The Devil Rogue (25 page)

IAN AWAITED ANGELA’S
appearance
with what he thought was an inordinate amount of patience
,
considering how extremely impatient he was feeling at the moment
.
Never in his life had a woman disrupted his equilibrium so effectively and completely
.
And never before had he felt as though his entire future happiness depended upon one simple word:
yes
.

Snorting with disgust, he plopped down into the very
same
wing chair Angela had been attempting to move that day he’d kissed her for the first time
.
What a kiss that had been
.
It had been more than he’d expected,
had
thrown him so off balance that ever since that day he
’d
barely recognized himself
.
What
had
happened to
T
he Devil Rogue
?
His philosophy had always been to take what was freely given, but never
to involve himself emotionally.

Why had she seemed so appalled by his proposal?
He hadn’t thought she might question it – hadn’t thought he might have to reveal his plan to exact revenge on her and her father. As far as she knew, he had only wanted her for his mistress. To her, he was an unscrupulous rake –
The Devil Rogue
by reputation. So what reason could he give her for the change of circumstances?
H
e
sure as hell wasn’t ready
to confess just yet his suspicions against her father, and his original assumption that she was an accomplice to murder.
And h
er little speech about not being under a man’s thumb didn’t deter him in the least. He sympathized with her past, but she was going to be under more than just his thumb – as his wife.

E
ver since he’d first tasted her, experienced her passion, and then last night, when he’d finally buried himself deep inside her, that’s all he could think about
.

H
e wanted more
.
He wanted her forever.

Ian
was well aware
he had an obligation to her after what he’d done to her reputation
.
Was it guilt that spurred this obsession
?
My God, is that was this was – an obsession
?
He admitted to the guilt part, but there was something else, a sense of urgency he couldn’t explain
.
He would just have to convince her that it was the right thing to do under the circumstances.

Maybe he should buy her a gift, something personal that would chip away her resolve
.
He g
lanc
ed
at the clock
. T
here was no time to send out for anything
.
But then, what was he thinking
?
He needed
to
do some research first, find out what she liked, make it special.

Her hour was up
.
In fact, she was already five minutes late
.
Ian
was about to go
get
her himself when the door opened and she
walked
in
.
Suddenly it was much brighter in
the room
, the air filling with her sweet fragrance.

5

Villarreal / The Devil Rogue
                                     

Chapter
1
4

SHE’D REFUSED HIM
–
again
.
Angela ha
d insisted on keeping to their original bargain,
which was
to remain his mistress, and at the end of the three month period, disappear into the country
.
She’d also refused to take up quarters in his room, preferring to keep that tiny closet as her temporary lodgings
.
After a heated debate that had him wanting to strangle her as much as make love to her right here on the finely woven rug picked out by his mother nearly twenty years ago, she’d finally agreed to take a larger room on the second floor.

An odd feeling closely related to panic tightened
Ian’s
chest, creating a dull ache in the vicinity of his heart
.
This had started out as a solution to her state of ruination, a comeuppance on his part for being the one to ruin her
.
As a gentleman, he was required
–
expected
–
to do the right thing
.
It was an act of honor.

Ian
tried
to imagine it through her eyes, from her perspective, as a young woman
might see it
–
a young woman who believed there should be love between a husband and wife
.
“
I will not enter into a loveless marriage, and this is clearly
an act of mercy
.”

Her words exactly.

An act of mercy
. . .
i
s that what
it
was
?
Was it an act of mercy if he felt like his life would never be the same without her
?
C
ould it be called mercy if her very presence uplifted his soul, adding richness
and passion to an otherwise hollow existence
,
which up until now he hadn’t
even
realized was so meaningless
?
It would only be by
her
mercy
–
her willingness to share her life with him
–
to give him children
– that
could make him whole
.
With that revelation came a sense of peace, a kind of resolve, of calm acceptance that this was no act of mercy
. . .
but an act of love.

Was he in love with her
?
Since Ian had
never been in love before, he wasn’t sure if that’s what this was
.
He only
knew that he wanted her with him, near him, within arm’s reach at all times
.
He wanted to protect her, share even the smallest details of everyday life with her, make love to her every night, and wake to her beautiful face every morning
.

There were things he wished to teach her
–
wicked
, sensual
things, and she could teach him about kindness and compassion and forgiveness
.
But would she be able to forgive him
for what he’d planned on doing to her – what he’d already done to her
?
Maybe i
f she were to fall in love with him, she might.

It was not an easy thing to endure, this vulnerable feeling
.
His emotions had never been engaged in relation to a woman before now
.
Of the many sexual encounters he’d had, which were quite numerous, none of them
had
held any emotional
risk to him
.
It hadn’t been so
for
a few of his previous lovers,
however
.
Looking back,
Ian
experienced a sudden pang of sympathy,
felt
a
certain
kindred
bond with those women who
had
claimed to love him
.
He had walked away from them without a second thought, his mind already on his next conquest.

He would
n
o
t allow
Miss Hopkins
. . .
Angela
,
to just walk away
, out of his life forever
.
The connection they shared, the passion that was released when they were together was not typical, was extremely rare in his experience, and he was not going to give it up without a fight.

A commotion in the front hall pulled him from his thoughts
.
He listened to the sound of muffled voices, followed by footsteps leading to the closed study door
.
At the knock
, Ian bade whoever it was to enter.

Phillips stepped into the room
.
“My lord, there is a Mr. Wardley insisting that he speak with you
.
He says it is most urgent.”

Wardley was the young man from the ball – and Angela’s former suitor
.
Now why would he come calling here of all places
?
His first impulse was to send the man back the way he came, but a morbid sense of curiosity got the better of him.
“Very well, Phillips, you may send him in.”

A moment later, Wardley strode into the room, a determined
quality in his bearing, and
on his
handsome young
face
.
Ian didn’t like that look, as though the man had come to some kind of decision
,
and
was prepared to face a pack of
hungry
wolves in order to see it through
.
Ian
squashed the immediate flare of jealousy.

Wardley gave a barely perceptible bow, a blatant show of defiance, before greeting Ian
.
“Blackridge.”

“Wardley
.
To what do I owe the honor of your visit?” Ian asked amiably
.

Wardley took note of
the flash of warning in
Ian’s
eyes
and foolishly ignored it
.
“I’m here to rescue Miss Hopkins,” he stated boldly.

“I’m afraid you’ve been misinformed
,” Ian said in a cool tone. “
Miss
Hopkins is in no need of rescue.”

“I beg to differ, Blackridge
.
It is my belief she is here under duress
.
I am here to offer my
hand in marriage.”

“I fear I must decline your offer – you’re not my type.”

“You know who I meant!
” Wardley snapped
.
“
I wish to marry Miss Hopkins
, and if she will have me, you will not stand in our way
.
She is welcome to stay at my family’s
London
townhouse, with my mother as a proper chaperone
,
until the ceremony.”

“You seem to have
finally acquired
a decent amount of courage for this visit, Wardley,” Ian said, his voice dark and threatening
.
“Where were you when Miss Hopkins really needed rescu
ing
?
Indeed, you made yourself scarce at the first test of your intentions
,
and your character.”

“My character – see here!
What do you mean, when Miss Hopkins really needed rescu
ing
?
It appears to me she’s in need of rescue this very moment
–
from your lecherous influence.”

“You’re treading on dangerous ground, Wardley,” Ian warned menacingly
.
“
I’d control that
wayward tongue if
I was you, unless you have a
particular
wish to
find yourself attached to the end of a blade –
most notably
the pointed end.”

Wardley visibly blanched, two red spots appearing on his cheeks, contrasting sharply with the paleness of his face
.
“Is that a threat
?
Are you calling me out?”
He didn’t seem especially enamored of the idea.

“What is going on?”
Angela
stood in
the doorway
.
“Mr. Wardley
!
What on earth are you doing here?”

Wardley turned at the sound of her voice
.
Ian stood in front of his desk, still as a statue, waiting to find out what her response to Wardley’s proposal would be
.
If the man only knew she’d already been proposed to
this very morning
, and
that she’d
turned down said proposal, would he still ask her
?
Ian’s
answer came soon enough when Wardley approached her,
lowering
down on one knee, taking her hands in
to
his own
.

“Miss Hopkins, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
Wardley
asked earnestly.

Ian watched as she
stared down into the
hopeful gaze of the man before her
.
“Well, I
—
”

“I realize I may have lost my chance by not whisking you off months ago,
” Wardley said. His face suffused with color at his next words. “B
ut I’m here now, and it matters not to me what has transpired during your stay here
.
”

Slipping her hands from his grasp, Angela retreated back a step
.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Wardley, I cannot accept,” she said
softly
.

Ian wasn’t even aware he’d been holding his breath until he heard her answer to Wardley’s proposal, very nearly expelling a loud
gust of air
upon hearing her refus
al
.

What if she’d said yes
?

It wouldn’t have mattered – she belonged to him now and nothing –
no one
–
was going to change that
fact
.

Wardley rose awkwardly from his kneeling position
.
“Are you certain?”

“Yes, I’m certain,” Angela said with a smile
.
“I do appreciate your offer, however, Mr. Wardley.”

“I’m just sorry I hadn’t made it sooner, and thereby prevented your current predicament.”

Angela stood up straighter, raising her chin.

Oh, no, here it comes
, Ian thought with amusement.

“My
predicament
, as you call it, Mr. Wardley,
” she
said crisply
, “
is of my own choosing, so there is no need for apologies
.”

Looking duly chastised,
Wardley
quickly said,
“I meant no disrespect, Miss Hopkins.”

“None taken,” Angela replied with a gracious smile.

Taking her hands once more, Wardley brushed a light kiss across her knuckles
.
“I shall take my leave, then
.
” He looked into her eyes. “
If you should ever need a friend
. . . for any reason
I am here for you
, at any rate
.”

“Thank you, Mr. Wardley
.
It is most comforting to know I have a friend I can rely on.”

“Goodbye, then, Miss Hopkins.”
Nodding toward Ian, he said, “Blackridge.”
He then bowed to Angela and squaring his shoulders, took his leave with as much dignity as the situation allowed.

“Perhaps I should have taken lessons from Mr. Wardley on the proper way to propose marriage to a woman,” Ian
drawled
.
“Apparently I went about the whole thing
in quite
the wrong
manner
– on bended knee and all that.”

Could that be jealousy
Angela
heard underlying his tone
?
She
inwardly smirked at the possibility that the infamous
Devil Rogue
was jealous – over her
!
He’d been surprisingly quiet throughout the entire encounter with Mr. Wardley
.
She’d almost forgotten he was still in the room
–
almost
.