Wolfsgate (31 page)

Justine forced herself to take in a breath of air through her parted lips. She reached for a fresh glass of wine from a passing servant.

“Am I getting through to you now, darling?”

Justine nodded as she drank. Her brain had stuck on what the word “different” might imply.

“This should not be any kind of hardship for you, Lady Graven, or am I wrong?” Georgina asked.

Justine only shook her head as she swallowed, the liquor warming her throat.

“I must say,” Georgina’s voice lowered. “Brandon’s new dark and intimidating demeanor is rather appealing actually, once you get over the initial fright, that is. I am curious how that translates to the bedroom.”

“Georgina!” Justine squeezed her arm tightly.

“Sorry, can’t help myself.” Both of them returned their attention to Amanda at the spinet.

Justine moved her head closer to Georgina’s. “You are not wrong,” she whispered then let out a soft giggle. Georgina stared at her. “About his dark demeanor, I mean.”

“Oh?” Georgina continued to watch Amanda play as her fingers pressed on Justine’s arm.

“He is exceptionally intense and…”

“Hmmm?” Georgina nodded this time and a grin began to form on her lips.

“Ardent.”

“Ah,” Georgina sighed. “I do have fine instincts. Thank God.” The music faded and Georgina and Justine clapped for their hostess.

“How are you so familiar with all this feminine strategy?” Justine asked.

Georgina chuckled. “Since my sister Phillipa married, she has become quite a marvel of the womanly wiles. And I have been a devoted student of hers in order to prepare myself to better navigate married life.”

Justine laughed. “Lucky girl to have such a sister.”

“I had to preoccupy myself with something all those months at her house in Devon.” Georgina bit her lip. “You know, underclothes are quite the fashion now for ladies in France.”

A tide of laughter rose up in Justine’s throat.

“This is perfect, J. You must take my advice and let me know this evening’s results, and then I will be perfectly confident to use such a stratagem myself one day should the need arise. If I ever get married, of course.” She frowned. “That still remains to be seen.”

“You expect me to put your theories to the test in my own bed?” Justine asked.

“Darling, from what I’ve seen of the way your handsome husband looks at you, all sulky and penetrating as if he’s trying his damnedest to read your mind or burn through your clothing, I really don’t think you’re going to have a difficult time of it. All I am saying is be aware. Use your particular charms to your advantage. Amanda is not coming home with you, is she?”

“I should say not!”

“Then you shouldn’t have any problems this evening.” Both of them burst into peals of laughter.

“Have we had too much to drink perhaps, ladies?” Charles’s impressive form blocked their view of La Amanda at her spinet. Both women swallowed and looked up from his broad chest burnished with the gold buttons of his frock coat, past his prominent shoulders to the angled jawline of his striking face. “Ladies?” he asked again, his blue eyes positively sparkling.

“Are we misbehaving?” Georgina blurted.

Justine’s eyes widened. “Have we interrupted the concert?”

Charles grinned at them, his eyes drinking in both women. “No, you haven’t made spectacles of yourselves yet, but I do think you need a chaperone to keep you both in line for the rest of the evening. No more drink.”

“Oh, don’t be dull, Mr. Montclare,” said Georgina.

“One could never be dull in your company, Miss Georgina, I assure you.”

“My lady?” The servant held Justine’s burgundy wool cloak before her.

“Yes, thank you.” The cloak fell expertly around her shoulders, and she tugged on the edges of the thick material. The front door was open allowing the guests to exit the house, and the chill of the dark night crept over her as they stood in the hall.

Sir Wallace bumped into her, and Justine scooted back. He winked at her and leaned in closer, “I’ll be thinking of ye tonight, of that you can be sure.” His watery red eyes hung in his puffed face. He guffawed as he was led away by a footman toward the outer portico. Emily moved with them, her face drawn.

Justine stepped back from the crowd. Her head ached. Somewhere along the way to the front door she had gotten separated from Georgina and Charles. Brandon had caught up with them at one point, but now even he had disappeared as well.

She backed up into the opposite hallway and leaned against the wall for a moment to take a breath of air and settle her head in the quiet before she went back out to the busy hall. Yes, she’d had too much liquor this evening, but she enjoyed the looseness in her joints and the molten warmth in her veins.

Rustling fabric and muffled voices echoed down the hallway, and Justine turned instinctively towards the sounds. Two figures were at the other end of the hall. A tall male hovered over a female, his hand at the side of her arm. He leaned closer to her and planted a kiss on her cheek, then took her hand in his and kissed it as well. The woman’s soft laughter echoed down the dark corridor.

Justine’s mouth slackened. There was no denying that laugh. There was no denying the yellow dress reflected in the moonlight coming in from the tall arched window at the end of the hall.

Brandon and Amanda.

Brandon and Amanda together.

She spun. She had to get out of there without them noticing. But not just yet.

She had to see them together first.

JUSTINE’S PULSE LODGED IN HER THROAT
. Her feet moved on their own accord leading her out of the hallway. She rounded the corner just in time, their voices coming closer, growing louder.

Her hands grazed the hard polished edges of a tall cabinet, and she moved past it, tucking herself over to its other side. Brandon and Amanda stopped just beyond her hiding place. He kissed Amanda’s hand once more. She murmured his name, caressing the side of his face. Justine’s lungs burned.

Brandon left Amanda at the end of the hallway and strode towards the main hall. Amanda stood still watching him, a wide grin lighting her face, then she scurried in the opposite direction towards the study where Justine knew there was another door that led to the other side of the great room in the center of the house. No one would ever guess she had been on this side of the house at all. Justine’s teeth bit the inside of her cheek and her eyes squeezed shut. She took in a deep breath and made her way the front door of Crestdown where her husband would surely be waiting for her.

There was no hiding any longer.

“How do you know Sir Wallace, Justine?”

Brandon lit his pipe releasing puffs of smoke from his mouth, his beautiful mouth. Justine admired that mouth with the brandy glass not far from her lips. She wanted to feel that mouth on hers again.

Feel it demanding and giving.

Feel it drive its way desperately up her neck then down over her…

“Justine?” She drank deeply from the glass as her body sank into the settee in their parlor. “You enjoyed yourself this evening, did you?” Brandon asked. He stood over her, close, very close, so close she could smell his cologne edged with the tobacco. His brooding eyes fell on her face. They seemed greener this evening. Fascinating how they changed tones. A reeling, spinning sensation went off in her body. Her grip on the glass tightened.

“Maybe you should stop drinking.” Brandon’s eyes narrowed, and his hand moved to take the glass from her.

“Hmm-hmm.” Justine shook her head at him.

“Sir Wallace?”

“Sir Wallace what?”

His one eyebrow arched up. “How do you know him?”

“How do I know him?” Justine sighed and a slow smile curved the edges of her lips. Her eyes flicked up at Brandon. His beautiful eyes darkened as he waited for her reply. “He has been a friend of Richard’s for years, and William tried to make some sort of investment with him.”

“Yes, but you know him too, don’t you?”

Her eyes darted up at him. “Yes, I do.”

“How?”

“We were almost engaged.”

His forehead creased. “He’s the older man you told me about?”

She grinned at him. “You see, I’m a popular girl.”

“Christ,” he rasped. “The bastard seemed irritated to see us when we first walked through the door, and I wondered why.”

“Marrying him did not come to pass, fortunately for me.” She raised the glass to salute him, then put it to her lips and drank, her eyes never leaving his.

He raised his chin at her. “And they sat you next to him at dinner this evening.”

“Yes. Pure William. A party favor just for me.”

“What did he say to you, Justine?”

She flicked a hand in the air. “It was nothing.”

“Justine, what did he say?”

“Sir Wallace congratulated me on my marriage to you with a ripe amount of irony.” She smirked. “I got the distinct impression the pain of losing me cut him quite deep.”

“Bloody hell.” A muscle tensed in Brandon’s jaw.

“He might have been a bit flippant.”

“Justine—”

“It was fine. Charles was there.”

“Charles? I should have been there,” he said. “You should have told me, at the very least. Wallace is a pig. Dammit, I’m sorry. I should have seen to it, to you.” He stared at her, his gaze somber but soft. A lovely warmth enveloped her, but she pushed it away and straightened her spine for extra defense against it. That wasn’t her warmth to enjoy any longer; it was a delusion.

“The last thing I wanted was a scene at William’s house,” she said.

“Why do you always assume that I cannot control myself and would resort to violence, for God’s sake?”

“I’m just trying to protect you.”

“I should have protected you this evening, Jus!”

Hearing his intimate name for her ripped at something inside her. “Your attentions were otherwise engaged,” she bit out, her voice raised. His eyes flared, his neck stiffened.

She cleared her throat. “Brandon, a dinner party was given by your family in honor of your return to the land of the living.”
Oh, it’s of no use.
She held her glass aloft, letting out a dry laugh. “And what a land it is, eh?”

Brandon extracted the glass from her hand dispensing with it on the sideboard with a loud clank. “I think you’ve had enough.”

“Oh, I agree. I have certainly had enough.” Justine rose from her chair and faced him, meeting his fierce gaze.

She would fight fire with her own fire. Amanda’s kisses, caresses, her scent would not be the last on his skin or on his mind tonight.

Let him burn, burn as I do.

She cupped the side of his face with her hand, her thumb rubbing the edge of his mouth with a small, gentle movement. Brandon’s eyes darkened as his hand clamped over her wrist. His teeth nipped her thumb, and his sudden hiss of breath emboldened her.

It would be so easy, so very easy.

But alas, tonight was not the appropriate night for Georgina’s strategy to be put to the test. A vengeful spirit bit its fangs into her instead. She reached up on her toes and traced his lower lip with her tongue and then slid it inside his mouth. He jerked forward, his one hand sweeping up her back, pulling her body into his tight hold. His mouth crashed down on hers.