Page 55 of Enticing the Devil

The hollowness of his voice echoed in her head as she stared at the document. Even from where she stood, she could clearly make out her father’s sprawling signature.

A special license.

Emotions too intense to name swirled inside her as she boldly met Beynon’s dark glare. “You can’t be serious.”

There was a swift tic at the corner of his jaw, but he held her gaze. And said nothing.

Of all the things rolling through her in that moment, she was grateful for the fury that came to the fore.

“You decided this last night. Without speaking to me about it. Without asking me. You flew off to London and sent for my father, all without even pausing to consider what I might have to say about it.”

Her words got steadily louder and more shrill. Yet still he said nothing.

Anger propelled her forward. Two swift steps before she stopped herself.

“How dare you?” she muttered from clenched teeth. “How dare you make such a decision for me?”

“We made the decision together,” he answered gruffly. “Last night in the closet. Remember?”

Anne gasped. For some reason, his stark reference to those stolen moments caught her off guard. The anger in his voice hurt.

“What did you expect me to do?” His question was a near growl.

A leaded feeling turned her stomach. “I didn’t expect this,” she whispered. Then she straightened her spine and strengthened her voice. “What we did...what happened between us last night did not give you the right to make a decision that would affect the rest of my life without consulting me. Did you consider the possibility that I might not want to marry you?”

His answer was a low growl as his hands curled over the back of the chair as if he wanted to tear the thing in half. “Of course I considered it,” he shouted before giving a rough shake of his head. “But it doesn’t matter.”

“Yes, it does!” she shouted back. She’d never in her life imagined her first marriage prospect would come in the form of an angry man making the offer out of some misplaced sense of duty.

She cast a glare toward the offending paper. “You can toss that thing into the fire, Mr. Thomas. I do not agree to it.”

With that, she strode swiftly to the door.

“You’ve no choice,” he said in a voice barely above a murmur.

His words make her want to scream, but she held it in, along with the fury and shame and despair rolling through her like a wildfire. Lord Wright was standing just outside as he’d promised but she walked past him without a glance.

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