A Woman Made for Pleasure (13 page)
Chase momentarily stopped and weighed her with a puzzled expression. “Do you not normally spread something on the ground to cushion your falls?”
Millie crossed her arms in front of her. “I do not fall.”
His mouth twitched with amusement. “You will today,” Chase replied with an unmistakable chuckle to his voice.
His smirk irritated her. He still believed her to be the same helpless little girl he had saved so many years ago. Well, he was going to find out different, she thought as she lunged after him.
Chase easily sidestepped her assault and laughed at her effort. The combination of failure and embarrassment goaded her into a follow-on move that landed her flat on her back, pinned, and looking up into golden eyes sparkling with laughter.
“Now, are you not pleased that I thought of the hay?” Seeing the hot, furious tears welling in her eyes, he realized her pride was seriously bruised. “Millie, never let emotion rule your actions. It makes you vulnerable and forecasts your intentions.”
Millie choked back her humiliation and stared into amber eyes that captured hers, taking in her every move. Her embarrassment quickly dissolved, and mounting desire filled its void. Conscious of his hard thighs holding her down, Millie fought the unwelcome desire to be kissed by him one more time.
Several silent moments passed before Millie spoke, her voice trembling. “I’ll have to remember that.”
Chase released her reluctantly and fought to retain control. Their proximity disturbed him more than he had anticipated. Regardless, he could not force himself to prematurely end their time together. “Well, then, since I highly doubt you go around Town haphazardly attacking gentlemen, let us practice a more real-life situation. I would like to see how you would react if someone came after you.”
His crisp voice was distant and detached, a complete turnabout from the smoldering looks he had just been sending.
Get control of yourself
, Millie silently chided herself.
He obviously couldn’t give a fig over what happened. Focus
.
Get control of yourself
, Millie silently chided herself.
He obviously couldn’t give a fig over what happened. Focus
.
For the next half hour, Chase worked with Millie. He was surprised to discover she was much more skilled than he originally imagined. While at any time he could render her helpless, he recognized that many of his sex—including those noblemen who thought they knew something about combat—would be on the ground if they challenged her. She had expanded the few techniques he had shown her and reinvented them so that her small size was now a benefit rather than a disadvantage.
He was impressed.
Millie was frustrated.
She knew she was not entirely unskilled, but Chase was certainly making her feel that way. She had ended up on the ground countless times, and he had yet to lose his footing even once. At first, she had blamed her dress, but she soon realized the result would have been the same even if she had been wearing breeches.
Preparing for his next move, Millie decided to see if Chase’s rules applied to him. What did he say?
Never let emotion rule your actions
. Just as he approached her, she spoke up. “I saw you with Sir Edward earlier. I guess I should have believed him when he told me he was once a spy.”
Never let emotion rule your actions
. Just as he approached her, she spoke up. “I saw you with Sir Edward earlier. I guess I should have believed him when he told me he was once a spy.”
All Chase was able to get out was half a
What?
before he found himself on the dirt floor, looking up.
What?
before he found himself on the dirt floor, looking up.
Millie continued to straddle him as she gazed down, her dusty-purple eyes sparkling with satisfaction at her accomplishment. She didn’t care what happened for the rest of the day; she would be in a good mood.
Something akin to alarm flickered briefly in Chase’s eyes. Millie saw him suppress it almost at once, but it had been too late. Realization dawned on her. She was not supposed to have seen that meeting. Nobody was supposed to have seen it. “No one saw anything of any import, Chase. I assure you. Sir Edward’s disguise was most excellent.”
Chase lay motionless for several seconds, quietly digesting her words. He thought of denying her conclusions, but knew the effort would be futile.
His silence flustered Millie. “Honestly, Chase. Even I did not realize it was Sir Edward until he took a deep breath and nodded his head at that odd angle. I saw him do the same thing at Bassel’s when you were speaking together then. Trust me when I say it genuinely did look as if you were giving instructions to your driver. It did not appear that you were meeting with anyone, let alone Sir Edward.”
Under a dark brown curtain of her tousled hair, their eyes locked, and Millie felt an overwhelming warmth again flow through her veins. Her heart began to pound. If she didn’t know better, she would think she was falling in love with the man.
Chase looked into her tumultuous gaze, gave a low, frustrated groan, and flipped her over, easily reversing their positions. He framed her face with his hands while pinning her to the floor with his hips. His breath fanned her cheek. “Forget what you saw, Millie. Do not tell anyone—not even Aimee or Jennelle. It’s important.”
Her heart skipped two beats and then went into frantic overdrive. She couldn’t speak. Her only response to his request was a quick nod before he lowered his head and invaded the soft, vulnerable warmth behind her lips.
For days, Chase had been dreaming of this. He felt her shiver in his arms, but Millie did not pull away. Instead, her fingers clenched his shoulders, evidence of her own sense of need and urgency.
He uttered a low growl as his tongue caressed, hungrily tasting the sweetness of her mouth. Her response was intoxicating. She was soft and welcoming and Chase felt his control almost shattered by her eagerness. She was so receptive to his touch. He immediately craved more.
Chase raised his head and stared down into darkening lavender pools swimming with passion. Marveling at her beauty, he felt her stir beneath him. The movement sent a surge of burning fire through his loins. The sweltering heat arcing between them was almost palpable. Chase knew he should stop, but when the flowery scent of Millie’s skin invaded his senses, he dismissed all reason and recaptured her mouth. Deepening the embrace, Chase plunged inside, drinking in her adventurous spirit in hopes it would dispel his demons and make him feel like a whole man, not the emotionless creature he had been for so long.
The gleam in Chase’s eyes before he had recommenced his kiss had been ravenous. Millie clutched at him, overwhelmed with innocent desire, unable to rationalize what was happening. She knew she should do something to stop his passionate assault, but she could not muster the will to push him away. Ever since she had seen him again, she had wanted Chase to kiss her, totally and completely. And now that she was in his arms, the last thing she wanted to do was leave. Never had any adventure made her feel this alive, this complete.
Chase slowly released her lips and began to trail kisses down her cheek and neck. “Charles, I don’t understand what is happening to me.” Her voice was distant music.
Chase trapped her head gently between his hands. Millie stared up at him through her lashes. “Millie. Know that I would never hurt you. Just be with me.” And then he bent his head and trapped her lips with a slow, inviting passion that took her breath away.
The hot, sweet, sensual embrace went on and on, suffusing his body with an aching need for more. The searing kiss took on a new excitement as his mouth explored the skin around her nape. His hands were roving along her spine, cursing the thin cloth blocking her skin from his touch. Chase heard himself moan and knew he was on the brink of no return.
Millie quivered with pleasure and instinctively arched her back, pressing her breasts into his chest. Her pulse raced. Warmth welled up inside of her in places she never knew existed. It was mingled with a sense of need so acute it made her tremble.
Gathering her in his arms, Chase returned his mouth to hers. Their lips moved hungrily against each other. His thumbs traced the lines of her cheekbones.
Chase could feel his raging hunger for Millie begin to roar past the last of his defenses. A great shudder of need wracked him. He had to stop before he could no longer find the ability to resist.
Slowly, he raised his head and peered into her passion-filled eyes. He stared down at her tempting lips, and every muscle in his body tensed. It took all of his will to not bend down and plunge into her mouth again. He wanted her. Badly.
Chase buried his head against her neck and breathed in her scent, wanting to just lie there and not worry about anything else. Instead, scraping up the last crumbs of his honor, he rose to his feet and offered her his hand. “Come, let us go back to the main house.” His voice was gruff.
Unable to speak, Millie nodded and headed toward the manor, sensing Chase behind her.
They entered through the back door, both trying to decipher, emotionally and logically, what had just happened. Their encounter at Vauxhall Gardens could be easily explained by heightened emotions, anger, and fear of discovery. It had been passionate and wild. But what had transpired between them today had been something much more—a driving need to possess and completely consume the other.
Standing alone with Chase in the hall by the rear stairs, Millie had never been so acutely conscious of a man’s presence before in her life. There was danger in Chase’s masculine power, she realized. Danger that, when it came too near, she was powerless to resist.
Deep into her internal monologue, Millie was not aware of Elda Mae speaking to her.
“My lady? Did you hear me?”
Startled, feeling as if she had just been caught, Millie swung around, wide-eyed. “What? Uh, no, my apologies, Elda Mae. What were you saying?”
“I said that a Lord Marston has just arrived and is waiting for you in the drawing room. He said you were expecting him.”
Millie’s eyes grew large, and her lips parted in surprise. “I . . . Oh my, I completely forgot I agreed to meet with him. Please ask him to wait, and say that I will be down to visit soon. I must change my dress before I meet with him.”
Elda Mae eyed the straw clinging all over her charge’s old, worn day gown. It was obvious Millie was unaware of her state or that hay was poking through what remained of her coiffure. Then Elda Mae’s gaze narrowed on Chase, who was leaning on his right fist against a narrow hall table. His knuckles were white with tension. She glanced back at Millie and replied, “I expect a change of gowns would be in order, my lady. I’ll send one of the maids up to fix your hair.”
Chase ignored the scathing look Elda Mae issued him as she departed to deliver Millie’s message. Millie took a step toward the staircase and Chase moved to block her path. He was furious. He forced himself to speak slowly and deliberately on the off chance that he had misunderstood.
“You agreed to meet Lord Marston?”
Millie frowned, hearing the disapproval in his voice. “Yes, I did. He sent a note this morning asking if he could visit, and I replied that he could.”
Knowing she had rejected countless other requests, Chase’s expression was ominous, his golden eyes flashing with fury. “Do this often? Kiss one man before entertaining another?”
Millie flinched at the harsh coldness of his tone. She took a firm grip on her resolve. She had to stay relaxed and rational if she was to have any chance at calming Chase down.
“Do not be ridiculous. I assure you,
nothing
could persuade me to be interested in that man.”
nothing
could persuade me to be interested in that man.”
Chase’s face hardened. “I think not. You agreed to meet with him. And the other night at cards, you didn’t retreat from his advances as you were doing with the others. I saw you.”
Millie felt her anger take over. How dare he? She raised her chin, her violet eyes flashing with outrage. “Oh, really? Was this the same night Selena Hall decided to drape herself all over you? I certainly did not see you disentangling yourself from her tentacles. Your reaction was quite the opposite, if I remember.”
Chase blinked. Her expression was both mocking and defiant as she confronted him. He listened to her words, but what was much more telling was the sound of her voice. Millie was jealous. And the idea that Mildred Aldon had been as aware of him as he had been of her, assuaged his envy-driven anger. “Millie, that was different. I am not interested in Selena.”
Millie was not mollified. “I must say that it certainly did not appear that way.
However
, I can claim the same lack of interest toward Lord Marston. I have my own reasons for meeting with him, and now, Charlie, if you will excuse me, I must leave and change into something suitable.”
However
, I can claim the same lack of interest toward Lord Marston. I have my own reasons for meeting with him, and now, Charlie, if you will excuse me, I must leave and change into something suitable.”
Millie quickly sidestepped his blockade and headed up the back stairs. She was halfway up the steps when Chase realized she had reverted to calling him Charlie again. It was not intentional. She probably was not even aware she had said it. In fact, her combative demeanor toward him strongly resembled her attitude when they were younger. Suddenly Chase wanted to hear his name on her lips. The one she had used outside in the stables. The one she had uttered when she was aware only of him.
Near the top of the stairs, Millie suddenly felt strong fingers grasp her arm. “Charlie, whatever are you do—”
Chase cut her question off, pulling her into a deep, bone-rattling embrace. He held her head between his hands, urging her to her tiptoes. He was kissing her long and soft and deep, delving possessively into her mouth, capturing her tongue, and drawing it into his own. The kiss was intense, mind numbing, and brief. She was noticeably shaking when he finally released her.
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