Free The Defiant One by Danelle Harmon Page A

demonstrate a little self-restraint.  Now come along.  I trust that some cognac will steady you and allow you to address this matter in a mature and rational way."
    Steering the hot-tempered earl from the room, he strode toward the door, and it was only as he crossed the threshold and paused to look back over his shoulder, one brow raised and a faint smile on his lips, that Andrew caught the telltale gleam of satisfaction in those fathomless black eyes.
    And then he was gone.
    "Bastard," Andrew muttered beneath his breath — and in that moment, he would have wagered everything he owned that Lucien was — in some way, for some reason — behind this entire debacle.
    ~~~~
    The "mature and rational" way that Lucien suggested, once Andrew and an upset, embarrassed, and very, very angry Celsie were seated in the library, was an immediate marriage.
    Lucien gazed thoughtfully at the pair, sitting as far apart from each other as the placement of chairs would allow, neither looking at the other, both quietly furious.  "Regardless of the circumstances that led to the act, Andrew, there is no denying that you have ruined the girl," he said, pouring another glass of cognac and handing it to his now fully clad brother.  Andrew adamantly refused to take the glass and sat staring mutely out the window, his jaw clenched, his eyes blazing as Lucien continued.  "You have robbed her of her virginity, her innocence, and any chances of making a successful marriage.  Therefore, I think you owe it to her to do the right thing."
    Andrew leaped to his feet.  "I will not marry her!"
    "And I will not marry him !" cried Celsie, also leaping to her feet.
    "Sit down, both of you," said the duke, irritably.  "Lord save us, you'd think I just sentenced the two of you to the gallows, the way you're carrying on."
    "I said, I am not marrying her," Andrew repeated hotly.
    "And I said, I am not marrying him !"
    "Well, then," said Lucien, smiling and gazing calmly at the earl.  "What do you suggest we do, Somerfield?"
    "He ruined my sister!  If he's any sort of a gentleman, he'll do the right thing!"
    " I wasn't the one who told her to take the damned solution!"
    "But you were the one who damn well invented it!"
    Celsie could feel herself losing her already frayed control.  "Gentlemen —"
    "And you were the one who allowed her to take it!" Gerald continued.
    " Gentlemen —" Celsie bit out, louder this time.
    "And furthermore, you were the one who was lying stark naked beneath her," thundered Gerald, advancing on Andrew with fists clenched.  "Your brother's right — your judgment is to be questioned, and so, by God, are your motives!"
    Celsie slammed her own glass down.  "Damn it, listen to you!  The two of you go on as though I am invisible, as though I have no brain or will of my own, as though I'm nothing but a — but a — flea on a dog's ear!"  She rounded on her brother.  "Gerald, I told you before and I shall tell you again, I was the one who asked Lord Andrew to give me the solution.  I was the one who doubted its efficacy.  I was the one who attacked him, and I am the one who is responsible for this . . . this mess , and I will not have you forcing us into some ill-advised union when it is obvious that Andrew has no more wish to marry me, than I do to marry him!"
    "And what if you're with child?" shouted Gerald.
    "If I am with child, that's my responsibility, not Andrew's!  He didn't ask for me to . . . to . . . ."
    "Ravish him," finished the duke urbanely, topping up his glass.
    "Damn you, Lucien!" exploded Andrew, as Celsie flushed crimson.  "Must you be so damned crude?"
    The duke merely smiled and lifted a brow.  "My dear brother, I am merely repeating the words you used earlier."
    " Did I ravish you?" demanded Celsie, her insides clenching.
    Now it was Andrew's turn to go red.  "Don't tell me you don't remember."
    "I don't remember a thing except opening my eyes to find myself — "
    "On top of him," finished the duke,