He"d been wearing a billowing white shirt that wasn"t tucked in, but was girded low on his h*ps with a wide, gaudy belt. Loose black pants had been cut off at the knee. Which had looked a bit outlandish with knee-high boots that gleamed. His excessively long hair was queued and quite visible. All of which made her wonder if he was wearing a disguise.

But she didn"t give it another thought once a pitcher of fresh water arrived with several towels. The maid, or the owner"s wife, directed her to a tub in a closet next to the pantry downstairs, if she wanted a bath. She politely declined and made good use of the water, then donned her extra riding habit, though she left the matching lavender jacket off. She wouldn"t need it until she was ready to depart the hostelry.

She knocked softly on Richard"s door this time. It fooled him into opening it and she rushed inside past him before he could stop her. Successful, she had to tamp down the urge to smirk as she turned around to see him closing the door with an angry look.

“Hear me out before you turn brutish again,” she said quickly. “If you"re not here to go home, what are you doing here so close to Willow Woods?”

“I"m here to see my brother.”

“Just that?” At his nod, she said with some disparagement, “Then you"re a fool to take this risk, showing your face so close to home. You should have sent someone to bring Charles to you in London instead.”

He seemed to grow angrier at her calling him a fool, probably because he knew she was right. It was obvious with his lips tightening, his green eyes glaring at her. She ought to keep her own eyes off his damned face. It was disturbing her train of thought and making her say things she shouldn"t. She"d always known he"d turn out handsome. That had been apparent when he was a boy. She just hadn"t expected him to be this handsome, even with a messed-up face. That it was having even a small effect on her, as much as she hated him, was insane!

No doubt those kisses she"d shared with him had made a greater impression on her than she"d realized. Now, seeing him again, she was reminded of how exciting they"d been. But she"d kissed Jean Paul, someone else entirely, or so she"d thought, not her detestable fiancé.

She had to keep that in mind.

She focused on his clothes instead. All clean, but hardly the garb of a gentleman, which had her point out, “You call that a disguise?”

“I call this comfortable, and it"s no bloody business of yours what I wear. I"m only going to say this once this time, Jewels. Get out.”

He said it so calmly it was easy to ignore. She warned him, “That contract still binds us, you know. Your father still has it. He was even offered the entire dowry to hand it over, but he wouldn"t.”

“I know that. He"s not just a tyrant, he"s a greedy tyrant. He wants it all.”

“So we can agree on something?” He just narrowed his eyes on her so she quickly added,

“Your absence hasn"t changed that. Nine years have passed and he still won"t relinquish the power that contract gives him to marry us if you show up.”

“That isn"t going to happen. I"m not bound by a piece of paper I didn"t sign, nor am I a boy any longer under a tyrant"s control. That contract is meaningless to me.” Brave words, but she could see in his eyes that he didn"t quite believe that, he just didn"t know for certain. She did.

“It"s not an ordinary contract that might have been negated when we came of age, it was a contract made by families, yours and mine, an agreement to join through marriage. The courts see it as binding as if you and I signed it. A priest will see it as binding and won"t even need to hear an aye from you to pronounce us man and wife. Don"t pretend you didn"t know that and disappeared before it could happen.”

“Don"t give yourself so much credit, Jewels. You"re not the only reason I left.” Denigrating her already? Actually, when did he ever not? She had to grit her teeth to go on,

“But I"m in the process of getting it from him, as long as no one in this country knows you"re still alive.”

He laughed. “You"re having me declared dead?”

She actually blushed a little. “Yes, but it will make no difference to you. As soon as I have that contract destroyed, you can return from the dead, as it were. You can even go home and see your brother as often as you like.”

“No, I can"t,” Richard replied bitterly. “It won"t erase what I did to get Father to disown me before I left.”

She frowned. “What did you do?”

“It doesn"t matter, but that vindictive bastard will make me pay for it, if he ever gets his hands on me. He probably even has legal recourse to have me imprisoned.”

“He wouldn"t do that to his own son.”

“Are you kidding me? He would, and faster than you can blink. You really don"t know him, do you?”

“No, thank God, I"ve had very little exposure to him and am only well acquainted with his unreasonable stubbornness.”

“Well, rest assured I will avoid, at all costs, clapping eyes on him again.”

“Then you will leave the country again, for good?”

“Of—course.”

That pause was brief, but noticeable. She didn"t doubt for a moment that he was thinking of Georgina Malory. His love was here. He probably would return, just to see her. Not that Julia could trust his word anyway. She wished she could, she really did. But he was Richard Allen and he"d never done anything she"d hoped he"d do. He couldn"t even stay gone long enough to be dead! On paper, that is.

“At least put that in writing, dammit, so I can have some peace of mind.” That was as close as she"d come to begging him.

But he merely replied, “You think I care about your peace of mind? Pay attention. If I won"t honor my father"s contract, why would I honor one with you? I like you even less than I like him, and I bloody well despise him.”

That could have hurt, but it didn"t, since it mirrored her own sentiments for him. But she was quite annoyed that he was giving her no choice but to accept his word on this matter that was so important to her. So she stalled for a moment to try to think of some other way to get more assurance from him.

Letting her gaze roam over his tall frame, she mentioned what was so obvious: “You healed rather fast.”

“I"d merely been pampering myself at the doctor"s suggestion. It certainly wasn"t necessary.” He slapped his chest without a wince.

“I see. And I should have remembered. You"re quite used to beatings, aren"t you?” What was wrong with her? She"d been unable to stop herself from goading him. Just because he was frustrating her? They still couldn"t get along, even for a few minutes!

“And you never did find out what it"s like, did you?”

He said that in such a deceptively quiet voice, but his expression warned he was about to give her a demonstration.

“You lay one hand on me, and I"ll have you tossed in jail,” she promised.

“Dead women tell no tales.”

She blanched, reminded of his superior strength, which he"d always lorded over her. As a full-grown man now with those brawny arms, he could probably snap her neck without even half trying. And if he"d snuck into this hostelry without anyone"s noticing, who would know?

Chapter Nineteen

THE FEAR HIT JULIA with a vengeance. He"d come close to killing her before when he"d dangled her over a balcony and one slip of his hold would have had her falling to her death. It was a terrifying experience she"d never forget. He"d promised to kill her if he ever saw her again. It was a wonder he"d restrained that urge this long. Her death would put an end to his problems.

Not for a minute did she believe that his father was keeping him from going home for any other reason. The earl would probably welcome him back with open arms if she wasn"t an issue between them anymore.

She was already edging around him toward the door, ready to bolt for it if he moved an inch.

Then she saw his smirk. He"d frightened her deliberately!

The fury that consumed her was more powerful than anything she"d felt as a child. Unable to control herself, she charged at him, stupidly putting herself within his reach. She ended up on the bed, facedown, with his heavy weight holding her there.

“Let me up!”

“No, I don"t think so,” Richard said matter-of-factly. “I rather like you in this position. It definitely brings to my attention that there are—other ways to scare you away … and it keeps your teeth off of me.”

She struggled underneath him so earnestly, she soon wore herself out. He only laughed at her efforts because she couldn"t budge him, couldn"t even reach back to claw him because he was holding her wrists to the bed as well.

Then he leaned close to her ear and whispered provocatively, “What do you think, Jewels?

Want to take this fight to a new level?”

“You"re contemptible.”

But her statement lacked heat, possibly because his suggestion had ignited powerful emotions in her, which she understood well enough. One, she wanted children, and that"s how they were created. And she was still afraid that her petition wouldn"t go through now, even if he did leave England again, because someone would step forward to say he"d seen him on this visit, hence he wasn"t dead. His brother could do this, if Richard followed through on trying to see Charles while he was here. And she couldn"t deny that her curiosity was demanding that she find out what came after kissing in courtship. Hearing about it from her married friends for the last several years had only sparked her curiosity all the more. Could she put aside her aversion to him long enough to find out?

She was out of her mind! He couldn"t have reinforced that conviction more when he added,

“If I don"t have to look at you, I can pretend it"s not you I"m making love to.” She bucked again and this time caught him off guard. He slid halfway off her and released one of her arms. She pushed to her side so she could slam her elbow backward into his chest.

That dislodged him even more and got her halfway off the bed. But it wasn"t far enough for her to have gained purchase to free her other hand. He used the hold he still had on her to draw her back.

She fell on top of him, backward, glaring furiously up at the ceiling. Immediately, he wrapped his arms tightly around her, crossing her own arm over her belly, since he still had that wrist in his grip. But her other arm wasn"t much use to her trapped under his and with her covering most of his body with her own.

“This works, too.” He laughed.

Oh my God, she realized, he was enjoying this, having her so at his mercy. But then he"d always taken some sort of perverse pleasure every time he"d dominated her with his male strength. But she wasn"t as helpless as she"d thought in this new position. Her bucking again with impotent rage actually knocked the breath out of him, to go by his grunt. The heel of her riding boot struck his shin hard, too. And the back of her head knocked against his jaw. That one hurt. Her. But it got rid of his amusement.

With a growl he moved her so that she lay half underneath him again, but he couldn"t catch her hand in time to prevent her grabbing a fistful of his hair. She was going to yank out every single strand and tried, but she"d caught too much, so all it did was pull his head down toward hers. Their eyes only inches apart, each of them glaring furiously at the other … then his eyes dropped to her mouth.

It all happened too fast. The anger had no chance to subside for her to maintain any sort of reason. It transferred instead to a much different passion, just as explosive, just as mindless, the instant his lips pressed against hers. This wasn"t just kissing, this was far beyond that, raw desire that ravaged the senses, something so primitive it was out of control.

Her grip tightened on his hair, but this time to keep him there. His hand found her breast, and as his fingers encircled it, the delicate button on her blouse popped off. She didn"t know, didn"t care, only felt the hard pressure that was stirring her right to her core. He raised his leg so that his knee moved up her body, dragging her skirt up to the apex of her thighs, and pressed there, too. She wrapped an arm around his neck. Her skirt bunched about her thighs now, his hand slipped under her drawers and she nearly screamed at the raw pleasure as his finger thrust inside her.

Then, as fast as it began, it ended. He suddenly shot off the bed. “What the hell? What the hell!? Did you do that on purpose?”

She leaned up on her elbows in a daze. He looked absolutely furious, but absolutely magnificent, too, with his long black hair that she"d ripped out of its queue, wild about his shoulders, his breath coming hard, his muscles bunched tight, fists clenched.

She knew anger could be all-consuming. She"d found that out so many times with him. But she"d had no clue that passion could be, too. A dangerous thing to find out, that he could bring her to the point of wanting him. Really, she could have done without knowing that.

For the moment, she was deflated, all of her own anger having been drained away by that passion, so her voice was perfectly calm when she said, “Do what?”

“Start that?”

“Don"t be an ass. I was leaving.”

“You attacked me!”

“Did I? Then I"m sure you must have provoked it … as usual.” She scooted off the bed—wisely on the opposite side from him. She was leaving a button behind somewhere on the bed, but she didn"t yet notice the wide exposure between her breasts.

Her coiffure had come undone as well in her struggles, and that she couldn"t miss, with a long lock half over her face. Her hair must look as wild as his.