Free Major Wyclyff's Campaign (A Lady's Lessons, Book 2) by Jade Lee Page B

only time you were truthful was with me. I saw you come alive, Sophia. With me." He reached out, daring to touch her flushed cheek. He stroked it as he had longed to for months, while his other hand gently drew her forward into his cramped alcove.
    "You have never been more honest than when you spoke of your love of literature, your desire to see the world, even your need to please your family." He drew her closer still. Soon, her soft belly pressed against his knees. She watched him warily, her movements reluctant, but he saw the hunger in her eyes and felt an answering cry in his own blood. That knowledge emboldened him to pull her even tighter against him.
    "Sophia—"
    She stiffened. "It is every daughter's desire to please her family. It is her duty—"
    "Liar." Her body was taut, but he continued to brush his fingertips along her face, feeling Sophia's tender flesh softening beneath the warmth of his touch "You never looked more lifeless than when you told me how you longed to marry that duke or that you had danced with some viscount. You lied when you said you enjoyed those parties and routs."
    "No—"
    "A dying man sees everything, Sophia."
    "You were obviously not that close to dying," she countered.
    "I was."
    "No." The word was a bare whisper, her body as still as a statue.
    He leaned forward. He felt the hard ridges of her hips pressed against his thighs. She was nestled between his legs, and he was on fire for her. His voice became husky as he finally set his lips against the soft down of her cheek. "You could be alive again," he whispered. "Marry me, Sophia, and be happy again."
    He did not know what he said wrong. She was sweetly willing, her breath soft pants of a desire that went beyond the simply carnal. Then, suddenly, she went rigid in his arms, her fists pushing him away with a strength he had not expected from a woman.
    "You presume too much!" she said, her voice as cold as it had ever been.
    "Sophia?"
    "Do not ever touch me again," she cried, then spun away from him, storming down the hall like an ancient fury. He watched her go, his body throbbing painfully, his frustration a bitter taste in his mouth.
    What had he done wrong?
    * * *
    Sophia ran long and hard, her breath coming in painful gasps against the needle of strain in her side. She ran through the small grove behind her aunt's house, tore through the dale, running until she dropped to her knees beside a crystal-clear stream. She did not know where she was, nor did she care.
    All she knew was that she had almost given in. Again.
    She had almost allowed a man to convince her to do something he wanted because it would be "for her own good."
    Hypocritical bastards.
    Sophia let herself roll onto her side, closing her senses to everything but the sweet babble of the brook and the rich smell of wet summer grass.
    How could she have allowed it? One moment, she'd been lying through her teeth, telling the major he never meant more to her than any other injured soldier. The next, she'd been standing between his knees, her body aching for his kiss. She had been ready to do anything, to say anything, even marriage vows, if only he would let his mouth follow the excruciatingly sensitive path of his fingertips to her lips.
    Her face burned in mortification. She had been wanton, lewd, and so... needful.
    Sophia groaned and buried her face in her hands. Thank God she had come to her senses. Thank God he had revealed himself at the last moment. Marry me, Sophia , he had said, and be happy again. Arrogant ass. As if she could not be happy on her own! As if her only choice for joy was his arms!
    She was not stupid, so why did men always assume she was?
    Sophia flopped onto her back with her arm over her eyes. Her skirt was twisted beneath her, pulling it up almost to her knees. It was a totally undignified position, but she did not really care. She was free. She would not marry the arrogant major. She would do whatever she wished, because she was free.
    Free.
    She