Harnessed Passions (15 page)

Julia screamed, jumping away from the tub
and nearly falling into the box that held the chamber pot. The
water from her hair slid into her eyes and stung the green depths
like red-hot pokers, but the sensation did nothing to distract from
the terror she felt ripping at her insides.

Daniel heard Julia's scream and ran to the
wash closet, throwing open the door. What he saw made the frown
he’d been wearing for the past several minutes deepen. Julia stood
between the chamber pot and the tub, her hair wet, dripping across
her breasts and down her back. She stood before him completely
naked, brushing hair from her face and rubbing her eyes. He stood
there for several seconds staring. She was more beautiful then he’d
ever dreamed and he was quite certain it was a vision he was not
likely to forget; but when he realized she wasn’t trying to hide
her nakedness, he came back to the events that had brought him
bursting through the door.

"What the hell...?" he began, only to have
her point to the floor beneath the tub of water.

"Under there," she gasped, pushing her hair
away from her face. She didn't seem to notice the fact that she was
standing before the man, naked and dripping wet. The only thought
on her mind was the object that had slithered through her grip.

Daniel knelt down in front of the tub, his
eyes still roving across her exquisite figure in a mixture of
concern and desire. He wanted to forget what he was doing and just
pull her to him, tasting and teasing the dark triangle of hair that
was now at nose level. But instead he forced his eyes off her and
back to the task at hand, seeing exactly what it was that had
caused her to scream.

“
Hand me that towel,” he
ordered as she picked up the small towel on the hamper next to her.
He tossed the cotton cloth across the reptile, gathering it in his
hand as he rose to his feet, keeping the twisting bundle away from
her as he pulled her into his strong embrace.

"Calm down," he told her, holding her naked
body against his growing arousal. "It won't hurt you."

"I don't give a bloody damn, get it out of
here!" she ordered, pushing the man and the towel in his hand, away
from her. The door to her bedroom swung open and Jeremy rushed in,
seeing Daniel's large frame filling the doorway of his sister's
wash closet, his arm around Julia's slender waist and Julia,
standing wet and naked in front of him.

"What the hell, do you think you're doing?"
he growled, laying a hand on the shoulder of what he assumed was
his sister's attacker. Daniel turned and grinned at the younger
man, noticing the umbrella he had grasped in his shaking hand.

"I didn't know it was raining?" he said, as
Julia reached for her rob, struggling to put it on.

"Did he hurt you?" Jeremy demanded, still
uncertain what was going on.

"No Jeremy," she insisted, tying the robe
around her waist. "Put that umbrella away." She marched past both
men going back into her room and lay down on her bed, desperate to
hide her embarrassment and her body from the two men. The room was
quickly filling with people as Louise and Thompson rushed in, a
pistol in the older man’s firm grip. They stared with concern at
Julia, and then looked to Jeremy and Daniel - who still held a
squirming towel in his hand.

"Why did you scream?" Louise asked,
uncertain of what was going on. Daniel unwrapped the towel enough
to display the snake for their inspection. Louise gasped, as did
Bridget who had appeared behind the older woman.

"It was in her washroom," he told them,
glancing across the room to Julia. "She screamed when she saw
it."

"I did not see it," she insisted, pulling
her robe tighter around her chest as she tucked her feet up on the
mattress. "I felt it and it nearly attacked me."

"It's a garter snake Princess. It wouldn't
have hurt you and what was it doing under your tub?"

"How the hell should I know?" She demanded
anxiously, watching as Daniel wrapped the repulsive reptile back
into the towel. "Maybe he had an overwhelming urge to wash his
hair!" Daniel nudged Jeremy on the arm and nodded toward the
door.

"Come on sport," he said, with amusement.
"Let's get rid of your sister's friend." Daniel stepped to Julia's
bed and gently kissed her forehead. "Your mother will stay with you
while your brother and I dispose of your visitor."

"He's not my visitor or my friend,
Browning!" she snapped, anger flushing her pale face. Daniel and
Jeremy left the room, following Thompson down the hall.

Once they were out of earshot of the women,
Jeremy turned to the man next to him and tried to pull up to his
full height of five foot, ten inches.

"I owe you an apology Daniel," he said,
softly. "I thought you were trying to..."

"I know what you thought and believe me
Jeremy, I nearly did," Daniel chuckled lightly. "Damn snake
anyway."

"How do you suppose that thing got into
Julia's washroom?" Jeremy continued, as they continued walking.

"I was wondering the same thing. It's not
unusual for a snake to come near a house even come in an open door,
but to climb up a winding flight of stairs, crawl into a room and
close the door behind it? I wouldn't want to set a bet on those
odds."

"What are you getting at, Daniel?"

"Look, I know there’s more going on here
than Julia’s admitting to. I know she didn’t hit herself on the
head and that pillow beside her last night was not a cushion for
her to rest on. There’s no way in hell she would have put a snake
in her own bathroom, either." They stepped into the back yard and
released the three-foot reptile, which eagerly slithered away,
disappearing between two nearby bushes. The silence welled up
around the two men threatening to rob the breath from their very
lungs. It wasn't impossible to envision somebody trying to scare a
woman, especially with a childish prank like a snake, but to
deliberately go to the length assaulting and possibly trying to
kill her was another subject altogether. One - at present - that
was in need of a much closer investigation.

Julia lounged in her room for the rest of
the morning after Daniel had left, trying to put the past
twenty-four hours into prospective. When she arrived in Kentucky,
she thought it was going to be a short simple visit, see her
father, confront her mother for exaggerating, ride her favorite
childhood mare and then bid her family farewell before going home
to Boston. Now, she could barely remember her own name, much less
how to spell Boston.

She had been forced into accepting her
father's legacy by her own promise to a dying man. Turner Stables
was her problem now and there was nothing she could do about it.
The past few weeks had been far less than a pleasant reunion. She
had watched her father turn to a frail old man old man before her
very eyes; weak and barely able to hold himself up in his
wheelchair. She had learned more about horses then she ever knew
possible, and she had been attacked and nearly killed, then
practically eaten by a python! Okay, she admitted in silent
honesty, it hadn't been a python, but it was huge and it was a
snake and she detested reptiles of any size.

The only good thing that had come out of all
of this was her meeting Daniel Browning. He was by far, more than
an average man; powerhouse specimen of male sexuality, handsome
beyond description and the best kisser she had ever known. But
there was more to him than that; she felt she could trust him,
someone she could really call a friend, an ally in all of this mess
and chaos. He had been there to protect her and comfort her during
the worse moments of her life. She just couldn’t imagine what her
life would have been like, had he not been here when she
arrived.

Daniel Browning had managed to arouse her as
she never knew possible; the stirring of emotions he brought to
life within her were new and intriguing. She could barely think
beyond him; his wicked, seductive smile, the alluring gleam in his
blue-green eyes; together they made her feel weak and strong all in
the same instant. She really didn’t care anymore that he was an
employee; he had managed to make himself a part of the family with
very little effort.

He was always there, laughing and talking,
ordering the stable hands to do their jobs with a firm yet gentle
hand; keeping everyone spirits up during some pretty depressing
times. But when it came to her, it seemed all he had to do was
wiggle his finger and she would fall into his arms; and what arms
they were, too. Strong, secure, slightly dangerous, everything she
had longed for when she and Heather would dream together as
children.

Afternoon arrived much as it did every day,
with lunch served in the dining room and tea on the veranda. Louise
advised Jeremy and Julia that Harold Leonard, their father’s
attorney would arrive after supper. It was the last thing either
wanted to hear, much less face. Jeremy’s attitude toward the
reading of Victor’s will had not changed since he first arrived
home. He was certain he had not been left anything more than some
trivial household items, and he didn’t really care about any of it.
The bitterness of years gone by still wore heavy in the young man’s
heart and as the afternoon progressed, so did his silence.

Julia walked the confines of the house for
what seemed like hours, waiting for the eventful night to end. The
staff were especially quiet today and the anticipation hung like a
thick cloud in the large mansion. Nobody was certain if they would
have a job come morning or if they were to suddenly find themselves
homeless and on the road to somewhere less hospitable. Knowing that
so many lives depended on her agreement to her father’s conditions,
Julia felt the weight of her acceptance grow; there was no way of
backing out now.

Shortly before supper, Julia finally decided
to seek out the privacy of the small terrace outside the sitting
room, and began thinking about the night before. She couldn’t
understand how a person could slip into a room full of people and
out again without being detected. Someone had to have seen
something that didn’t appear to be normal; and if there had been a
woman hanging around like her aunt had said, then why didn’t
someone speak with her, find out who she was or why she was
there.

Sitting in a chair on the veranda, Julia
began to feel the anxiety of the day weighing down on her. She had
no idea what her brother would say or do when he learned she was
named as co-owner of the stables; that meant he had to be the one
to inherit the other half. Jeremy had no intention of returning
home and therefore had no reason to want the land, their father
knew that. But she made a promise to him; this land was all he
knew, it was all they had and it was a good, successful business.
Turner Stables was world known for their quality horseflesh. Even
President Rutherford was a customer of theirs.

The sound of feet shuffling softly against
the concrete ground caused Julia to turn with a start. She was half
expecting to find the intruder from the previous day sneaking up on
her again. Instead she found Daniel walking slowly toward her, the
expression on his face was intense and serious.

“
What’s the matter?” she
asked with a frown as he sat in the chair opposite her.

“
Why do you
ask?”

“
Because you look like you
have the weight of the world on your shoulders. Is everything
alright?”

“
Yes,” he said quickly. “I
was just worried about where you were.”

“
Ah, my noble knight comes
to the rescue of the innocent maiden,” she said with a soft blush,
lowering her eyes from his intense gaze. “I’ll let you get away
with that excuse for now.”

“
Wasn’t an excuse,” he
assured her with a warm smile. “Simply the truth.”

The warm breeze blew around the small
enclosure, bringing with it the scent of the farm, the freshly
turned soil for the fields and the aroma of supper cooking through
the open door in the back of the house. It was quiet and pleasant
and very relaxing, though she didn’t want to experience it. She
actually found herself hoping Daniel would discover a need to hold
her again; kiss her like he had upstairs that morning.

“
Who is Harold? I thought
you were father’s lawyer?” she asked a few minutes later, hoping to
distract her raging, perverted thoughts.

“
I was, but I turned his
case over to my partner about three years ago,” Daniel answered,
shifting slightly in his seat. His nerves were beginning to get the
better of him and he was fighting the urge to disclose what he knew
of the will before Harold arrived.

“
So you’re not an
employee?” The tone of her voice was one of surprise and delight,
though he could not understand why it would matter to
her.

“
No, I’m not. I agreed to
help your father after he sold me Roustabout, my stallion. This
place reminds me England.”

“
Tell me about your home.
Do you have family still there?”

“
Yes, two sisters and a
brother, along with my mum. My Uncle William took over the family
business after my father died and I moved here.”

“
Why did you move all the
way to Kentucky?”

“
Harold is an old friend;
his father used to work for mine as his accountant. We developed a
friendship that was strong enough that when he moved here after
graduating Oxford, I followed. He had a difficult time during the
Civil War, but soon as it was finished, he had more work than he
could handle. He asked me to join him and I did.”

“
What did you do in
England? Did you work for your uncle?”