The Rake (24 page)

Chuckling, he offered his arm to her. “If
you will excuse us?”

Demi looked at Garrett nervously when the
two had left but took his arm when he offered it.

“
Will you join me for
dinner?”

Demi glanced at him uneasily. “I have
already been downstairs to eat.”

“
Which does not necessarily
preclude your joining me.”

Demi frowned. “I had promised the next dance
to Mr. Collier. I would be very rude to break my promise.”

Garrett shrugged. “The musicians are taking
a break. I will have you back before they strike up once more.”

She sighed uneasily but nodded. Lady Wyndham
had told her under no circumstances to allow Garrett to get her
alone, but there were bound to be others lingering downstairs over
a late supper. They met no one as they descended the stairs,
however, and uneasiness swept over Demi once more.

“
I must suppose my mother
commissioned that gown,” Garrett said pensively.

Demi glanced at him sharply. “She said the
ones I had were far too dowdy.”

“
Certainly by comparison,”
he said coolly, pausing at the foot of the stairs and turning to
look her over. Taking her hand once more, he held it as she stepped
down the remaining stairs, then tucked it into the crook of his arm
once more as he led her down the corridor toward the dining room.
“And I’ve no doubt at all that it is vastly appreciated, for I saw
no less than a half a dozen young bucks eyeing you lasciviously as
you danced with Lord Melville. Is there any particular reason that
you are encouraging them to hang after you, I wonder?”

Demi gaped at him indignantly. “Exactly what
is it that you are accusing me of?” she demanded, jerking her hand
free and stopping abruptly to glare at him.

He caught her shoulders, pushing her back
against the wall and pinning her there. “Being too available?” he
suggested. “Why has our engagement not been announced? I gave my
mother specific instructions to do so.”

Demi blushed, but realized at his second
question that she’d misunderstood the first comment. She thought
she had, at any rate. “Because I have not received a proposal?” she
said sharply. “Perhaps you should ask your mother since it was her
you spoke to?”

He studied her a long moment. “You cannot
have doubted my intentions.”

Hurt abruptly replaced her anger. She
swallowed with some difficulty. “I didn’t, until I discovered you
had taken me to your mother. Then I realized it was a matter of
honor and a misplaced sense of obligation. Lady Wyndham has assured
me it’s unnecessary for you to make such a … sacrifice on my
account.”

He ground his teeth. “Did she?”

“
Yes. She also said that
she would be happy to be my guardian until I was
settled.”

“
And Lord Melville, I take
it, now ranks among your many beaus?”

Demi flushed, detecting a hint of sarcasm as
well as censure. “You would have to ask him what his intentions
are. He has not asked for me, if that is what you mean.”

“
Oh, I will ask him. Make
no doubt of that.”

Demi felt the blood rush from her face.
“What do you mean by that?”

“
Do I detect concern for
young Melville’s hide?” he ground out.

Her eyes widened. “Garrett! You
wouldn’t!”

“
You are mine, Demi. Make
no mistake--I would.”

She flushed. “Only because you … we--”

“
Exactly because I, we,” he
growled. Reaching up, he very deliberately scooped one breast from
the demi cup of her gown, covering it with the heat of his mouth.
Sensation exploded inside of her at the moist adhesion of his mouth
that seemed to pull every ounce of will from her, wrenching the
strength from her knees. Dizzy with the pleasure coursing through
her, she looked around the empty corridor with a vague sense of
alarm, knowing someone might come upon them at any
moment.

“
Garrett!
Please!”

He released her breast, fondling it with his
hand as he met her gaze. His breath, sawing raggedly in and out of
his chest, sent a shiver through her as it brushed her damp,
distended nipple. “It pleases me a great deal to please you.” He
brushed his lips lightly across hers. Briefly, he covered her
mouth, kissing her with devastating thoroughness before he released
her lips. “You are mine. You want me as much as I want you. I can
convince you of it very easily.”

Demi swallowed, her mind so fogged with
desire she could scarcely make any sense of what he was demanding
of her. She could not think of anything beyond the fact that she
wanted him never to stop, and she feared being disgraced if someone
happened upon them. It wasn’t until he dipped his head and took her
breast into his mouth once more that she realized that he was
demanding an answer from her, but the moment he began kissing her
once more, her wits scattered into the fog of desire. She could not
jog her mind past the deliciously wicked pleasure coursing through
her, the clenching and unclenching of the muscles low in her belly
in precise rhythm to the ministrations of his mouth and tongue.

The sound of voices filtered slowly through
her heated brain and the scrape of footsteps on the stairs jolted
through her. She moistened her lips. “Yes,” she whispered a little
desperately. He released her at once, tucking her breast into her
bodice once more.

In a heated confusion, she watched as he
adjusted himself. It dissipated abruptly as her gaze focused on the
telltale ridge of flesh that bulged against the front of his
trousers from his waistband downward.

Such a display of manly flesh could hardly
go unnoticed. Glancing down, she noticed her flesh above her bodice
was reddened from the abrasion of his whiskers. From the faint
tingling around her mouth, she had no doubt she looked as
thoroughly kissed, as well.

Chapter Seventeen

“
Here you are, my dear!”
Lady Wyndham said gaily as she reached the bottom on the stairs.
“The supper room was closed nigh an hour ago!”

“
So we discovered,” Garrett
said easily, although his voice was still husky and
deep.

Lady Wyndham’s gaze flickered over them, but
it was impossible to tell from her expression what must be going
through her mind. Demi only hoped that the corridor was not so
bright that she could discern immediately what she’d interrupted.
“I have offered to give Lady Shelley a ride home, my dear. I hope
you won’t mind leaving a little early?”

“
I will give her a ride
home, mother,” Garrett said at once.

Demi flicked a glance from Garrett to his
mother and managed a faint smile. “I do appreciate it, my lord, but
I have a touch of headache. I believe I will go with Lady
Wyndham.”

He studied her a long moment and finally
bowed, saluting her hand. “Until tomorrow then.”

She was relieved when they settled in Lady
Wyndham’s coach, but worried that either Lady Wyndham or worse,
Lady Shelley, might have noticed something in her behavior. Either
Lady Shelley was a very good actress, however, or she’d had too
much on her mind to notice. She could talk of nothing all the way
home but her anxiety over her young daughter’s illness, which was
why she’d been summoned home.

When they’d set her down, Demi fully
expected a thorough dressing down. Lady Wyndham surprised her by
smiling. “You did very well, my dear.”

“
I did?” Demi said in
surprise.

Lady Wyndham chuckled. “Naughty! But it will
not hurt to allow Garrett a taste of what he will miss if he does
not play his cards right.”

Demi blushed to the roots of her hair. “But
he only …it was only a kiss.”

Her brows rose. “I should think it was a bit
more than that. I must say I hadn’t realize my son was such a
strapping young man. No wonder--never mind. It will do him no harm
to suffer a little. I believe we will leave for Bath in the
morning,” she added pensively.

“
Tomorrow? But he has only
just arrived in town,” Demi objected.

“
Mmm and on the hunt, make
no doubt, but I’m of no mind to make things easy for him. We will
most certainly leave for Bath. I will reserve judgment until I’ve
seen how long it takes him to take the scent. If he’s to go off and
sulk each time you slip through his fingers it will certainly serve
him right if another man snaps you up.”

Demi studied Lady Wyndham uncomfortably.
“What if he gives up?”

“
Then he doesn’t deserve
you, my dear. He’s had months to pop the question and instead he
has dillied about like a green boy instead of approaching you
straight away and making certain he fixed your attentions. I
confess, I find this as intriguing as it is frustrating. It can
only mean he is completely besotted with you, whatever you think of
it. He would not be so anxious, or clumsy, if it did not mean a
great deal to him. Take my word for it, he has never been shy
before.”

Demi grimaced wryly. She wouldn’t call him
shy precisely. She was rather more inclined to think his intentions
had never been honorable and that he’d approached her exactly as
he’d meant to, clandestinely, because he’d never meant to offer her
anything more than a slip on the shoulder.

“
I see the wheels of your
mind turning, but you will allow that I am vastly more experienced
than you, my dear, and I know my son. He told me months ago that he
had decided that it was time to settle down and that he had his eye
on someone.”

Demi twisted her hands in her lap. “But he
didn’t say it was me.”

Lady Wyndham waved that away. “He didn’t
need to. It was as plain as the nose on your face. It is just as
Sarah said. From the moment you entered any room, he rarely took
his eyes from you.”

Demi said nothing, for she was certain she
would have noticed herself if that had been the case. The mention
of Sarah distracted her, however. “I thought Sarah was to be my
maid.”

Lady Wyndham shrugged. “I
left her in the country for further training. In any case, she has
already proven that she can be trusted to allow you to wrap her
around your finger at any time you want something, whether it is
good for you or not. You are putty in my son’s hands and need
someone about you to shake a bit of sense into you … not someone
who is putty in
your
hands.”

Demi flushed, but she could hardly deny the
accusations.

She was relieved when they reached Lady
Wyndham’s townhouse. The headache she’d claimed had manifested
itself and she excused herself and went directly up to her room.
She’d only just settled in her bed when she heard the commotion
downstairs of an arrival. Her heart immediately leapt as it
occurred to her that it might be Garrett, but she knew Lady Wyndham
would be extremely displeased with her if she leapt from the bed
and dressed herself.

In a little while, the guest departed once
more. Shortly afterwards, Lady Wyndham arrived at her door, tapped
lightly and entered, a devilish smile curling her lips.

“
Who was it?”

Lady Wyndham chuckled. “My son, of course. I
had the butler tell him that we had retired for the evening and
that he should call around tomorrow at a decent hour.”

Demi’s eyes widened. “I thought we were
leaving in the morning?”

“
We are, my dear. Garrett
will almost certainly be most put out.”

Demi was dismayed, but despite that, Lady
Wyndham was so obviously enjoying herself hugely that she couldn’t
help but be amused, as well.

“
You are not worried that
he will be furious with us both?”

She laughed. “I’m counting on it!”

Demi was exhausted by the time they arrived
in Bath, both physically and emotionally. She might have been
inclined to think the grueling pace they set was in the nature of
flight except for the fact that they had set a similar pace when
they had left Wyndham Park for London and it had become clear that
Lady Wyndham was not one who cared to travel sedately. She focused
completely upon her destination and wanted no time wasted in
reaching it.

Despite that, the coach was no match for a
determined rider. Sir Curtis and Lord Melville set out with them as
escorts. Garrett and Mr. Collier caught up with them on the
road.

One look at the set of Garrett’s jaw was
enough to assure both ladies that he wasn’t at all pleased with the
turn of events. Since Lady Wyndham had had the forethought to have
the servants pack a basket for them, however, he was not given the
opportunity to express his displeasure before they reached
Bath.

When they reached Bath, Lady Wyndham thanked
their escorts and dismissed them, assuring them that they would be
at home to visitors the following day. Garrett refused to take the
hint and followed them inside.

“
I must suppose my memory
is at fault, for I do not recall that you said that you would be
leaving London for Bath today,” he said tightly the moment the door
closed behind them.

Lady Wyndham lifted her brows at him, but
instead of commenting immediately, she turned to Demi. “You must
run up to your room and rest, my dear. I can see you are quite pale
with fatigue.”

She nodded wordlessly. The truth was she was
tired, but she was also anxious to escape the confrontation she
could see brewing between Lady Wyndham and her son. Garrett stopped
her, caressing her cheek lightly and she looked up at him with a
mixture of surprise and doubt. His expression was more worried than
angry, however. “You are certain you are not taking ill?”

Demi shook her head. “I am only tired.”