Page 9 of The Mistress, the Monster and the Marquess

With a note of discomfort, he could feel her large breasts bulging against his arm.

“I have a frightful headache, my lord,” she complained. “Would you walk me along the balcony for some fresh air?” She looked up into his eyes, her devious request impossible to refuse and her tone hard to ignore.

Damn it. Begrudgingly, he had no choice but to agree. He was, after all, a gentleman. “Of course, my lady.” He noticed the smirks of the other gentlemen as he walked by, and the disapproving looks from the older ladies. He usually didn’t care what the women of the ton thought about him—but tonight he did. Everything about his life was annoying him this evening, and he found it strangely maddening.

“How is your husband, Victoria?” he asked, as it was polite to enquire.

She squeezed his arm and drew him further away from the ballroom doors. “He’s away for the rest of the Season,” she sighed. “I have missed you, Benedict.” She dropped her hand and brazenly stroked his cock through his tailored pants.

It didn’t even stir under her practiced touch. He stepped away from her, repulsed. “We finished our liaison months ago, Victoria. I have no wish to renew our agreement.” In fact, he had never wanted her in the first place. He didn’t like cuckolding another man—it wasn’t honorable—but his pride had been pleased when she had approached him, and he hadn’t been able to say ‘no’.

Shock showed on her face, then anger sparked in her eyes. “I know you enjoyed our brief affair, Benedict. I can keep you well satisfied.”

He smiled at Lady Victoria Clover in response. She may be dressed like a lady, but beneath the fine silk she was naught but a whore, no better than those who made an honest living with their flesh under Madam Lina’s protection.

“I did Victoria and I thank you for thinking of me. However, I have no need for dalliances. I have employed a permanent mistress now.”

Her pretty blue eyes flashed dangerously up at him, though she smiled sweetly. “You already had a mistress months ago, Benedict.”

Benedict smiled back just as sweetly. That particular mistress was gone now, but should he tell Victoria the truth? He hadn’t wanted to put the little witch in her place back then, he had thought he was better than that. Now, he didn’t want to be. “Victoria, I have a new mistress who has no husband to slight and who satisfies my every need. I am now unavailable to you—and I will be keeping her forever.” He blinked. Had he really just said such a telling statement out loud?

The true Victoria came out to play as she hissed at him. “You bastard.”

He bowed at her and walked away, leaving the little hellcat to find someone else to dig her claws into. He was done.

Benedict stepped inside once again to find most of the married gentlemen sitting down to cards and cigars in the library. Finding an empty chair, he sank onto the hard leather. He was so very tired, his limbs felt like they were weighed down with lead.

“Benedict.” An older man, who knew his father, addressed him and put a whiskey in front of him.

“Good evening, sir, thank you.” Benedict grasped the glass and brought the cool crystal to his lips. The golden liquor slid down his throat with a soothing burn. Closing his eyes, he tried to ignore how much he ached for Lina. Anything that gave him pleasure, or pain, reminded him of her. He groaned and clenched his opposite hand in his lap.

“I saw Lady Clover get you onto the balcony. Didn’t fall in with her plan I see?”

Benedict laughed, almost choking on his whiskey in surprise. Most men would not have said anything, but it seemed he had the good fortune of sitting next to the only man in the room who would. “I am not interested in filling her husband’s position while he isn’t looking. She can find someone else.”

The old man puffed on his pipe and stared at Benedict with cold, assessing eyes. “Something has happened,” he said matter-of-factly.

Benedict peered around the room at the drinking gentlemen. He listened as they discussed horse flesh, investments, and fashion. His stomach roiled. Was this what his future held? Night after night? He took another slug of whiskey. “It has, sir.”

The man motioned for him to continue, his wizened eyes sharp and interested.

“I have met someone. A woman. She is different and will mercifully pull me away from this vapid world.” He indicated to the gentlemen in the nearby proximity and swallowed the rest of his whiskey, gasping as the pain burned harder this time.

Puffing on his pipe, the older man looked at him and sat forward in his chair. “Your parents have gone through all their money, haven’t they, son?”

Benedict flushed, but nodded. No point trying to protect them now.

“You don’t like London society particularly well, Benedict. Do you?”

A smile trembled on Benedict’s mouth as he remembered how much more fun it had been to play with the servants’ children rather than the boys from school. His father had put a stop to that very quickly and beat him soundly for the misbehavior. He’d never quite fitted in anywhere.

“No, not particularly,” he admitted with a wry laugh.

The older man leaned back in his chair and crossed his hands over his large chest. “Then what are you waiting for?” he asked. “If you have been given an opportunity to escape with a person you want above all else, then go, my boy! I had a similar opportunity many years ago and balked at the unknown. I missed my one and only chance at happiness.” The gentleman’s eyes were pained with regret. It seemed that kind of remorse was an unhealing wound.

Benedict stared at the man in front of him and tried to imagine him younger, full of life. Wanting to do more, be more. He couldn’t picture such a thing, which was sad. Too much time had been lost. But it made him think. Can I really do what I want? Could he go back to Lina and see what she wanted to offer him? Could he balance both lives, or would he have to sacrifice one for the other?

He had so many questions, and few answers, but something inside him called out for change, for a different life. The other option. In only one night, Lina had lit a fire in his belly and in his soul that refused to be extinguished. He’d barely had a taste of her, and he wanted so much more.

---