Page 3 of The Duchess in His Bed
“I’m here, aren’t I? My presence must demonstrate I’m in possession of a great deal.”
“But you’re not entirely comfortable with your surroundings or your daring to come here.”
“I suppose the mask was a hint, but no, I’m not. I had to give myself several lectures before convincing myself to come.”
“Nothing will happen here that you do not want to happen.”
She looked up at him, a bit of deviltry reflected in the blue depths. “So I will not lose my coins should I sit down at the tables?”
He laughed, grinned at her. “Point well made.”
Her lips twitched and for half a heartbeat, he thought she might at least offer him a hint of a smile. He wanted to see the upward curl of her lips, the joy reflected there. A sadness, a sorrow, hovering about her was calling to his protective nature, the irritating side that caused him to make sacrifices regardless of the cost to himself. It was the reason he now owned this club, a gift from his brother Finn, for whom he’d once humbled himself before their maggot of a father. Finn had seen it as a way to repay Aiden for a debt Finn felt he owed in spite of Aiden insisting he didn’t. But the tug he felt to protect this lady was far greater than anything he’d ever experienced before. Was ludicrous to the extreme. He didn’t know her or anything about her. He couldn’t imagine she didn’t already have a protector.
She was nobility, that much he did know. Her fine threads and the cut of her gown hinted at it, but her diction clinched it along with the manner in which she held herself, as though accustomed to people bending to her will. He’d never much favored the aristocracy except for the coins they could place in his pockets. At nineteen, he’d opened the Cerberus Club intent on taking what he could from as many lords as possible, using them for his betterment. Certainly, the less affluent visited his gaming hell. He had no prejudice in him when it came to money. He’d taken it from sons, brothers, and husbands. Now, with the Elysium Club, he would take it from daughters, sisters, and wives.
Finn had made plans for this club before love diverted his attention away from it. He now lived on the outskirts of London, making a wife happy and raising horses. When he handed Elysium over to Aiden, barely a dozen women visited each night and it had been designed to reflect a bit more elegance and refinement. Aiden had made some adjustments in order to appeal to the ladies’ hidden desires.
The addition of the masks had been his idea, because he’d known women would be curious, but hesitant to show their faces. Yes, those who came through the doors had to swear an oath of secrecy, but he was well aware that oaths were broken. Hence, he’d needed a way to protect those who needed protection, while at the same time offering them a sanctuary and a means to fill his coffers.
The gaming room through which he escorted Selena remained much the same as Finn had left it. All manner of gaming was to be found here, and it was here that the bulk of his income was earned.
“I’d not expected to see men playing,” she said.
“They’re tutoring their partners. These games are not what ladies play in the afternoon while sipping tea. Would you like me to fetch you a tutor?” Even as the words escaped his mouth from habit, his gut tightened with the thought of anyone leaning in and whispering advice into the delicate shell of her ear.
“I have no interest in learning card play.”
He wondered where her interests resided but where was the fun in getting right down to it? He preferred keeping her at his side a while longer, learning more about her, discovering all the various facets of which she was comprised. “Perhaps this will interest you more.”
He led her through a doorway into a room his brother had envisioned for elegant meals with white linen-covered tables and candles flickering on them. What use had adventurous women for such boring dining options? He still had the flickering candles, but they stood on tall pillars providing the barest of light over fainting couches and mounds of pillows where ladies lounged while men placed grapes between their lips or handed them glasses of wine. Young bucks knelt before them, holding a platter of food while they ate to their hearts’ content. Some women invited the men to join them while they dined, some merely wanted to be served. Whatever their pleasure, the gentlemen were hired to provide it.
“Have you a hunger to be sated?” he asked suggestively. “A thirst to be quenched?”
“I have no interest in food or wine. Although I am intrigued by the decadence.”
She lifted those flame-blue eyes to his, and it took every bit of resistance he could muster not to fall headlong into the fire. Why was a woman with such seductive powers coming to an establishment that catered to the lonely wallflowers?
“Within this room, women are made to feel like goddesses,” she continued.
It pleased him that she understood the underlying purpose of his efforts here. He grinned. “Hence the reason we call it the Goddess Parlor.”
“Did a woman help you design this place?”
He thought a touch of jealousy marred her tone, but that could not be. They didn’t know each other well enough to spark emotions as volatile as that between them. Although had she wanted to lounge about within these walls, he might have found himself letting go any man who came near enough to inhale her strawberry scent. “My sister-by-marriage suggested the ladies would welcome being made to feel special.”
“Which one? Lady Aslyn or Lady Lavinia?”
Definitely nobility. She spoke the names as though they were familiar to her tongue, and he fought not to consider with what else he might wish to make her tongue familiar. “Lavinia. Although she’s dispensed with the use ofladybefore her name.” Except when she wrote scathing articles about the unjust treatment of unwed mothers and children born on the wrong side of the blanket. Then she embraced her place in Society, allowing it to serve her purpose and a greater good. “You seem to know a great deal about me.”
“Your family is the talk of theton.”
“My family, but not me.”
“Of course, you. How do you think I knew of this place? Why provide women with all this?”
“I have a gaming hell for men. Not as posh. Cards only. But every now and then a woman would come to play. Why shouldn’t women have their own space in which to enjoy themselves? Why should they be relegated to evenings of needlework?”
“Because it is the proper thing to do.”
