Price of Desire (30 page)

She gaped in disbelief
.
She’d known he was angered by her refusal, but this was too much
.
This was too much.

She marched into the room and stared about in horror
.
Furniture lay this way and that, several books lay spines splayed and pages ripped, bedding
spread
disregarded in various heaps
.
Wulf’s travel cases were knocked on their sides their contents spewing forth
.
It was unbelievable what a man in a temper could do.

It was even more unbelievable that nobody had heard a sound
.
She walked further into the mess, noting that for all the disorder and disarray
,
not a piece of glass was broken, not an item smashed
.
This was not the work of a man in a temper, but an ice-blooded, meticulous one
.
Nothing that would create a racket had been damaged.

Then she saw the portfolio
.
John’s maps
.
With
a
heavy heart she walked forward and paused on the far side of t
he bed
.
The leather folder lay
ripped open, its satin lining slashed and torn
.
The maps were crumpled and bent below
.
Several looked as if someone had peeled them into long strips
.
She bent and traced the remains of a winding river with one hand.

If she’d had any tears left from last night she’d have shed them now.

The bastard
.
She straightened and glared about the room
.
How could she have even considered changing her mind
?
He really was the cold-hearted beast he seemed
.
No doubt he’d seen her peaking around the corner and his attention to Anna was only an act to sway her.

He’d accused her of being after money and title
.
No doubt he spoke only what he knew
.
He was the penniless soldier, not
she
.
He was probably after her funds and properties
.
The reprobate
.
She’d tell him a thing or two, let him know that being a lady was not a curse, but that a lady could bloody well curse when her ire was raised
.
All the suppressed emotions of the last week coalesced in one hard fury.

She strode down the hall, turning her away from Lady Clarington who had some complaint about her sheets not having yet been changed.

“Tell your maid,” was her only answer as she went in pursuit of her prey.

Did he really have it in him to risk his pride a third time
?
To offer her all that she asked
?
Wulf sat in the library, shifting uncomfortably in his seat, and debated the question as he had all morning
.
Mitter had made good progress at putting things to order and Wulf could only be thankful
.
They could lea
ve in a few days, unless . . .

Maybe, he wouldn’t be leaving
.
He’d accepted in
the late hours of the night that Holly House was his
.
He’d accept it and whatever latent guilt accompanied it
.
Only he hadn’t
felt guilt, he’d felt relief
.
Now he just need a strategy, a plan to convince Rose that he could be what she wanted.

“You bloody bastard.”

He’d never heard such vehemence in her tone before
.
She
stormed into
the library, her eyes spitting with fury.

“How dare you treat my home this way
?
I’ve come to accept your contempt for me, but don’t you dare think I’ll let you take out your fury like this.”

Wulf just stared at her
.
He had no idea what she was talking about
.
His mouth must have gaped open as she stalked forward and stood before the table glaring down at him, her hands locked on her hips.

“Answer me
.
You talk about honor and then you destroy Burberry’s legacy.”

She dropped scraps of paper on the table before him, but he didn’t glance down
.
His mind was still spinning, trying to comprehend what she was screaming about
.
She’d always seemed so in control
, even when her tongue was whipping his back bloody
.
It was a revelation to see her like this
.
If only he knew what he’d done wrong.

“Cat got your tongue, you son of a kelpie
?
It wasn’t enough for
you to just take what you need
and leave
.
No, you had to create such destruction it will probably never be straight again
.
I don’t know what Lord William was thinking to send you, stepson or not
.
Or maybe he didn’t send you. I can’t believe he’d send a man with so little value for knowledge.
”
She jabbed her finger into the torn paper
.
“Did you just come to torment me?”

She paused to draw a deep breath, her rising chest straining against the fabric of her gown
.
God, she was glorious.

“What are you talking about?
”
He kept his voice flat, refusing to rise to her bait
.
“The library looks exactly the same as it did on my arrival if anything it is neater
.
From the moment I first arrived it looked like pigs had been rooting
.
Hardly the orderly room I know Burberry kept
.
Don’t blame me for your own failings.”

She leaned over the desk, meeting him eye to eye, her finger still pinned to the scraps.

“Don’t even think to speak to me that way
.
I am tired of taking the blame for your own imagination
.
I am not talking about the library.
”
She looked around, her eyes growing even harder
.
“You know damn well what you’ve done and I want an apology and then your bags packed
.
Lord William can send someone else to collect the books or so help me I’ll just pack the whole lot and send them
.
I’d rather give up every single one than see them destroyed with such careless disregard.”

That was it
.
She was acting crazed and he didn’t have to take such abuse
.
She’d caused him enough difficulties already
.
His temper would take no more
.
His fury rose to meet hers.
“Do you always blame others for your own mistakes
?
Is that how you justify yourself, your every betrayal?”

Her hands clenched at her sides
.
She bent forward until she stared at him eye to eye
.
He could see the moisture where her tongue had dampened her lower lip, smell the sweet scent of honey clinging to her skin.

“I
do  not  need  to  justify   myself  to  you.
”
She spoke each word with utter precision
.

“You need to justify yourself to somebody, else why the pretense?”

She pulled back, her chest heaving with each breath, the fire in her eyes cutting through him
.
Without thought he caught her wrist hard, pulling her around the desk until she stood square before him.

He knew his grasp must pain her, but she gave no sign, just stood before him, gasping for breath, her gaze never leaving his
.
He could feel the flame, the sizzle.

For a moment they stood poised, two combatants lost in battle, then without a sound, without a clue as to who moved first they met, mouths open, lips pressing, battle raging.

It was a kiss to consume, to vanquish, to conquer
.
There was passion, but no trace of care or gentleness
.

Her hands moved over his chest, working at buttons
.
His own ran across the top of her bodice
, seeking, ravaging, worshiping
.
He could feel her fury with each breath she took, yet each quiver, each moan spoke of their endless need for each other
.
Her breasts were free then and he ripped his mouth from hers to settle it on different target
.
He pulled her nipple fiercely between his lips
.
His hunger for her was unrelenting
.

God, how had he survived a week without this
?
He’d never found anger an aphrodisiac, but with her everything led back to this elemental fire.

“Damn, you’ll never be an easy wife, but there are compensations.
”
He runched up her skirts, letting his fingers trail up here velvet thighs towards the final victory.

“Wife
?
Why do you keep confusing this with marriage?
”
Rose gasped as she opened herself up to his prying fingers, wrenching his head back up to meet her biting kiss.

He froze as her words penetrated the frenzied fog of his brain
.
He let his hands drop
.
His lips quit moving beneath her on
slaught.

“No
.
I won’t do this again, risk this again
.
I am not some pet for you to play with when you feel the need
.
If you want me, you take all of me, not just the pieces you find amusing – or desirable.
”
He spit the last word
.
The anger that had been drowned in their kiss rising up renewed
, only to fade as he watched her shoulders sag
.
He pushed her from his and stood there, feeling each heaving breath as it filled his chest
.
By the time he’d counted twenty deep inhalations he was ready to meet her gaze
.

He did not know if was victory or defeat he faced as he pulled back to search her
face
.
What he saw stopped him cold
.
A moment before her eyes had held fury and the desire for mastery, now there was something else.

What had she done
?
She’d sworn she would not end up here again, but even in the height of her wrath she could not keep her hands from him
.
And he was right, she did keep taking, never returning the bits of soul she ripped from him.
And still her body ached with unfulfilled desire.

S
omething
caught
in her gut
.
She held still
.
Deep greens and grays swirled in his eyes and she didn’t know their meaning
.
His lips were swollen with her kisses
.
Scratches ran along one side of his neck where her nails had raked him in her hurry
.

Her chest ached with the effort of holding in the futile scream she longed to release
.
Why did he not run from her
?
Why was he everything she longed for and nothing she could have?

He raised one finger and traced her tender red lips
.
She pulled back, but let his fingers trace
.
There were no words for t
he feelings that swirled
within her
.
The anger was still there, but so was something else, something she could not name
.
She continued to look at him, her eyes filled with caution.

“I am sorry.
”
They spoke in
unison
.

She
never thought he’d say those words
.
She never thought she’d say them.
She hesitated, nodded
.
It would do for now – her fury had left her worn.

He bent his head forward until they rested almost brow to brow
.
A great discovery lay just beyond her reach.

They breathed as one, each intake and exhale met by the other
.
No words remained
.
When the knocking on the door disturbed them it seemed as fate
.
They straightened their clothing mechanically, like some predestined automaton, each movement still and purposeful, but empty of all content.