This… whatever the devil it was.
Rosamund Belle didn’t just pose the temptation of flesh. She threatened his very way of life.
She made him imagine things he had long ago forbidden himself to imagine.
Of sharing not only his bed, but his life… Of laughter in these halls, of lively conversation over dinner.
Companionship. Belonging.
And he could not—must not—allow it.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured, the words hoarse, inadequate.
He never should have invited her in. For her sake. She would have been safer in the woods, in the company of wolves, than here with him.
And yet… she wasn’t running. She stood before him still, mouth shining, cheeks flushed, eyes lowered…
“Ahem.”
For one wild heartbeat, Julian ignored it. Pretended he hadn’t heard. His arms stayed locked around her, unwilling to let her go, unwilling to release this fleeting, impossible perfection.
“Your services are no longer required this evening, Finch,” he ground out, not even looking toward the door.
“I… I realize that, Your Grace,” came the footman’s cautious reply. “It’s only that—there is a gentleman here. Says he is a duke. Demanding to collect his, er, his sister.”
His what?
The words hung in the air. A duke? Demanding…?
Rosamund had stiffened and it was that, even more, that sent Jullian’s world tilting.
“Miss Belle, is there something you need to tell me?”
Her stillness. Her silence. Her refusal, suddenly, to meet his eyes.
“Who are you?” But he didn’t really need to ask.
By God.
Her brother was a duke.
And he—beast that he was—had just debauched her in his damned dining room.
UNRAVELING
Julian—dear Julian—was staring at Rosamund as though she’d just struck him across the face.
And the resulting scowl was darker than any she’d seen before—harsher even than that first morning after she’d arrived.
“I asked you a question,” he said, his voice low and unyielding. All the tenderness from moments ago was gone.
She swallowed. “I… am Rosamund Belle… Harrington.”
His one good eye narrowed, the muscle in his jaw ticking. “Harrington. And your father was…”
“William Harrington. The–”
“Bloody Duke of Kenbrooks.” It was not a question.