Page 22 of Always the Bridesmaid, Never the Duchess
He heard voices and stopped to listen.
“Lord Radford, tell me of your travels. I hear you have recently returned from overseas. Is it as wild as they say?” Kate said, her voice sweet and low. Nothing at all like how she spoke when engaged in conversation with him.
“Oh, quite wild and dangerous. And the food is not at all like what we enjoy here. I found myself quite intrigued by their various flavors,” Lord Radford responded.
Andrew peeked through the bushes like a naughty schoolboy and saw Lord Radford standing quite close to Kate. Kate stared up at him and… wait! Was she fluttering her eyelashes at the rake like an innocent youngingenue? He looked again and felt his ire rise.
“I would love to hear more. What were their women like?” Kate simpered. She laid a gloved hand upon the rake’s arm.
Lord Radford leaned down and took Kate’s hand in his. “Not nearly as lovely as you, my dear Miss Avery. Your lips are quite inviting.” Lord Radford leaned down and before he had a chance to capture Kate’s lips with his own. Andrew coughed.
“Miss Avery! Are you here? I say, have you found your ball yet?” He stepped inside the walled garden and pretended to be startled. “Oh, there you are. Radford. Miss DeClancy was alarmed when you failed to return.”
Lord Radford gave him a sardonic glance. “I am sure Miss Avery can find her way about her own gardens.”
Andrew straightened his spine and met Lord Radford’s sardonic look with one of his own. “Perhaps, but Miss Avery has a sterling reputation, and it would be unseemly for her to disappear among the hedgerows. Don’t you agree, Radford?”
“Quite so.” He turned to Kate and bowed. “Miss Avery, I apologize, but I’ve grown quite weary of this game. Perhaps we shall resume our earlier conversation at a later, more private, time.”
“That would be delightful,” Kate said. Her cheeks blazed crimson.
When Radford moved away from them, she glared and said, “What do you think you are doing?”
“Come with me.” Andrew grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the garden.
“Let go!”
He looked at her and hissed. “Come with me and stop making a scene. What will your grandmother and your guests think to hear you screeching like a fishmonger’s wife?”
Kate sputtered but did not fight him as he continued to pull her along through the back entrance to her library. He slammed the door shut behind her.
“What were you thinking engaging in a private and clearly inappropriate conversation with a known bounder and rake such as Radford? After everything I did to prevent you from bringing dishonor to your reputation, you turn around and behave in an unladylike fashion once more!” Andrew paced back and forth. His voice rose in volume.
“How dare you accuse me of unladylike behavior! You drag me away from my chaperone, so it is quite clear you are not overly concerned about my reputation. Furthermore, what right do you have to dictate who I engage in an affair with? If I choose to spend the night with a rake, then that is my choice to do so.” Kate stood on her tiptoes and met his fury with her own.
“Why would you wish to do such a thing?” Andrew scowled and moved away from her. He appeared furious. For a moment, Kate thought he would shake her, but he restrained himself.
“Because I am plain. No man has ever looked at me with desire. I am too outspoken. Too quick with a sharp word. And now, I am a spinster and beyond marriageable age. I want to know what a man’s touch feels like. To grow weak from his kisses. Is that so wrong?”
“But a rake like Radford—” Andrew began.
“Would give me what I long have been denied,” Kate interrupted. She crossed her arms and glared at him. “Now, thanks to you, I will once again be overlooked.”
Andrew watched her. His blue eyes glinted with fury like an angry leopard ready to attack. She felt her color rise, and her pulse fluttered. He let out a groan of frustration and pulled her to him.
“I can be that man for you, Kate,” he growled. “I can bring you to the heights of pleasure and have you begging for more. Just say the word. I will not deny you, and I would never sully your reputation. You can trust me.”
“You? Can I trust you?” Kate felt herself melt against him. She wanted to say yes, but to do so would be a dangerous game indeed. She felt herself grow hot at the thought of his body next to hers in the throes of passion. “I can’t...” Her protest melted away as his gaze strayed downward.
“Say the word, Kate,” Andrew whispered in her ear. “Tell me you want me.”
Kate swallowed. She needed distance from this man and the way he elicited such a quick response from her body. “I want you, but it doesn’t matter. This is a dalliance I can’t undertake. We would scarce be able to stop arguing long enough to enjoy it.” Her voice had grown breathless as her mind fought for ways to protest. Why was her body so weak that it betrayed her so easily?
Andrew kissed her then. His lips hot against her. His tongue thrust gently against her own promising what would come next. When he pulled away from her, she let out a small cry. “Don’t stop.” All thoughts of protest evaporated like mist on the morning breeze.
He gave a low throaty growl. His teeth nipped gently against her neck, and she felt her nipples harden against her dress. His hands pulled her hips hard against his own and she felt the rise of his desire. She panted as his lips traced down her neck and shoulder until they found the swell of her breast. He made a sigh of frustration that they stayed bound beneath her gown. His hands cupped her bottom and she let out a gasp. No one had ever touched her like this.
“You protest, but I know it is something that would please us both. Tell me it isn’t so,” Andrew whispered. His lips moved against her cheek, and she felt a shiver as his words danced across her skin.
