|
“It was so much fun, wasn’t it?” She sighed, blowing a curl
out of her face. It had been so long since she’d felt this content. When she’d
left England for Paris, she had not
expected the abyss her life would fall into. Viscount Clayton, who she’d
trusted as a friend and confidant, had turned on her when she’d rejected his
advances. After that horrible night, he’d returned to Londonand spread vicious lies about her.
Knowing she’d never again be welcomed at her uncle’s house
in London, she had lived in Paris on the edge of destitution for ten months, trying to live off the odd sewing
job and struggling desperately to make ends meet when Algernon had arrived to
bring her back to England.
With her talent for clothing design, he said, she could make something of
herself in London.
After all that had happened between her and Lord Clayton in Paris, Algernon
made her believe there was more to her than a pretty face, made her believe in
her innate value as a human being. She loved him for that.
Now she staggered home between Algie and Thomas Jones, her
cousin’s lover. Algernon and Julia had been inseparable in childhood and had
stayed close, the two black sheep in their pious, family.
Thomas grinned. “It was fun indeed, m’dear. You are
ravishing. You had every gentleman at the party primed to drop to his knees for
you.”
Algernon flashed Thomas a quelling look. She squeezed his
forearm. “Do not worry about me, dear Algie,” she said.
“I am not worried about you, Julia. You are a brave woman,
and you have proven your ability to make the proper choices for yourself.”
She smiled gratefully. Returning home was the most
frightening thing she had ever done, and she could not have done it without
Algernon. He had given her the position as head seamstress in his stylish
tailoring shop, a job which kept her separated from society, in whose eyes she
was now a pariah, a ruined woman ten times over. Tonight it had been fun to
flirt a little, but she had no plans to try to reestablish herself in society.
It would be nearly impossible considering how Viscount Clayton had slandered
her.
She was someone altogether different than the person she was
a year ago. Never again would she allow a man to lead her, to use her. In the
end, she had learned, they only wanted one thing, and it was always temporary.
Lord Clayton, whose intentions she had so naїvely thought honorable, had driven
the lesson home.
A voice yanked Julia from her thoughts.
“Stop.”
All three of them froze. The voice had come from behind
them. Cool. Deadly. Familiar. Algernon and Thomas dropped her arms and spun
around. Julia turned more slowly, fear rising like a flood in her gullet.
The man stood in the shadows about ten feet away. He cocked
his pistol and aimed it directly at her heart.
His voice pierced the still night air. “Walk slowly toward
me, Julia. You two,” he waved the pistol at Algernon, then at Thomas, “do not
move, or I will shoot her.”
Julia cast a frantic look at their surroundings. She did not
know the street, only that they were somewhere near Algernon’s house in Bedford Place. It
was a narrow street, quiet, with not a soul in sight. The houses abutting the
pavement were dark, their occupants long since retired for the evening. But if
she screamed loudly enough…
No sooner had she opened her mouth to do just that than the
man took a step forward and snapped, “Scream and I will shoot him.”
He trained the pistol on Algernon.
“Shoot me then,” Algernon said, brave, blessed soul that he
was. She was close enough to him, however, that she could feel the tremors
running through his body. “I will not let you harm this lady.”
The man laughed. “Well now, she’s hardly a lady, is she?”
She knew that laugh, that voice. A strangled sob erupted
from her throat. Like everyone else of his class in London, Sir Devlin Vaughn thought her a
trollop. Lord Clayton had not forgotten anyone when he spread his vicious lies.
It hurt, but she shouldn’t be surprised.
She nudged Algernon with her elbow. “I know him. It is Sir
Devlin Vaughn. He was the one—” She drew a shallow breath. “I know him.”
Thomas gripped her elbow. “We will not let him take you,
Julia.”
In the gloom, she could not decipher the look upon Dev’s
face, but he steadily pointed his weapon at Algernon.
How she had missed him. Part of her wanted to run to him, to
throw herself into his arms. Ridiculous, considering he threatened both her and
her cousin’s lives. But she could not help remembering the talks and laughter
they had shared, the cozy days in his bed and at the inn, the passionate
lovemaking…
A shudder rolled through her. Relinquishing her body to him
had given her the most profound pleasure she had ever known. Life in the past
year had been cold and dry in comparison.
“Step forward, Julia,” he said, his voice low and confident—the
tone of one accustomed to command.
Waves of heat pulsed across her skin, centering low in her
belly, pooling into desire. No, no, no. What a traitorous body she had.
Sir Devlin Vaughn had ruined and demeaned her, and now he
threatened her closest friends in the world. She clenched her jaw against a
sudden flare of anger. How dare he threaten Algernon and Thomas?
“Let me go to him,” she whispered to her cousin.
“Julia, you are not thinking clearly! We will fight for
you.”
“I am thinking clearly, Algernon.” And she was. A pistol
pointed at one’s chest had a magical sobering effect. Devlin, on the other
hand, must be three sheets to the wind. What else could have prompted this
ridiculous, extreme behavior? “Please don’t try to protect me,” she whispered
to her cousin. “I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
Dev was her problem and she would face him head-on. She
wrenched her arm out of Thomas’ grip and took a step forward.
“Julia!” Thomas hissed.
She turned back to give them a smile she hoped masked her
quavering insides. “I will see you soon.”
Thomas shook his head and began to unbutton his greatcoat,
preparing to fight.
“Please do not, Thomas. I beg you. I promise he will not
hurt me.” A bitter taste rose in her throat at the lie. He could hurt her, but
not in the way they imagined. “I promise, Algie. He would never harm me. If I
am not home tomorrow, call at his house in Mayfair.”
Thomas’ hands paused over his buttons. A crease appeared
between Algernon’s brows.
“Please,” she whispered. “I don’t want you to get killed.”
“Julia—”
Now. She had to go to Dev now or they would do something
rash. She couldn’t allow that to happen. She turned her back on them and strode
up to Dev, stopping when the barrel of the pistol dug into her bosom.
She looked up into his handsome face, with its straight,
long nose, square jaw and brooding eyes. Ignoring her stuttering heartbeat, she
met his dark gaze.
“Here I am, Sir Devlin.” And a rebellious spark somewhere
deep within her added, Now what are you going to do with me?
 from Ellora's Cave!
|
