Page 29 of Gone With the Rogue
His hand moved to the back of her neck and gently squeezed before he let her go. With her heart pounding in her ears, Julia rose and hurried over to take up her post. She unlocked the door and eased it open just enough to get her head through the space. She focused her gaze down the corridor that led to the back stairs which ended up on the servants’ floor. She inspected each shadow on all the walls so she would know if a new one appeared. Every creak and crack of wood she heard behind her made her wince in fear that someone would hear and come to investigate.
Seconds turned to minutes, but she dared not leave to see what Mr. Stockton was doing. Her eyes were dry from lack of blinking. Her chest ached from holdingherself so rigidly, and her stomach felt as if it had been twisted into knots. Finally the noise stopped. There was complete silence just before she heard, “Julia, come here.”
Desperate to believe his call to her was for good news, she squeezed her eyes shut for a moment before slowly leaning back into the room, closing the door and securing the lock. There, in the darkened room, she could see his form clearly. He stood behind the desk, looking magnificent, powerful, and commanding, and holding a leather packet in his hand. Julia couldn’t move. Was it over? Had her search come to an end? All of a sudden her heart lurched and she rushed over to him.
“Are there documents in it?” she asked breathlessly.
“I don’t know. I thought you should be the one to open it.”
She took it in her trembling hands and knelt down near the candlelight. Mr. Stockton knelt beside her and picked up the candle, holding it close so she could see better. She quickly untied the leather strings. Moving the flap aside, she opened it and saw perhaps thirty or forty sheets of letters and documents and a ledger. Giving no thought to the ledger, she laid it to the side and started leafing through the unbound pages, reading the title of each page. Halfway through the stack the Eubury-Broadwell Company seemed to jump out at her.
“This is it,” Julia whispered, her hands trembling even more. She held it up for Mr. Stockton to see. “This is the company I heard him say he secretly owns. The one you said had an explosion. This document proves he owns it and he’s not taking responsibility for it orcaring for the families of those who were killed or injured in the explosion.”
Mr. Stockton took the paper from her and glanced down. “This does seem to be a straightforward registered deed but it doesn’t have the duke’s name on it, Julia. It has Mr. Eubury’s name on it. This only proves the duke has the deed in his possession. He could merely be keeping it safe for this man.”
“What? No, no,” she said irrationally, feeling close to losing her self-confidence. “You’re wrong. You don’t understand. I know it’s the duke’s company. I heard him say this man doesn’t exist. The duke buys companies under made-up names so they can’t be traced back to him.”
Mr. Stockton’s concerned gaze swept down her face. “I believe you, but this doesn’t prove what you say, and it won’t convince anyone.”
His words rang true, but she didn’t want to believe them. Determination not to let the duke defeat her rose up inside. “Maybe it’s here in the ledger.” She thrust the other documents aside and picked up the book, certain it would contain proof he owned the secret companies. But her eyes wouldn’t focus on the first page. She turned to the second and it was the same. None of the letters or numbers made sense. It was gibberish. “I must be losing my mind,” she said, despair in her tone. She looked over at Mr. Stockton. “I can’t read it. It’s—”
“Code,” he answered tightly. “The ledger is written in a code. The alphabet and numbers are coded so no one can understand it. Each column probably represents something different. The company name, how much money it makes. Maybe the dates. There’s no way of knowing.”
Julia felt numb. She moved off her knees, sat on the floor, and leaned against the desk. Her hand tightened on the ledger. Frustration ate at her confidence. Outrage at the duke threatened to overwhelm her. What was she going to do?
“I can’t let him win. I have to find a way to make sense of—”
“We will,” Mr. Stockton said softly, moving to sit beside her. He pulled her close to his chest. “Don’t give in to your doubts and fears. It’s time to tell me everything you know about the duke and the properties that are here.”
Julia wasn’t sure she could talk. He kissed the top of her head and she melted against his warmth, his strength. She didn’t know what she was going to do to escape the duke or to see that justice was done for the people he’d wronged. She had put all her faith in finding the hidden papers. She had nowhere else to turn, but then she felt Mr. Stockton’s arms tighten around her. His hand rubbed her arm, her shoulder with slow rhythmic strokes that were meant to soothe her and let her know he wasn’t going to leave her. She felt his breath in her hair, his lips moving softly just above her ear, and his heart beating strong and solid beneath her hand pressed against his chest.
A rush of deep longing filled her. From that afternoon in the tree, Julia had an undeniable trust in Mr. Stockton but it had been so hard to act on that feeling and allow him to help. She felt a reassuring sense of security whenever they were together. Now she wanted to place her complete faith in him.
The duke wasn’t in this room. He had no control over her right now. Sitting in the pale glow of candlelight she was free to say, to do, and to be the personshe wanted to be. Julia lifted her head from Mr. Stockton’s chest. Their faces were close together. She stared into his eyes and saw disquiet and appreciated it, but she knew she wanted something else. It wasn’t even comfort that she needed. There might be a time for that but not right now. She reached up and let her fingertips graze his cheek and follow the shape of his lips.
He took hold of her hand and kissed her fingers. “Your touch is like fire lighting a wick to me, Julia. This is not the time for—”
“Then when will be?” she asked, pulling her hand out of his and winding her arms around his neck. Her hands met at the back of his head and her fingers tangled in the richness of his hair.
“I don’t want you in danger of being caught in here with me any longer than necessary,” he said.
“I know what I am risking and I’m willing. The house is quiet. I don’t know if I will ever be as free as I’m feeling right now. I have been attracted to you since the moment I saw you walking toward that tree. I don’t want to pass on this opportunity to be with you.”
His hand slid to the back of her neck, drawing her face closer to his. “I have wanted you,” he whispered huskily.
“Then kiss me with all the desire you have for me.”
“Yes,” he murmured, and caught her up tighter against his chest as his lips came down on hers with glorious passion.
His kisses stole her breath. Julia responded with the same urgency. She ran her hands up and down the length of his muscular back, feeling power in his broad, firm shoulders. Their tongues swirled in each other’s mouths as their bodies strained to get closer. His hand moved up her rib cage. He parted her thickvelvet robe, pushed it off her shoulder and fondled her breast beneath the fine cotton of her dressing-gown.
At his touch, her breasts tingled and tightened. His hand cupped their fullness and his thumb aroused her nipples. “Yes,” she whispered, giving him uninhibited access. Julia moaned softly and pressed into the bounty of his embrace, meeting his ardor with a fervency of her own, pressing closer and encouraging his every touch.
“You have no idea how I have ached for you,” he whispered while kissing her nose, her cheeks, and down the column of her neck. “To touch you and kiss you like this.”
“Yes, I do,” she managed to respond between kisses. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you and us being together like this.”
Their kisses kept seeking, demanding, and savoring. Second after second, he was claiming her for his own, making sure she wanted him to continue. He had no need to worry. She was totally immersed in the welcoming, irrepressible sensations that kept thrilling her. She pulled on the tail of his shirt, tugging it from his trousers so she could feel his bare skin. He rewarded her with small gasps of pleasure.
