Page 66 of To Pleasure a Prince
“Ah, but you had the wager to make it worth your while, didn’t you?”
That cursed wager. “Just so you’ll know, Simon was the one who suggested the wagerafterhe found out I’d agreed to let you court me. He assumed I was doing it so I could ‘improve’ you, so he thought to put conditions on it. I nearly refused. Until he said what the terms were, and I saw an opportunity to determine if he truly intended to marry Louisa.”
“There’s no need for this explanation,” he ground out. “I don’t care about your wager.”
“Stuff and nonsense. You think all this has been about some silly wager that I barely thought of. Don’t you even want to know what our terms were?”
He turned even more stiffly formal. “Not really, Lady Regina. Whether you won a new harp or gown or piece of jewelry is of no consequence to me. You’ve said your piece. Shall I turn the coach around?”
“No, you shall not!” The arrogant fool clearly didn’t believe a word she’d said. “If Simon won, I was to stop interfering in his courtship with Louisa. And ifIwon, he was to ask you formally for her hand andabideby your decision. It was not about a new harp, drat you! It was about making sure Simon was not using Louisa! I figured if he agreed to the wager, then he was sincere. That’s theonlyreason I agreed to it.”
For a moment, she thought she’d reached him. His jaw seemed to soften. But then he sucked in a shuddering breath and turned a cold gaze on her. “There’s no need for you to invent something you think might soothe my pride. I don’t really care why you made the wager. We both used each other, and we both got what we wanted. So we’re done now.”
“The devil we are! And what do you mean, ‘we both used each other’?”
His expression grew shuttered. “Whitmore was right—I needed a way to enter society again, and you provided that, even if you only meant to win your wager. But now that I know I can enter society on my own, I don’t need you anymore. So I thank you, but I have no more use for you.”
The cruel words took the breath from her. Had he truly shown an interest in her only because she could help him reenter society?
No, she couldn’t believe it. His pride was wounded, and he was striking back. She wouldn’t let him. “So our kisses and caresses meant nothing to you except as a means to an end?”
He shrugged. “You were bored and wanted an adventure; I obliged you. It was the only way to make sure you kept helping me.”
“I see.” Oh yes, she saw, all right. Saw that she had him cold. If he’d claimed to have lost interest in her, she might—might,mind you—have believed him. But she didn’t believe for one minute that he’d never desired her. Even the Dragon Viscount was notthatgood at hiding his feelings.
She unbuttoned her gloves, first one, then the other. When she stripped the first one off, she thought she saw him tense. “And I guess now that you have what you really wanted from me, you can stop pretending to desire me. Is that what you’re saying?”
He hesitated a fraction of a second, his eyes riveted to her hand removing her other glove. “Right.”
Setting her gloves aside, she leaned down as if to readjust her slipper, but really so she could display her bosom to fine advantage. She tried not to roll her eyes at the way his gaze swung unerringly to her low décolletage. Men could be so predictable. “You mean that you are not attracted to me in the least.”
“Not in the least,” he echoed hoarsely.
Taking him by surprise, she changed seats to sit beside him. Then while he was still caught off guard, she laid her bare hand on his thigh. “So you are not affected when I do this.”
He swallowed. “No, indeed.”
Reaching up with her other hand, she caressed his smoothly shaven cheek. “And this does not move you.”
“It…no…I am not moved.”
She pressed her mouth to his ear. “I don’t believe you.” Then she kissed his ear. And his close-cropped hair. And his cheek that still smelled of shaving oil.
His breath came now in harsh gasps. “Only because you’re…not used to…having a man resist you.”
“I don’t believe you, because it’s not true. And we both know it.”
Continuing to stroke his opposite cheek with her fingers, she kissed a path to his mouth. He swore under his breath. When she nibbled his lower lip, he jerked back from her. “Stop that,” he said in a low rasp.
“Why? I thought you didn’t desire me?”
“I didn’t…I don’t. You’re making a fool of yourself for nothing.”
“I certainly hope not.” Cupping his cheek in her hand, she turned his head toward her until he couldn’t avoid looking at her. “Since I will probably be ruined after riding off with you like this, I would hate to think it was all for naught.”
She kissed him squarely on the mouth. Though a shudder rocked him, he kept still, every inch of him hard and resistant. Until she ran the tip of her tongue along the firmly closed seam of his lips, eliciting a growl from somewhere low in his throat.
He jerked back to stare at her, his features carved into a mask of sheer raw hunger, his eyes hot. “Damn you,” he swore as he dragged her onto his lap. “Damn you,” he bit out as he caught her head in his hands. “Damn you to hell,” he groaned, seconds before his mouth took hers.
