Page 23 of A Lady's Lesson in Scandal
She poured a dish of tea and selected a sandwich. Fresh watercress, herbed cheese, crunchy cucumber, soft bread. Delicious. Millicent may have moaned.
Major General Drake’s eyes dilated. Black pupils almost completely eclipsed his icy irises.
Fascinating.
He took a halting step closer to her.
‘Tea, Major General?’ Millicent curled her lip in a smile. A hot cup of strong tea. Endless sandwiches. What was sure to be scrumptious tea cakes. Her hopes were buoyed. Her resolve to disentangle herself from this mess reaffirmed. Major General Drake was a man of logic and reason. Millie was confident they would find a path forward.
‘No, thank you.’ He wrinkled his nose, his scar tissue pulling against healthy flesh.
‘Ah. Not a fan of tea. Well noted. You wanted to discuss our situation, but I think perhaps I should start.’
Major General Drake raised a brow. He tugged his trousers up and sat next to her on the couch. His muscled thigh almost brushed against Millie’s skirt. Shocking, even with their impending nuptials. She should move away from him. Instead, she arched slightly closer.
‘By all means, Millicent.’
It was something about his voice when he spoke her name. Some kind of treacherous magic making her skin hum and her bones vibrate like cello strings. He was wreaking havoc with her ability to focus on anything other than the sensuous lines of his mouth. No man’s bottom lip should be so full and luscious. He had pressed that firm flesh against her own mouth, licking her like a lollipop.
Liquid heat pooled between her thighs as she pressed her legs against a hollow ache. What the Devil was wrong with her? A side effect of being starved, perhaps.
She bought herself some time by taking another bite of her sandwich. Her tongue darted out to catch a crumb, and Major General Drake’s gaze sharpened like a knife. He leaned ever closer.
She swallowed her bite, clearing her throat. ‘I would like to revisit my completely reasonable solution to our problem.’
‘Reasonable? Really?’ Drake’s dry tone was at odds with the dark heat sparking in his gaze.
‘When I s-seduced you at my ball…’ She hated the stumble. Her nerves were jangled as his clove and leather scent invaded her mind like a poisonous cloud.
‘Are you calling that clumsy attempt at a kiss seduction?’ He reached out and brushed his thumb against her lip. ‘Perhaps I should show you true seduction.’
Millie’s chest froze. Her lungs seized.
‘You had a crumb. Just there.’ His smirk was self-satisfied at her sharp inhalation. He knew his effect on her, the bastard. Major General Drake was much older, much more experienced, and he was toying with her. While she was becoming a simpering fool, he seemed barely affected.
Pull up your pantaloons and get it together!
Millie straightened her shoulders, shifting away from him and choosing to ignore his last comment. For there was no acceptable response, though her body screamed at her to accept his unspoken invitation. ‘I never expected you to offer for me, Major General Drake. Quite the opposite, in fact. I chose you because I knew your aversion to marriage. I had no intentions of trapping you.’
‘And yet here I am. A fly caught in your web.’
She snorted. ‘Please. I’m hardly a spider, my lord. If anyone is spinning webs, it’s my stepmother.’ Millicent couldn’t stop the involuntary shudder. ‘I was merely trying to escape the wedding she had planned. You were caught in her machinations. For that, I apologise. But I also believe the best way out is for you to cry off. That was always my goal. Just think how angry you can make Patricia. It’s clear you don’t like her. If you don’t want to agree to this for my sake, do it to spite her.’
‘I don’t make decisions based on petty and useless emotions like anger or love.’
Millicent froze with the sandwich halfway to her lips. She’d hardly consider anger or love to be petty. Powerful? Yes. Inconvenient? Most certainly. But petty? Surely not.
Lord Drake’s brow drew down in a frown that twisted his scar. ‘You wanted to be ruined?’
Millie laughed. ‘Such a ridiculous notion. Ruined. Because a woman’s only value is her virtue, right, Major General?’ Millie enjoyed watching his eyes widen and his mouth open as he attempted to find the correct response. She didn’t wait for his fumbling reply. ‘Yes. I wanted to be “ruined”. It was a clear solution to my predicament. But then you came along with your stupidly honourable proposal and dashed my carefully laid plans to pieces.’
He leaned back, his lips pressing into a hard line. ‘Stupidly honourable? That is a serious accusation to make, my lady.’
‘It is a serious situation, my lord. Pledging yourself to another for all your earthly days, for what? Reputation? A silly notion at best. And in this case, it’s a needless sacrifice on your part. I believe you are offering out of honour, but there is no dishonour in breaking an engagement with a woman determined to ruin herself and finally be free.’
‘So, you wish to release me from my promise, paying the price of social suicide to gain personal freedom?’
Millie smiled brightly. She knew he would see reason. ‘Exactly! While I appreciate your attempt to save me from my wicked ways, I have no wish for salvation. And by granting me freedom, you also liberate yourself.’ There. Done. Disaster averted.
