RIDE: The Complete Delancey Brothers Trilogy (21 page)

Just like I was.

And just the sort of man I wanted to avoid. Permanently.

I cringed, knowing how much he must have laughed at me today. He'd been playing a joke on me all along. And I'd not just fallen for it, I'd given him everything.

More than I'd given anyone.

Not even Philipe.
 

Even with my former fiancé, I hadn't let myself go like I had with Daniel. It had been exhilarating. And terrifying.

I'd been right to be afraid to open myself up like that. Not that he'd given me a choice in the matter. He'd taken without asking. It was my own fault though. I should never have invited him to my room.

I would not make that mistake twice.

It was too bad though... I tossed my head as I walked through the mansion. I'd liked him better without his name. Particularly his last name.

"Francesca. Wait."

I ignored him, walking faster down the hallway.

"I said wait, dammit!"

I gasped as his hand closed around my arm, spinning me to face him. He smelled of the bourbon he'd been drinking at dinner. Leather and bourbon and man. He smelled wonderful if I was honest with myself.

Suddenly, I felt tears well up in my eyes. I forced myself to appear calm. My voice dripped with boredom. That was the surest way to put a man off.

Make him think you couldn't even be bothered to dislike him. That he was forgettable. Nothing could be farther than the truth. I would never forget the past twenty-four hours. But he didn't have to know that.

"Let go of me please."

"Like hell I will!"

His mouth crashed down on mine. I tried to hold perfectly still, to give nothing back. He laughed and pushed me backwards until my back hit the wall. It was barely tens seconds before I melted. He pressed me against the wall, his hands holding me firmly against him. He was hard again. I felt my body responding even as my anger at his deception grew.

"Stop!"

He lifted his head as I pushed him away. He was hard as stone, completely unmovable. He didn't step away, but he did stop kissing me.

We stared into each other's eyes for a moment then he cursed, dragging me into a nearby room. The library. A welcoming sofa sat in front of a gas fireplace. The walls were lined with books. There were comfortable chairs scattered through out the room.

He let go of my arm and shut the door behind him, locking it.

Then he turned to face me.

"Francesca."

I wrapped my arms around myself, feeling exposed and vulnerable. He smiled at me charmingly. But I didn't want to be charmed.

"I thought you were the type to appreciate a good joke."

"I don't find this at all amusing."

I lifted my head, looking at anything but him. The way he was looking at me was unnerving. He didn't just look lustful. He looked utterly possessive.

As if I belonged to him somehow.

And I belonged to no man.

Not anymore.

Never again.

I forced myself to sound cool, even though he was doing crazy things to my body. Crazy, dangerous things. Just with his eyes.
 

"What do you want Daniel?"

"I think you know what I want."

I straightened my back and walked towards the door.

"There will not be a repeat performance of this afternoon."

He blocked my way, putting his hand against the door.

"Oh yes, there will be."

I stared at him, mustering every bit of arrogance I could. It came to me easily on most days. But today I was at a loss. I could not match the determined look in his eyes. He was so certain he would have me.

But he would not. He could not. I would never open myself to that sort of thing again.

Especially with a man of my own class.

They were the most dangerous of all.

Used to getting what they wanted. Self centered. Greedy.
 

"Daniel."

He cursed, staring at me. Then he stepped aside. I knew he wouldn't force me. He might kiss me without my permission but beyond that, he was a gentleman. I knew it in my bones.

I was shaking as I left the room. I hadn't expected desire to overwhelm my anger at him. But somehow, it had.

Desire was for weaklings.

Love was for weaklings.

I was neither.

I stepped into my room and locked the door behind me as the truth started to sink in. This arrangement would not work for me. But I could not resist him if I continued to live under the same roof.

I had to leave. I knew that despite my feelings, I would fall into bed with him if he approached me again. And he was certain to do that. Again and again...

My resolve was nothing against the pure heat of Daniel Delancey.

Chapter Five

Daniel

I stared at my empty glass, reaching again for the bottle of bourbon I'd brought up to my room. I'd drank half of it already. I didn't know what the hell was wrong with me.

I had women now and then. Whenever the urge struck it was quickly taken care of and I would move on to the more important things in life. There were so many women willing and eager to share my bed. But I didn't get involved. Inevitably they would try to lure me into a relationship.

I did my best to be firm but kind about it. Thank you, but no thank you. If they cried, I left immediately. There was nothing I hated more than being manipulated. I could always sense it and it made me lose respect for them.

Francesca had offered me no strings sex. Just the way I liked it. She hadn't been coy or clinging. Just the opposite. But then she'd blown my mind with her beauty and fire.

I'd never met a woman like her. I doubted there was another woman like her on Earth. Maybe not since Cleopatra.

I laughed bitterly. Now I was comparing a woman I'd just met to Cleopatra. I really must be drunk.

I walked over to my desk. My curiosity was piqued. I wanted to know more about her. That brief look of vulnerability in her eyes was stuck in my head.

She was almost afraid of me. Once she knew who I was. I couldn't make sense of that.

So I turned to the internet.

With only the first four letters of her name search results came flooding in. She was on magazine covers, Town and Country, Italian Elle, newspapers, society blogs, and more.

She was everywhere.

Her photos were incredible. Luxurious. Glamorous. Dangerously sexy.

I'd somehow managed to bed one of the most hottest women alive. I might be wealthy and educated but I was a country boy at heart. I had nothing on a sophisticated woman like her.

I refilled my glass and stared at her. Dressed in gowns. Designer clothing. A black and gold bikini lounging on a yatch. I drank and looked, wondering how the hell I was going to get her into bed again when she was so fired up.

After an hour I stopped looking at her pictures, though it wasn't easy to turn away.

I started reading.

There was a lot to read. Everyone had covered the scandal, even the American gossip rags. And it was an epic scandal.

My stomach clenched in sympathy as I read about the very public dissolution of her engagement to an French nobleman. Philipe Casmarte. He was handsome, urbane, and wealthy beyond imagining.

He was also apparently a pussy hound of the highest caliber.

He'd cheated on her on the night before her wedding, only to be publicly outed the next morning. Photos of him leaving another woman's home, looking like he'd spent the night doing exactly what he'd been doing... and apparently the other woman was a close friend of Francesca's.
 

Then came the photos that would haunt me forever. Francesca looking like an avenging angel as she left the church unmarried. No, she looked like a princess in her wedding gown. It was an enormous white dress covered in sparkling crystals that hugged her tiny waist and then belled out around her. A stone faced, furious angel.

I noticed that there were no tears. Not even a trace of a red eye. Not even one photo of her in the weeks to come as the paparazzi had followed her everywhere. But she never smiled either.

The story was lurid, awful, humiliating.

It was fantastic.

Francesca wasn't a man eater as I thought initially. She had just gone through a bad breakup. She'd chosen me as her rebound.

I grinned for the first time since our argument.

She's chosen
me
.

Francesca

Men! The most useless creations alive! Always competing with each other. Always on to the next shiny new object. Always controlled by the dangling flesh between their legs.

I leaned forward over Athena. The terrain was unfamiliar so I could not go all out as I wanted to. I gave her lead, knowing her instincts would guide us safely over the rolling grassy hills of the Delancey estate.

It was groomed land, made for riding. It was unlikely we would find a hole or a rock for her to stumble on.

Still, I would take no chances with the sweet and beautiful horse beneath me. She had a fierce heart for a mare and was every bit as exciting to ride as a stallion. Not only that, but she was my friend.

My only friend.

The only creature on Earth that I could trust.

I'd learned that the hard way, after my best friend had made love to my fiancé on the night before my wedding. He'd been seen leaving her mansion in Rome. Veronica had always been a bit competitive with me, but I'd thought she cared for me. That we were friends.

I'd been wrong.

It wasn't just her either. Nearly all my friends had known and participated in the deception. Even my own father had known and tried to force me to go through with the ceremony. He'd told me that it was a woman's duty to forgive a man his baser instincts. It was my duty to marry and produce an heir.

Ha! I would never marry that pathetic excuse for a man or any other! Never again would I allow a man to make my decisions for me.
 

I would live alone. Perhaps I would adopt a child. We could live anywhere. California perhaps.

I did like the weather there.

I did not need a man. Perhaps occasionally, just for sexual release. Someone like Daniel, before I'd known who he was. His lies hurt far more than I would have thought, given the short time I'd known him. The smug look on his face last night at dinner flashed in front of my eyes. It made me tense up, sending Athena into a wild gallop.

"Ease up."

I forced myself to relax my body by degrees until the mare was cantering at a more sedate pace. It was my fault. I was in control. Once again, Daniel had disrupted my hard earned peace of mind. I gritted my teeth against the realization.

I needed to get away from the estate.

From him.

I had no chance of resisting him if I stayed here. He would hurt me when he got what he wanted. It was inevitable. I would have to run.

Again.

I cooled Athena down at a leisurely pace. My mind was calm at last. I would find a hotel in the city. I would come back only to ride. I would tell the eldest Delancey brother that I had business to deal with.

I would say nothing to Daniel. I would avoid him. That was the safest course of action.

I slipped an apple to my mare as the stablehand brushed her down. To think I had mistaken a man of Daniel's bearing for one of the servants was laughable in retrospect. But I had. And I paid for it.

With my dignity.

"Have a nice ride?"

Speak of the Devil and he will appear...

Daniel Delancey was standing behind me.

I froze, hating the knowing tone of his voice. He had seen me at my most vulnerable. And now he thought to use that against me. I turned, forcing my chin up.

"Daniel."

He grinned, his eyes raking over my body. I stiffened. How could he be so bluntly sexual? It made my heart race and my cheeks flush.

"Countess."

I hated that title. It was a reminder of all my so-called obligations to the family name. Obligations I had lost all desire to uphold.
 

"Excuse me, I must change."

He stepped aside and let me pass. But he was right behind me as I turned the corner to the unoccupied wing of the stables. I felt like I was the prey in a fox hunt.

I didn't like it.

"Francesca."

I didn't stop. Not until he grabbed my arm and spun me to face him. I glared at him, letting my anger show.

"You have a nasty habit of manhandling me."

His handsome face crinkled as he smiled ironically. He didn't look cruel. He looked... bemused. He let go of me, running his hand through his hair.

"Dammit Francesca, why do you keep running away from me?"

He was upset. I'd upset him. Maybe even hurt his feelings. Or at least his male pride. Perhaps he was one of the good ones... or a soft one at any rate. But no, I knew he was not soft. I tossed my head impatiently.

"I have no time for this Daniel. What do you want?"

His eyes narrowed as he stepped closer to me. I stood my ground. I refused to be intimidated by any man!

Hot golden eyes bored into mine. He radiated heat and virility. I swallowed, feeling my body respond to him despite myself.
 

"I want you. Now."

I gasped.

"What, here?"

He smiled at me. It was not a nice smile. It was a smile of dominance. He slid his fingertips down my arms, making me shiver.

"I don't think we would make it all the way to your bedroom this time, do you?"

My mouth was open as I struggled to catch my breath. It was overly warm in the stables now. I was hot and sweaty and it wasn't from my morning ride. From the looks of Daniel, so was he.

He stepped forward and I stepped back. He kept coming, smiling at me in that predatory way that made me weak in the knees. Even as it made me angry at the same time.

Damn him! I was outraged by his high handedness. But I wasn't going to stop this. I couldn't.
 

And he knew it too.

"You're heading in the right direction."

I glanced backwards just as I backed into one of the stalls. He grinned, kicking the door shut behind him. He didn't move his eyes from me as he grabbed a saddle blanket and tossed it over the stacks of hay.