The Lord’s Dangerous Obsession (Dangerous Desires Book 2), page 10
part #2 of Dangerous Desires Series
Something was very wrong, but David didn’t know what. He wished that he knew, wished that Arabella would talk to him again.
Then again, all he could think about whenever Arabella was close was ripping off her clothes and feeling her warm body beneath him. The urge to take a woman like an animal had never materialized after she left, and now it was flaring back up, only stronger to the point that David was struggling to maintain his composure. His trousers hadn’t been that tight before, certainly.
Trying to ignore the throbbing in his crotch, David took a sip of his water, casting his father a sly smile. “You and Anna Day have certainly struck up a rapport between you. I don’t think I’ve seen you this fascinated with a woman in a long time.”
“Are you going to tease me about women in my old age?”
“You’re hardly old, Father,” David chuckled. “But I suppose I am.”
Ian sipped his drink. Then he looked out into the dark. Father and son were sitting by the window looking out into the gardens. It was pitch black outside, the only light coming from the house. Even in the dark, the Derbyshire countryside looked beautiful. Haunting, even.
“It’s love, David.”
“What is?”
Ian smiled. “I’m in love with Anna. It’s not something I can ignore.”
He was worried about upsetting his sons. David reached over and squeezed his father’s arm.
“Father, it’s been almost ten years. I don’t think Mother would have wanted you to mope about for the rest of your natural life.”
“I haven’t moped.”
“I beg your pardon?”
Ian hesitated. Then he winced. “Well, maybe a little.”
David laughed. “More than a little.” He took another swig. The water was refreshingly cool. “Mrs. Day is a nice woman, Father. Very attractive. And just looking at how you are when you’re in her company tells me everything. I haven’t seen you this happy in a long time.”
Ian blushed. David couldn’t remember the last time he had seen his father so bashful. He cleared his throat.
“Anna’s a strong woman. A lot has happened to her over the years. I know all about it and I don’t care about any of what happened. I don’t care about her marital status or the circumstances at how she lost her husbands. They shaped the person she is today, and it is the person I care about, not her situation.”
“You don’t need to justify yourself to me, Father.” David could see his father was on the cusp of a big speech that would last forever if he didn’t stop him now. “I do know what you mean.”
“That’s good.” Ian finished the rest of his brandy, making a face as he put the glass aside. “I’ll never get used to the taste of that stuff. It burns.”
“Then why do you drink it?”
“You think it goes down well if you refuse a brandy because you despise the taste.”
David held up his glass of water. “I refused one. No one argued about that.”
Ian grunted. “How you can’t drink at all is surprising. I remember when you drank alcohol like it was water.”
David could remember as well, and he didn’t want to remember. If he hadn’t been drinking that night, he wouldn’t have slept so deeply. Drink always put him out like a light as if it was a sleeping draft. He might have been able to wake up when Arabella started to leave. He might have been able to find out what was really going on then. But that was in the past, and David had lost his chance.
Maybe he could get a chance to figure out what had spooked Arabella so much that she had disappeared out of his life.
Chapter Eleven
“What about you?”
David jumped. Ian was watching him curiously. David cleared his throat and put his glass down. He had spilled some on his hand when he jumped. He fished his handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped his hands.
“What about me?”
“Have you ever been in love?”
David stared. “Why are you asking me that, Father?”
“Because I’ve never seen you court anyone at all. I was beginning to worry that something was wrong. Maybe…” Ian paused. “Maybe you didn’t prefer...well, you preferred your own kind instead of women.”
David was glad he had put his glass down or it would have been dropped onto the carpet. His father thought he was a homosexual?
“What are you…? No! I like women, Father.”
“That’s something.” Ian’s shoulders seemed to slump in relief. “Then why haven’t I seen you with a woman?”
“I’m not going to send you a letter to be present whenever I’m doing something with a woman, am I?”
“No, but I was surprised that you didn’t surround yourself with women like your brothers did. And you had plenty of eligible women to choose from, from what I remember.”
David did remember. Many women had come up to him when he had been dragged to a social event, and David had been polite but distant. He knew they found him attractive, but David couldn’t bring himself to think the same way beyond their appearance. In his mind, all women ended up being compared to Arabella.
“I’ve just been busy working, Father,” David pointed out. “It’s not easy finding someone when I’ve got a lot of responsibilities.”
“I’ve been busy as well, but even I’ve managed to find time for love.”
He had a point. David didn’t have a decent excuse. He decided to go the honesty route, going as close as he could to the truth without revealing to Ian what he had been doing. Ian would not be impressed at all to hear what David had committed with Arabella outside of marriage.
He stared out of the window.
“I did love someone, Father,” he said quietly. “I still do, actually. And she loved me. I…” He swallowed. “I was going to propose to her. She wasn’t of our class at all, far from it, but I didn’t care. She was the only one I wanted to live with for the rest of my life, but then she disappeared, completely vanished, and I had no idea where she went or if she was even alive.”
“I see.”
David glanced at his father. Ian had a frown directed at him, tapping his fingers on the arm of his chair. This was the most he had confessed to his father about Arabella. Their meetings had been secret. No one was to know about them. David had never spoken to any of his family about what happened back in Ireland, not even to his younger brother. Geoffrey could have kept a secret, but David wanted to treasure it for himself. And remind himself he had been a fool to let Arabella get away.
“That would explain your withdrawal from Society and why you suddenly hated going to social events.” Ian’s eyes narrowed and he turned his head to the side. “I take it this has something to do with the girl you kept sneaking off to see when you were twenty.”
“How did you know about that?”
“I know my sons and when something’s up.” Ian shook his head with a sigh. “I didn’t question it - you were a grown man - but I did hope you weren’t getting the girl into trouble. Then you came back and you had changed, as if overnight. Even Peter couldn’t get you to talk.”
David winced. There was a very good reason why he hadn’t spoken to Peter about it.
“He would have been mad if he knew the girl I had planned to marry was the girl he had set his sights on.”
“Ah, I see now.” Ian yawned loudly, rubbing a hand over his eyes. “Do you think the girl is still alive?”
David knew Arabella was alive, after years of wondering and hoping, but that didn’t mean she would be still available. A beautiful woman like her would have had her pick of men.
“She’s probably married and a mother by now,” he said ruefully.
“You never know. Anything can happen,” Ian pointed out. “But you can’t spend the rest of your life waiting for the woman you want to come back. You need to move on. Like me.”
“It’s easier said than done,” David grunted. “You know that more than anyone, Father.”
“I certainly do.” Ian yawned again, this time even louder. “God, I’m going to fall asleep in this chair if I stay here. I’m going to head up to bed.”
“I’ll stay up a little longer.” David stretched his legs out. “I’m not tired enough to sleep.”
“Well, don’t stay up too long.” Ian stood, squeezing David’s shoulder. “Goodnight, son.”
“Goodnight, Father.”
Ian left the room, closing the door behind him. David looked out into the darkness. The landscape was looking more haunting than before. Ireland had been full of history and intrigue, and the views had been spectacular. Derbyshire was pretty much the same, with the exception that there wasn’t the strong smell of salt in the air from the sea. David did love living in Ireland; with their family home out of the way, it was quiet. England was interesting, and he could cope if he had to, but Ireland was where his heart was.
At least, it had been that way. Now David had seen Arabella and knew she was here, he would have to rethink his priorities. The farm on the estate could be handled anywhere, providing David kept on top of the paperwork, and he could always visit. But he couldn’t expect Arabella to pack everything and come back with him. Not that she would, given her reaction.
Maybe that’s why she was uncomfortable. She was married and had a family of her own. Seeing an old flame from her past wasn’t going to make things easy. But David hadn’t seen a wedding ring on her finger, which meant she wasn’t married. Maybe she was betrothed to someone, but surely Arabella would have said something?
David didn’t like thinking about Arabella being with another man. He had taken Arabella’s innocence, and he had planned on being the only one who had tasted Arabella’s intimate flesh. No one else would get a chance. But eight years had been a long time. David wasn’t expecting Arabella to keep herself for him; she had run away from him, after all.
As soon as he got a chance, David was going to find out what really happened. Arabella wasn’t about to give him vague answers or bat away any demands to know why she left. David wouldn’t let her this time.
Then he saw a movement out on the drive. Someone was coming out from the stables. The light didn’t reach that far, but David caught a glimpse of the shape as they hurried down the drive. He recognized the walk, the shape of her body and caught a brief look at her face.
It was Arabella. And she was heading out into the dark.
Where was she off to? As far as David was aware, Anna Day was heading down to her cottage by carriage later on. David would expect Arabella to go with her. So where was she going now?
David rose and headed towards the door. There was only one way to find out.
* * *
It wasn’t difficult to pick Arabella out once David got outside. He could hear her footsteps hurrying along the path, sure-footed as she made her way through the dark. There was enough moonlight to see, and David was used to navigating himself around in the dark, but this was difficult. He almost fell flat on his face several times because of upturned tree roots or bumps in the path.
Arabella made her way through a copse of trees and David followed. He nearly whacked his head on several branches and ended up on his backside when slipping over. Arabella had disappeared by the time David got up and dusted off. She certainly didn’t have any problems getting around here.
She had disappeared by the time David came out of the trees, but he didn’t need to look far. Up ahead, there was a cosy little cottage, along with a front yard and what looked like a decent-sized back garden. There were flickering lights coming from inside the windows. It was late in the evening, but people were still up.
David crept down the slope and silently vaulted the wall. Then he tiptoed up to the nearest window and looked inside. It looked to be the kitchen area, with a man and a woman sitting at the kitchen table. The woman was doing some sewing while the man was finishing off his meal. David recognized them. Arabella’s parents. They had worked on his father’s estate and were very kind, decent people. David had liked them.
He shuddered to think what they thought of him now.
There was no sign of Arabella, but she had to be here. This was her parents’ home, and Arabella had been heading in this direction. She was more than likely in another room.
Taking care not to be seen, David crept around the house. He looked in through the next room, but it was dark, although David could see silhouettes of beds. A bedroom, not ready to be used. He made his way around the back, peeking in each of the windows.
It was through one of the windows that David saw something that made his heart stop. Arabella was sitting on a small bed, reading a book to a little girl who was lying in the bed, her raven black hair spread across the pillow. The girl giggled whenever Arabella said something, and then she piped up with a comment that had Arabella smiling. Such a beautiful little child.
This had to be Arabella’s daughter. Rosie Powell hadn’t been pregnant when she left Ireland, as far as David was aware. From the interaction between Arabella and the child, it was more of a mother-daughter closeness than a sisterly one.
Arabella had a child? David’s stomach dropped. She hadn’t waited around much before moving on to someone else. Was she a widow? That would explain no wedding ring? Or had she had the girl outside of wedlock?
David’s shock disappeared and now all he could feel was anger. Arabella hadn’t loved him at all. She didn’t even give him a second thought before having a child with someone else. Those words that night had meant nothing to her. They had meant everything to David but clearly not to Arabella.
He was going to have an explanation from her. Tonight.
It wasn’t long before Arabella finished reading and closed the book. David used that opportunity to duck around to the front, hovering near the door. Arabella wasn’t going to get away from him that easily. Not tonight.
It felt like an age before Arabella finally came out, bidding farewell to her parents. She closed the door and headed down the path towards the gate. David came out behind her.
“When were you going to tell me?”
Arabella jumped and spun around, clutching at the shawl about her shoulders. Her face paled when she saw him, and David saw her back up a little.
She should be scared. He was furious.
“I...tell you what?”
“That you had a daughter.”
Arabella looked like she was about to faint. Her hands tightened around her shawl. “It wasn’t any of your business,” she mumbled.
David couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Not any of my business?” he demanded. “I didn’t see a ring on your finger earlier, and there was no mention of a husband before, or the fact you had been married.”
Arabella was backing away from him now. She was shaking. David felt a momentary pang of guilt, but he pushed it aside. The woman needed to give him answers.
“Was I that easy to forget, Arabella?” he sneered. “Was I?”
“David, don’t do this,” Arabella begged. She looked close to tears. “I can’t…”
“Can’t what? Admit that you still care about me? Admit that you did the wrong thing by running off?”
Arabella whimpered. A tear trickled down her cheek, her bottom lip quivering. Part of David wanted to take Arabella in his arms and comfort her, and the other part wanted to shake her. She wasn’t telling him anything, and David didn’t like being kept in the dark. This had to stop.
“She’s a pretty girl, your daughter.”
“What…” Arabella swayed. “You’ve seen her?”
“Through the window while you were reading her a story. What’s her name?”
“I…” Arabella swallowed hard. Her voice came out as a croak. “Katherine.”
After David’s grandmother. Arabella had known that David had adored his grandmother, who had died a few months after they met. Was that on purpose?
“Who’s her father?”
That was when Arabella shook her head and darted towards the gate. David ran after her, grabbing her arm.
“Arabella, tell me!”
“David, please!” Arabella tried to pull away. “Let me go!”
David pulled her back against him, trapping her with his arms.
“Why won’t you tell me who her father is?” he demanded. “What are you afraid of, Arabella? Tell me!”
They stared at each other. With their arguing, it was a wonder that Arabella’s parents hadn’t come out to see what the commotion was about.
