Page 20 of A Rogues & Gentlemen Christmas

“Odette, the Earl and Countess of Blackdown are my family.”

Chance waited for the inevitable explosion. Her hands slid free of his, her eyes glittering with indignation. He saw her gather herself, saw her shoulders go back, her chin raise a little.

“Explain,” she said, the word calm, if a little abrupt.

“Yes,” he said, relieved she was giving him the opportunity and not reaching for the nearest blunt object. “My father and I have been at odds for some time, Odette. As I told you, he was furious with me for going to war, but as soon as I returned, he said it was my duty to marry and get my heirs. I’d just returned, though, and….”

Odette nodded, and he knew she understood that much. He’d not been ready.

“He gave me a year but said that, at the end of it, I must have chosen a bride or he would do it for me. Well, a year came and went, and I’d had several warnings but, two weeks ago, he wrote to me to tell me he’d done the job I’d been incapable of doing myself. I was to present myself at Blackdown House on the tenth of December to meet my bride–to-be. He told me to bring a ring and be prepared to propose.”

“That’s all?” Odette asked, wide-eyed. “You knew nothing of me?”

Chance laughed and shook his head. He reached out and traced the line of her jaw with a fingertip as longing rose inside of him, hot and impatient. “Not even your name.”

“Oh!” she fumed, her eyes flashing fire and making him damn near breathless. “What an odious manner of doing things. Your father is as bad as my uncle.”

“I’ve no argument with that, love,” Chance said as a weight lifted from his shoulders. “I’m afraid I was angry, though… petulant, I suppose, at having my life organised for me. So, instead of turning up and facing him like a man, and at least meeting the beautiful girl he’d chosen for me, I went to a friend’s house and got drunk and… lost track of time.”

Odette snorted and rolled her eyes at him.

“I have regretted it, I swear, Odette. I had no idea it was you. Good Lord, if I’d had an inkling, nothing would have kept me away, but I intended to present myself to the young lady I had so insulted and offer my most sincere apologies. I swear that is true.”

She studied his face for a long moment before nodding.

“I believe you. I should have acted badly too in the circumstances.” She gave a little bark of laughter, adding, “I did!”

Chance grinned at her and pulled her close again.

“It’s fate,” he said. “The two of us meeting like this. And perhaps I ought not have been so angry with my father. He chose well, after all. Better than I deserve.”

Odette let out a breath. “You still wish to marry me then?”

“I do, and think how much easier it will be. They want us to be married, so we’ll just save them the fuss of a big wedding and get the job done.”

Her face clouded, and she shook her head. “My uncle wanted the fuss. He wanted a lavish London wedding for all the world to see, to help bring him back into society. He wants my money, too.”

“What?” Chance asked.

“I am an heiress, Charlie,” she said, almost apologetically. “But that is not your name, is it?”

Chance blinked, still a little winded by everything he’d just learned, including… an heiress? Good heavens.

“No. It’s Chauncey Kendall, Viscount Debdon.” He smiled and, though they were both still sitting on the mattress, bowed to her. “Enchanté, Mademoiselle de Bethencourt.”

“Enchantée, Monseigneur Debdon.”

They laughed.

“My friends call me Chance,” he said. “Because I’m a lucky devil. I begin to see how right they were.”

“You do?”

Chance’s heart thudded in his chest at the soft look in her eyes. She was so close. He could smell the scent of his shaving soap upon her skin and it lit something hot and possessive inside of him.

“I do,” he said, leaning in and brushing his lips over hers.

She gasped, her eyes fluttering shut. Chance slid his arm about her waist and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss. She opened to him with no urging, her tongue touching his, shyly at first and then with greater conviction as she learned the way of it. Her hand came up to his neck and the change in position overbalanced her. She fell back against the mattress and Chance followed her down. He broke the kiss, staring down at her. She had been through enough these past days, he would not compound the indignity she’d suffered by making love to her on the kitchen floor of an empty farmhouse. He could do better than that, and he would. She would not have the great wedding she had no doubt wished for, but the least he could do was treat her like the lady she was. Chance moved away a little, and the disappointment in her eyes was both a balm to his ego and an added torment. Unable to resist, he leaned in and kissed her again, a brief touch of his lips to hers.