Page 39 of Lady of Fortune
She was the aggressor this time, her lips assaulting his. There was something to be said for a woman wearing breeches, as when he lifted her up by the bottom, it was nothing for her legs to reach around his hips and pull the two of them snug against one another.
He groaned into her mouth, finding her closeness nearly more than he could bear. He stepped her backward until she was flush against the stable wall. Her arms were still wrapped around his neck, her hands coming up to grasp his hair. She pulled so hard it nearly hurt, and yet it felt, oh, so good.
Eddie forgot all of the reasons why he shouldn’t be spending any more time with her, let alone be kissing her senselessly in the middle of a stable. But rational thought seemed to have escaped him, and now he was acting solely on instinct.
“Julia,” he murmured as he gripped her, and suddenly the thought of never being with her again following this week was too difficult to bear. He wanted her with an ardor that he couldn’t describe, couldn’t ignore, yet at the same time, enough sense pervaded his very hazy thoughts to tell him that she was not the type of woman to recklessly take without a promise of a lifetime together. She was also not a woman he should be making love to in the middle of a horse’s stall. She deserved her first time to be in the most wonderfully comfortable, luxurious, seductive surroundings one could imagine, with a plush bed, a warm fire blazing in the grate, candles merrily lit around the room while he saw to her every need, showing her all the pleasures imaginable.
Orianna whickered beside them, apparently not enjoying the fact that she was being ignored, and Eddie slowly came back to his senses. He maintained his hold on Julia’s body, but he drew back from her ever so slightly, enough to break his lips from hers and gaze into her deep blue eyes that spoke everything she was feeling in her soul.
And he returned those affections. As much as it tortured him in the same breath, it was equally exhilarating.
“Julia,” he repeated as he slowly lowered her legs to the floor. “I have no idea what to do with you. For as much as I do truly want to be with you… this would never work between us.”
“Whyever not?” she asked imploringly, her arms still around his neck as she maintained her gaze upon him. “What is it that’s holding you back?”
“I cannot be the man for you,” he said. “You are the daughter of an earl, while I once worked in the very same earl’s stables. I’m a jockey, which many find thrilling, sure, but the lifestyle… it is not what you deserve. I spend my days traveling from one racecourse to the next, throwing myself onto a course atop a horse — sometimes one rather untried or unfamiliar. With a man like the Duke, you could live a life of luxury, one to which you are already accustomed. You could have multiple homes, and beautiful, stately ones at that. You could have a stable full of horses all your own. Your closet would be full of ball gowns in the latest styles, which you could wear to lavish events, or at those that you host yourself. I can never offer you all of that. The best I could promise is a modest house, perhaps a horse, and a Sunday best dress or two.”
As he spoke, Julia allowed her arms to drift from around his neck, though she trailed them along his biceps and forearms to grip his hands. When she responded to his words, she clenched her hands around his as though to impart the importance of what she said.
“Do you not know me well enough to understand that I do not care for any of that? Sure, I was raised within luxury, I am well aware of that, and I am grateful for my upbringing. For not only did I have all that my parents chose to give me, but I was one of the few who was also raised within a household full of love. Of all that my parents provided me throughout my life, I believe the single greatest thing was the love they showed for one another. For I have an example that few others do, of two people who found their soulmate. And after seeing how rich their lives have been because of that, I never want to live a life without it. And you, Eddie Francis, are the only man I can see myself with. I knew that from the age of fourteen when I could hardly tear myself away from the stables. Part of it was due to my love of horses, sure, but it wasyouin equal measure, despite the fact you saw me as a little girl at the time. I don’t actually care whether or not the Duke of Clarence wants me — given the choice, I would choose you over and over.”
Eddie closed his eyes for a moment as her words seeped through him, warming him to his very soul. He could hardly believe that a woman such as Julia Stone would provide him with such a gift as choosing him to be the man she wanted to share her life with — for it sounded very much as though she did.
“Your parents…” he mused. “They would never accept us together.”
“Maybe they would, maybe they wouldn’t,” she responded, her lips twitching. “At the very least, I would like to believe that I could never lose their love, no matter what happened.”
He nodded, hoping she was right.
“Whatever we do, we should wait until after the race,” he said, thinking of just how detrimental a major distraction could be to even a seasoned jockey, let alone a rookie like Julia. “After that, we will determine our path forward.”
She nodded, and that smile bloomed across her face once more as she leaned in and bestowed a quick, sweet kiss upon his lips.
“I can hardly wait,” she whispered, and as she took Orianna’s lead he cringed, having no idea if he could give her what she hoped.
CHAPTER20
As she rode that morning, Julia felt as though she were practically flying, riding upon the fluffy white clouds above. Eddie loved her. Oh, he hadn’t said as much, nor had she told him how she truly felt, though she wasn’t sure how she could have been any more clear without actually saying the words. She knew he still had reservations, but she could only hope that the two of them could find a way to intersect their lives without either of them losing their own identities. She only wished Eddie didn’t distrust the nobility so. She knew that he had worked for some employers who were less than kind to their staff, but she was unsure as to why he remained so bitter toward the lot of them when he knew there were some — like her father — who could be kind. Perhaps he just had to come to know them better.
When their session neared the end, she rode over to the fence where he waited with an idea beginning to form in her mind.
“Eddie, I’ve been thinking….” she began as she dismounted from Orianna, and he raised an eyebrow in response.
“I had the opportunity to spend time with your friends the other night, and I loved every moment of it. Not only that, but I have been able to quite successfully disguise myself and race alongside the other jockeys. Why don’t you spend a night with me amongst my own peers? Elizabeth’s family is hosting a party tonight. I can guarantee you they are not as bad as you think they are. Then, when the time comes, well… perhaps you will not be as averse to some of them as you might currently think.”
His eyes narrowed slightly as he considered her.
“Is this a test?” he asked.
“What are you talking about?” she asked, taken aback but his question.
“Are you attempting to determine whether or not I could fit into your way of life, could converse with ladies and gentlemen and present myself as something other than Eddie Francis, the stable boy turned jockey?”
She nearly recoiled by the vehemence in his tone, but then he dropped his head and rubbed his fingertips against his temples.
“I’m sorry,” he apologized, his words coming in a rush. “Of course you don’t mean that. I just… I’m not sure that’s the place for me, Julia. Some may recognize me, and will question what I am doing there.”
“Are you sure?” she asked. “I have found it to be my experience that people only look for those they believe will be within that situation. And if they do ask, just tell the truth — that you were invited and are a guest.”
