The Lady and the Earl (14 page)

Victory! 
Allana thought as Connor’s smug smile slipped from his face with their father’s words.  She smiled sweetly to her glowering brother.  “Perhaps another day, Connor,” she said.  It was his turn to wear the dark scowl, and
that
was the reaction Allana was hoping for.  She turned and strolled out of the room, relishing the feel of finally putting Connor in his place.

It was a lovely day for the nice, long ride to
Lucas’s
estates.  There was a warm breeze in the air foretelling of spring.  Allana tried to think of Lucas as she rode
, tried to force her heart to soar at the thought of him…it did not
.
  She sighed.
  He was leaving for London tomorrow on business and wouldn’t be back for a month, possibly even two.  Maybe their time apart would make her finally find her love for him.  As though daring her to let it try, a dark
-haired, blue-eyed man
surfaced in her mind
, causing
her heart to flutter as it should have done with her thoughts of Lucas
. 
Lord
Cunningham. 

She sighed.  Oh why did she keep thinking of him?  It was
infuriating
.
  He was a child’s dream, nothing more
.
She
needed
to put him behind her once and for all!  But how was she to do so?  Perhaps if she braved her fears and officially met him, she could stop her heart from pining for him.  She would see him for what he was, a man with as many flaws as any other man. 
She
would realize he was not the perfect man
she’d
created in her mind, and finally be rid of him
….
But what if, even with his flaws, she still desired him?  And if she did, who is to say he would desire her as well? 
He might simply see her as Connor’s young sister eligible for marriage
. 
Then again, what if he saw her as
more than that?  What if he saw her as
someone of interest
, but then
discovered she wasn’t as elegant and refined as she pretended to be?  He would detach himself from her immediately, crushing her heart in the process.  Why put
herself
through
such a situation
?  She would
not
meet him, and that was that. 
She would have to find another way to detach her heart from him
, especially if she wished it to love Lucas
.
 

Her stomach grew tight as a dangerous thought entered her mind.  Perhaps if she gave herself to Lucas, her feelings might change.  She knew he desired her.  Even with Connor’s constant presence, that much was obvious.  If she gave herself to him…no, she mustn’t think of such thing.  But if she
did
give herself to him, she might finally be rid of
Lord
Cunningham. 
No, there must be
another
way.
  What if there wasn’t?  What if this was the only way to finally fall in love with Lucas?  Perhaps today she would…
.

Her stomach tightened once again.  She glanced up, looking around nervously as though someone might be around to hear her unfinished thought.  Her body tensed as she spotted
Lucas’s
estates looming in front of her.

Oh goodness.  I’
m here already,
she thought anxiously as she guided Lancelot toward the stables. 

Irritation welled up inside her.  She should be excited to see Lucas, not nervous.  If she could just force herself to love him, she wouldn’t be feeling this way.  Of course, if she could force herself to love him, she wouldn’t be having these inappropriate thoughts either.  Why couldn’t she love him? 

Movement by the stables caught Allana’s attention
as if in
answer
to her question
.  Her mouth dropped open in shock. 
No,
she thought. 
No,
this cannot be
!

Lucas and a young woman close to Allana’s age were kissing
quite vigorously
in front of her.  He had the girl pressed up against the stable doors, trying his best to open the doors behind her to find privacy for the act they were about to perform.  Allana’s eyes bulged in horror as a small squeak of protest escaped her lips.  She
needed
to get out of here.  In one fast motion, she turned Lancelot around and spurred him to a dead sprint, but not before hearing Lucas curse behind her.

Tears burned her eyes as she rode.  She sobbed from the pain and humiliation she felt.  How could he do this to her?  Didn’t he say he had changed for her?  Didn’t he say he loved her?  Apparently, it had all been a lie.  Connor had been right.  That thought pained her almost as badly as
Lucas’s
disloyalty.  Suddenly, she wanted to hit something
. 
No, not just something,
Lucas.
  She ground her teeth in anger.  She needed to think.  There was only one place to do that.  With a slight tug of the reigns, she turned Lancelot toward
Lord
Cunningham’s land.  She would go to the one place she knew she could be alone with her thoughts.

Allana found solace by her lake and cried for what seemed like hours before she finally came to the realization today’s events had been a blessing.  What if
she’d
married Lucas before finding out what he was like, or worse, given herself to him?  She would be used property, and then no one would want her.  Yes, today
was
definitely a blessing.  Calmness spread over her body with these thoughts.  Resolutely, she mounted Lancelot and headed home.  She would be okay, better than okay
…
wouldn’t she?  Sadness returned.  If Lucas wasn’t the man for her, then who was? 

After returning home, Allana headed to the garden to be alone once more.  She wasn’t
ready to be around anyone just yet.  She had to
plan
a way to explain her tear stained cheeks and sudden lack of interest in Lucas.  To her dismal surprise, she found Lucas waiting for her there by the rose bushes.

“Go home, Lucas.  I
don’t
want to see you ever again,” she said coldly to him.  She walked straight past him.

“Allana, please listen to me.  It was nothing.  She does
not
mean anything to me,” Lucas said pleadingly. 

“Nothing to you?”
Allana whirled around fiercely.  The anger she felt was beyond anything she had ever experienced.  She wanted to tear him to pieces.  “It looked like something to me.  You
don’t
kiss someone so passionately if she does not mean anything to you.” 

“Allana, I
was weak.  We’
ve not
had any time alone, and I
haven’t
been with a wom
an for the
entire
four months we’
ve been together.  With all of this
…
tension I’ve been feeling, I needed some release.”

“You—
What
!” s
he
cried
,
shocked and disgusted by his remark
.  S
he slapped him as hard as she could.   

His hand caught her arm tightly after the slap.  “Never do that again,” he said dangerously. 

“Connor was right about you.  You
haven’t
changed.  Not for me, not for any
one
.  You want one thing.  Well, you will never get that one thing from me!”  She yanked her arm from his strong grip
,
feeling bruises begin to form.  “I never want to see you again, Lucas, so go home and enjoy your maid,” she hissed before turning and storming out of the garden.  Tears returned and began pouring down her cheeks even though crying was the last thing she wanted to do.  The pain and humiliation w
ere
too much.

“Allana, stop!”
Lucas called out to her. 

She ignored him, furious and hurt. 

He chased after her and caught up to her just outside the house.  “You cannot escape me that easily.”

Her arm ached where he had grabbed her, and to her dismay, he grabbed the sore arm
again
, causing it to throb even more.  “Let go of me,” she hissed further.  He ignored her, pulling her to him for a passionate kiss.  She tried fighting it at first, but surrendered in the end, knowing he would
not
stop until she did.  

“Allana, can you
not
feel it?  Can you
not
feel the passion between us?  I know seeing me and Maggie together was a pa
inful sight to come upon, and I a
m sorry you
witnessed
it.  It was humiliating as hell for me.  It will never happen again.  I promise,” he said gently to her.  “We can get past this and still be together.  I cannot let you go.  I will not,” he finished with determination.   

“No,
you
a
re wrong,” she replied.  “You will let me go because I do
n’
t want anything to do with you ever again.” 

“You
don’t
mean that,” Lucas stated.

“I do!”   

He studied her a moment before laughing
darkly.  “Well then.  That i
s interesting because I
’
m not letting you go.”  He grabbed her sore arm tightly once more, a wicked grin spreading across his face.  “You belong to me,” he said darkly.  He kissed her hard this time, splitting her lip in the process.  “Just remember that before you start digging your clutches into someone else.”

“Get away from me!”  She pulled at her arm
,
trying t
o
get him to release her.  “You’
re
nothing like the man you pretend to be.”

He laughed cruelly as he let go of her arm a
nd watched her stumble backward
and to the ground.  “But I can be that man, or I can be the one you are seeing right now.  So you have a choice.  Let your temper calm, think about the good things in our relationship, and marry me when I get back from London.  Or you can find out how possessive and cruel I can
truly
be.” 

She climbed to her feet, staring at him angrily.  “Go home, Lucas. 
Sleep
off whatever it is you’ve been drinking, and when you wake up, do not come crawling back to me, begging for forgiveness. 
I
have had enough,” she said as she turned and went inside the house. 

“I won’t let you go. 
Do y
ou hear me,” she heard him say behind her.   She closed the door on him before he could say anything else. 

She leaned against the door and realized she was trembling.  She had never seen him so
angry
.  He’
d shown her a side she didn’t want to see again, a dark side
that
frightened her.  Had he been serious?  She rolled her eyes.  No,
he’d
been desperate.  It was just a tactic to manipulate her into submission.  Well, it
wasn’t
going to work on her.  He was in for a surprise if he thought she would give in so easily.    

“You know I won’t be around forever, Connor.  You have to learn these things if you are going to be the next
Lord
of Tananguard,” Marcus Tananguard said to his son. 

“I know, Father,” Connor said irritably. 
“And I do know how to do these—
”

“Well,
then pay attention to what you’
re doing,” his father
interrupted impatiently.  “You a
re supposed to be helping, not making my job harder.  I cannot afford mistakes on these,” he
finished, examining the papers Connor had accidentally dumped a bottle of ink over.  “Luckily, there’s no damage done.  You will just have to rewrite it.”  He handed the papers back to a scowling Connor. 

“I could have told you that,” Connor grumbled.

“What?”
Lord
Tananguard asked dangerously.

“Nothing,”
came
the reply.

Connor was on edge.  Allana had been seeing Lucas for almost four months now, and Connor couldn’t shake the sense of doom he felt for her.  He
needed
to do something, but what?  He looked down at the paperwork he was
attending to
and at the smudges of ink he’
d just
made
, when the perfect plan
finally presented itself.