Harnessed Passions (8 page)

The men back home claimed to appreciate her
for her wit, her charm and her beauty, though she was certain they
were more eager to be associated with the mayor’s family. A rich
and successful businessman in his own right, her uncle had a great
deal of clout and support to offer a man who became her husband.
The idea of marrying anyone was out of the question and she was
certain by the look in the man’s eye; marriage was the last thing
on his mind.

With a heavy sigh, she straightened up to
her full height and squared her shoulders. She may be acting like a
spoiled brat at the moment, but she was still the one in charge. He
was, after all, a paid for employee of the family’s.

"Before you say a word, Mr.
Browning...don't," she snapped, turning her eyes away from his
critical inspection. "I’m sorry you saw that. I know I shouldn't
have spoken to her like that.
Honor thy
mother and thy father
and all that sort of
rubbish, but damn it she made me mad." Julia stomped her foot when
she finished speaking; an act that allowed a small degree of
physical release of the emotions raking her delicate
body.

"Somehow, I don't think making you angry is
very hard to do," he told her softly.

"Are you going to say it’s perfectly
acceptable for the way they were acting in there?” She waved her
hand toward the house where her parents had sat a few minutes
earlier, laughing and joking about the future. “I think it’s morbid
to plan a new relationship with your terminally ill husband;
telling him everything she was going to do once he was buried. Was
she planning on at least allowing the dirt to settle over his grave
before running off to find another lover?”

Daniel smiled at her with a half grin as his
eyes roamed over her slender frame. She had no idea what he was
thinking, but could only assume it was less than complimentary. He
was not like the other men she had always known; she could always
read the others like a book and knew exactly what was on their
minds; perverted or promising.

“
It's always hard to see
grief in other people, little princess, especially when it feels as
though you're the only one suffering. Everyone deals with emotions
in their own way. Your mother has struggled a very long time with
these feelings of grief and hopelessness. She’s become quite good
at hiding them from people."

"Thank you very
much;
Mr. Know-it-all
and just how many parents have you buried?"

"Only my father," he said with an unnerving
calm. Julia felt strangely effected by it and suddenly regretful
for her senseless outburst.

"I'm sorry Daniel. I didn't know."

"There's no way you could have," he said as
he continued to stare at her. "It wasn't anything like this,
though; we didn't know my father was going to die. He was jumped by
bandits on his way through the highlands and shot when he refused
to surrender his purse. He was found on the side of the road by
some local farmers who knew the family and brought him home. Fever
took him and he slipped into a coma; he never woke up. He died a
few days later." For some unexplainable reason, he felt the
distance between them unbearable, forcing him to retreat his stance
by the veranda wall. He walked cautiously to her side, kneeling
down beside the settee as she sat again. He gently slid the long
tresses of dark hair through his fingers, feeling the satin
smoothness against his skin. He lifted it to his nose and smelled
the fresh aroma of her shampoo.

Julia had no choice but to watch his actions
with baited breath; it was erotic and sensuous. Heat began to
caress her in a way she had never before known; every part of her
felt warm, wanting…what? She had never felt like this with any man;
there was an unnamed need beginning to build within the pit of her
stomach as her heart skipped a beat.

"Your mother is dealing with her grief, the
best way she knows how," he whispered to her a few moments later;
his tone deep and intimate. "She's doing what she believes your
father wants. She's trying hard to be strong, Princess. You can't
blame her for that."

"I can't condone the way she's acting,
either," she answered in a soft tone that shook slightly, though
not from grief or fear, but from what his close presence to her was
causing her to feel.

"Think about it from her aspect. The man
you've loved for more nearly thirty years is taken away from you.
You’ve stood by and watched him deteriorate over months of
agonizing torment. You're forced to face the rest of your life
alone; no one there to talk to, to discuss subjects only the two of
you can relate to. Your life is empty, your bed is empty. Your
future lies stretched ahead of you, while your life is buried six
feet beneath the earth. How would that make you feel?" Julia
frowned at the logic and wisdom he forced her to face.

"I suppose I'd be pretty depressed," she
admitted quietly. Daniel eased her hand between his two large brown
ones, enveloping her long fingers in a warmth that sent shock waves
coursing through her limbs to setting in her breast. His fingers
slowly began caressing her wrist and she felt like she could no
longer breathe; rational thought void from her mind as she stared
at him, unable and unwilling to look away.

"You're far too intelligent to allow this to
come between you and your mother." Julia nodded slowly and tried to
stand on legs that felt like limp noodles.

"I need to speak with her," she told him
softly, surprised that she was able to find the words to express
her subconscious thoughts while her mind was reeling around his
closeness to her.

"Not so fast, Little Princess," he captured
her securely yet gently pulling her against the strong wall of his
chest. She inhaled sharply seeing the passion tint his eyes,
turning them a dark blue. Her hands braced on his shoulders;
whether for support or acceptance she wasn’t quite certain.

Daniel’s mind was shouting at him to keep a
respectable distance, while his heart was begging him to continue.
He had wanted her in his arms since he first saw her in the
stables; his arms ached for her, his lips pleaded with him to taste
her sweetness.

It wasn’t until he looked into those warm
emerald eyes that he forgot about logic. She was the most beautiful
woman he’d ever seen; young and innocent, desirable and sexy. No
man would be able to withstand her charms for long and he was far
from an ordinary man; he knew of many ways to make her accept him
and beg him to take her to bed. But as she placed her hands on his
shoulders, he realized just how innocent she was; she touched him
as though it were her first time doing so and it was at the moment
when she gasped, he knew he was lost.

Julia could feel his heart beating beneath
her breast as she pressed against his chest. His warmth was
intoxicating and the seductive glint in his turquoise eyes, made
her pulse quicken. She felt as though her body was suddenly
engulfed in sunshine; warmth spreading to every recess of her
soul.

"I don't understand," she
whispered, and he chuckled lightly, kissing first her forehead and
then her cheek, slowly caressing the soft flesh below her ear. The
touch of his lips against her skin sent chills of anticipation
through her; the lower regions of her body waking to the stirring
of sensations. It was a feeling she had never experienced and even
though she was weary of it, she wanted to feel more. She found the
reserve strength she'd been harboring over the past several weeks
deserting her, melting against the passion that burned between
them.

"I have to know what you taste like,
Princess," he whispered mindlessly against her ear as his hand
moved between them, softly massaging her firm breast through the
soft cotton of her dress, teasing the hard nipple that poked out
from beneath the layers of fabric. Julia felt a soft moan burning
in her chest, escaping her throat as his tongue bathed a hot path
down her throat to her collarbone. Just when she would have pushed
him away, she felt the hardened reality of the man's desire, press
against her thigh.

"You do not play fair, Little Princess," he
whispered against her lips, his accent thick with passion. "You
said my name when I wasn’t expecting it.” He gently brushed his
lips against hers as he spoke. “I promise, one day I will show you
how deeply that teasing affects me."

His lips pressed down on hers, hard and
demanding yet filled with the heat of his promise. The tip of his
tongue traced the outline of her bottom lip then sucked it between
his teeth, biting it gently until she moaned. Her audible gasp
encouraged the teasing of his searching tongue as he explored the
dark cavern of her mouth. It felt wrong and yet so erotic and
intoxicating that she hoped he never stopped, but just as abruptly
as he had embraced her, he released her. With a deep groan filled
with regret, he turned and left without offering her a second
glance.

Julia collapsed back on the settee in a
stunned silence. The heat of the evening breeze did nothing to help
relieve the molted lava flowing within her veins. She felt alive
and sadly alone in the same instant; the warmth he offered her was
gone and she was left with only a deep desire to occupy the space
between her chest and her heart. She had never felt like this with
any man before; she wanted more, she wanted him to explore the
strange stirrings burning to life within the dark recesses of the
hidden, most private parts of her body.

Her breath slowly began to seep back into
her gasping lungs as her hands twisted together anxiously in her
lap. The thought of Daniel’s male vigor, his sensual prowness,
caused a chill of apprehension and longing to run down her spine.
An unnerving sensation began to replace the warmth that was
spreading through her limbs. What if he meant what he said? What if
he didn’t? Could she find the strength to resist him? But then
again, did she really want to and would she be able to resist him
if he were to approach her again?

Too many questions and too many feelings
began to drift through her mind, all demanding her immediate
respect and attention. Images and fantasies she had not had since
she and Heather would dream of the future as children began to
emerge inside her mind. Thoughts of acts she had only heard of,
actions she wasn’t sure if she were capable of carrying through
with, all flooded around her at once. Suddenly the idea of leaving
Kentucky was no longer the first image that came to mind when she
thought of the ranch. Putting distance between her and this
handsome, seductive man was the last thing she wanted.

The mere consideration of leaving made her
chest feel heavy and her eyes fill with unshed tears; though she
wasn’t sure why. Daniel Browning was her father’s lawyer; an
employee. Even entertaining the notion of being with him was
absurd. It would never work out, not in a million years. What would
the society gossips say? What would her father say?

With a heavy sigh, Julia stood again on very
shaky legs, walking quietly into the house. The desire of finding
her mother to apologize was no longer conscious, as she made her
way to her pink room. Closing the door tightly she lay in the
middle of the lace surrounding her bed and closed her eyes. She
could still feel the pressure of his lips against hers, even as she
pressed a shaky finger to them. Pulling her pillow from beneath her
head, Julia pressed it against her face. If only things were
different…if only he were not her father’s lawyer.

That night, Victor Turner drew his last
breath. He left the world peacefully, with a soft grin curving his
thin, aged lips. He had departed this life he built for himself and
his family exactly as he always said he would; with his beloved
Louise, lying beside him.

The sun shone bright through the pink pleats
covering the glass windowpanes. Julia groaned at the light, pulling
the covers over her head, burying her face deeper into her pillow.
It was barely six o'clock in the morning and already proving to be
a dreadful day. Soon her mother would knock on the hall door, just
as she had when she was late getting up as a child. The only
difference now was, she was not a child and this was not a school
day. Even the prospect of a day with Mrs. Hodgeworth would have
been preferable to what lie ahead for her.

Slowly, she surrendered reluctantly in
defeat, throwing back the blankets and sat up. It would be best if
she were ready when her mother awoke, or at the very least dressed.
She rubbed her red swollen eyes with the heel of her palms,
swinging her legs off the side of the bed. She stretched her arms
above her head and groaned as her sore muscles pulled and tensed
across her shoulders and neck. Leaving the warmth of her bed, she
padded barefoot across the soft pink carpet to her private wash
closet.

Bridget had been in a short time ago,
filling the tub with hot water and scented oils, laying out her
expensive lavender soap and a soft towel. Julia slipped out of her
nightgown with a shiver, more from anticipation than the morning
chill and stepped into the tub, sinking beneath the surface. The
hot water stung her tender flesh and smelled like a pool of
steaming flowers, easing her torment and anxieties to a tolerable
degree.

She drew a deep breath, sinking beneath the
water, allowing it to momentarily engulf her in its warmth.
Memories began to filter back into her mind, threatening to take
over her serenity and awake the grief and tears that had been her
soul mate the last few days. With a shake of her head to block the
images from taking hold again, she vigorously scrubbed her legs and
arms then washed her hair and stood up out of the water, wiping the
scented moisture from her face. She stepped back into the chilly
room, squeezing the water from her long dark tresses with the thick
towel before wrapping it around her delicate frame and padding her
way back into her pink room.