The Timeless Curse of Lord Dabney by Emilia Hartley

Author:Emilia Hartley [Hartley, Emilia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-12-23T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

“He’s got some kind of power over me,” Ellie told Matt an hour later. She was sitting on her bed with a blanket around her shoulders, staring into the fire. “I don’t even like the man, but it was like I couldn’t think of anything but him. It was disturbing.”

Matt’s expression was carefully blank, but every once in a while, she could detect a hint of rage in his clear blue eyes. She only hoped it wasn’t directed at her. “Did he touch you?” Matt asked, his voice coated in liquid steel.

“Yes.”

“Did he…” his voice broke off, and he swallowed back whatever he was feeling. The strength that too was admirable. “Did he rape you?”

Ellie’s eyes widened. “No! No, Matt, he didn’t. It didn’t get that far.”

Matt’s relief was evident. He nodded. For a moment, he did nothing more but stare into the flames. Then, as if he couldn’t take it anymore, he stood up and began to pace. “How did he do it?” he wondered out loud. Ellie was nearly positive he wasn’t actually speaking to her. “How did he convince you that you wanted him?”

She pursed her lips, unable to believe what she was going to say. “I think it was the roses.”

“The what?”

“He brought me roses. Red ones. He brought me an entire bouquet as an apology.”

Matt turned sharply. “An apology for what?”

Ellie bit her lip. He wasn’t going to like this. “Well, last night after I got home, James turned up. He said he had tickets to the theater and he wanted me to go. I said no.”

“Why?” He couldn’t hide the accusation.

“Because I wasn’t interested, that’s why,” she replied, a little heat snapping in her voice. “I had just returned from seeing you, hadn’t I? And after our…encounter, it didn’t seem like the best idea to go traipsing around town with another man, especially one I had no desire to be with, did it?”

To her delight, Matt had the good grace to look ashamed. A slow smile spread across his lips and he reached out for her hand, pressing a kiss to each of her fingers in turn. “No, I don’t suppose it did.” Despite herself, Ellie rolled her eyes. “So, what do the roses have to do with anything?”

“Oh. Well, they smelled nice. And, after I caught wind of the scent, my thoughts and feeling about James, and about you, began to change.”

“Change how?”

“I started thinking that there was nothing between the two of us, that we hadn’t spoken of feelings or loyalty, and in fact, had just met, so if I wanted to spend my time with James instead, I was perfectly within my rights to do so.”

“All true.”

“Yes, well,” Ellie said with a wry laugh, “true as it may be, it didn’t make those thoughts mine. Every time I got close to the bouquet, my so-called feelings for him would increase. When I stepped away, I felt more like me again.

“And then there was the man himself. He practically cornered me the moment I came back into the room, and he smelled of the roses as well.

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