Chapter Five

Drake sat in his library starring into the flames as he took another sip of brandy. As he stared into the flames he thought of the cursed woman that was plaguing his thoughts once more. Lillian Evergreen was something strange and foreign to him. She wasn’t something he wanted to control, but observe. When she allowed that mind of hers to show it caught his attention and he genuinely wanted to learn more. Which was not something he wanted, nor appreciated.

He didn’t like not being in control and this damn woman was doing just that by making him lose his head. The other night when they were out in the garden he had felt a strange attraction to her. When his name had fallen upon her lips he had drawn in a sharp breath. Never realizing how tantalizing just a woman saying his name could be. Or maybe it was that it was her saying it. He scoffed at that idea and took another drink to drive the thought away. The burning alcohol couldn’t make him forget that he had almost lost himself while in her presence.

He growled in frustration and anger with himself as he remembered touching her hair. When he had reached for it, it was to simply right the loose strand. But when his fingers came in contact with its soft texture and the softness of her cheek, something had taken over his movements. As soon as he felt himself leaning towards her he had pulled back. He growled again and swallowed the entire glass in his hand, cursing loudly at the sting. He took in a large breath of air and frowned.

Lillian Evergreen was beautiful and now society was paying attention to her in a good way. He had seen her at several other events over the week, making sure to speak with her at each. But now he would mostly observe and not take up all of her time, wanting her to find a suitor amongst the men adamantly pursuing her.

‘Yeah right. Then why do you practically growl out loud if one holds her hand for too long?’ That cynical voice chided and he groaned, placing his hand over his eyes. It was true that lately he had grown more protective of Lillian. He reasoned quickly that it was because he was her friend. That couldn’t be argued, even by the cynical side of him. Their relationship had nothing to do with his bet with Jacob. He genuinely enjoyed being in her company and her quick wit was growing on him. The more time they spent together the more relaxed she became and began to open up more.

He sighed and rested his chin against his finger and thumb as he stared into the flames. He knew a little more about her with each encounter. Small things that only added to their growing friendship. Such as her love of reading and art. He now knew that she also sketched with charcoal when she could. He had tried to get her to show him, but she was stubborn in that fact. Then again she was stubborn about a lot of things. He felt a reluctant smile tug at his lips as he imagined her crossing her slender arms over her chest and glaring at him as he argued with her over something. She always looked the cutest when she was mad.

He choked on the thought and cursed once more as he rose and began to pace around his library. He ran his hand through his hair and silently admonished himself for getting distracted once more from the task at hand. It was true that his body was attracted to Lillian in a way that it had not been to another woman for a while. But she was not someone that he could actually pursue, no matter how his body protested at that thought. Despite their friendship and his obvious attraction to her, Lillian was still not a woman who could become his duchess. He still needed a wife of impeccable breeding to take over the role and to produce the needed heir.

After that, he knew that his marriage would be in name alone and it was better to find a woman who would understand that. And not a young girl with stars in her eyes and novels to fill her heads with foolish ideas. He grunted as he remembered her defending those bindings of nonsense. She had grown quite angry with him when he had scoffed at the idea of actually calling them literature. He gave another humorous snort as he recalled her stamping her foot like a child and balling her fists at him. He had laughed and patted her head telling her that believing in those kinds of stories would only lead her into trouble.

It was also a warning to her about him. Drake was no fool. He saw the way she looked at him. How her eyes would grow brighter and her whole demeanor would change when he was around. She was growing too attached to him and would often ignore other suitors when he was near. He had tried to rectify this by staying away from her, but for some reason would always end up back at her side. Usually when he noticed a gentleman getting far too familiar with her or catching sight of her pained expression as she tried to refuse their attention. He muttered under his breath that he was just as big a fool as she was.

No matter how much he reasoned with himself and tried to deny it, there was a pull between the two. But he was never one to believe in fate or some other nonsense that women droned on about. No he was a man of action who got what he wanted by being the way he was. Cold, calculating and ruthless. This situation wouldn’t be any different than the past transactions. He would continue to be Lillian’s friend, for his sudden snubbing of her would only hurt her reputation. But he would also keep their meetings polite and short while he focused on the other debutants. It would be simple enough to ignore Lillian and focus on another, after all. All cats were black at night.

A sudden image of her smiling face appeared before him as she held out her hand for a dance. A glow about her as that shy shell melted away to reveal the rose hidden underneath. No, not all cats…Lillian was special for some reason. Just clumping her together with all the others seemed wrong. He groaned and went to pour him another drink. This may be harder than he had first thought.

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Lillian hummed happily as she knelt down by the roses. She was in such high spirits lately and there was no mystery as to why. She had a pad in front of her with the intent of using the last of her good charcoal to sketch the roses. Of course her soul had other ideas and soon she found herself making some small marks on the pad that didn’t resemble flowers.

Strong jawline, hard lips, straight nose and eyes as dark as night. She sighed as she looked at the half sketch she had made. Amazed that she could do one this well just from memory. Although it was rough, it was still clear to her who was in the picture. Drake had been on her mind more and more lately. The time they had spent together was becoming so precious to her and she knew that her heart was taking over her common sense.

No matter how much she reasoned against it, there was no doubt that she was falling for the duke. Drake was such a mystery wrapped in his dark cloak that she felt unreasonably drawn to him. But under that hard shell he brandished was a softer side that he revealed only to her. He was also very intelligent and didn’t try to make her feel inferior because she was a woman. No, instead he actively got her to engage in debates with him over different topics and was always pleased when she let her tongue get away from her.

She blushed as she sketched lines for his hair and remembered calling him an idiot after he mispronounced an author’s name. She had frozen when the word fell from her tongue, sure she would offend him and would never see him again. Instead he had laughed, a full laugh that made him seem younger than he was. He had smiled at her and patted her head after giving her the point in their argument. She blushed further as she remembered how his fingers had then trailed through her hair, playing with a few strands before his cool exterior returned.

Lillian sighed in frustration. It seemed to always end that way with him. Whenever she felt them getting closer and he let his guard down around her, she would begin to hope for more. Then he would seem to snap out of his daze and return to the polite gentleman that was escorting her around. Usually during those moments he would first lean closer to her or whisper something that would cause her heart to twist. Then his eyes would turn cold and he would try to distract her by introducing her to some new gentleman.

Again, that fact hit a raw nerve inside her. Why was Drake so keen on her meeting other men? It was all pointless in any case, as far as she was concerned they all dimmed in comparison. Hell, she hardly remembered their names when she was with him! She sighed and stood up from her spot staring down at the picture in her hands. It was more pronounced and she was sure that she would add the rest of the details later tonight when she returned home. She smiled as she looked at the picture and wondered if she would see him tonight?

Unlike their last few meetings at garden parties and smaller social events, this was one of the biggest of the Season. They would be attending a ball hosted by Lord and Lady Trumball. It was such a high honor to be invited for the couple usually only invited the most pristine of the ton. So why had an invitation arrived for her yesterday morning? Aunt Harriet had nearly jumped up and down like a young debutant herself at the sight of the invite. Lillian couldn’t hide her skepticism at having been chosen to attend. After all she was far from being near the top of society’s list.

Sure she was accepted much more freely now that Drake was showing her attention, but that didn’t completely erase the fact that she was not a blueblood. She shook her head and decided not to think about it any longer. Instead the optimistic side of her shined through and she began to plan which gown she would wear tonight. She was thinking about wearing the most beautiful one she had purchased. It would be perfect for such a grand ball as this, and hopefully it would finally catch the eye of the man she longed for at night.

‘Letting yourself believe in such nonsense will only land you in trouble child.’ Drake’s words rang through her head. She blushed bright again as she remembered them talking about her novels. How had he even gotten that information out of her at all? She didn’t usually admit her obsession with those silly romances, but with Drake it was hard to keep any secrets at all. She groaned and hurried inside, trying not to let her imagination run away from her again. Because Drake’s words held so much truth. If she didn’t learn to control her emotions in check, she was going to land in a whole heap of trouble.

Author's Note

hello everyone! I hope you are enjoying this so far and would very much appreciate if you would leave a review to let me know what you think and how it can improve. Also I think I caught every mistake this time, but there is always something that no matter how many times I read through this, escapes my sights haha. So I hope you are enjoying this and let me know what you think.

Reviews

[Melodycraft]

It is like finding presents when I pop over and see new chapters are up. Really enjoying the read!