For Desire Alone by Jess Michaels

Author:Jess Michaels [Michaels, Jess]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Romance, Erotica, Historical, Fiction
ISBN: 9781619211193
Google: HNV_cGbHwIcC
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Published: 2012-11-05T14:30:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Mariah poured Vivien a cup of tea before she settled into a comfortable chair in her parlor. She smiled at her friend, though the expression was entirely forced. She felt anything but the comfort and ease that the look implied.

A fact which Vivien recognized immediately. She arched an elegant brow before she spoke.

“My dear, you have been grinding your teeth since the moment I arrived. What has you so frustrated?”

Mariah folded her hands in her lap and let out a long sigh. “Did you see the man seated on horseback across from my home?”

Vivien blinked before she shook her head in the negative. Mariah shut her eyes, counted to ten so that she would not reveal her tangled emotions and motioned to the window. The two women approached it together and Mariah pulled back the shade to reveal the busy street below. There, seated on his horse, staring at her home, was a tall, muscular gentleman dressed in fine livery.

Vivien drew back and looked at Mariah in question. “I suppose I did notice him now that you point him out. How odd to see someone just sitting in the street like that. Why is he there? Who is he?”

“A guard,” Mariah said as she returned to her seat and flopped down with a huff of breath. “Courtesy of Mr. John Rycroft.”

Vivien followed her and perched on the very edge of her own seat. Her face was ashen with sudden worry. “A guard? Whatever for?”

“He refuses to tell me,” Mariah said with a groan.

Vivien shook her head. “Were you threatened? Is there some kind of indication that Owen’s death was not the accident we presumed it to be?”

Mariah shivered at that idea. “No! None of those things, at least as far as I know. John simply told me one night that I was to have a guard. Then he pretended as if life were normal and refused to give me any more information.”

“How very odd,” Vivien muttered.

Mariah nodded emphatically. “Odd is certainly one word for it, though I have a few less kind ones for his behavior. He insists upon running my life, and I suppose I could accept that if he were my protector. But he is not. He refuses to offer me that benefit.”

Vivien tapped a finger against her lip, thinking. “I’ve never heard of him involving himself so deeply in a lover’s life. It is so unlike him.”

Mariah nodded. “Indeed, it is. Especially since we agreed at the beginning of this arrangement that it would only be a light and amusing diversion for us both. Now I somehow have a sentinel at my door. I’m surprised he hasn’t set wolves to patrol my back gate. Or arranged to have the Queen’s guard pace along my rooftop.”

Vivien tilted her head and Mariah felt her friend judging and analyzing her. “You pretend to be angry, but I do not sense that in you when you speak.”

Mariah’s mouth dropped open in surprise and outrage. “Of course I am angry! John Rycroft’s overbearing brutishness is not to be endured.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.