Sommersgate House (53 page)

“The one
that’s announcing our engagement and subsequent wedding in March at
Wells Cathedral.”

Her mouth
dropped open. “You’re joking,” she breathed.

“You’re not
backing out on me again,” Douglas retorted.

Julia
gasped.

“How long have
you had this planned?” she demanded then stopped and blinked.
“Wells Cathedral? Tammy and Gav were married there.”

“All the
Ashtons are married there,” Douglas explained, moving her around to
face him and sliding his other hand across her waist.

He was about
to kiss the partially-stunned, partially-mutinous, partially-amused
look off her face when there was a sound at the door. They both
swung toward it but Douglas didn’t let her go.

He might, he
thought, never let her go.

It was Mrs.
Kilpatrick. “What’s happening? I had to run up to the cottage
because Ruby had gotten into a muddle. When I came back to see if
you wanted the first course, no one was there.”

“Is Ruby all
right?” Julia asked, her face turning worried.

“Fine,
something about… doesn’t matter. Kid stuff,” Mrs. Kilpatrick looked
from one to the other. “Do you want the first course?”

Douglas
opened his mouth to tell her they would be eating later,
much
later, but Julia spoke before
him.

“We’re getting
married,” she announced and Douglas could have sworn he heard pride
in her voice. His fiancée extended her hand the way any woman shows
off her engagement ring and Mrs. K gasped then clapped with
unrestrained excitement.

“Congratulations!” she gushed as she dashed forward and, to
Douglas’s stunned surprise, she hugged them both. Even though he
hadn’t let go of Julia, Mrs. Kilpatrick’s arms extended around both
of their bodies and she laid a big, loud kiss on Julia’s cheek and
then turned shyly to brush her lips against Douglas’s cheek as
well. “It’s about time we had some good news in this house!” She
paused as she disengaged. “Do you want the first course?”

“Yes please,”
Julia said at the same time Douglas said, “Later.”

Mrs.
Kilpatrick chuckled, shook her head and walked away, pausing at the
door to look back at them, her face filled with a happiness Douglas
had never witnessed from her before.

When she
disappeared, Douglas didn’t know which one of them she would
obey.

Julia turned
toward him again, resting her hands lightly on his chest.

Douglas tilted
his chin down to look at her and asked, “What did you have planned
for tonight?”

She was
fiddling with the lapels of his jacket and he was thinking he quite
liked standing there with Julia in his arms idly touching him like
she did it every day.

“Well, I was
going to cook dinner for you then Mrs. K took over. And then I was
going to tell you I wanted to marry you, which I’ve already done.”
Her eyes lifted to his and they were dark, nearly jade, and intense
and he felt immediately robbed of breath at the depth of feeling in
them. “And then I was going to seduce you.”

He should have
taken that golden opportunity to kiss her but instead he threw his
head back and roared with laughter.

The
thought of her
seducing
him was
just too much. Any seduction she had planned would take a
nanosecond to succeed.

“Am I
interrupting something?” It was Nick at the door to the study and
Douglas kept his head tilted back but instead of amusement, he now
looked toward the ceiling in frustration.

Who was next?
Carter? Ronnie? The children? Would Charlie and Oliver stop by for
an impromptu visit from London?

“All right,
Jules?” Nick walked in, completely unfazed by the tender scene he
should have noticed unfolding in front of him and completely
ignoring the meaningful glare Douglas levelled at him.

“
All
right, Nick,” Julia answered, and snuggled, actually
snuggled
into Douglas’s body.

“You are,”
Douglas said shortly, wanting privacy to reward Julia for the
snuggle.

“I am what?”
Nick smiled, knowing exactly what Douglas meant and choosing to
disregard it.

“Interrupting
something,” Douglas clarified.

“Ah,” Nick
muttered and leaned against an armchair, thoroughly unconcerned and
looking like he meant to spend the evening there. “So, who am I
supposed to dispose of then? The man who just tore out of here in a
rental or your mother who left half an hour ago? Did she come
back?”

Douglas’s body
jolted at these words and Julia’s head lifted to look at him.

“I’ll tell you
later,” she whispered.

She didn’t
have to tell him. Monique brought Webster here.

“She’s
disowned,” Douglas stated calmly and Julia shook her head in
amusement.

“You can’t
disown your own mother.” Her voice held a smile.

“I can when I
give her a generous allowance,” Douglas returned.

Julia’s
body stiffened. “Well, then you
definitely
can’t disown her!”

Nick decided
his fun was over and made to leave. “I’ll leave you to it and keep
an eye out.”

“You do that,”
Douglas told his back.

“Nick!” Julia
called out to him and then again extended her left arm and wriggled
her fingers at the other man. “We’re getting married,” she
announced, this time the pride in her voice was unmistakable and
Douglas felt…

He felt…

He had
absolutely no idea what he felt as it was something he’d never felt
before.

Nick had
turned at her call and his face lit up for a brief second before he
continued to walk away.

As they just
about lost sight of him, he yelled out, “About bloody time!”

This made
Julia laugh and Douglas found it an immensely pleasant sensation to
have her body shake with laughter while pressed against his.

He dipped his
head to hers and kissed the laugh off her lips.

“About that
seduction,” he murmured against her mouth.

She lifted her
hand to touch her fingers lightly against his face, her eyes
holding his and, slowly, she smiled.

And that was
it, he was seduced.

* * * * *

Julia woke
some time later feeling deliciously sated. Her body had a
languorous feel that was a heady type of exhaustion that had
nothing to do with tiredness and everything to do with
happiness.

She was tucked
up against Douglas’s left side, her head on his shoulder, her hand
on his chest and his fingers were lazily stroking the area just
above her bottom.

“You awake?”
she mumbled, her voice husky with sleep.

“Mm,” was his
answer.

She stretched
slowly, arching her back which pressed her torso into his side and
her bottom into his hand. He stopped stroking her and his hand
flattened against her, smoothing down and around to cup her
backside.

She shifted
and lifted herself up on her elbow to look down on him.

The draperies
were open and moonlight was spilling into his bedroom. She could
see his face in shadowed relief and she allowed herself a moment to
think of what a brave man he was. He had survived an abusive
childhood and created, all on his own, the masterpiece that lay
before her.

She couldn’t
help herself, she smiled with pride.

“What time is
it?” she asked.

“I’ve no
idea,” Douglas replied, watching her, his eyes heavy-lidded, his
hand moving on her behind.

“Have you
slept?” she asked, twisting around to see the clock on his bedside
table and noting it was not nearly as late as she expected.

“No,” he
answered.

Her head swung
back to him.

“
Why
not? You must be exhausted.” He had to be after all that had
happened that night.
She
was.

“No, Julia,
I’m anything but exhausted.” And his hand tightened on her
bottom.

She let out a
little, happy laugh even as her body reacted to his words.

“If this is my
future, you’ll wear me out in six months, a year tops,” she told
him.

“I’ll take my
chances,” he returned and Julia noted his voice was throaty, sexy
and held a tantalising promise.

She shivered
and, like everything else she was feeling, it was a very happy
shiver.

Julia lifted
her hand from his chest and tentatively touched the small scar on
his lip. In all the time it was there, she would never have dared
to ask what she was about to ask.

But now,
because she was going to be his wife (and felt she had a right to
know and this thought thrilled her) she dared. “How did you get
this?”

He answered
without hesitation, “Knife.”

She yanked her
hand away with a shocked gasp and she could almost feel the blood
drain from her face.

“Knife? You
had some crazy lunatic wielding a knife close to your face?” Her
body became stiff, she pushed up to a sitting position, dislodging
his hand, holding the sheets to her chest and twisted to look down
at him. “They could have… I don’t believe it! They could have
really hurt you!”

“What they did
didn’t exactly feel good,” he muttered, moving to his side and up
on his elbow.

“They could
have put an eye out!” Her panic was rising as was her drama. “They
could have slit your throat! How on earth did you get in a knife
fight?”

“That’s all
over now, Julia.” His voice was firm and it gave her a modicum (a
very small modicum) of assurance.

The idea of
any sharp object hovering near his handsome face, much less slicing
into it, made Julia shudder. In an attempt to hide her reaction,
she reached out and pushed back a lock of hair that had fallen to
his forehead. The minute she took her hand away, the lock fell
where it was before. Julia found that endearing and she also found
the fact that she had every right to touch him felt splendid. She
decided to focus on that rather than envisioning a knife close to
his face.

Even so,
she felt a point should be made, so she touched his scar again with
her finger and said, “Well, I hope they got what was coming to them
and
I
don’t ever meet whoever they
were. You don’t carry a knife, do you?”

“No, I’ve
never carried a knife.” She could swear his voice held a tinge of
amusement.

She was not
amused.

“You frighten
me sometimes, Douglas,” she admitted on a whisper.

At that, he
surged up and pulled her into his arms, burying his face in her
neck.

“It’s all
over,” he promised and she felt his lips moving against her skin
with his words.

She nodded,
not trusting herself to speak and forcing herself to believe.

Earlier that
night, after he’d asked her to seduce him, he’d taken over (of
course) and half-dragged, half-carried her upstairs to his bedroom.
They made love, well, not exactly made love, it was too hot, too
needy, too urgent, too intense to be described as “making
love”.

However,
the
second
time,
they
did
make love.
It was slow and sweet and she had the opportunity to explore his
body, touch him, tease him, taste him before it became
out-of-control, gloriously insistent and demanding.

Glowing and
satiated, they lay still joined intimately, her face in his
beautifully-muscled, masculine throat and she whispered against the
underside of his chin, “I’m hungry.”

They dressed
slowly, Douglas pulling on a pair of jeans and a burgundy sweater,
Julia putting her dress back on. He grabbed another of his
sweaters, this one moss green. He yanked it over her head and she
swam in it but it would help to keep out the chill and she was
touched by his gesture.

They padded
down to the kitchen, barefoot and hand-in-hand. The house had been
put to sleep for the night and she couldn’t believe that at one
time she found it frightening and sinister.

Now it was
just home.

She knew its
corners and its shadows. She knew where the edges of the carpets
were and how to avoid the furniture in the dark. She was beginning
to realise she loved it there, it was Douglas’s and now so was she
and thus she belonged at Sommersgate. That sense of belonging made
her feel wonderful.

They entered
the kitchen and Julia thought she’d have to cook their food.

Instead, they
found Mrs. K sitting at the kitchen table, her hands busy with
knitting, her eyes trained on a portable television that had been
hastily set up, probably by Mr. K.

Mrs. K jumped
to her feet when they walked in and ignored Julia’s surprised
face.

“Are you ready
for your first course?” she asked as if it was perfectly natural
for her to hang around until late evening, waiting for them to
complete their sexual antics and come in search of sustenance.

Douglas
grinned a sexy, devilish grin and then said, “Please, if you don’t
mind Mrs. K.”

At that, he
turned on his heel and left, dragging Julia with him, not
understanding the profound moment he’d just created. But Julia
watched her friend from over her shoulder.

Margaret
Kilpatrick had never been referred to by Douglas in the familiar of
“Mrs. K” as long as Julia knew him. She saw the other woman’s face
flush with pleasure and Julia felt her stomach melt.

Mrs. K had
removed the red roses and in their place was a magnificent display
of the white ones Douglas had brought home with him.

Over dinner,
she told him about Monique bringing Sean to the house then, after
fervently urging Julia to listen to what he had to say, leaving.
She told Douglas about Sean telling her he’d made a mistake at
letting her go and asking her to move home to America with him. She
explained that Sean even said she could bring the children, that
she could sue for custody and even went so far as to declare that
he’d use all his money and contacts to help her.