Page 68 of Their Master

The earl visually stripped off Moira’s clothing with his angelic blue eyes and she would have known without being told that he was a devil who only resembled an angel.

“Charmed, Miss Dunsmuir. You may call me Gideon, although I far prefermy lord.”

Moira laughed.

“Unfortunately, he’s not jesting, Moira,” Edward said.

The dinner was noisy, amusing, and over far too quickly.

As Moira watched the others, she knew a moment of intense yearning. What would it be like if she could truly be a part of this intimate, fascinating group?

She enjoyed the fantasy for a long, pleasurable moment.

But then she turned to the man who made such a future impossible.

Smith, who’d been arguing with Nora about something painting-related, caught her glance and raised his eyebrows inquiringly.

Moira stared at him a second too long, grappling with the painful memory of what this man had done to her sister.

He killed Sandrine.

The improbable fantasy future she’d just created dissolved in the blink of an eye.

She had only one future, and it didn’t include Smith.

At least not for much longer.

Chapter 16

The footman hadn’t even shut the carriage door before Smith pulled Moira onto his lap. “Did you enjoy your evening?”

“Very much,” she said honestly.

“I was hard all night from looking at you.”

“Were you?” she asked with an arch, teasing look. She’d made it her business to stroke his groin when he was least expecting it, keeping him hard in case he should flag. Which he hadn’t. She’d told herself it was just part of her duty as his mistress, but the truth was she enjoyed being able to touch such a man—such a body—whenever she chose.

“You were a cruel tease and you know it.” He bit her neck hard enough to make her whimper. “And you deserve to be fucked. Hard.” He claimed her mouth violently, consuming her with his raw need.

When he released her, he flipped up her skirts and petticoat and then used his thighs to force her knees apart. His cool fingers pushed between her swollen lips and he sucked in a breath. “You’re drenched for me.” He thrust a finger inside her, fucking her slowly. “I am saddened you are not enceinte.”

Moira’s courses had come while he’d been away on his business trip. “So am I,” she said, not sure if she was lying, or not.

Smith had taken her so often—and then kept her with him afterward—that she’d rarely been able to take measures to prevent conception so she’d been alternately surprised, devastated, and relieved when she’d woken to blood on her sheets.

Moira hadn’t mentioned the matter to him so Luke must have reported to him, something she’d assumed he was doing given Smith’s mania for control.

“While it is a shame it just means we shall have to try twice as hard this month,” he said.

“Twice as hard might kill me.”

“Hmmm. What is the saying?That which doesn’t kill you, only makes you stronger?”

She laughed. “I shall be extremely strong soon.”

He lowered his mouth over her throat and sucked so hard she knew there would be a mark.

When he released her, his amusement had fled and his face was hard with lust. “I’m going to pump you full of my seed day and night, Moira.”

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