Pride and Fire (6 page)

She was a wanton.

She changed out of her day dress and stood in front of the mirror in her wrinkled chemise and petticoat. Her fair skin bore the evidence of Paul’s caresses, the pink marks faint on her breasts. She removed her drawers, noting they were torn. She hadn’t even known he’d removed them, not until his strong fingers stroked her most private place. Dear Lord, he must think her a trollop, and a tease of the worst kind. If she hadn’t allowed him such liberties with her body, welcoming his kisses and caresses, he wouldn’t have thought her ready to give herself to him completely.

She donned a fresh pair of drawers and readied herself for tea. “If I don’t show myself, Mother won’t be fit company this afternoon.”

Sighing, she went into her dressing room.

* * * *

Paul left his carriage with the groom and went into his townhouse. He tore off his riding gloves and threw them down on the worn table in the foyer. Most of the furnishings in his house were in similar condition. He’d taken them from his father’s country house, caring little about decorating his bachelor home.

He strode through the foyer and into his study, closing the door firmly behind him. Grabbing up a bottle of brandy from the credenza, he poured a generous amount into a glass. “A bit early, but what the hell?”

He took a long swallow and held the glass in his hands, staring into its amber depths.

What had he been thinking? Michelle was an innocent. A lady. He had no right to use her in such a way. But when she’d responded so freely to his kisses, his caresses, he knew she wanted him as much as he wanted her. But what could he do about the situation? He was in no position to ask for her hand.

Sitting behind his desk, he recalled the fear in her eyes and was once more filled with self-loathing. He buried his face in his hands.

A short while later, Starks rapped on the door.

“Yes?” Paul responded wearily.

The butler opened the door. “Lord Chester to see you, My Lord.”

“Send him in.”

Chester walked in and froze. “Leed? What the devil happened to you?”

Paul shook his head. “Ah, ‘what nearly happened’ to me is more like it, friend.”

Chester closed the door. “Why do I have the feeling this has something to do with a certain young lady with fiery tresses?”

“You’re too smart by half, Chester.”

“Do you wish to talk about it?”

Paul shrugged his shoulders. “I have to tell someone, I suppose.”

“Well.” Chester sat down. “I should be flattered by such a compliment.”

Paul drained his glass and set it aside. “Ah, Chester. What was I thinking? I never should have touched her.”

Chester straightened in his chair. “W-what? Touched whom?”

“Lady Michelle, as if you didn’t already know.”

“Leed. You didn’t…?”

“No,” Paul said. “But if she hadn’t stopped me when she did, I’d be at her mother’s right now, asking for her hand.”

“Would that be so terrible?” Chester asked. “You obviously have feelings for the girl, and—”

“I have nothing to offer her.”

“That’s simply not true. You have your title, your inheritance.”

“I told you about my father. I can’t expect anything of substance from that source.”

“What of your speeches? Those pompous fools pay dearly, do they not?”

Paul managed a small smile. “Yes, but my clients don’t number many.”

Chester nodded, then a thoughtful look crossed his face. “If I remember correctly, Lady Michelle’s father had vast holdings. Surely she wouldn’t come to the marriage with nothing.”

“I won’t take her money, Chester.”

“But what of her dowry? I heard whispers it could be as high as fifty thousand pounds.”

“I don’t care about her money, damn it!”

Chester clicked his tongue. “Then what makes you think she’d care about yours?”

Paul stared at Chester for a long moment, puzzling over his comment. “Surely money is important to her. She’d been raised with it, and well.”

Chester gave a short nod of agreement. “Are you going to the parties tonight?”

“I suppose I must,” he answered, echoing Michelle’s earlier statement.

“And what will you do if you see her?”

“I don’t know, Chester.” Paul raked his hand through his hair. “I don’t bloody know.”

* * * *

Paul escorted his sisters to the Markham ball. As they alighted his carriage they each grasped an arm of his and all but pulled him into the magnificent home. After greeting their hostess, they stepped down into the ballroom. Lords Chester and Roberts sought them out immediately.

Roberts bowed to Paul’s sisters. They gushed enthusiasm over the viscount’s gallant manners. “Leed, it’s high time you and the twins arrived.”

“Hello, Roberts. Chester,” Paul greeted his friends with a small smile.

“Hello, Leed,” Chester answered.

The girls ran off to seek out their friends. Roberts shrugged his shoulders and followed the girls’ lead, leaving Paul in Chester’s company. Paul watched Roberts for a moment, finally turning back to find Chester regarding him closely.

“What the devil ails you, Chester?” Paul asked.

“She’s here.”

With those words, Paul’s blood pounded in his ears. What would he say to her? How could he face her after what happened on their picnic?

He turned his back to the room. “Where?”

“On the other side of the ballroom.”

Paul turned slowly and spotted her as a genuine smile curved his lips. He lost that smile when he took in the eager young pups fawning all over her. He strode over to her.

“Lady Michelle,” he said, his voice low.

She turned, a half-smile on her face. She froze when she saw him. “Pa—Lord Leed.” She gave a slight bow of her head.

She’d started to say his name, damn it. She’d nearly set her fire to his kindling. With a nod, he spun on his heel and left.

The evening wore on, Paul growing more disturbed by the hour. He saw her dance with one gentleman after another, her eyes sparkling as they twirled her about the room. Her eyes had held only disdain for him. Well-deserved disdain.

At long last he worked up his courage to ask her to dance and took purposeful strides across the room, only to stop in his tracks. There, holding Michelle’s hand and turning his most charming grin down at her, was Roberts. He appeared to be quite captivated with her, as was she with him. Paul couldn’t tear his eyes from the couple as they twirled about the floor. As the number ended, Roberts led her out onto the terrace. Roberts’s reputation was legendary, and more than one assignation had been conducted on the Markham’s large private terrace. If Roberts dared to touch what was his…

He couldn’t finish the thought.

* * * *

Out on the terrace, Michelle let Lord Roberts’s smooth voice and pleasant conversation wash over her. The man certainly was charming. He’d been nothing but gallant toward her and she couldn’t help but compare his behavior to Paul’s. She still felt the sting of Paul’s earlier rejection. How could he treat her so? Apparently he was still disgusted with her.

Paul had stared at her all evening, making her very uncomfortable. She’d only attended the ball at her mother’s insistence. Lady Helen unwittingly provided another reason for her to attend—Michelle knew if she’d stayed home, her mother would have questioned her endlessly about her ride with Paul since her stubborn silence during tea had only fueled her mother’s curiosity.

Michelle had chosen a gown of gold tonight, this one modest in cut. She felt like a wanton, there was no need to look the part. When Paul had approached her earlier, she couldn’t bear the chill in his eyes. Yet when she danced with Lord Roberts, Paul’s hot glare had sent her heart racing. Shaking her head, she turned her attention to the handsome man beside her.

“Are you enjoying the evening, Lady Michelle?”

“Oh. Yes.”

Suddenly a tall figure stood in the doorway. Her body tingled with awareness and she let her gaze run over him.
Paul
.

Roberts turned. “Leed. Have you come to take the night air with us?”

Paul’s gaze settled on the man’s face. “Chester needs to speak with you, Roberts.”

“Well,” Roberts said, turning back to Michelle. “He can wait.”

Paul could only glare at the two of them until Lord Roberts frowned in confusion. With a bow to Michelle, Roberts took his leave.

Facing Paul, Michelle crossed her arms and opened her mouth.

“Your behavior this evening has been disgraceful,” he said.

Her mind went blank of any worthy response.

He raised a hand. “What I meant to say was—”

“I do not wish to know what you meant to say! You haven’t deemed me worthy of one word all evening, and now you insult me?”

“I…” he began. “That is…”

“Very eloquent, Lord Leed. Perhaps you should take a lesson from your friend Lord Roberts. He knows how to speak to a lady.”

“I know how to speak to a lady.” He held his hands in fists at his side. “But to a spoiled, outspoken girl who lets every man dance with her—”

“Every man?”

“Yes, every man. And batting your eyes at a libertine like Roberts, all coy blushes. As if you have a coy bone in your body.”

“And what concern is it of yours?”

“None!” Paul advanced on her, causing her to back up against the wall.

Her heart began to race. “Paul, you can’t…”

He braced his arms on either side of her and pressed against her. “Yes, I can.”

He kissed her and she melted against him, rubbing her tongue against his. This was what she’d wanted, needed, since he’d first spoken to her tonight. If she was a wanton, she was his.

He moaned and cupped her face in his hands, deepening the kiss. Suddenly the sound of voices reached them. Paul stepped away from her and raked his fingers through his hair as Michelle slumped against the wall trying to slow her racing pulse.

“I shall speak to your mother,” Paul said, his voice rough.

The censure in his voice was clear.

“Why do I make you so angry?” she asked. “Do you have only disgust for me?”

She buried her face in her hands and began to cry.

“I know what I must do.”

She raised her eyes to find him staring at her. “What?”

He placed his hands on her shoulders. “Michelle.”

She sniffled and shook her head, unable to look at him again.

He gently grasped her chin and lifted her face to his.

She gazed into his eyes, seeing all the emotion she felt for him reflected there. “Yes, Paul?”

“Marry me?”

She blinked at him. “Such tenderness…”

“I want you, Michelle,” he added, his voice low. “I… care for you. Please say you’ll be my wife.”

He wanted her? He cared for her?

She threw her arms around his neck and Paul hugged her to him. “I take it this is your answer?”

She nodded against his chest. “Yes.”

He laughed. “Let me seal my promise, love.” He kissed her.

Paul saw her home that evening when Chester gallantly offered to see to his sisters. He couldn’t tell them of their engagement, not until he had spoken to her mother. But from the expression on Chester’s face, Paul’s friend no doubt guessed the truth of it.

She sighed and leaned up against him in his carriage. “I must say you took me by surprise, Lord Leed.”

“None of that, love. From now on, you must only call me ‘Paul.’”

“All right,” she said, lowering her voice to a whisper. “Paul.”

He kissed her tenderly, pulling back afterwards to run his gaze over her face. She suddenly giggled and he arched a brow at her in question.

“Now I know what to do whenever you scowl at me,” she explained with a half-smile. “I’ll simply say your name and you’ll melt.”

“Melt?”

“Yes,” she breathed, placing her mouth on his. “Melt.”

He growled softly and took control, cupping her face in his hands and kissing her breathless. Her eyes were closed, her lips parted as she took in shallow breaths. He chuckled softly, causing her eyes to flutter open.

“I daresay, love,” he said, “you do a fair amount of melting yourself.”

“Oh, yes,” she breathed, nodding her head.

He held her close as the carriage rolled on. When it stopped in front of her home, she looked up at him.

“At what time will you call on us, Paul?”

“I wish to speak with my father first,” he said. “Would it be all right if I call around tea time?”

She nodded.

He opened the door and stepped out, extending his hand to escort her to the door. He didn’t kiss her, but Lord he wanted to. “Until tomorrow, love.”

He settled back in his carriage. He wanted Michelle, more than he’d ever wanted any other woman. She vexed him, made him laugh, and was never simpering or artificial. And that kiss in the carriage. When she’d gazed up at him, gold flecks in her eyes, he’d been tempted to tell the driver to take them twice around the park.

But what of his finances? He’d speak with his father in the morning and get to the bottom of the family’s money problems.

* * * *

Michelle closed the front door and leaned against it as her heart soared. Paul wanted her. He cared for her. He called her ‘love.’ And the way his beautiful eyes had glittered at her. She didn’t hear her mother approach.

“Michelle?” her mother asked. “What happened?”

“Simply the most wonderful thing, Mother.” She fairly floated up the stairs. “Simply wonderful…”

“What happened, Michelle?” she asked again. “Michelle!”

Michelle made no answer.

“Humph,” her mother murmured. “It must indeed be wonderful to render
you
speechless.”

Chapter 6

Michelle sat at her vanity the next morning, studying her reflection. Paul asked her to marry him! He was so handsome, so charming. That last was a surprise, since before their ride in the park he’d been nothing but cold. She couldn’t have imagined the heat that hid beneath his beautiful blue eyes.

He was passionate, too. His kisses inflamed her like no other’s. Of course, she’d never truly been kissed by any other gentleman. Even so, she doubted another man’s kisses could ever set her heart racing the way Paul’s did. She was so lucky he was hers.