The Duke of Christmas Past by Kim Bowman Read Free Book Online Page A

like tonight, Delia had run off. Only then it
had been after the ball when they'd had a heated argument in his
study. She'd gone to McDaniel, and the man had refused her. He'd
told her he couldn't go against her brother's wishes and he'd
escorted her home.
    Donovan's hand was on the latch opening the door
before the carriage came to a stop. He couldn't look at Tess. If he
hadn't let his feelings for her cause him to disregard the fact
that he should have been with Delia instead…
    "Donovan, wait!" she yelled in a pained, choked
voice.
    Ignoring Tess, he ran to the townhouse and shoved
through the door as Lawrence opened it, nearly knocking the
startled butler over.
    "Delia!" His voice boomed through the townhouse.
    "Your grace—"
    "Delia!" He started up the stairs, taking them two at
a time.
    "She's in the parlor with Mr. McDaniel, your grace,"
Lawrence announced.
    He stopped and jerked around. "And my mother?"
    The butler cleared his throat. "Her grace said to
inform you that you mucked it up and you could fix it without her.
Then she retired to her suite with strict orders she wasn't to be
disturbed."
    Of course she did.
    Tess stood in the entryway. As he passed her, she
grabbed his arm. Tears shimmered in her eyes. "Donovan, I—"
    The agony and dread he'd lived with for the past
eight years slammed through his body with an unbridled fury,
stopping him in his tracks. He'd thought his battered soul couldn't
be hurt more, but the pain and sorrow marring Tess's beautiful
features ripped him to shreds. Every smell, every emotion, every
sound… every nuance was ten times more powerful. And that made the
anguish of knowing what he'd lost — would lose once more — an
unbearable torture. He couldn't live through that again.
    Yet that was exactly where things were headed.
    What am I doing? He was right back where he'd
ended up the first time. Once again losing the chance to be with
the woman he loved, pushing her straight into Norcross's arms. And
Delia… she'd run away from him, hated him just as she had before.
He'd fixed nothing. Made things worse, actually.
    He was trying. Heaven help him, he was honestly
trying to do what was right—
    "…sometimes we aren't given a choice at all."
    But he had been. He'd been given the chance to fix
everything. And curse it, he wasn't about to let his sense of right
— his father's beliefs — cause him to make the same mistakes
again.
    One breath. Two, and his heart resumed a steady, even
thumping. Her beseeching gaze never left his face, and as they
stared into each other's eyes, her pain faded, her eyes widened,
and her intriguing lips opened.
    He couldn't just walk away from her. But he couldn't
allow Delia's situation to languish a moment more either. He rubbed
her cheek with his knuckles then touched his lips to her forehead.
"Trust me."
    Not waiting for an answer, he continued to the
parlor. Definitely a room for the ladies. Pink-and-yellow flowered
wallpaper decorated every wall, heavy draperies of the same pattern
hung from floor to ceiling at the bay windows, an Oriental rug with
a similar design covered most of the floor, and the two high-back
chairs and sofa were covered in a pale blue silk.
    His prey sat huddled together on the couch. McDaniel
rose slowly, his hand resting on a sobbing Delia's shoulder. She
lifted her blotchy, tear-stained cheeks, and Donovan's helpless
fear nearly brought him to his knees.
    That look. He'd seen that same pained look slashed
across her face. Those eyes. The same loss and misery had clouded
her eyes right before she'd run off to America, only to die.
    He wouldn't make the same mistake again. If he did,
Past Duke would probably curse him to repeat this blasted holiday
over and over until he got it right.
    The air shifted ever so slightly, and a warm
prickling caressed the right side of his body. He glanced sideways.
Tess smiled at him and squeezed his arm, giving him the reassurance
he needed.
    Did Delia love McDaniel as much as Donovan did