“Because you are too special to be Millie. You are unique and desirable. Special. Millicent suits you better.”
She drew a shaky breath, telling herself not to believe his sweet words or the concern in his green eyes.
“Don’t believe me?” he asked with a lift of his brow.
“No.” She bit her lip, surprised she’d told him the truth.
“You are an excellent friend, something I know from Eliza and I also saw for myself when you joined with friends to thwart the rogues and their wager. You are intelligent and clever and have a big heart. Your beauty shines from within.”
Millie caught her breath at the sincerity in his expression, and her big heart melted. Was it any wonder this man had captured her interest?
He reached to trail a single finger along her cheek and nodded. “Just as I remembered.”
She stiffened, the desire coursing through her at odds with her thoughts. “What?”
“I told myself your skin couldn’t be as soft and smooth as I thought, but it is.”
His gaze dropped to her lips, and her entire body tingled in response. “I want to kiss you more than I want my next breath. Why else would I have sent you the message asking you to meet me here?”
She licked her lips, unable not to when he stared at them so. “I-I don’t b-believe you.” She didn’t dare. But oh, how she wished he meant what he’d said. How she wished she was the type of lady to stir passion in a man like him.
“Then allow me to prove it.”
Her breath halted, thoughts racing as she took in the heated look in his eyes. She no longer knew what to think. “How?”
His slow smile was enough to curl her toes, but that only proved how attractive she found him. He couldn’t possibly desire her. His body brushed against the length of her, the intimate gesture loosening liquid heat deep inside her, putting all her senses on high alert. “May I kiss you, Millicent?”
“Y-yes.” That would end this ridiculous seduction. The kiss would be over and done, and that would be that. Her bold move would be completed, and she could focus on something else.
He released her hand to hold her waist, then dipped his head until their breath mingled. His hand lifted to cradle her neck, its warmth seeping into her, causing her breasts to tighten.
Oh, dear. Perhaps this wouldn’t prove what she hoped, whatever that had been. At the moment, she couldn’t think. Not when her body felt so alive, as if it sparkled with a thousand points of light.
Then he took her mouth with his, moving slowly. The bliss that swept through her weakened her knees, though the kiss had just begun.
His tongue pressed against the seam of her lips, demanding entry. Of course, she answered. Millie might not know precisely what she was doing but intended to give as good as she got if this was to be her only kiss with Winston. She’d only briefly kissed one other man several years ago, but this was as different as night and day. Winston might only be dallying with her, but in this moment, she couldn’t bring herself to care. She was a woman of six and twenty and ready to experience passion.
He groaned, the sound reverberating through her, sending ripples of pleasure along her skin. Then he reached for her hands to lift them above her head and pressed his body against hers into the wall, from head to toe, the intimacy stealing her breath and making it impossible to think.
Somehow, the position left her feeling exposed and vulnerable. And it pushed her breasts against his hard chest. She felt his hips shift against her belly, and she could no longer deny that he desired her.
He deepened the kiss, his tongue thrusting against hers until a throbbing in her very center echoed the beat.
“Millicent,” he murmured, kissing along her cheek, then her jaw, and down her neck. Her breasts tightened as passion took an even firmer hold. “I want you.”
“Yes.” She tugged a hand free to guide him toward her for another kiss, never wanting the moment to end.
Only when he broke the kiss to look into her eyes, passion darkening the jade green to emerald, did she realize what she’d said.
Every inch of her wanted him, and she ached with need. But not unless he wed her. Marriage was the only option for her. She wanted a husband and hoped it could be Winston. “I-I mean no.”
He frowned. “No?”
“No...thank you?” Did one need to be polite when refusing? She had no idea. She blinked to clear her befuddled thoughts. “I-I mean I w-want you, as well.” Admitting that aloud made it all the more real. “But I am looking for a husband. Not a lover.”
Winston’s lips twisted. Not quite a scowl, but certainly not a smile. “I am not that man, Millicent.”
Disappointment speared through her after what they’d just shared. Yet she was woman enough to know he desired her.