Immediately, he chose the latter.
Before he could move though, she mumbled something sleepily into the pillow.
His arm curled tighter around her and his lips sought her ear.
“What?” he whispered and he felt her delicious shiver at the sound of his voice. This made his contentment grow.
He enjoyed his power over her, her response to his merest touch, the sound of his voice, in fact, he exalted in it.
She lifted her chin, nearly bumping his head with hers.
“Wanna kitty,” she mumbled.
“What?” Douglas repeated, thinking he hadn’t heard her correctly.
“Used to have a kitty, would sleep in on the weekends and he’d curl up right here.” Her hand fluttered to her waist then fell to rest on his arm. “Had to put him to sleep a couple of weeks before Gavin died.” She took a deep breath and then let it out in a long shuddering sigh. “I miss him.”
Her voice was husky with sleep as well as longing for her cat.
She settled further into Douglas and then again whispered softly, “Wanna kitty.”
Douglas pulled her deeper into his body.
“I’ll get you anything you want,” he promised her.
“Just a kitty,” she answered and then fell back to sleep.
He’d get her a cat; he’d get her a dozen of them. And a sapphire just like the emerald she still hadn’t taken off. And more than likely a ruby. And a fat pearl surrounded by diamonds.
He buried his face in her hair and smelled tangerines and jasmine. He discovered last night she wore the scent between her br**sts as well.
He discovered a lot of things last night.
He discovered that when Julia cl**axed, the legs she wrapped around him tightened convulsively, drawing him deeper into her body when he thought he couldn’t go any deeper. He discovered that she had an incredibly talented tongue. He discovered that, even though he’d become excessively fond of her wardrobe, the sexiest thing he’d seen her wear was his dress shirt.
He also discovered that the sight of her with another man, or, in the case of last night, quite a number of them, turned him into a jealous lunatic.
He’d never felt a fury the like of last night, nor behaved in the way he did. He lost all control. That wasn’t just unusual, it was unprecedented.
He didn’t regret his behaviour, not in the slightest. The results spoke for themselves. She was there in his arms, in his bed and he intended for that not to change. Soon, she’d have his ring on her finger and she’d take his name. He’d been certain this was what he wanted, but now he realised this decision was absolute.
His hand splayed over her stomach, wondering, as he hadn’t used protection (either time), if they’d created a child last night. Something stirred in him at the thought but he brushed it aside. Surely she wouldn’t have allowed him to continue if she needed some protection. Not, of course, that he’d given her much choice. However, a clever woman who looked like Julia, and thus received the amount of attention she did (judging from last night), undoubtedly kept herself protected.
At the thought of that attention, his hand shifted upward and he cupped her breast.
There would be no more of that, now she was truly his, and he vowed to himself that would never change.
He used the pad of his thumb to stroke her nipple. As he was becoming accustomed, her body immediately responded, her nipple tightening. Most women of his acquaintance acted coy or were overeager or were greedy but not Julia. Julia took everything he was willing to give but she gave everything of herself in return, honestly and openly.
Just then, he heard a noise in the sitting room and his body reflexively tensed, his hand tightening on her breast and Julia grumbled sleepily, her eyes fluttering open, her neck twisting so she could look at him.
He released her breast, put a finger to her lips and lifted his head to listen.
Someone was in the sitting room.
He was out of the bed in flash, pulling on his trousers.
Where the bloody hell was Nick? He thought.
No one should be in the house. No one should be able to get through Nick.
Julia had turned toward him and pulled herself up on her elbow. Her other hand was clutching the covers to her br**sts. Her eyes were sleepy and curious and her curls were tumbling around her face and shoulders. He put his finger to his lips this time to keep her silent and she nodded, bemused, as he moved stealthily to the door. If he needed to, he’d find a weapon in the other room and gave the room a mental inventory deciding on his target. If it was one of the children, however, come back for some reason, he certainly didn’t need to go tearing into the room with a makeshift weapon raised and threatening.
It was a good decision.
As he yanked open the door, Mrs. Kilpatrick jerked upright, both her hands flying to her face.
“My lord… sir.” She stopped and looked crazily around the room as if she was considering diving behind an armchair to hide herself before her eyes came back to him. “Mister Douglas,” she finished, using a name for him she’d never used before.
Then she gestured to an extravagant tray that lay on a table. It was filled with plates carrying plain, almond and chocolate croissants, a selection of marmalades and jams sitting in little china bowls, a piece of butter moulded into a fleur de lis, a crystal bowl filled with sliced melon and strawberries, a silver coffeepot and two delicate china cups, two stemmed glasses filled with orange juice, a folded newspaper and even a slim crystal vase holding a single red rose.
“I brought a bit of breakfast. Just croissants and…” she trailed off then started again. “I didn’t have a lot of time. I didn’t want to disturb you but I thought you might be hungry.”
Before he could respond, Julia’s shocked voice sounded from behind Douglas.
“Mrs. K!”
Douglas turned to see her standing there, not in her dress or his shirt but, instead, wrapped tightly in his dressing gown.
Mrs. Kilpatrick looked at Julia, she blinked and then, he could swear, the ends of her lips twitched upward.
“Miss Julia, I brought breakfast,” Mrs. Kilpatrick told her.
Gone was the stammering, Mrs. K bent and gamely made a few adjustments to the tray, straightening some lace-edged linen serviettes unnecessarily. “It’s not much but it’ll do in a pinch. Enjoy. Don’t worry about the children; Roddy’s taken them off to the ice rink. You’ve got hours.” She emphasised the last word meaningfully and then threw Douglas an encouraging look that both surprised him and made him want to roar with laughter.