Free Ruined by a Rake by Erin Knightley

avail.
    Chuckling indulgently, he said, “No need to worry, my dear. I have already spoken with your uncle, and obtained his permission to ask you to be my wife. Such an intimacy is to be expected.” He lowered his head slightly, and she exhaled in an effort to ward off the smell of his breath. “Besides, Malcolm told me how favorably inclined you were to accept my suit. I’m honored that you think well enough of me to approach your uncle about such a thing.”
    Alarm catapulted into panic as her blood turned to ice. She was supposed to have more time—she wasn’t properly prepared yet.
    “Lord Henry, I . . . ” Her mind went blank as she desperately cast about for a proper response—one that would not result in a betrothal announcement.
    He squeezed her hand and grinned. “I can see you are quite beside yourself. To be expected, I think. Perhaps we shall bypass words for a moment.”
    Bypass words? What did— Oh heaven help her, he was leaning in for a kiss. Eleanor tensed, her mind flailing about for a way to escape.
    “There you are.”
    The sharp, jovial words made them startle apart, and Eleanor stumbled backward a few steps, desperate for space. Nick stood at the door, outlined by the blazing candles of the drawing room behind him. He stepped toward them, his muscled shoulders ramrod straight and his hands clasped behind his back. His features were arranged in polite greeting, but his eyes blazed in the torchlight. “Lord Henry, my stepfather asked that I retrieve you. He had a most pressing matter which he feels must be discussed at once.”
    Eleanor sucked in great gusts of air, trying to regain her composure. Nick had never looked more handsome, more like a savior than he did in that moment, especially with his smart crimson army dress jacket.
    “Now? Can you tell him I’ll be in momentarily?” Henry sounded as befuddled as she felt.
    Nick lifted his chin in a gesture designed to showcase his authority. “I’m afraid he was most insistent, my lord. I’ll wait here with my cousin while you see to him. She’ll be here when you return.”
    For the first time, Eleanor could imagine him dressing down one of his men. He emanated power and superiority with little more than a stern expression and commanding voice. Henry glanced back at Eleanor for a moment, clearly unsure of what to do. She found a smile, heaven knew where from, and nodded encouragingly. “Do hurry back.”
    She held her breath as he hesitated, willing him to leave. A moment later he relented. “Very well. I’ll be only a moment.” He offered a dip of his head before hurrying inside.
    Oh thank God. She released her breath, sagging against the balustrade. That had been a very near thing. She turned her attention to her unlikely hero and offered him a wan smile. “I shall never be able to repay you for your timing. Or Uncle Robert’s timing, I suppose.”
    He stepped closer to her, tilting his head but never taking his eyes from her. “Oh? And why is that?”
    “Because he just asked me to marry him,” she exclaimed, putting a hand to her heart. “I, I didn’t know what to say, and then he was leaning toward me and I was so flustered that I didn’t know what to do and then . . . ” She trailed off, shaking her head.
    He took a nother step. “And then . . .?”
    She sucked in a cleansing breath and peered up at him. “You were there.”
    His eyes were piercing in the near darkness. “Because you needed me.”
    “Yes. But I thought . . .” She pictured him, turning away from her pleas as she’d silently begged for his help.
    “What did you think?”
    Her heart pounded and she couldn’t even say why. “That you turned your back on me. That you put me from your mind.” But she’d been wrong. He was here now, there when she needed him most.
    “Never ,” he said, the single word rife with conviction. “But I did have to make my excuses.” He stepped nearer still, bringing them at once entirely too close together and not