BBW ROMANCE: BWWM Romance: A Cowboy’s Southern Comfort (Military Cowboy Pregnancy Romance) (Interracial Army Contemporary Fantasy Romance Short Stories) (15 page)

That made sense. “Very well. William. I would just like to clarify a few things about our relationship.”

He straightened and stared at her with an amused expression on his face. “Our relationship?”

“That’s right. Although I may seem sheltered, rest assured that I know all about your promiscuous ways. I will have you know that even though I am nineteen, I am still a maiden in every sence of the word, and should Charlotte decide that I am to be married one day, I will most certainly remain pure for my husband. Now I know that I am not all that pretty to look at, but I’ve heard tell that you will bed just about any female. I would like for there to be a mutual respect between us. Is that understood?”

William cocked his head. “Charlotte is your guardian? That’s unusual, isn’t it?”

Lena blinked. That’s what he was concerned about? “When my father passed away, our guardianship went to our uncle, but he resides in France, and he takes no interest in us. Charlotte sends him quarterly reports, but he rarely responds. She has taken me under her guardianship.”

“I see,” he said softly. “And even though you were well of age to be married, she has not sought to marry you to anyone yet?”

Slightly confused, Lena shook her head. The duke was not focusing on the important matter of her discussion. “As you are well aware, we don’t have much money. Charlotte is a great beauty, and she was our best bet at marrying well. Once she is secured in her marriage, then she can focus on finding a good match for me.”

She gasped when he reached out and cupped her chin. Her initial reaction was to lean into his touch, but that would hardly be appropriate. “Your Grace!”

“Lena Parsons,” he murmured. “Your sister is a great beauty. And while her hair seems spun of gold, yours is as black as night. But it is quite obvious that you are sisters.”

“And what does that have to do with anything?” she asked stiffly.

“You are far more beautiful than your sister,” he said in a husky voice. “And it would be a shame for you to think otherwise.”

He abruptly released his hold on her, and she swallowed hard. She had absolutely nothing to say to that. “Follow me,” he said briskly. “I’ll show you her room. I don’t have a room ready for you yet, so you’re welcome to stay in hers while we prepare one.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh, that won’t do. I don’t mind if the room isn’t cleaned or warmed. I’m not used to the same luxuries as you.”

William frowned and turned to her. “You aren’t allowed to stay in the same room as your sister? She won’t even know.”

“She’ll know,” Lena said in a hollow voice. And she would more likely thrash her for it, but that wasn’t something she wanted to share with the Duke. “It’s certainly not right for me to share the same room as my sister.”

A slow smile spread along his face. “Very well. We’ll simply prepare another room for your sister. This way.” He turned in the opposite direction and said a few words to the butler in the corner. The man looked curiously at Lena and bowed his head.

Lena bit her lip but kept silent. The duke could obviously run his household the way that he saw fit, but she had a feeling that she wasn’t going to like the changes that he had decided to make.

***

They were both beautiful and intelligent, but that was where their similarities ended. As William watched Lena walk slowly around her new room, he could see the warmth, compassion, and gratitude in her eyes. In all the time that he spent with Charlotte, there was none of that.

It was with devilish intentions that he gave Lena the room adjacent to his. By rights, the room belonged to Charlotte, and when she arrived, he would have to make adjustments. But he would not give an unmade room to the beautiful woman. It simply wasn’t right.

“It is not proper for me sleep so close to where you sleep,” Lena said in a trembling voice. She fingered the expensive spread on the bed, and smiled softly. William knew that he had her.

“I will not give you a room that has not been made. And if you will not sleep in the same room as your sister, then you will stay here. And we will make up new rooms for both you and your sister.”

Lena smiled. “I suppose that will be fine. And this arrangement will only be for a couple of days. As I said, this cannot be appropriate.”

“Of course,” he said indulgently. The truth was that something had happened to him when he touched her. He wanted to know as much about her as possible. And it wasn’t so that he could bed her. It was so that he could understand her.

Lena Parsons had ensnared his thought with one look and few simple words. He had no idea that he could be slayed with so little.

“I’ll make sure Lady Charlotte’s things go next door. Rest up. You can start your duties in the morning.”

Her head whipped around, and there was alarm in her eyes. “I should get started right away!”

William put up his hands to stop her. “Lena, please rest. You’ve had a long travel. We’ll discuss a plan over dinner, and you can get started tomorrow. I promise that everything will be ready when your sister gets here.”

She looked troubled, but she nodded her head. “Very well. Thank you for your hospitality.”

As he closed the door, William couldn’t help but feel troubled. “Blaine!” he called out. Immediately, his butler materialized.

“Your Grace,” he said softly.

“Cut the crap,” William said with a wave of his hand. When they were kids, he and Blaine were raised together. He grew up as a lord, and Blaine grew up as the son of a servant, but they’d been close. Blaine was only respectful around company. “I need information. Find out all you can about Lena Parsons.”

Blain snorted. “Bedding the little sister of your future bride is low. Even for you.”

“I’m not planning on bedding her,” William said, but even as he thought of her in his arms, he stirred. “I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on. She doesn’t act like a sister. She’s acts like a slave.”

Blaine nodded. “I’ll send out a messenger.”

William turned to the closed door separating him and Lena. She didn’t seem fragile by any means, but William had an awful feeling that he could break her if he wasn’t careful.

Still, he couldn’t get her out of his head. Even as he walked away, he pictured his hands on her creamy skin. He wanted to know what made Lena Parsons tick.

He wanted to know what made her moan.

Chapter Three

Lena sat across the dinner table with the duke and watched him through the flickering candle. “Your Grace, you have a lovely home,” she said as she dabbed at her lips with her napkin. He was staring at her strangely. Intense. It made her both blush and feel uncomfortable.

And oddly enough, thrilled.

“William,” he reminded her with a smile.

“Right. I apologize.”

“I appreciate your compliment. My mother changed quite a bit of the keep when my father married her. The rumors were that she didn’t appreciate my grandmother’s tastes.” He smiled as if he enjoyed the memory. “I haven’t changed much. I suppose that favor should go the future mistress of the house.”

“My sister,” Lena said, and even she recognized the bitterness in her voice. It alarmed and confused her. She didn’t even know this man, and she was jealous of her sister.

“Yes,” the duke said softly. “I suppose will be your sister. What would you do?”

“Excuse me?” she asked as she lifted her head. He looked at her curiously.

“What would you do with the home?”

“Oh. Well Charlotte is a big fan of ornate and elaborate things. Persian rugs. Intricately carved statues. She likes trinkets. I have no doubt that you’ll soon be stumbling over them,” she said as she forcefully laughed. In fact, her sister had spent much of their own money on trinkets. She would know. She dusted and polished those trinkets on a daily basis.

“I don’t mean your sister,” William said with a scowl. “I meant you. What would you personally do?”

He wanted her opinion? Lena smiled and glanced around the room. “I wasn’t lying when I said that it was lovely. But it could be warmer. I don’t think trinkets are the answer, but when I look around, I don’t see anything personal about you. For example, there are no heirlooms out. There is nothing that would make me ask if there is a story that you could tell. You need things out that would tell a story.”

Raising his eyebrows, William nodded. “And what do you have that includes a story?”

Lena shook her head. “Oh, not me.”

“Really? There is nothing that you own that might remind you of your parents or a friend or a past lover?”

She had no lovers and no friends. “Charlotte is the mistress of our home. She keeps all heirlooms safe,” Lena said shortly.

“That sounds almost militant,” he said softly.

“Charlotte knows best.” It was a line that was drilled in her head and one that easily passed her lips.

Wood scraped against wood as William shoved his chair back. She watched as he left the room and looked down. Was dinner over? Did she say something that offended him? Charlotte often said that Lena had no idea how to hold a conversation.

“You will start a story with this.” Her head whipped around as the duke returned. He carried with him a small box. She watched wearily as he pulled out the chair next to her and sat down. He placed the box on the table between them. “Open it.”

“I can’t accept a gift from you,” she muttered. “You should bestow gifts upon your beloved.”

“You will be family soon enough, and this will be your home. Keepsakes will not be kept under lock and key, Lena. I want you to be comfortable here. I want you to feel loved,” he said quietly.

Her heart skipped a beat as she reached for the box. With trembling hands, she opened it. “Your Grace, it’s beautiful.” Inside, she found a small music box with a figurine of a small dancing woman on top.

“It’s William,” he said with a frustrated sigh. “The music box belonged to my mother when she was a child. You remind me of the woman on top. Beautiful. Whimsical. Fragile. Like a dream.”

As he spoke, his words wrapped around her like the warmth of a flame. She watched in almost slow motion as his hands reached for hers across the table. “William,” she said softly.

“You just got here, Lena. And I should be beholden to your sister, but she is like ice and you are like fire. If I touched you, will you burn me?” he whispered.

His fingers brushed across hers, and she immediately snatched her hand back and stood. “Your Grace, I must insist that we desist this line of conversation. I promise you that I am neither whimsical nor fragile. And I am certainly no dream. You are to marry my sister. Now I know that I have no experience with men, and perhaps you think I am easy to seduce, but you will find me logical and realistic. Trinkets will not sway me.” Aware that she was being rude, she turned her back and fled from the room.

When she was safely from the dining room and away from the intensity of his gaze, she pressed against the wall and tried to stabilize her breathing.

His touch still lingered on her fingers, and she couldn’t help but close her eyes and press them to her lips. Not for the first time that night, she wondered what it would be like to kiss him.

***

William closed his eyes as she stormed out. He didn’t know what was wrong with him. He was usually much smoother when it came to women. But there was something about Lena. Something about the way that he felt about her. He didn’t just want to seduce her. He wanted to know more about her. He wanted to see her smile and hear her laugh. When he listened to her talk, he had the oddest notion that she didn’t laugh much.

“Striking out?” Opening his eyes, William found Blaine staring at him. “What game are you playing here?”

“What did you find out?” William asked gruffly.

His friend looked as though he wanted to push the issue but instead he sat heavily in a chair. “Charlotte Parson may not be the true guardian of Lena, but she’s pulling all the strings. As soon as their parents died, Charlotte pulled Lena out of school. She no longer showed her faces in the social circles, and there were rumors that the girl was sick. When people started asking Charlotte about it, she claimed that that Lena was mentally incapacitated. Neighbors saw her around, but she was always doing chores. Charlotte said that it kept her busy and her happy.”

William glared at him. “Does she seem mentally incapacitated to you?” he asked in a low voice.

Blaine crossed his arms. “Don’t take that tone with me, Your Grace,” he said sarcastically. “I got quite a few looks for asking those kinds of questions.”

“What do you think?”

Blaine took a deep breath. “I think that Charlotte Parsons is soon going to be the mistress of this home and that I should be careful with my opinions.”

“Charlotte Parsons is not here, and I’m not asking you as my servant. I’m asking you as my friend.”

“Fine. I think Charlotte Parsons took advantage of her little sister. I think she found a way to have a slave around the house while she worked at turning her life around.” Blaine stood. “I think your future wife is cold and calculating. And I think you’re walking right into her web. None of that explains why you’re so interested in the beautiful Lena.”

William opened his mouth to reprimand him, but Blaine put his hands up. “I’m not asking you as a duke. I’m asking you as my friend.”