by Amy Sandas
Pulling back on the reins, he slowed his mount to a walk. He told himself that the sudden warmth through his limbs and loins was due to the sun and exercise, but he lied.
It was Anna. It was the sight of her long, shapely, buckskin-clad legs expertly hugging the sides of her horse. It was the tantalizing sight of the fitted jacket that she had opened to allow the slight breeze of the warming morning to cool her. As he grew closer, he couldn’t help but notice she wore no corset beneath her white shirt. The curves of her breasts were soft and full beneath the light linen material. His blood nearly boiled with the lust flooding his veins.
She sat still and confident even as her mount shifted at the nearing of Jude’s horse. A muttered word from between her enticing lips instantly calmed the well-trained beast.
He almost chuckled when he noted the swift pulse throbbing at the side of her throat and the fact that she managed to give him a look filled with irritation even though her eyes were wary.
“Lady Blackbourne,” he said with a formal nod, watching her closely in the hopes that something in her manner might disclose answers to the mystery she presented. She continued to sit stiffly in her saddle, revealing nothing but her animosity. “Lovely morning, isn’t it?”
“What are you doing here?” Anna asked, putting forth no attempt at an amicable attitude.
Jude lifted his brows in an expression that clearly indicated he thought the answer to her question was obvious.
“Riding,” he answered, gesturing toward the horse beneath him.
She took a deep breath as if to calm herself. She was obviously trying to hold her temper and that made him smile all the wider. Perfect, he thought. He was getting to her as much as she got to him.
“Would you join me for a turn about the park?” he asked, indicating in his tone that he was not about to be put off easily. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“No,” she replied curtly.
One corner of his mouth curved upward. “I didn’t think so.”
“I was just about to head back to the house.”
“I’ll join you,” Jude insisted. “Where is your groom?”
“I don’t ride with a groom,” Anna answered as she turned her horse and nudged him to a walk.
“Of course you don’t.” Jude guided his mount alongside hers. “Do you do anything one would expect of a gently reared lady?”
“Almost never,” Anna retorted without turning to look at him.
“Why is that?” Jude pressed, knowing instinctively how his personal inquiries would annoy her.
Anna turned to look at him with a dark expression and a malicious smile. “For the sole pleasure it gives me to think it might irritate you.”
Jude shook his head, not accepting her response. “I might believe that except for the fact that you have been ignoring society’s rules long before I returned to England.”
“To annoy your mother, then,” Anna amended.
“That I can certainly believe.” He replied with a touch of amusement, thinking of his mother’s horror over her daughter-in-law’s activities. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised the two of you don’t get along.”
Anna’s response was a non-committal shrug. “We have an understanding. She gets to continue in the role of Countess of Blackbourne, reigning over her social inferiors, and I am free to do what I enjoy.”
Jude seized the verbal opening she had left unguarded. “But she is not the countess,” he noted with an abrupt change in his voice. He glanced sidelong at her. “You are.”
She kept her eyes trained forward, refusing to return his glance. He studied her regal profile with an admiring appreciation. Her features were exquisite, he admitted reluctantly. An intriguing mixture of refined beauty, stiff pride and a kind of quiet determination that resided just under the surface and shone through the dark depths of her eyes.
“Much as you would like to see that fact eradicated,” Anna replied finally.
“I never pretended to anything else, sweetheart.” Jude’s relaxed drawl was misleading. He watched very carefully for her reaction as he continued. “But it does surprise me to find you living as you are, and not at Silverly. I would have thought you would have been thrilled at getting your hands on the title, the social standing and, not least of all, the Blackbourne jewels that became yours upon the death of my father.”
Anna stopped her horse then. She was visibly seething as she returned his intent regard.
“You are a cold and callous human being to even suggest for one moment that I took any pleasure at all in the death of your father.”
Jude schooled his features to reveal none of his thoughts as he asked in an even tone, “Were you lovers?”
Anna’s brown gaze flared with deep burning flames of fury. Then she closed her eyes. Jude’s mouth twitched with involuntary humor when her lips moved as she silently counted. Reaching ten, she took a deep breath, opened her eyes and met his stare squarely with a look that spoke volumes as to what she thought of him in that moment.
“Your question is crude and more insulting than you could ever know. Not because your father wasn’t worthy of tender regard, but because you clearly didn’t know him at all if you can even entertain the notion that he would engage in anything so dishonorable. Though their relationship wasn't calm or harmonious even a small portion of the time, he and your mother loved and respected each other. And he never would have betrayed you in such a manner. You might have refused to accept me as your wife, but he treated me as a daughter-in-law from the moment I landed on his doorstep.”
As soon as she finished her lecture, Anna pressed her heels into her mount’s sides and urged him into an easy trot.
Jude was more pleased by her response than he had expected to be. He hadn’t realized that the idea of an illicit relationship between Anna and his father had been a sharp pricking thorn in the back of his consciousness until the irritating thing was pulled free. He felt much more at ease now that the subject had been addressed. He only wished she hadn’t been so accurate in her comment that he didn’t understand his own father. Her sharp words renewed the stinging ache of regret in his chest.
He gave himself an extra moment before he kicked his horse into a swift canter. She had already slowed to a walk and he reined in expertly as he came up beside her. She didn’t acknowledge his presence.
“So, who is your current protector?”
“Look,” Anna bit out from between clenched teeth as she focused on an invisible point between her horse’s ears. “I don’t know what maddening game you are playing with your incessant questions, but you have sufficiently ruined my morning. I am finished playing along, and if you intend to continue riding with me, then I must insist you shut up.”
Jude clicked his tongue. “Afraid I can’t do that. There is only one thing that will effectively expunge me from your life, dear wife. And you are determined to make that difficult. All you have to do is cooperate. No mess, no extra fuss. Just end this thing once and for all.”
Anna’s expression was difficult for him to read when she turned to look at him finally.
“But that would go against everything I’ve worked so hard for, wouldn’t it? Why would I have risked everything so long ago—my reputation, my future security, my happiness if I did not intend to see it through until death do us part?” She lifted her chin arrogantly. “What makes you think my determination has gotten any less as the years have passed?”
Jude scowled. “I had hoped maturity would have shown you that neither of us will find any satisfaction in continuing this marriage.”
“Speak for yourself.” Anna’s eyes flashed with black fire as she continued with a provoking smile. “I intend to claim immense satisfaction out of this dreadful situation. You can count on it.”
Jude shook his head in genuine confusion and growing anger over her continued obstinacy.
“If you are so damned determined to hold onto your position as Countess of Blackbourne, why then have you been going about und
er an alias? Why not flaunt your title and connection to my family?”
Anna clamped her lips together and refused to respond to his question.
“Your words ring false, wife, and I intend to find out why. You will not be allowed to continue unscathed and unpunished for your crimes.”
“You have no bloody clue what scars I carry for my part in that cursed plot.”
Jude was momentarily taken aback by the raw emotion roughening her voice.
In the next second, her thoroughbred racer was in a full gallop and Jude was left in the dust of their wake.
Something was not right. The certainty of that fact sat heavy and low in his gut.
Dammit. This morning had not progressed as he had hoped. He urged his horse into a comfortable lope after the enigmatic woman, knowing he had no chance of catching up to such an exceptional thoroughbred. At best, he hoped to intercept her back at the house. He had managed to irritate her, but he had found no clarity in the answers she’d given to his questions. The exchange left him with absolutely no sense of satisfaction.
Chapter Thirteen
Anna nearly leapt from William’s back when they reached the small enclosed stable yard behind her house. With automatic motions born out of routine, she shrugged out of her jacket and tossed it over the rail where she tied the reins. She went about stripping the light saddle and brushing down William’s coat without really seeing what she was doing.
She needed to take a breath, needed to find a balance to her fiercely rolling emotions. Jude would not be far behind her and she did not want to appear the shaking and confused fool she felt at the moment.
When she had caught sight of him racing headlong at full gallop through the park, she had been stunned, taken away actually, at the masculine image of strength and control he presented.
Jude was riding Richard, a young and impulsive gelding. The horse’s temperament had proven too wild and rebellious to consider him for breeding, but the thoroughbred’s speed, strength and passion were undeniable. She had always believed there was a lot to be discovered about a person by watching how they rode. And to see how effortlessly and calmly Jude was able to handle the raw power of the impetuous animal beneath him made her wonder if perhaps she had underestimated the man her husband had become.
That possibility made her nervous. Just as the intent expression on his face when he had approached her had made her heart start beating at twice its normal rate.
Hearing the familiar clip-clop of horse hooves on stone, she paused and rested her forehead against her horse’s warm flank. She took three calming breaths and told herself she could handle this. She would have her taste of vengeance and then she would release him as he wished and she would continue on with her life as if he had never been a part of it.
Anna continued to pull the brush along William’s coat with long and confident strokes. Even when Jude tied his horse a few places down the rail, she still did not turn around. She bent to check the thoroughbred’s shoes, each hoof in turn, refusing to acknowledge Jude’s presence.
Finally straightening from the last one, she turned and gasped as she came face-to-face with her husband. She had not realized that he had come closer, that he in fact stood right behind her at William’s side with a hand casually resting on the horse’s back.
“Bloody hell,” she muttered under her breath, then swiped her forearm across her brow. The warmth of the sun and the physical activity had caused a sheen of sweat to moisten her skin. She propped her fists on her hips and stood her ground though Jude’s unexpected nearness created a sharp frisson of awareness across her flesh.
“Do you always curse so much, or is it just me who unleashes the crudeness of your tongue?” he taunted.
“Do you always sneak up on women as they work, or is it just me you wish to torment?” She met his gaze with a stubborn set to her full lips.
His blue eyes were bright and direct and intimately challenging. There was something elementally different in his demeanor as he stood here. She could feel the intensity of his regard in the humming response of every nerve. Something had changed since their argument in the park, and it was something that connected with a deeply hidden note within Anna’s core.
The slow development of his smile curled her toes.
“Just you, love,” he answered in a melting tone.
Oh God, I might be in trouble now, she thought in a moment of panic.
His gaze swept from her booted feet to the thudding pulse at the base of her throat.
“The view was too tempting to resist getting a closer look,” he added.
Anna’s eyes widened as she recalled just what view he had been presented with as she had been bent over at her task.
“You depraved boor,” she accused on another gasp.
“No. I am a man, and you have a very enticing backside.”
Anna’s nostrils flared wide as she tried to rein in her temper, but she was far too flustered with trying to decide between controlling her fury over his vulgar comment or the unexpected arousal suddenly pulsing through her body. If all Jude had to do was mutter some suggestive words of appreciation and she became a puddle of sudden need, she was right not to consider trying to seduce him.
“What’s the matter, Anna?” Jude asked as he stepped toward her. His blue eyes reflected the bright sunlight and perfectly matched the purity of the sky above them. His smile slid away, but his eyes glinted with sharp satisfaction as she took an instinctive step back.
He was enjoying this, enjoying the look of panic on her face as he stalked her. His desire for her might be real, and she was inclined to believe it was, but his dislike was also very real. He was playing with her. She had to get her game pieces back in place or she would lose this contest of wits and wills before it had even truly begun.
He took another step forward. She stepped back again in response and the rail pressed strong across her buttocks. She reached back to brace herself and the action caused her shirt to strain across her chest, pulling at the buttons than ran down the center.
Jude dropped his gaze to her breasts with a glint of admiration. Anna’s breath caught and her nipples peaked. Jude hummed softly in his throat and returned his gaze to her face.
“A difficult impasse, isn’t it?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Anna answered and tried to look away from his piercing, all-too-knowing gaze. But Jude caught her chin in his fingers and forced her to look up at him.
“You know exactly what I mean,” he whispered. “And you hate it as much as I do, don’t you?” His expression became serious. “There may be no hope for it,” he muttered, as if he were talking to himself.
He may as well have been since Anna could barely comprehend his words with the heavy rush of desire thundering in her ears. She felt tongue-tied and stupid. She couldn’t seem to put two thoughts together as she found herself staring at the firm and unforgiving lines of his lips. Her own lips parted to draw in a swift breath.
His blue eyes darkened and his attention focused on her mouth.
And then he wrapped his arm around her lower back and she was drawn into a crushing embrace as his mouth descended to hers.
He planted his feet wide and leaned over her as he bent her back over the rail. It was a display of physical strength and sensual mastery. She could only grasp his shoulders and hold on as the passion in his kiss fed her own. Heat rolled through her and a heavy throb began between her legs. The flame of need in her blood flared to a full blaze.
The commanding pressure of his mouth started to ease as he coaxed and teased with his lips. He tested the fullness of her lower lip with his velvet tongue before drawing it through his teeth for a quick, suckling caress. The moan escaped from her throat before she knew it had formed and she fisted her hands in his coat.
She was losing ground.
Who was she kidding? She couldn’t even see the ground anymore as desire lifted her into a whirlwind of sensation. Every thought, every feeling was an instant rea
ction to the movement of his mouth over hers and the encompassing warmth of his body. Nothing else existed or needed to. There was only this firestorm of sensation and consuming need for the man that held her.
She pulled at his shoulders and arched into him. She wanted more. Always more.
And when she thought she might scream with frustration and need, he gave her more. He straightened slightly and shifted his feet. His arm around her back tightened as he pressed one of his legs between her thighs. Never breaking the open-mouthed contact of their kiss, he dropped his hands to her hips. His strong fingers gripped their fullness as he pulled her body toward him. The hard muscled length of his thigh sliding against her intimate core caused Anna to break the kiss with a gasping shudder as her head fell back. Jude took quick advantage of her exposed throat and he pressed a heated kiss to the pulse that beat below her jaw.
He slid a hand down the back of her thigh and lifted her leg alongside his hip. He leaned farther into her, deepening the contact. The hard ridge of his erection pressed against her low belly. The evidence of his desire fanned the growing flames even higher as flutters of sensation flooded her womb.
She lifted her hands to fist them in the tousled curls at the back of his head to anchor herself. Good God, the speed and fury with which she had been overcome by desire had her mind in a spinning cloud. Jude’s strength, the steadying grip of his hands on her body and the hot wet fire of his mouth on her bare skin overwhelmed her senses.
He shifted one of his hands from around her back to press his palm up along her narrow ribcage. She held her breath in anticipation. When his large palm covered her breast, the helpless moan that escaped her lips reflected the penetrating need that flowed through her from her curling toes to her lust-softened brain.
She tugged at his hair and urged his mouth back to hers. She kissed him with all of the fury of the passion he roused in her. All the fire, the fear and even the more delicate feelings still harbored in her heart. She pressed her body against him and kissed him until she was breathless and mindless.