Page 218 of Historical Hotties
Henry yawned. As an elderly man, conversations like this, most especially as of late, sapped his strength. But this one had been worth it.
He’d gotten what he wanted.
“Look for a woman with white hair,” he said. “I’ve seen Lady de Tosni once and she has very pale hair. As I recall, it was nearly white, so that is all I can tell you. She should not be difficult to find.”
Thor nodded, looking to his father in a final gesture to see if the man had anything left to say to him. But Gage was quiet, having been plowed over by the king, and there was nothing left for him to say. He met his son’s gaze before shaking his head faintly and looking away.
Defeated.
Henry had won this battle and it was over. Even so, none of them could have anticipated the path that Thor was soon to follow. This moment would mark the drastic change his life was about to take.
If he’d known that, he would have run like hell.
CHAPTER ONE
Gomorrah
Mushrooms,he’d said.
One of the men who managed Gomorrah for the Earls of Camberwell had given her a crystal dish containing what looked like dirt, but it wasn’t dirt. It was dried mushrooms from the mysterious east.
She’d been seeing colors in the darkness for the past hour.
Colors bounced off the oiled-up skin of the man dancing for her. He was small and muscular, shaved, and quite beautiful. He only had a small piece of cloth around his privates to protect his modesty, but even so, she could see the bulge he had. She’d been to Gomorrah several times and never bedded a man, mostly because she didn’t want to catch bugs or a disease they might have gotten from other patrons who were not so clean. Truth be told, the only man who had ever bedded her had been her husband, but the last time had been years ago. She couldn’t remember when. The closest she came to a naked man was the one slowly gyrating in front of her.
And he was glorious.
She took another drink.
The wine with the mushrooms had made her head spin a little, so she lay back upon a silk-cushioned couch and waited for the mushrooms to wear off. They were mostly gone anyway. She was in a private room deep in the bowels of Gomorrah, a room that was sectioned off by curtains from the rest of the guild. It was full tonight, as it usually was, and there was music and laughter all around. She was on the level called Sins of the Flesh, as all four levels of Gomorrah had names, and on this level, men or women could live out their deepest sexual fantasies. In the chamber next to her, she could hear a woman groaning as one of the male dancers pleasured her.
To each her own.
To the tune of a man in the corner of the chamber playing a wooden flute, the oiled-skin man dancing for her abruptly lost his modesty panel. A flaccid manhood several inches long now hung proudly and she lifted her eyebrows at the sight, impressed that such a small man could have such a large male organ. Her gaze lingered on it a moment as she wondered what such a sizable manroot would feel like, when the dancer began thrusting his hips at her, moving his hand to stroke his member. When she looked up at him, surprised, he was grinning lewdly at her and licking his lips.
She frowned and shook her head.
The dancer was crushed.
The flute kept playing as the dancer rushed out of the chamber and she could hear a commotion outside. The dancer might have even been weeping. Shortly, the same man who had offered her the mushrooms entered.
“Lady de Tosni?” he said politely. “Forgive me, my lady, but was Dax not to your liking?”
Lady Caledonia de Wylde de Tosni shifted on her cushioned pillows. “Who is Dax?”
“The man entertaining you, my lady. Was he not to your liking?”
With a heavy sigh, Caledonia sat up. “Eros,” she said. “Have you ever known me to take a lover while I am here?”
Eros wasn’t his real name, but no one went by their real names at Gomorrah. He shook his head. “Nay, my lady,” he said. “But I thought—with the right bit of flesh dangled in front of you—mayhap you would change your mind.”
“I will not change my mind.”
Eros didn’t really understand that attitude because everyone came to Gomorrah for pleasure. Those who refused it were oddities. “You know that our dancers and musicians make their money from your generous gratuities, my lady,” he said with some concern. “Dax has been dancing for you for two hours. He must make his living.”
Caledonia frowned. “Since when I have I not been generous with those serving me?” she said. “Send Dax back in here and tell him I will compensate him. He needn’t worry.”
Eros nodded. “Very well, my lady,” he said. “Thank you. But… but youdofind him attractive, don’t you?”
