The Bachelor Bargain (Secrets, Scandals, and Spies) by Michaels, Maddison (short books to read TXT) 📕

used the silver handle of her cane to rap on the wood paneling, and almost immediately the vehicle swiftly set off.

“A handy little thing, your cane.” He gave it back to her and Livie took it with relief.

“It has knocked many an impertinent man on his head, so don’t tempt me.” To which Sebastian laughed. “Who is driving my carriage back? My father will probably notice one of them missing.”

“One of my men is following us with it.”

Silence filled the carriage, while the soft light from the lamp affixed to the panel behind Sebastian furnished the cabin with a rather intimate glow. She couldn’t see his eyes or expression, so she had no idea what the man was thinking, let alone thought about her escapade tonight.

“Well…” she ventured, drumming her fingers against her lap. “That was a very interesting evening, wasn’t it?”

She couldn’t be sure, but she thought he may have raised his eyebrow in that expression of amused disbelief of his that she was coming to recognize.

“Interesting is not the word I would have used to describe it,” Sebastian replied. “Foolhardy, idiotic, perhaps even ridiculous, are the sorts of adjectives I would have said are applicable to your evening’s shenanigans. Particularly after I told you to consult with me first. And sending me a note is not consulting me.”

He’d preempted her. “Well, what is done is done. And it’s good you know I am my own woman. I do not take orders from anyone.” Livie raised her eyes and held his, determined to convey this truth to him, regardless of the close scrutiny with which he was returning her stare.

“Tell me what happened,” he demanded, stretching his legs out in the carriage, his trousers brushing lightly against her skirt.

Livie ignored the thrill shooting up her legs from the contact and quickly told him of her conversation with Mary. “Who do you think would try to shoot me, or Mary for that matter? Actually, they might not even have been trying to shoot me. They may well have thought I was Lady Chilton, who was expected. Could she be the target?”

“Perhaps,” he said. “But, damn it, you shouldn’t have gone anywhere alone. Whispers have reached me that someone is seeking to have a lady assassinated, and the more you are shot at, the more I do believe you could be the target!” He went to slam his fist against the side of the carriage but stopped himself at the last moment and slowly unfurled his hand.

“You think I’m truly in danger?”

“I don’t know,” he exhaled harshly. “My men are trying to find out. But you could be. Which is exactly why I didn’t want you to go to this midnight rendezvous without me. And why the men I tasked to protect you will get their ears boxed for letting you go in the cemetery alone.”

“Why didn’t you tell me of the danger I am in?” She had never felt so furious in her life. “Did you not think I deserved to know? What, because I’m a woman, and with a disability, too?”

“It has nothing to do with your gender or your limp,” he rumbled. “As I don’t know you are the target for certain, I didn’t wish to worry you.”

“So that’s why your men have been tailing me?” It was beginning to make sense now. “To protect me? My, you really do go to a lot of trouble to protect your investments, don’t you? And if you must know, I did want you to attend, that is why I visited you at your boxing arena and then sent you the note after, telling you of the time and place. You were the one to distract me from the issue by kissing me earlier!”

“Oh really. It is my fault, is it?”

“Yes, it is!” she answered, her eyes never leaving his own. “Like I said, if you hadn’t distracted me, I would have told you, but instead you kissed me and then we were interrupted, and that was the end of that.”

“It wasn’t the end of anything.”

He reached forward and plucked her from her seat, pulling her onto his lap in a tangle of skirt, silk, and bustle.

She sucked in a breath, but rather than clear her suddenly clouded head, his woodsy scent of soap and sandalwood filled her every sense, and she was lost.

His eyes caught her own and his hands circled softly around her waist. “As you said, we were interrupted, and I did want to change your impression of my passable kisses.”

“You did?” Her voice was but a whisper.

“Yes. And now I will.” With that, he lowered his head and his lips captured her own.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Sebastian knew it was a bad idea as soon as his lips pressed against hers, but he couldn’t stop himself. He’d been craving her with a burning need since he’d tasted her sweet softness earlier. He had to feel her again, to touch her, to devour her.

His lack of control when it came to this woman was fast becoming a problem, but he’d think about that later, when the very scent of her wasn’t driving him to distraction. As it was, the smooth velvety softness of her lips were simply begging to be feasted upon.

She was slightly hesitant as he gently nudged her lips open under his, but he wanted to break down those barriers. He wanted her to open fully to experience pleasure. He touched his tongue to hers and she moaned, pushing herself even closer to him as her tongue intertwined with his.

Sebastian groaned in response, and his hand circled her waist, pulling her even more tightly against him, her small bustle happily pushing out behind her. One of his hands slowly skimmed up the side of her body until he gradually began to brush his fingers against the underside of her breast through the fabric of her gown.

“Oh my,” she whispered on a breathless little gasp as her lips pulled back from his.

Her eyes were dark and