Read Wolf of Arundale Hall Online

Authors: Jennifer Leeland

Tags: #Romance

Wolf of Arundale Hall (9 page)

But his continued assault made her reel and she had no control as she arched toward his hand, seeking rather than rejecting his strikes. So close, so needy, she sobbed, tears dripping from her eyes.

Then he jerked her into his arms and twisted one hand in her hair. When his lips claimed hers, she sagged into his chest. This was no comforting touch of his mouth to hers, nor was it meant to coax her into submission. He demanded and she gave. He took and she surrendered.

He broke the kiss but kept one arm banded around her and his hand twisted in her hair. For a moment he stared at her. Then he whispered, “When will you accept what your body already knows?”

Her nostrils flared. “You can take my body, Joshua, but you will never own my soul.” It was a brave lie but one she had to tell him. If he knew how completely he owned her, she would go up in flames.

His lips tightened. “I never wanted to own your soul, Elizabeth.”

“Liar,” she shouted and struggled in his arms. “You swore your love to me, took my soul and then you left me. You abandoned me. Your love was quickly sold away. And for what?”

Jealousy, hurt and despair had eaten a hole in her and she felt empty, hollowed out. He couldn’t understand what it was like and didn’t try. He said he wanted to heal the hurt but continued to override her feelings.

His hands held her fast and he thrust his face closer to hers. “I thought I had to. I believed I would tear you to shreds.”

She froze. “What?”

His jaw clenched and his hand tightened in her hair. “I had no control over the Beast then. I didn’t understand it. I believed, when I left, that I was saving your life.”

She glared at him. “Pretty sentiment. And makes perfect sense…for the first few years. But after? Or did you just like sleeping with your Jamaican whores so much that you couldn’t bring yourself to come home?”

He covered her mouth. “Don’t say that, little flower. I never replaced you in any way. There have been no other women.”

She fought him and bit the palm of his hand. He winced but did not release her or remove his hand. His blue eyes changed and she knew the Beast was close but she didn’t care. Her squirming disturbed the horse, though, and she hoped the animal would throw them both.

Joshua tossed her to the ground, dismounting so fast that she had time only to stumble a few steps before he caught her. He dragged her toward a clump of bushes and thrust her into a small clearing that gave them a measure of privacy from the remote possibility of anyone passing.

She sprinted to escape but he caught her easily and dealt with her pathetic attempts to break his hold on her. But she couldn’t surrender like she had the night before. He’d conquered her so easily, destroying her resistance to him with one touch. Though she loved him, she knew he would leave her again, go back to his life of whores and isolation. Why not? Why would any man want to stay in a house filled with such drama?

“If you fight me, I’ll loose the Beast on you,” he snapped.

She glared her defiance. “I’m not afraid of the Beast. It’s mindless, heartless and easier to deal with than the man who made me love him.”

“You still love me,” he stated.

“Let me go,” she said through gritted teeth.
Damn him. Damn him to hell.

“Say it, Elizabeth. Say you still love me.”

She pursed her lips and gazed at him sullenly.

A sense of danger made her heart pound when he grinned at her. “You will say it before I’m finished.”

Panic made her insane and she stomped on his instep. He howled and his grip loosened. She sprinted away from him, heedlessly rushing through the bushes. His heavy footsteps didn’t sound behind her.

She glanced back and didn’t see him but she didn’t slow down. It took a moment to orient herself, but she started to head back toward the house. A neigh echoed in the air and she knew he’d gone back for his horse. The thunder of hooves matched the pounding of her heart and she stumbled along the edge of a marshy pond.

Something tripped her and she crashed headlong to the soft, muddy ground. When she lifted her head she discovered her horse, its internal organs splayed everywhere. The belly was split open and the wide, dead gaze met hers.

Elizabeth screamed, the sound startled from her. She took a deep breath and immediately regretted it as the stench of fresh blood and some other nasty smell assaulted her senses.

Joshua appeared and, though she wouldn’t admit it out loud, she had never been so glad to see anyone in her entire life. He cradled her head and buried her nose in his chest. “Oh, little flower. I’m so sorry.” He stroked her hair. It was so comforting, so warm, that she stayed still.

An eternity seemed to pass, but reality intruded. She stiffened and jerked away from him.

Shadow, her horse, had clearly been attacked by something with huge claws and a taste for equine hearts, since that organ was conspicuously missing, a large gaping hole where it should have been. She wondered if the other man, the body she’d found weeks earlier, had lost his heart in the same way.

“It was.”

She glanced at Joshua, who stared at her horse with an intense, serious expression. “It was what?” she asked.

“The heart of the man you found. It was gone.” He studied the ground, his long fingers touching the dead carcass with a gentleness that surprised her.

“Joshua, who is doing this?” she whispered. Perry. Could it be Perry? Had the wolf of Arundale legend become real? In Lady Madeline Arundale’s journals, old stories were repeated to shed light on the importance of controlling the wolf within. Many of them depicted horrific scenes like this one.

“I don’t know, little flower. But we have to find out before someone else is killed.”

Chapter Six

The men found nothing.

Joshua paced the library, the evening light waning through the windows. Even Jaimison had come up empty. And the constable was focused on Perry, who had disappeared yet again. Who had attacked Elizabeth’s horse?

It was easier to think about that instead of the words she’d thrown at him. He’d said she still loved him with confidence but in his heart he wasn’t completely sure. She had changed, become stronger and more beautiful, something he hadn’t thought possible. And his love for her had increased beyond the youthful lust that had driven him in their courtship. Now it bordered on obsession.

The door opened. “Donaldson is searching Perry’s room,” Elizabeth said and collapsed in one of the chairs, all her ladylike airs gone. “I hope to God he doesn’t find anything.”

“Why? Wouldn’t that make your life easier?” He regretted the words the minute they left his mouth, but she didn’t react.

“No. I love Perry.”

A white-hot poker would have hurt less. She loved his brother. He gazed at her tired, sad face and wondered why the hell he had come home. “My dear,” he said in a calm voice, though inside chaos reigned. “It isn’t good form to admit an affair to one’s husband. Especially if he is a vicious animal.”

Her eyes blazed when she opened them. “An affair?” She sprang to her feet. “I love Perry like a brother. When you left—” She choked. “After you were gone—” Her voice cracked. “He was all I had. Don’t you see? He was a little piece of you still here.” She bit her lower lip and turned away to leave. “It’s pointless to explain it to you.”

“Try,” he said softly.

She faced him and tipped her chin in an expression that was becoming all too familiar. “Until recently, Perry made me feel like family. I tried to help him, take care of him.” Her gaze shifted away. “But I failed and he pushed me away. There’s been no affair, my lord. I am as alone today as I was on the day you met me.”

She strode toward the door and jerked it open. He wished he could find the words, the right ones, to stop her. “Please, little flower—”

“Don’t call me that,” she snarled. “I am not your little flower anymore.” This time, the door slammed and he crossed the room, determined to stop her, reason with her.

Instead, when he opened it, he found the large, ruddy constable standing in the doorframe. “Well now, my lord, I’m sorry for the inconvenience.” He didn’t sound sorry, though.

Joshua studied the solid form of the officer. “It can’t be helped,” he said and waved a hand at one of the library chairs.

Donaldson sank slowly into the armchair and sighed. “Not a nice welcome home for you. We are glad you’re back, my lord.”

“Thank you, constable.” Joshua reclined in the seat behind the desk and waited. The other man seemed to choose his words and his actions carefully.

“Lady Arundale says she has no idea where Lord Perry Arundale is at the moment.” The man’s sharp brown eyes narrowed slightly. “Would you happen to know where he might go, my lord?”

Joshua drummed his fingers on the surface of the desk. He had a damn good idea where Perry had gone. Sober and ashamed, Perry would find the nearest bottle and get lost in it for a time. Where specifically his bottle might take him wasn’t as clear. “I’m afraid not. He drinks excessively, which makes his actions difficult to determine.” He met the constable’s gaze squarely. “I do not think he is the culprit behind these killings.”

“I wish I could take your assurances alone as evidence, my lord,” Donaldson said. He rose from his chair and Joshua followed suit. The man was methodical and Joshua hoped that would clear his brother. “Believe me, I could use some evidence. At this juncture the killings seem to be the work of either a wild animal or a diabolical human being. The neighborhood is frightened, my lord.” He rubbed the back of his neck with a huge hand. “Wild rumors will fly and I don’t want someone to get hurt who has nothing to do with this business.”

“Rumors, constable?” Joshua knew the rumors would start up again. The Beast of Arundale, the vicious killer on the moors, was an old story. The Arundale family had managed to squash it, but these brutal slayings would bring it to the surface again. Many of Joshua’s ancestors had dealt with a mob from the village. Would he be forced to do so as well?

“I’m a practical man, my lord. I’m not given to fantasy. Yet the stories being circulated concern me.” Donaldson shook his head. “If Lord Perry was my brother, I would keep him out of sight for the time being.”

Joshua nodded. “Thank you, constable. I will find my brother and keep you informed.”

“Thank you, my lord.” The big man left the library.

Joshua rang the bell and Sarah opened the door. “My lord?”

“Tell my wife I am going out this evening and send a note to Jaimison to meet me at this address.” He scribbled down the information on a piece of paper and handed it to the maid. “And tell him to hurry.”

Sarah whirled around and quickly obeyed him. Joshua shrugged his heavy coat on and grabbed his pistol from the desk drawer. He checked the mechanism and the load to make sure the weapon was ready.

As he left the library, Elizabeth rushed down the stairs to intercept him. “Are you going after Perry?”

“Yes,” he said shortly.

His wife’s fingers were twisted together and her face was pale. “Joshua, let me go with you.”

“No.”

One of her hands clutched his arm. “Please, my lord. I’ve never seen Perry this…desperate. He’s dangerous.”

“All the more reason you should remain here.”

“He will not hurt me.” She gazed at him steadily.

“Because he’s in love with you?” Joshua asked the question, not really wanting the answer.

“No.” Elizabeth stepped closer to face Joshua. “Because I am your wife. Perry has always protected me from himself.”

“Be that as it may, I will track down my brother.” He gazed down at his mate and thought of the times she’d gone out into the night, seeking and retrieving his errant relative. “If I do not return—”

“Don’t say that,” she said fiercely, her hand gripping his arm painfully. “Not even as a jest, Joshua.”

“Would you miss me?” he asked quietly.

For a moment he saw torment, absolute agony, in her solemn stare. Then she blinked and it was gone. “How long do you think Melinda will allow me to stay once her son inherits Arundale?”

She was lying. He could smell it. She would miss him and she wouldn’t admit it. “Perry, as you so insistently pointed out, is my responsibility. I will deal with him,” he said grimly.

“I will follow you anyway,” she insisted. “You cannot stop me.”

Joshua’s mind filled with erotic images of how he could restrain her, tie her up to the bedposts with something thicker and stronger than the flimsy material he’d used before. He considered actually putting his ideas into action but knew he wouldn’t stop with just tying her up. He’d spend all night showing her how much he needed her, adored her.

But that wouldn’t prove a thing and he knew it. With every bone in his body he wanted to keep her safe from harm, locked away from the ugliness of the world. But she’d seen some of the worst the world had to offer and still remained innocent and untouched by it.

“Will you do what I say, Elizabeth?” he asked.

Her expression became guarded. “Within reason.”

“Without question or I will tie you to your bed naked, waiting for me until I get home.” He noticed his voice was hoarse with arousal. He wanted her to defy him so he could carry out his threats.

When she licked her lips, her eyes wide and dilated, he almost took away her choice. His cock was iron-hard and he wanted her desperately.

“Fine. I will do what you say.”

He gripped her chin and held her gaze. “Without question.”

Her lips tightened. “Without question.”

He was almost disappointed by her capitulation. It occurred to him that Elizabeth was the perfect mate for him. Defiant yet submissive, she matched him very well. Had she always been this way? Even at twelve Joshua had been drawn to Elizabeth, to her straightforward manner.

When he released her she raced to obtain her cloak and followed him out of the door. In the carriage they spoke very little. Joshua studied his wife. Her family had been a difficult one and her father had been a brute. Marriage had been her escape from the violence in her home. She had been an only child, shy and quiet but stubborn. The honorable Alexander Bartlet had been the younger son of Viscount Bartlet and his bitterness over his lack of funds and lack of prestige had been compounded by the birth of a daughter, who could inherit nothing. He had settled no dowry on his only child, but lived a life of debauchery and scandal.

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