ marriage, you ken?” As if to prove his point, he snaked a hand around her head and pulled her in for a hard kiss.
“Fine, I promise I won’t propose to any man,” she said wryly. “Happy?”
“For now.”
Oliver cleared his throat. “If we’re done with marriage proposals and murder threats, perhaps we could go for a tour of Huntington Park?”
“As long as it doesn’t take too long.” Duncan placed a hand on Julianna’s thigh, the warmth making electricity zing across her skin. “We’ll be busy.” She glared at Duncan, but he gripped her harder. When his nostrils flared, she knew he could smell how her panties drenched, and his frown turned into a grin.
“I’m sure you will be,” Oliver said dryly.
After they all finished breakfast, Oliver did take them on a tour of the house and the gardens. Julianna marveled at how different yet the same everything was. Many of the rooms still had the original paneling and moldings, but the furniture and decor were different and modern. She could see how the following owners of the house had obviously taken care of Huntington Park, and she was glad. Based on the look on Reed’s face, he was too.
It was strange, really; her stomach was all in knots at the prospect of coming here, but now she wondered why. Sure, there was a touch of sadness, but the fond memories made her smile.
When they had gone from top to bottom of the house, the tour finished in the formal sitting room with high tea.
“Oh my God.” Julianna’s eyes devoured the spread of pastries, savories, cakes, and of course, scones with clotted cream and jam. “I swear, this is one thing the English do right.” Really, this was the only reason she’d endured the dowager duchess’s “lessons”, so she could have all the delicious food during teatime. Until this day, she still couldn’t find scones, pastries, or even butter that tasted as good as it did in the 1800s, perhaps because today’s food was all made with preservatives and fillers.
They all sat down with Oliver, Reed, and Elise occupying the three wing chairs and Duncan deftly steering her to sit with him on the love seat. Not that she could get away, because he kept his fingers threaded through hers the entire day. His small touches here and there, deliberate or not, surprisingly, didn’t annoy her. She found herself wanting to touch him all the time too.
“These are amazing,” Julianna declared as she popped a mini salmon sandwich into her mouth. “Hmm …”
“I love a woman who can eat.” Duncan’s eyes gleamed as she licked a stray bit of cream cheese from her lips.
“Really? Then pass me those scones.”
He did, placing two of them on her plate and then holding the tray with the jam and clotted cream so she could pile her scone with them, then take a large bite. “Hmm …” Now these were almost as good as she had had over two hundred years ago.
“Excuse me, Lord Wakefield, apologies for interrupting your teatime.”
Julianna’s hackles rose as her eyes snapped open. The bite of scone nearly choked her when she forcefully swallowed it down.
Of course, she was still lurking around Huntington Park. Tramp. Charity was looking gorgeous as ever, her blonde hair up in a sleek French twist, wearing a powder blue tweed suit and matching shoes. As usual, her eyes zeroed in on Duncan, even as she addressed the room. “I just wanted to remind everyone of tonight’s dinner. Prince Alex will be arriving at seven thirty and we shall all be expected to welcome him in the foyer.”
To his credit, Duncan didn’t even turn toward her. Indeed, he seemed to be busy, delicately piling a plate with cakes. When he was done, he offered it to Julianna. “Try these, darlin’, they’re delicious.”
Charity cleared her throat. “I do hope everyone here can be appropriately attired, as it will be a formal dinner.” Her gaze narrowed on Julianna, her eyes drifting down briefly to the crumbs all over the front of her sweater. She gave an exaggerated shudder. “Of course, if anyone feels they aren’t up to snuff with their table manners, feel free to sit this one out.”
The remaining piece of scone in Julianna’s hand crumbled as her hands tightened into fists.
“Duncan,” Charity began, “I was thinking we could—”
“Aren’t you adorable?” Duncan reached out, brushed the corner of her mouth with his thumb, and showed her the bit of cream on the tip before licking at it. “Delicious.” A low growl vibrated from his chest. The sexual energy could have set the entire room on fire. It made her temporarily forget that she wanted to rip the other woman’s pretty blonde scalp from her head.
Charity, on the other hand, let out a small indignant squeak, then opened her mouth. “Dun—”
“Thank you, Charity, that will be all,” Oliver said, effectively dismissing her. “I’ll see you later tonight.”
The blonde’s set face, fixed eyes, and clamped mouth made Julianna want to raise her arm in triumph. Charity gave them a curt nod, turned on her heel, and left.
Duncan brushed away the crumbs in her hand, then calmly handed her a fresh, warm scone from the basket on the table. “Have another, darlin’, that one seemed a wee bit dry.”
His mouth was quirked
up into a smile, and she wanted to kiss him right then and there. If she had any suspicions that Duncan still wanted Charity, they had been immediately and effectively crushed. He hadn’t acknowledged her, not even looked at her the entire time she was in the room.
Still, as she bit into her new scone, Julianna couldn’t help the irritation that was beginning to gnaw at her. While Duncan was definitely sending the message that he was not playing her games, Charity didn’t get the news. She might try something later on, so Julianna knew she had to be prepared.
Tonight was her chance to make sure the assistant backed off. A good physical smacking down would send a clear message, but maybe there were other ways to keep the hussy away. Hmmm. Maybe the duchess’s lessons weren’t going to be useless after all.
Chapter Eleven
Duncan was glad he had brought his kilt along, not just because of the impromptu dinner with Prince Alex of Wales, but also because of the way Julianna’s eyes darkened with desire when she came out of the bathroom and saw him in his formal Scottish wear.
“If I show you mine, will you show me yours?” His eyes roamed the curves of her body, wrapped up in a sinfully red dress that showed off her shoulders and a hint of cleavage. When she stepped forward, his mouth went dry when the skirt parted, exposing the length of a long, slim leg. A leg that, not more than an hour ago, had been wrapped around his waist. Now, however, thinking about her going downstairs in that thing made him want to throw a blanket over her. “D’you think maybe your dress is broken, darlin’?”
“It’s my stupid sister,” she moaned. “Adrianna put this dress in my suitcase without telling me, and I didn’t realize the slit would be cut up to Alaska.”
“Maybe you can get another dress. I’ll buy you any dress you want.” Preferably one that covered her head to toe.
She harrumphed. “Well, if someone didn’t want to spend the afternoon in bed, then maybe I would have had time to go out and get a new one.”
“Och, I didn’t hear you protestin’ too hard now,” he reminded her. Nor did she protest when he got his suitcase from his room and brought it here, telling her it would save the housekeeping staff time to make up one less room a day.
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