Justin, Viscount Hawkesbury, stepped closer and in reaction the
black-clad lady moved back. As if remembering her reasons for coming, she shook
her head and moved that same pace forward. Not as close as before, yet near
enough to appear fearless.
He sighed, and rubbed a fist across his aching eyes. “I’m
fatigued, out of sorts, and my friends and I have business to conduct. Either
join in, or leave.”
He waved towards the door, hoping she’d walk out and leave him
in peace, but also hoping, ridiculously, that she’d unveil, undress, and stay.
Because something about this particular woman was different. Something about
her stirred his first true sexual interest in many months.
He smiled a little. “I’d still like to see a little more of you.
I can’t even see the color of your hair.” He pointed towards her groin. “Top or
bottom. Here, let me unbutton you,” he said, his fingers set to work on her top
button, brushing the soft skin of her nape as he did so.
She flinched and held tight to the gaping neck of her dress with
clenched fists.“Please. Listen to me. I’m not seeking employment.”
“Ah, then you’re simply a bitch in heat like all the others.
Wanting a lusty tale to recount to your upper-class friends over tea and cake.
Perhaps compare notes on Viscount Hawkesbury’s infamous prowess.”
Her quick series of breaths hissed and sizzled like water
spitting on hot coals. He heard the girls tut-tutting nearby, but taunting,
teasing, and arousing the lioness who’d dared brave his den so late at night
had proved too delicious a temptation to resist. Only one more jest at her
expense and then he’d summon the butler and a couple of strong footmen, and bid
her farewell.
He turned, slowly and deliberately, and spoke to his two
friends. “Gentlemen, which of you is capable of keeping your prick upright long
enough to provide such a lusty lady with the thrill she so clearly came to my
house seeking?”
Justin knew that in their heightened state of inebriation,
neither Bart nor Thomas would be capable of servicing any girl tonight. And the
Virile Viscount had given up such jaunts. The only business he involved himself
in now was the palace and even then he kept a very low profile. By next month,
he’d no longer own that either. His pleasuring days were finished. Investing in
the rapidly expanding railway tracks and steam engines was far more profitable,
and respectable, for a man who hoped to bring his mother and sisters home to
live with him.
Thomas, red-faced, lurched to his feet. “I say, Justin, she
seems like a lady.”
“Thomas, you should know by now, on the outside they’re all
ladies. However, underneath they all seek the same thing.”
The woman flinched. Justin yawned, not bothering to cover his
mouth, and then collapsed back into his armchair. Leaning his head back on the
headrest, he laughed.
“My love, if you’ve better to show me than them, do as I’ve
asked. Undress!”
She muttered something that sounded like, “Rude swine.”
He laughed and indicated the empty space on the chaise longue
beside Bart. “If you’re suffering personal timidity, at least take a seat and
watch. Give the girls your opinion on what tricks attract gentlemen the
fastest. What do you do to entice a man?”
Her hands fisted at her sides but she stood her ground. “I
realize you’re amusing yourself at my expense, but I give you fair warning, my
lord. If you continue with these childish taunts and force me to leave without
letting me speak to you, in private, you’ll regret it later.”
He pointed to the door. “And I’m also issuing a warning. Join in
or leave. Perkins will show you out. I’ve run out of patience with the
so-called weaker sex and the schemes and lies that women seem to delight in bringing
to my door. ”
Bart spat out an uncouth curse while Thomas muttered under his
breath, both scolding him for his rudeness. Disgust suddenly flooded Justin’s
body and the heart he’d assumed was frozen in his chest clenched, hard. Despite
being forced into unseemly money making ventures, the three of them had vowed
to remain, at heart at least, gentlemen. They all needed to take their places
in society, which was why Justin never usually entertained this sort of female
at his house. Too many watching neighbors and too many wagging tongues in this
respectable neighborhood.
Had he now passed the point of no return? Had the indecent acts
he’d committed, all to either survive or earn his some of the ready, tainted
his thinking to this extent? It terrified him that his morals were as lost as
those idiots who assumed a title and riches gave a man leeway to be rude,
arrogant, and even to inflict pain on those they considered inferior.
He’d picked out this woman and had intended on using her as an
example, encouraging her to pass along his message to long line of societal
whores who would continue to plague him. He wanted to stand in the street and
scream and yell,“The Virile Viscount is finished!”
Behavior such as his here showed the arrogance he’d always
deplored. Rude attacks on a woman were despicable, and it was especially
ill-bred of him to tease and taunt what he now suspected was a well-bred lady.
But he’d underestimated the woman’s pluck, or perhaps her determination to make
herself heard.
“Be warned, my lord, I shall return. Tomorrow. Early. Very
Early. And if you refuse to speak with me, I’ll haunt your house until you are
prepared to listen to me.”
Her ferocious expression made him burst out laughing again. Bart
wiggled his eyebrows in a suggestive manner and held out his hand to encourage
the woman to take a seat on the thigh of the woman he still held.
“I like her, Justin. Can I have her?”
“Feel free, Bart. If you dare! Though I suspect Thomas is
correct. I’ve come to the unwilling, and unfortunate, conclusion that she’s not
here to audition for the Harem.”
“Certainly not.” Her tone was icy. “I’m offering you an
exchange. Your skill in tutoring my friends in return for information.”
“Regrettably, my services are no longer for hire.”
She inhaled so sharply he swore her ribs vibrated. Then she made
her announcement.“If I leave this room, I’ll take with me what may be your last
chance to see your mother. Alive, at any rate.”
In the Nick of Time
