Page 3 of Embracing the Earl (The St. Clairs 3)

Chapter Two

Luke St. Clair,Earl of Mayfield, lay propped upon pillows, bare to his waist. And bored.

Definitely, bored.

His current mistress, Catarina, pretended to be Scheherazade, dancing in some filmy costume that she’d concocted. He hadn’t the heart to tell her that Scheherazade was a storyteller, not a dancer, as Catarina tossed off another layer of the gauzy material she wore and it floated to the ground. Catarina often confused things. Even her own origins. At one point, she’d claimed to be from Florence. Another time she led him to believe she was born in Barcelona. Or perhaps Madrid. Luke couldn’t remember. And didn’t care.

He had definitely tired of Catarina.

His morning had already included parting ways with his currenttonlover. A pretty widow who was almost thirty, the baroness had actually taught him a thing or two in the bedroom during their torrid affair of the last few months. When he’d broken the news to her earlier that he was ending things between them, she’d cried and clung to him—until he produced a pair of ruby earrings. After that, she couldn’t get him out of her rooms fast enough.

Luke had stopped for lunch at his club and then come straight here, ready to do the same with Catarina. He was in no mood for the games she wished to play. Often, she had them pretend to be great lovers, such as Caesar and Cleopatra or Romeo and Juliet. She knew the names of these famous pairs but not the fact that their love ended in tragedy and death. Catarina was beautiful and fun to be with. He had no doubt she would find someone new before he returned to his London townhome tonight.

In the meantime, he needed her to stop what she was doing and listen to reason. At times, she had a volatile temper. He was in no mood to deal with it. Tears, possibly, but not shouting and objects being tossed about, particular ones aimed at his head. He glanced up and saw that the last layer of cloth danced through the air. His mistress climbed onto the bed on all fours and made her way up the mattress to him, a ravenous look in her eyes. She was an incredibly beautiful woman.

And Luke felt absolutely nothing for her.

Catalina reached him, her fingers dancing lightly up his bare chest as she straddled him. She pushed them into his hair and bent to kiss him. He allowed it. She broke the kiss almost immediately. He smiled up at her.

“Your mouth is smiling at me, my earl, but it does not reach your eyes,” she said sadly. “Is this our end?”

“Yes.”

Her palms flattened against his chest and she ran them up and down it, as if committing his body to memory.

“I’ll help you find a new protector,” he offered.

She laughed. “I have turned down many in the year we have been together, my earl. That won’t be a problem. Besides, you leave me in fine shape.” She placed a kiss upon his chest. “This wonderful house is paid for. You also found me the best cook in London.”

“I may actually want her back,” Luke teased.

Catarina playfully swatted at him. “You may not have her. She is mine. Loyal to me alone.” She studied him a moment. “It was always going to end this way, wasn’t it, my earl?”

She’d never called him by his name, a fact that he appreciated. Only a handful of people called him Luke. The next woman that called him by his Christian name would become his wife.

He was ready for one.

He’d had three mistresses and several lovers over the past few years. They’d all pleased him in one way or another. There was a time when he thought he would be happy in this kind of life for years to come, only settling down once he passed thirty. The trouble was, his siblings’ happiness had affected him more than he’d care to admit.

Jeremy, his older brother and Duke of Everton, had wed Catherine Crawford after his first wife died. They now had four children and were more passionately in love than before they wed and had little ones running around. Rachel, his younger sister, had married Evan Drake, Marquess of Merrick, last summer. She’d given birth to his nephew, Seth, just over three weeks ago. They, too, were madly in love. Both couples were the talk of thetonbecause they didn’t bother to hide their deep affection for their spouses.

Luke wanted what they had. Desperately.

Some of his happiest times had been playing with his nieces and nephews. The pull of having children of his own had caused him to part ways today with the two women he was currently involved with. He would go into the upcoming Season unencumbered by any liaison. Hopefully, he would discover his soulmate among the women paraded about on the Marriage Mart.

He looked deeply into Catarina’s eyes. “You have given me many happy moments over this past year. I will always look upon you fondly.”

Luke kissed her lightly in goodbye and then leaned down and reached for his coat. He withdrew a diamond bracelet and held it up to her.

“A parting gift. I hope you’ll think of me sometimes when you wear it.”

Her eyes lit up. He could see her calculating the bracelet’s worth.

“Will you put it on me?”

“Of course.”

He unfastened the clasp and brought it about her slender wrist. Once he secured it, she held her arm out, admiring her new bauble.

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