The Lady and the Earl (13 page)

“I’ve
wanted
to do this since you entered that room,” he
growled
. 

She smiled up at him,
and he kissed her
again
long and hard because of it. 
Before
s
he knew it, he was pushing her up against the hedges, running his hands along the curve of her back, and moving his kisses down to her neck.    

“Lucas, stop,” Allana said half-heartedly.  She knew she should make him stop, but the feelings he stirred within told h
er to let him keep going.  That i
s exactly what
he
did
too
.  He kept going, and before Allana knew it, his hand was groping her indecently.  Her eyes flew open in shock. 

She broke their embrace and shoved him away from her.  “
Lucas Hoffman, how dare you!” s
he scolded heatedly.
He looked absolutely startled.  Surely he knew what he was doing.

“
Allana, I…
I
…
a
m
…
sorry
,” he forced
. 
“
It
won’t
happen again.  I promise.
” 

“Again?
  I’
m shocked
you even let it happen this once,” she said in astonishment. 
What a frustrating man!
  He seemed to be courting her, and yet he would
not
ask her father for her hand in marriage.  Then there were moments like these when he would push at her virtue.  “Do you honestly think I would give myself to you in the cold snow
?” she
asked irritably. 

He cocked his head to the side and stared at her a moment as if trying to read her. 
“We
could go somewhere else,”
he
suggested, sauntering back over to her and brushing her neck with his fingertips.

“Lucas!” s
he said in disbelief, shoving him away from her once more.  “That
is not what I meant.  Why
can’t you
accept the fact I
will n
ot give myself to you until we are properly wed?”

“Ugh,” he growled
.  “I do accept that fact.  You a
re so irresistible sometimes I forget myself,” he finished, sounding almost as irritated as she. 

“Lucas…,” she sighed.  What could she say that she hadn’t said before?  “What am I to do with you
?” she
asked.  She
truly
didn’t know what to do with him.  She was attracted to him, but the love would not come.  And lately his advance
s were growing so inappropriate
.  It was disrespectful to her.  If he truly loved her, wouldn’t he respect her ideas and virtue?  If
Declan
Cunningham
were courting her, would he be so forceful and aggressive with his advances?  She flushed. 
Stop thinking of that man!
s
he
thought angrily.

“You could come here and give me another kiss,” Lucas said, motioning her to him and breaking her thoughts.

She glared darkly.  “
I
am going inside,” she finished icily.  She turned sharply from him and strode toward the house with her nose in the air.

“Come now, Lana.  I was teasing,” he said.  She kept walking away fr
o
m him.  “Allana, come back.  I’
m sorry.  It won’t happen again.  Please, let’s talk about this.” 

Allana continued to walk away. 

“Allana, please don’t walk away from me.  I love you,” he called out
.

Allana froze. 
He loved her?  She turned to look at him, studying him in contemplation.  Did he really love her?
 
He’d
confessed something of the sort to Connor.
  Guilt swept through her.  He loved her, yet she could
not
seem to return the love.  Her guilt was replaced by sadness. 
“Oh Lucas,” she whispered, wanting desperately to feel the love he supposedly had for her.  She walked into his arms and let him hold her, but her soul would
not
let her repeat those words back to him. 

“I want us to be together, Lana.  I want to marry you, really I do,” he said as he stroked her hair. 

“I know, Lucas,” she whispered, but her heart knew differently. 

*
             
*
             
*

Lucas held Allana.  He was growing quite frustrated with her.  It
had
never t
aken
him
this long to conquer a woman.  She was so stubborn
.  He
was even taking
his time with her
,
pampering her and softening her.  But she still refused
his advances
.
  He could tell she enjoyed their
time
together, so why wouldn’t she simply succumb to him?  It was
infuriating
.  He could give into her and simply wed her first.  But that would mean
she
had won
The Game
instead of him, and he hadn’t lost since Connor quit playing.  Somehow he would weaken her and bed her, and then he could give her the wedding.
But he would bed her first! 

Telling her he loved her had felt like a last resort. 
He’d
never told a woman he loved her, but Allana was different. 
He would have her no matter what it took.  She was his.  It was only a matter of time before it would be final.  

Connor waited for Allana in her room.  He knew it was useless trying to get Lucas to back away from her, so he hoped he could talk some sense into her instead.  This time he would tell her the truth.  She had to be warned.  Lucas could
not
be trusted.  He would say and do
anything to get his prey. 

Allana
jumped when finding
him there
.  “Connor, you scared me to death.  What are you doing in here?” 

“Are you in love
with Lucas?”
Connor asked bluntly.

“What if I am?” 

“Allana, why?”
Connor asked desperately.

“Isn’t he your closest friend?  I thought you would be happy to have him courting me,” she said irritably.

“No, not him.
  I know him too well, and I w
ill not
have him courting my baby sister.  I’ll do whatever it takes to stop him,” Connor said heatedly.

“Your
baby
sister?
  How dare you!  I a
m not a c
hild anymore, Connor.  If you’
d been here the past eight years, you would realize that by now,” she said as the anger began to surface.

“Trust me.  I realize it,” Connor replied.  “That is why I
don’t
want you seeing him anymore.”

“I
refuse to let
you tell me who—
”

“Listen to me first before you
get
angry again,” he growled, silencing her.  “He’s not loyal
.  When your back is turned, he wi
ll
seduce
your best friend.  Let any other man court you, but not Lucas.”

“Connor, Lucas loves me.  He’s willing to change for me,” she said
.

“No, Allana.  He does
not
love you.  I
don’t
believe he i
s capable of love.  H
e’
s after one thing, and if he said he love
s
you, it was only to get it,” Connor said, trying to make a point. 

“Were you
not
telling him earlier he needed to find love or he would end up call
o
us
and immune
?” she
asked in bewilderment.

“How much did you hear?”

She looked at him sheepishly, not answering the question. 

Connor sighed in frustration.  “It does
n’t
matter.  What matters is, I may have said that, but truthfully I think Lucas is already past the point.  I believe he’s already too call
o
used to understand what love truly is.” 

“Connor, give him a chance,” she pleaded.

“No, not with my
ba
—not with my sister, I will not,” Connor spat out.

“What choice do you have?  Father’s willing to give him a chance as well as Lilly.  And right now he is my choice, so you had better find a way to accept
him
,” she said angrily.

“Allana, you don’t know what he’s like
—
”

“No, I do not, but I a
m not going to let you tell me either.  I prefer to give
a person
a chance before
passing judgment
,” she said stubbornly.  “Now, if you
don’t
mind, I need to change for supper,” she finished before he could say anything else.  She opened the door, waiting for him to leave, slamming the door behind him when he was finally out in the hall. 

Connor
cursed
.  That
was
a waste of time. 

A short while later, Connor found
himself
confronting his father and Lilly.
He
came
to them hoping he might be able to persuade
them to talk some sense into Allana
.

“Connor, I’ve seen the way he looks at her.  He cares for her deeply, and she is smitten with him as well.  Until he gives me a reason to doubt his intentions, I will support his courtship of her,”
Lord
Tananguard said to Connor. 

“But Father—
”

“No, this conversation is
finished,
” Tananguard said, putting his foot down.

“Lilly?”
Connor asked hopefully.  Maybe she would support him.

“I’
m afraid I agree with your father, Connor.  Give Lucas a chance.  He seems to
truly
care for Allana,” Lilly replied apologetically.

“I know him too well to be able to do that,” Connor said irritably.  What was wrong with everyone?

“Then trust Allana
to make the right choice.  She i
s a smart girl, Connor.  If something is
not
right, trust her to know it,” Lilly said wisely. 

Connor sighed in frustration.  How
could he
argue that?

Allana strolled into the sitting room where Connor, her father, and Lilly were relaxing after their afternoon tea.  Connor and her father occupied the two cozy chairs, while Lilly worked on some needlepoint in a chair at a small table near the window. 

“I am going for a ride to
Lord
Hoffman’s,” Allana announced.  Normally, she would have simply called out from the hall that she was going for a ride, not even bothering telling anyone where she was going.  Today she wanted to annoy Connor. 
He’d
been a nuisance since the day he returned home, shadowing her and Lucas everywhere they went, occupying as much of
Lucas’s
time as he could before she could force him to allow her to join.
  He would not leave them alone.  He was always there.  It was as though he were trying to keep them apart by hounding them with his presence.  Of course, it was probably a good thing considering it forced Lucas to be a gentleman.  But that was beside the point.  It was simply condescending, showing how little he trusted her.  Her father trusted her, wh
y couldn’t Connor?  Her father
never required
her to have a chaperone, but Connor insisted upon it and insisted on being the one to do it.  But today that would change.  Today she would finally get a chance to be alone with Lucas.  And all because Connor
needed
to stay here and help Father.  She smiled triumphantly from the thought. 

“Wait a moment, and I will come with you,” Connor answered, smiling pleasantly. 

No! 
Her smile turned to ice as she glared at her brother. 
You a
re supposed to be helping Father today. 
No sooner had she finished the thought than her father spoke.

“You were going to help me with
paperwork today, remember?  I’
m
very
behind on it, Connor.  I
need
your help
.
”