How To Rescue A Rake (Book Club Belles Society 3) (21 page)

“Such as?”

Diana chose the first thing she could think of. “Childbirth!”

“Oh Lord!” He stretched out his arms in a gesture of supplication. “Whenever a woman raises the subject of childbirth, I know I have lost the argument.”

Mrs. Plumtre chuckled. “Aye, Captain, best give up. We ladies have the stronger case.”

“But Miss Makepiece forgets one important factor.”

“I do? What?”

He didn’t put his coat back on, but strode over to where Diana and Mrs. Plumtre stood. “A lady cannot bear my child,” he whispered, “until I first plant the seed within her.”

Diana swallowed as his hushed words trickled through her, wicked and sensuous.

“She needs me for that, does she not?” he added. “Without my
strength
to provide her with a babe, her own capacity to bear one has no purpose. It is a moot point.”

Oh, now her face felt hot. “That has nothing to do with anything,” she exclaimed. “Such a subject!”

“On the contrary. It has something to do with everything. The mating ritual between man and woman is the very essence of life. And woman, magnificent as she might be, cannot procreate without a man.” He leaned closer. “A strong, vital, potent man.”

He was trying to shock her, she realized. The man was enjoying her blushes, making the most of her mother’s absence. But was she not doing the same?

New Diana was bolder than the old one, and she would not let him render her speechless with his audacious conversation. So she answered smartly, chin up. “I don’t want a husband. They’re far more trouble than they’re worth.”

“Perhaps the right man will one day change your mind.”

“I doubt it.”

“You were badly treated by a man who broke your heart.”

Before she could reply to that, he passed Mrs. Plumtre her bonnet, gave a little bow, and smiled broadly. “I am pleased to return this to its mistress.”

“You are too good, Captain! And you render my daughters more in love with you than ever after that fine display of athleticism.”

George grumbled under his breath, but Jonty laughed with his mother.

As they all moved toward the house, Nathaniel hung back to walk with Diana. “It is lucky I have some practice climbing trees, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Is it a skill you need often, Captain? At your age?”

“Only when
extreme measures
are necessary. When I have exhausted all other methods to get a lady’s attention.”

She had noticed a stray leaf on his sleeve, caught in the roll of linen at his elbow. Had it not been for that wine, she probably could have ignored the leaf. But just then it seemed extremely important that she reach over and pluck it free. Her fingertips felt the heat of his strength through the sleeve. Sunlight tickled the hairs on his arms and made them glow.

His steps slowed, almost to a halt.

Diana stumbled over a clump of grass and knocked into his arm as it swung at his side. She could feel the contact in every part of her, every inch. Her thigh brushed against his and then, with both hands on her waist, he steadied her. Of course he should not put his hands on her. It was an impulsive move with no thought for what was proper, but he did not instantly let go and she did not protest. The others had walked on, Daisy still loudly assuring them all that she could climb a tree, or anything else, with as much ease as a man.

Nathaniel’s gaze stroked Diana’s body and meandered upward to her lips.

“The sun has put a bright glow on your cheeks, Miss Makepiece. And you’re breathing very hard. Or perhaps it was the anticipation of seeing me fall. Dare I hope you worried for me, my excessively large head, and other parts of my potent, male person?”

Diana struggled to remember that he was a flirt by nature and that this was how he teased all women. She smiled haltingly. “I fear, Captain, it is not the sun or any thoughts of you making a dent in the ground that has me in an unusually unsettled state, but rather gooseberry wine.”

His brows lifted. “Indeed?”

“A little
too much
gooseberry wine.”

“Tsk-tsk. What will become of you so far from home?”

A bold reply flew out of her. “I cannot wait to find out.”

He tipped his head to one side and squinted down at her, as if trying to read something written on her face.

“I mean to try everything I never did before,” she added. “No more jars left unopened.” She waggled a finger before his face. “Nothing saved for a day that may never come.”

“I do not like the sound of this, Miss Makepiece.” His nose twitched. “You have an air of rebellion about you.”

She laughed. “Do I? Good. About time, don’t you think?”

Apparently he was unsure about that. “I see I must be the somber one for a change and keep
you
out of trouble.”

“Hmm. Perhaps I shall take to climbing trees,” she warned saucily.

“At least I know you don’t want a man. I won’t have to worry about that.”

“That’s not what I said,” she replied. “I said I didn’t want a husband.”

The Plumtres had just turned to see where the captain and Diana were. He still had his hands on her waist, and she belatedly pulled free to rejoin the others before her mildly dizzy state caused her to do or say something even naughtier.

A few days later, while the ladies were shopping on Milsom Street, rain came down and threatened to cut their outing short. They took hasty shelter in a tea shop and as they clustered by the window, who should happen by with a handy umbrella but Captain Sherringham and Mrs. Sayles. Diana had been watching for the carriage that George Plumtre had hurried off to fetch for them, when she saw two people passing. At that same moment Nathaniel saw her and immediately turned his steps, heading inside the shop.

Her heart picked up into a canter. Since that gloriously sunny day when she, under the influence of gooseberry wine, had plucked a leaf from his shirt and confessed her desire for rebellion out loud, she had dreaded seeing him again. Would he make sport of her for being tipsy that day?

Upon sighting his tall form working its way through the huddled crowd of damp shoppers, the Misses Plumtre yelled his name in near hysteria and lavish gratitude. Anyone might think they’d been abandoned there to starvation and certain death, Diana mused.

“We’ve been waiting so long for George and the carriage,” Susanna cried, bouncing into the captain’s path and almost knocking his companion off her wooden pattens. “I begin to wonder if he is drowned and floating out there somewhere. Or he has forgotten us and gone home. He can be terribly absentminded.”

“It’s such a bl—wretched crush in here,” her sister added. “It was fun at first to be squashed together, but now we’re all very miserable and I fear we shall not get to the dressmaker’s before it closes.”

Nathaniel asked which dressmaker they had intended to visit, and Susanna explained, “Miss Makepiece has an appointment there at three o’clock with Madam Le Clair. She is in Edgar Buildings. We are quite desperate.”

Diana hastily assured them, as she had countless times already, that it didn’t matter.

“But it does,” Daisy replied firmly. “You are to have that new dress finished for the Wollaford ball.” Ever since Diana had made the error of showing them her “best” frock, the two young ladies had insisted she must have a new gown and then, much to her mortification, had persuaded Jonty that he ought to pay for it.

Elizabeth was so furious about the “needless expense of a ball gown for a woman who will never have another chance to wear it” that she would have nothing to do with this new dress and wouldn’t even come into town that day. She had been in a sulk about the ball ever since she heard that it was now bound to happen. Her husband and mother-in-law were hastily throwing plans together in a haphazard fashion, which seemed to be their usual method. And they were not consulting Elizabeth, which only threw salt in the wound.

“But you said you wanted nothing to do with the ball,” Diana had heard Jonty exclaim to his wife that morning as he was on his way out of the house.

“That does not mean I shouldn’t be consulted,” Elizabeth replied. “I am supposed to be the mistress of Wollaford, even if I am consigned to the lodge while my in-laws take possession of my rightful home.”

“Lizzie, my dear, you know this house is much cozier for the two of us and it would be cramped for the others. Until we have offspring of our own there is no sense in uprooting—”

“Do as you will then! Why not ask my cousin her opinion, since you seem keen to take hers above mine!”

“Really, Lizzie, I wonder at the way you treat your cousin. I thought you wanted her to come.”

Elizabeth had moaned under her breath. “Of course I did. One likes to have a less attractive, somewhat dowdy companion about the place. But she is being very sly and going behind my back. Even now I shouldn’t be surprised to find her eavesdropping behind a door, looking to outdo me in some matter.”

After accidentally hearing this, Diana had been eager to get out of the house, despite the threat of rain and even if it was to be fitted for a ball gown she would only wear once in her life. As Elizabeth had assured her.

Nathaniel was now examining the clock on the tea shop wall, as directed by Susanna, to see that it was already a quarter before the hour. “Might I escort you to the dressmaker with the aid of my umbrella?” he asked Diana. “Unless you prefer to wait for Mr. George Plumtre.”

The young ladies looked at her expectantly. They had been pushing her at their brother for days now, but the necessity of a perfect new ball gown undid all that. Temporarily, at least.

“Mrs. Sayles can wait here for the carriage with the others,” he continued, looking quite innocent. “I should not like you to miss your appointment, and here I am with an umbrella to put to good use.”

One likes to have a less attractive, somewhat dowdy companion about the place
.

Diana considered, glancing at the clock and then the blurred view through the rain-spattered shop window again. Finally she said, “Very well. Thank you. It is most kind.”

He offered his arm and she took it.

* * *

Nathaniel extended the umbrella over them both as they stepped out to the street.

“We’ll never get there in a quarter of an hour,” she murmured.

“Have faith, Miss Makepiece. Look at it this way. With everyone else taking shelter, we have the path almost entirely to ourselves.” He grinned down at her. “And at least you have the handsomest bull elephant in Bath to escort you.”

She shook her head, hiding her smile. Or trying to.

“And I have the most beautiful lady on my arm.”

“Don’t talk nonsense.” She flushed, just like the first time he had told her she was beautiful.

“You know me, Miss Makepiece. I am all nonsense.”

Glancing upward, she said softly, “Ah, but I don’t know you, Captain. We have only recently met.”

“So we have! I must admit, sometimes it feels as if we have known each other ten years or more,” he replied with a wink. “I am so comfortable in your presence.”

He loved having her hand tucked under his arm, holding his sleeve. It was not at all annoying. Nothing like having Caroline Sayles pawing at him.

A few other folk were braving the rain, but as he had said to Diana, the path was mostly their own. He held her closer to his side and she didn’t comment about that being improper. In fact, it almost felt as if her fingers had just stroked his arm again, with no fallen leaf to use as an excuse this time.

“Here is a shortcut,” he said, steering her around a puddle and a lamppost to walk down a narrow alley between buildings. Now they
were
alone.

His thumping heartbeat seemed to match the sound of the rain hitting his umbrella.

“I would like to explain to you about Mrs. Sayles,” he said.

“Why? It is no business of mine.”

Nathaniel looked down at her. She was staring ahead to the end of the alley, her face shaded by the umbrella. “I have been taking her about the town because she has no one else who will, you know.”

“There is no need to explain yourself to me.”

But he wanted to. “And her aunt prefers Caroline to be out as much as possible.” He sighed. “They live in a very small house and I can quite see her point.”

“Yes.”

He cleared his throat. “I wouldn’t want you to assume that Caroline and I—”

“As I did before, you mean?” She stopped walking and turned to face him. “I listened to gossip when I shouldn’t have.”

Nathaniel had not expected so much understanding. Usually women ranted and railed. They seldom apologized for leaping to a conclusion. Again he was struck by how different she was from other women he’d known.

“I should have waited to see for myself before I judged,” she said in her calm voice.

He nodded. In the shadow of the umbrella her eyes were bright and luminous. “We must walk on,” he murmured. “Your dressmaker—”

“Captain, I think you should kiss me.”

He stared. Was his mind playing tricks on him?

“My lips,” she said, “are cold.”

Nathaniel looked at her warily. “This is very sudden, Miss Makepiece. A kiss between two strangers? It can hardly be proper. Have you been at the gooseberry wine again?”

“Not yet, but I might be reduced to that if you do not obey me.”

Obey her, indeed! “More of your rebellion?”

She nodded. “Let this be my apology.”

“For?”

“Heeding gossip.”

Slowly he bent his head. She hitched a little higher on her toes. Their lips met. It was a soft brush, no more than that. But it warmed him from head to foot. “Now it is your turn, Miss Makepiece. You must tell me about George Plumtre.”

“What about him?”

“He’s always hovering around,” he replied grumpily. “I don’t like it.”

She laughed at that. “Oh, don’t you? It must be hard for the shoe to be on the other foot then.”

“Meaning, madam?”

“You, Captain, are surrounded by women wherever you go.”

He frowned. “I cannot help that.”

She pressed her lips together, that little dimple appearing in her cheek, and her left eyebrow quirked.

“I cannot,” he insisted. “It’s not as if I beg for their attention.”

“Of course not.” She sighed. “Then how can I help it if George Plumtre likes my company? I am cheering him up. I am providing a dutiful service to the poor fellow. Just as you provide your services to so many ladies.”

Nathaniel stared at her, not knowing what to say or how to manage this rare jealousy. He had continually assured himself that George was not important, but his confidence was severely tested by this uniquely difficult, challenging woman. And she was in a rebellious mood, as she’d already confessed to him. Gooseberry wine was the first step to the potential abandonment of petticoats, in his experience.

“You may as well kiss me again,” she whispered. “We’re going to be too late for the dressmaker anyway.”

As if he needed her permission! He was about to kiss her again anyway, whether she suggested it or not. But he had to smile. Only Diana would frame her request for a kiss in such a way, as if she really didn’t want one of his at all.

So he tipped her chin up with his fingers and kissed her again, harder this time, hungry and heated. The umbrella shifted and rainwater spilled down the collar of his coat, but he did not care. Her small hands came up to his face and touched it tentatively, tracing the curve of his cheek and running gloved fingertips over the light stubble.

“What are you doing to me, Diana?” he muttered, bemused, lost.

“Becoming acquainted with you again, Captain.” She ran the tip of her tongue along his lower lip. “From the beginning.”

“I sincerely hope you don’t plan to introduce yourself to other gentlemen this way.”

She put her hands around the back of his neck now, under his wet collar, linking her fingers together and easing his head down for another kiss. He groaned deeply, wrapped his free arm around her waist, and tugged her up against his body.

Her tongue shyly explored his. Nathaniel held back, not wanting to scare her away, letting her advance at her own pace. Nor was he ready to risk his heart on her again. Not yet. He had gambled all before and lost.

But his pulse raced. Her perfume filled his senses, lifting him out of that rainy alley and into a fragrant summer meadow somewhere.

Then she lowered her heels again, slipping down his body. Her gaze met his and held it. As the rain ended and the sun came out again, everything around them seemed to be sprinkled with diamonds. But nothing compared to the breathtaking beauty of her eyes glittering up at him.

“I give you permission, Captain, to seduce me.”

* * *

Diana Makepiece, what has come over you?

Oh, she didn’t care. She didn’t want to think sensibly. This powerful, driving need had taken possession of her. The feel of his arm around her, the heat and strength of his body against hers was more than any flesh-and-blood woman could withstand.

And that was all she was. A flesh-and-blood human. A woman with faults like any other.

Needs and desires like any other.

What was he waiting for?

While she had stood in that shop staring out at the rain, a little voice inside her head had told her that she would see Nathaniel.

He will pass by at any minute. Any minute he will come.

Was it premonition or simply her wishful thinking? Or was it because she had grown accustomed to the sight of him popping up wherever she went?

Then he was there, a tall streak of sunlight appearing in the midst of the gray rain. The wings of excitement, as feverish and wildly unnecessary as those of a fifteen-year-old girl, lifted her up until she felt as if she floated several feet above the ground.

“Well?” she demanded. “Have you nothing to say?”

“About what?”

“Seducing me.”

Nathaniel kept his arm around her, the umbrella still held in his other hand, while he examined her face carefully, thoughtfully.

Impatient, she warned, “If you don’t bloody well hurry up and say something, I shall take back my permission.”

His eyes narrowed. “That Daisy Plumtre is a bad influence on you, I see.”

“But you like merry, lively girls who speak up for themselves, take risks, and don’t trouble over too much deep thought.”

Slowly he smiled. “I like
you
, Diana Makepiece. I think I might like you better than any other.”

She stepped back. Or perhaps it was more of a sway.

“When you’re not scowling at me and putting up prickles, of course. Or decrying the purpose of my manly parts.” He drew her close again, and when he sighed, she felt it travel through his body and into hers.

“I want this to be part of my adventure in Bath,” she told him. “I am quite decided. Since I shan’t marry, why not take a lover?” Diana discovered she rather liked saying that. It rolled very pleasingly off the tongue. Again she thought of her cousin’s words,
One likes to have a less attractive, somewhat dowdy companion about the place.

That would not be her. “I am determined,” she added.

He stared. “You are determined, are you indeed?”

“I am. And since you have experience…and, I hear, considerable skill in the bedroom, why not you?”

He inhaled sharply. “Miss Makepiece, you are quite possibly mad.”