Page 66 of A Lady's Lesson in Scandal
‘I thought I asked you to call me Beau. Tit for tat, Millie.’ His mouth twitched again. A small curl tipped up the left side of his sinful lips, creating crinkles at the corner of each eye.
She’d made the man smile.Miraculous.
Drake took a step closer to her. ‘Bold and brave, my lady. Rare characteristics to find.’
‘In a woman?’ She narrowed her gaze. His disparaging view against her sex was legendary.
‘In anyone.’ He shrugged then turned to lower the lamplight, whether for her benefit or his, she couldn’t be sure. Even in the dim lighting Millie could discern the lines and angles of his back. It was just as fascinating as his chest. Millie had no idea a man’s back could display so much carved definition. But scars covered him there as well. He had been whipped. Far more brutally and more often than Millie. Her heart squeezed as she imagined the horrors he must have suffered. Still, she schooled her expressionto show no softness. Drake made it clear he wasn’t ready for her empathy. Not yet. So, she would be patient.
He turned back to face her, his hands hovering at the waistline of his breeches. ‘I don’t speak about the war. After tonight, I won’t again. But you should know, my leg is shocking. I’ve no wish to disgust you. I can keep my breeches on for now, remove them later, or not at all.’
A hazy memory of Franklin fumbling with the fall of his pants before thrusting into her resurfaced. She was well aware the act they were about to share could be accomplished with minimal disrobing. But she didn’t want that. Not tonight. Not with Drake. She wanted the intimacy of total nudity. She wanted to feel all his hot, hard skin pressed against her soft curves. And she couldn’t give a damn that his body was just as broken as it was beautiful.
‘I’m hardly a delicate miss, my lord. Nothing about you is disgusting. I want to see you. All of you.’
Drake’s hand trembled as his fingers brushed the button holding his waistband tight.
He was nervous. No doubt because the last woman he cared for betrayed him by marrying his brother. Rage washed through Millie, and she was glad she’d decimated Nora in darts, even if it put her at risk. Nora’s perfidy had done as much damage to the strong, fearless, proud man before her as the Afghanistan soldiers. Despite all his strength, the danger dripping from him, the carefully controlled power he wielded in his body’s vigour and skill, he feared her rejection.
Silly man, I could never reject you.
How could she reject the man she lo?—
No. It isn’t that.
But the vice that tightened around her chest every time she lied squeezed painfully. Ruthlessly, she ignored it.
‘Show me all of you, Beau.’
The flutters in Drake’s chest intensified to shudders at her refusal to be disgusted by him.
Heart, don’t you dare fail me now. Cease your ridiculous fluttering and beat like a normal organ. I will not die before bedding Millicent.
Drake had been arguing with himself for almost an hour about exactly how he would confront Millie. His suspicious mind couldn’t ignore the signs. She was far more than just a beautiful woman longing for freedom. Her skill with the darts, the knives she kept hidden on her body in the most delicious places, the way she confronted Patricia when the pernicious woman was hellbent on attacking poor Billy. Even her interactions with St George hinted at strength, courage, and determination not often found in young ladies of the peerage. She might not be lying to him, but she also wasn’t being completely honest. She was hiding something. But what if her secrets were more than he could accept? More than he could bear?
One thing was certain. He couldn’t let her be harmed. A world without Millie wasn’t one he could endure.
When he had heard the knock, Drake was sure he must be hallucinating. But then he’d opened the door, and there she was. The object of his fantasies, standing in the flickering firelight, her nightgown utterly destroying any hope Drake had of composure or control. Every tactic he had planned to use to discover her secrets fled his mind as blood filled his cock.
Her damn nightgown should be illegal.
It was a far better tool at scattering his wits than any torture device he’d experienced. Fine lace hid nothing from sight. Drake could see Millie’s strawberry nipples peeking out from thematerial. God, he wanted to taste them again, test their texture with his tongue, nibble and bite them until she writhed, begging for release.
In a crushing moment of clarity, he knew his heart was forever lost. To her. A woman he could neither control nor contain. She would destroy him. One day, she would realise he wasn’t worthy of her, and she would leave. Any hope for a future would cease to exist for Drake. It was a terrifying prospect. To let love back into his life, knowing the damage such vulnerability might invite. But it was also too late. Love was there, whether he wanted it or not.
Fuck. I love her.
He loved the chaotic, charismatic, courageous woman standing before him, demanding he undress so she could fill her gaze with his broken body. It was terrifying.
Thank God Drake was so brave.
He clenched his shaking hand into a fist, willing the tremor to cease.
‘If you change your mind…’ He wanted to give her an out. Drake couldn’t endure watching her melting chocolate eyes harden in disgust as he revealed the worst damage wrought upon his body.
‘I won’t.’ Her husky voice was like whiskey to his soul. Intoxicating.
Drake unbuttoned his breeches, pushing them down and stepping free while he watched her face for any signs of revulsion. His hard and pulsing cock twitched with demand. Though his lame leg was partly hidden in shadows, even the firelight couldn’t disguise the warped muscle and ruined skin. There was no hair on a large portion of his upper thigh where scar tissue took over. The Afghan soldiers had started with hot pokers, moved onto blades, and finished by pouring boiling tar over his leg. He was lucky he didn’t lose his limb completely,though he’d certainly lost huge chunks from damage and infection. When he returned to England, Killian insisted he see the best physicians, paying for some of the treatments himself, but after so much time, little could be done. Drake’s only option was to accept his new limitations and move forward. Even if it was with a painful limp.
