The Burlington Manor Affair Read online

  A legendary family estate.

  A mutual longing.

  A bargain struck.

  Carmen Shelby wants what’s been left to her—the valuable estate that she once called home. Rex Carruthers is the heir to Burlington Manor, a ruthless playboy who enjoys playing games, and all he wants is for Carmen to surrender.

  There can be only one winner....

  “Walker deftly spins a captivating tale that will have readers holding their collective breath until the last page is turned.” —Publishers Weekly on The Libertine

  The Burlington Manor Affair

  Saskia Walker

  Also available from

  Saskia Walker

  and Harlequin HQN

  THE JEZEBEL

  THE LIBERTINE

  THE HARLOT

  From Spice Books

  RAMPANT

  Dedication

  For Mark, always.

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  PROLOGUE

  THE DOOR TO Rex’s room stood open, and that was an invitation Carmen couldn’t resist. She and Rex had already come close to being lovers—Carmen knew it would happen soon. With that thought teasing her senses, she paused at the top of the crescent-shaped staircase of Burlington Manor and stared across at Rex’s room, exhilaration coiling inside her. The music from the party on the floor below faded away into oblivion as she anticipated swinging that door wide open and joining Rex in his private space.

  As she strolled across the landing she wondered if he was dressed yet. The notion made her smile. She liked the idea of catching him prowling around his room half-naked, and she was pretty sure he’d gone to get changed for the party. Maybe he was waiting for her to arrive. Her pulse raced. She straightened her dress. Her new high heels made her feel sexy, and the compliments she’d just received from Rex’s university buddies did, too.

  As she closed in on his bedroom door something caught her attention.

  Pausing, she listened. The sound issued again. Carmen knew what it was. Her entire skin tingled with awareness. Unable to stem her curiosity she kept moving, slowly, until she glimpsed through the half-open doorway.

  Her blood raced, her body going hot and cold all over. She wondered if she was imagining what she saw. But no, it really was happening. The noisy woman lay on her back on Rex’s bed, naked. It was Carmen’s best friend, Amanda. Between her open legs, Rex was stripped to the waist, his jeans hanging open and barely latched on his hips as he fucked her. Transfixed, Carmen watched the virile male figure arched over Amanda’s body. She knew she should walk away but she was mesmerized by the image and the way it made her feel—crazy with lust, desperate with jealousy.

  His hands moved around Amanda’s hips, where he grasped her buttocks and lifted them easily off the bed, moving her so that she almost sat in his lap and his knees were beneath her bottom. Carmen ached to be handled that way, by a powerful man, a man rock hard with need. That should be me, Rex. I want you.

  Amanda’s legs moved on either side of him, her toes pointing. Lace panties trailed from one ankle—as if the two of them had been unable to wait until they were fully undressed to get at each other.

  Rex groaned and pulled out—far enough that Carmen saw the girth of his cock. Instinctively she covered her mouth with her hand in case she made a sound. The sight of him erect riveted her. Her core responded, and her clit grew tight as a drum, aching to be touched.

  But Rex’s face was cast in shadow as he bent over Amanda. He stroked her peaked nipples, making her moan aloud. That sound.

  Carmen’s eyes flashed shut. Between her thighs her body was instantly hot and damp, craving some of what she could see. Tormented emotions assailed her. She wanted Rex. Amanda knew she did.

  Just at that moment Amanda’s body arched and her head rolled against the bedcover to face the door. Carmen moved to one side, concealing herself. Pressed against the wall outside his room, she listened to Rex’s approving murmurs as he made love to her best friend.

  Her fingers stole underneath her skirt and between her thighs. Cupping her pussy, she listened and imagined it was her in there, under Rex.

  “Oh, you’re good at this, Rex Carruthers,” Amanda blurted, “just as good as I knew you would be.”

  Angry tears smarted at the back of Carmen’s eyes, even while her body ached for him. Her breasts, crushed as they were against the wall, needled with desire. Pulling her dress up, she shoved her hand inside her panties and rubbed her swollen clit.

  In the room beyond she heard Rex speak brusquely, his words rasped in between panting breaths. Amanda urged him on gleefully. Carmen almost felt his thrusts, imagined their raw energy inside her, much as she had done so often alone in her bed whenever he was nearby. It was too intense. She pushed her hand deeper, her fingers sliding against the slick wetness of her sex, desperate for relief. The raucous sounds they made as they both reached their peak were the last straw.

  Cursing him silently—cursing them both—Carmen rubbed frantically until she reached climax, then dropped her dress into place. She loved him. Now she only felt betrayed and hurt, pushed aside. As she walked away she swore she would never let Rex Carruthers make her feel that way ever again.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Nine years later

  REX CARRUTHERS STARED down at his father’s coffin being lowered into the ground, and felt nothing. Beside him, the vicar of Saint Mary’s Church in Beldover parish spoke gently as he addressed the gathering. The crowd was deep and they stood on the hillside in the early-September midday sunlight to pay their last respects.

  The vicar’s words faded in and out of Rex’s consciousness.

  “An upstanding member of the community, much respected.”

  Rex still felt nothing.

  When the vicar gestured at him, Rex stepped forward, lifted a handful of earth and threw it onto the coffin. The irony struck him. He hadn’t seen his father in over eight years, and yet here he was leading the proceedings. Rex was his father’s only child. That meant that he was called upon, despite the fact they were estranged.

  Rex’s mother had offered to be at his side, even though she hadn’t spoken to his father for much longer, not since their divorce was finalized. Rex declined her offer and he’d come alone, knowing that she would find it even more difficult an
d awkward than he did.

  All around him were curious and concerned people, faces he remembered from his childhood and teenage years. Villagers, local farmers from the surrounding Oxfordshire countryside, staff from Burlington Manor and family friends. They seemed vague and dreamlike to Rex. It wasn’t until he looked across the grave and saw her—Carmen Shelby—that the experience became real and meaningful for him.

  The lovely Carmen Shelby.

  After a moment, she met his gaze, and he saw concern and curiosity in her eyes. Rex nodded at her. She returned the subtle communication, lifting her chin to indicate she’d noticed. Rex’s attention lingered on her.

  Carmen, so unobtainable, so elegant and ethereal.

  How beautiful she looked.

  Rex calculated her age. He was about to hit thirty, so he estimated she was twenty-five, maybe twenty-six. All he knew about her these days was that she lived in London, where she managed her deceased mother’s business interests. She seemed to be standing alone. He glanced down at her hand and saw no wedding band. He supposed he would have heard. People did like to pass news on, and they still had mutual friends.

  “I’m so glad you came, Mr. Rex.” The voice of Mrs. Amery, his father’s housekeeper, drew his attention. She shook his hand.

  Her husband, Bill, stood beyond her. Rex nodded at him. “Bill. A few more gray hairs in the old beard, I see.”

  It was something Bill used to say to Rex when he was a boy, a reference to how he measured time. Bill Amery nodded and smiled, then reached out and shook Rex by the hand. “Good to see you, sir, despite the circumstances. Will you be coming back to the manor afterward?”

  “Bill,” his wife chastised.

  “I’m not sure,” Rex answered.

  They moved on, making way for the stream of well-wishers who had similar, curious questions. Rex managed to pass each one off with a casual, noncommittal remark or comment.

  When he looked back at Carmen she was staring down at her mother’s grave, which was stationed at the side of his father’s.

  Instantly he wanted to be with her. If it hadn’t been for the procession of well-wishers, he’d already be on his way to her side. Soon enough, though, she joined the crowd, and slowly made her way to him.

  Christopher Montague, the family solicitor, shook Rex’s hand. “I’ll be in touch about the reading of the will.”

  Rex nodded, assuming it was a formality that he attend. His father’s final words to him were that he would never see a penny of the Burlington estate, which suited Rex just fine.

  Carmen approached.

  Rex’s attention sharpened as he studied her.

  “Rex, I’m sorry that we’re meeting under these sad circumstances.” She put out her hand.

  Struck by the serene maturity he saw in her now, Rex wondered about the intervening years. He took her hand in his. She was soft and warm and he wanted her. He always had. “It’s good to see you again.”

  A wary look appeared in her eyes. She nodded, then withdrew her hand from his and turned away to allow someone else their turn. Rex paused and watched her instead, admiring her as she moved through the retreating crowd.

  How strange it was that death had brought them back together, Rex reflected, when she had once been the most brilliant light in his life.

  * * *

  CARMEN GLANCED AT her watch. Waiting for Rex to arrive for the reading of the will had her on edge. It was typical of him to hold the procedure up this way. Straightening the jacket of her suit, she sat back in her seat and told herself to relax. It was impossible. Where the hell was he?

  Facing her—and beginning to look rather impatient on the other side of his desk—was Christopher Montague, the Carruthers family solicitor. He gave Carmen an encouraging smile. Nevertheless, he was drumming his fingers on his leather-covered desktop, clearly disapproving of Rex’s late arrival for the reading of his father’s will. They’d been due to begin half an hour earlier. “I’m terribly sorry about this, Carmen.”

  “Oh, please, don’t apologize.” She gave a wry smile. “I’m afraid to say this is the sort of behavior I’ve grown to expect from Rex.”

  Eleven years earlier Rex had come into her life, and although Carmen hadn’t spent much time with him recently she’d learned enough about him not to be surprised by anything he did. They hadn’t seen each other for ages, not until the funeral the week before, but long ago they’d been close.

  Carmen was fifteen years old when her mother had married Rex’s father. Rex was nineteen. He’d been away at university a lot of the time, which was just as well, because she’d developed a painful crush on him.

  Thankfully she’d grown out of that.

  It was awkward, growing up as they had. Their parents had met and married when Carmen and Rex were already in their late teens. Rex was rebellious, provocative, and yet he could use his charm when he wanted to. There’d been times when they got on well. Then Rex had clashed with his father over some matter or other. He subsequently walked away from his responsibilities to pursue a career in bespoke engine design for the racing car industry. The gossip she’d heard about him over the intervening years only served to confirm that he lived a wild life. She, on the other hand, had accepted her responsibilities, taking command at her mother’s company after her mother’s death.

  Carmen was just about to stand up and take a turn around the office when the door opened and Christopher’s secretary announced Rex had arrived. Carmen didn’t have to look. As soon as he entered the room his presence impacted on her. Chris Montague stood up to greet the new arrival, but Carmen stayed in her seat. From the periphery of her vision she saw his dark, looming figure.

  “Carmen, you look more beautiful than ever.” Rex ducked down to press a kiss to her cheek.

  It wasn’t what she expected, and the quick, casual brush of his mouth on her skin unnerved her. “Rex, hello.”

  She adjusted the lapel on her jacket as he took his seat alongside her and then glanced his way, quickly taking in his appearance. He wore a fitted suit with a white open-neck shirt beneath. The fine cut of the clothes only emphasized his impressive physique. His thick black hair was swept back from his forehead but fell forward as he moved. He pushed it away with one hand. The dark slash of his eyebrows and the angular bones of his face caught her attention fully. It was a rugged face, starkly handsome, with unforgettable blue eyes. Rex had the kind of intense good looks that meant he could have any woman he wanted, as he so often did.

  She crossed her leg at the knee while smoothing her skirt down, eager to get this meeting over with. Rex stared at her blatantly, watching her legs as she rearranged her position. When his gaze lifted to meet hers the look in his eyes was far too intimate and possessive to be respectable.

  Oh, how that used to make her want him—back when she had no sense. Not anymore. She’d grown up since then. She knew what was good for her and the list did not include men like Rex Carruthers.

  He seemed alert and focused, she noticed. The week before, when she’d stood opposite him across his father’s grave, he’d been somber and stern, as one might expect, but he’d also seemed deep in his own thoughts. He and his father had never made up their differences, was that why? He’d barely nodded at the mourners who spoke with him. Only at the end, when he looked her way as she approached him, had his expression changed—marginally—his eyes hooded and dark with secret thoughts.

  She’d left quickly after the briefest of conversations, unsure what else to say. He’d avoided the social gathering up at the manor after the funeral, which surprised her. So they hadn’t had a chance for a proper conversation. And now here they were, and he was the personification of suave, the self-assured urbane man.

  Carmen looked to their mediator, who had returned to his seat. “Chris, I don’t mean to be ungracious, but I have another meeting to attend today.
We’re already running late.”

  She shot Rex a glance.

  Chris didn’t have a chance to respond.

  Rex sighed. “You’re always in such a rush, Carmen.” He stretched out and wrapped the toe of his shoe around the leg of her chair, drawing it closer to his. “Let’s get comfortable before we get down to business.”

  She froze. He always did like to spar, but if he was going to play the bad boy at a time like this she’d find it difficult. “Rex, please.”

  He lifted his hands in apparent surrender.

  “Besides,” Carmen continued, “I’m sure this has very little to do with me—”

  “I’m sure it has very little to do with me, either,” Rex interrupted. “After all, I was disinherited years ago.” He stared at her deliberately.

  Carmen frowned. Was he insinuating that his father had left Burlington Manor to her? Rex had no other siblings, so she’d assumed that Rex would get it. It made sense to her. Charles Carruthers was deeply traditional at heart, despite the rift. She’d only come there because she was ready to buy Rex out. Rex had never been interested in Burlington Manor, whereas she had a deep connection to the place. Before her death, Carmen’s mother had created a beautiful home, an interior that complemented and enhanced the historic building. Carmen had been happy there and wanted to recapture that. She looked back at the solicitor. “Chris?”

  Chris pushed his glasses up onto the bridge of his nose. “If you’re both ready to begin?”

  Rex nodded.

  “Good. Well, the normal course of events at a time such as this would be to keep it as impersonal as possible. However, as you are both aware, Charles Carruthers and I were old friends. He moved all the family’s legal work to me as a favor to help me get off the ground when I was starting my own practice here in London, back in the 1980s. There have been several alterations to his will over subsequent years, but I’m familiar with all the changes and Charles’s intentions. There are several bequests for staff, but I’ve arranged to see them later today. I made that decision based on the fact you might want some of the contents of the will to remain confidential for the time being.” He paused. “Those that relate specifically to you both, until you decide what to do about it.”