Chapter Twenty-Two
Max was loath to step out of Yihui’s room, but he had to go before he touched her again.
Something about her clung to his thoughts and would not be dislodged no matter how inappropriate his desire.
How ironic that honor demanded he not touch his own fiancée.
It would be no hardship to give her longing looks or public caresses.
He would act the besotted fool and show Prinny that he wanted to marry Yihui.
He did not, of course. He knew his duty to the Crown.
It did not include marrying a stolen Chinese woman.
But such was the twisted motivations when dealing with the prince.
The royal wanted to punish Max for stopping him from leering at Yihui’s feet.
If Max appeared to enjoy his punishment—his upcoming marriage—then Prinny would be irked.
When Yihui eventually jilted him, Max would appear devastated.
At that point, the prince would be very pleased and allow the nuptials to end.
It was a convoluted process, but Prinny could be petty. This was the best way to handle his royal moods.
Satisfied with this day’s work, Max headed for his bedroom. Lord, his cock throbbed as he imagined her coy eyes as she wrapped her lips around—
He stepped quickly into his bedroom. No one would know what he was about to do. He’d already dismissed his valet for the night and—
His nose wrinkled at an unexpected scent in his room. It wasn’t unpleasant, per se, but it was a scent he connected with Kimberly, the liniment she used on elderly dogs to ease their pains, not quite covered by her perfume.
He quickly lit the candelabra and turned to see, to his shock, Lady Kimberly sitting by his fire.
Her feet were stretched out before her, and her head was tucked against the chair wing.
She looked asleep, but as he took a step closer, he saw her green eyes open to regard him with her usual quiet calm.
The sight was unnerving.
“Kimberly? You shouldn’t be in here!”
“You’d be surprised what can be ignored in a long-time family friend. Especially one who should have married you by now.”
He winced. “I’m doing everything—”
“Papa has commanded me to seduce you.”
He gaped at her, sure that he had misheard. Her father was more conservative than his own.
“That cannot be true.”
“I assure you it is. Mama suggested I wait until we are sure to conceive a child.”
He blinked. “You can determine that?”
She shrugged. “She mentioned several old wives tales that will guarantee conception.”
He had no idea what to say to that. And then, while he was still gathering his wits, she straightened off the chair.
Some women coil out of their seat. Some women seemed to flow upwards.
Kimberly simply thrust out her feet until she stood squarely before him.
And then she set her hands to her bodice.
“What are you doing?” he gasped, shocked that she would be so bold.
She pulled apart the ribbon. “Haven’t I just told you?”
Good lord, where was his valet? “Don’t be daft. Moore could come in any moment!”
“I have bribed him to stay away.” She smiled. “He believes you have treated me poorly and promised to scream like a stuck pig when he discovers us in the morning.”
The bloody traitor. “Kim, we cannot begin like this.
“I don’t care how we begin, Max, so long as we do.”
What was he to say to that? She was right. She was always right. But the truth was, he had no lust for her. No desire beyond duty. Especially since she usually acted as an older sister rather than a future wife.
Worse, having come from Yihui’s room, Kimberly suddenly seemed overly large with blunt features and no artifice.
It was unfair. She was a lovely Englishwoman of statuesque proportions.
Unfortunately, his imagination was caught by an injured Chinese woman with soft features and exotic eyes.
It was nobody’s fault, but his erection had shrunk the moment he realized Kimberly was in his bedroom.
“This isn’t going to work.”
“That’s what I’m here to find out.” She stepped forward, facing him squarely. “Kiss me,” she said.
“What?”
“A single kiss. You owe me that much. Surely that’s not a hardship.”
“Of course not, but—”
“Make it a good one. I want passion in my marriage. I want to be swept away, and I want you to do it.”
“Since when?” She’d never said such a thing before.
“Since now, I suppose,” she said, apparently as surprised as him by the statement.
Then she spread her arms wide. She offered him her plump breasts, her bodice already loosened for his ease. And she looked at him with a kind of desperation he didn’t know how to refuse.
He still tried.
“Listen, Kim, I have a plan.”
“So do I.” She put her hand around his neck and pulled him forward. He could have stopped her, but she was right. She was the woman he planned to marry.
But he couldn’t do it.
He untangled her hand from his body. “I will not seduce you, Kim. Nor you me. I have worked out an arrangement with Yihui. We are to pretend to be enamored of one another. Long enough for Prinny to become annoyed that I am not suffering under his supposed punishment.”
“What punishment?”
He waved his hand in a gesture meant to convey stupidity. “You know how Prinny is. He’s forcing our wedding because he thinks I’m completely against it.”
“You are completely against it?”
Maybe yes. For the most part. “I will pretend to enjoy my punishment, then become devastated when Yihui cries off. Prinny will see me despondent, believe me adequately punished, and so will allow this wedding nonsense to end. Then I can marry you.”
Her mouth dropped open. “After appearing despondent over losing Yihui?”
“Yes, but you will remind me of your charms, and I shall tumble head over heels in love with you.”
“With me? You won’t even kiss me. You’ve never kissed me.”
It was true, and now he saw how deeply that hurt her.
For all the years he had known her, she’d seemed happy to live apart from him, to care for her dogs, and speak of their engagement in “whenever” terms. It was only lately that she had begun to press him.
And only tonight that she spoke about passion.
“Kim,” he rasped, suddenly overwhelmed by how deeply he’d hurt her. “I’m so sorry.”
She pressed the palm of her hand against his chest. It was the warmest gesture he’d ever received from her. Her hand lay flat there, her fingers long, and he covered it with his own.
“I am crying off, Max.”
“But—”
“Neither of us want to wed. I could have brought you up to scratch years ago, but I let you delay and delay.”
“Prinny prefers bachelors as his confidents. It’s what Lord Benedict asked me to do. It’s how I serve—”
“I know. And I allowed it because I don’t want to marry you.”
He sighed. Just like an older sister, she made him admit things he didn’t want to acknowledge. “We’ve never really suited, have we?”
“Of course, we do,” she said. “As friends. As brother and sister, perhaps, but we’d make terrible lovers.”
“And you want passion in your marriage bed.”
“Don’t you?”
Yes. But he knew better than to expect it. “What will you do?” he pressed.
“I don’t know. I’ll have to make the social rounds.”
She was going to hate that.
He squeezed her hand. “I’ll help however I can. Do you want me to stay away from you? Shall I act piqued? Shall I—”
“Pine for me?”
“I will do it if you want.”
She snorted. “I think you are doing altogether too much playacting, Max. I think you should act exactly as you would with a good friend. We shall dance together occasionally. We will laugh with one another rather more than usual, I think. And we will show the world that neither of us ever cared for the other.”
“You know that’s not true.”
“You know what I mean.”
He did. She wanted his friendship, not his passion. And that suited him just fine. “You have always been my true friend.”
“And you mine.” She smiled. “I haven’t forgotten all the times you danced with me to help me relax. You told me terrible jokes and—”
“Made fun of your ugly dogs.”
“As if you understand what is beautiful in a dog.”
“Maybe not a dog,” he said as he gathered her fingers. Lifting them up, he pressed a kiss to the back of her hand and gave her the most courtly of bows. “You are a beautiful woman, Lady Kimberly. I would be sore aggrieved if I have destroyed our friendship.”
“You have not,” she said. “But your sister will never forgive you.”
He groaned. That was true.
“I’ll handle her,” he said.
“You’ll try,” she said with a laugh. “But I’ll explain it to her. You can figure out what to tell Moore tomorrow morning when he bursts in on nothing.”
He chuckled. “May I walk you home?”
“Just to the stable, I think.”
“You cannot walk home alone.”
“Oh I shan’t be alone. I brought Rufus and Brown Dog with me. They’re right now terrorizing your stable hands.”
“Good God. The boys will quit, every one!”
“Just tell them that we will never wed. That will soothe their nerves.”
And so he extended his elbow to her, and she set her fingertips upon his forearm. They descended the stairs together as he had always assumed they would one day as duke and duchess.
He ended up walking her home though her two mastiffs intimidated him. He knew that at a word from her, those animals would tear him to pieces. It wasn’t until his return walk home that he realized he was whistling. It was a happy, jaunty tune that filled the night air with joy.
Good lord, when was the last time he had ever felt so free?