Page 26 of The Duke of Pain

“Don’t go. Not yet. Please.”

* * *

Olivia looked into his eyes. She saw such pain there, unfathomable hurt and loneliness. The reveal of his emotions lasted only a moment, but it was long enough to move her numbed heart.

Blast the man for affecting her on so many levels.

“I want to see you,” Gideon murmured. “As a man and a woman see each other. Socially. Privately. Outside the parameters of a brothel and fees. I will agree to any arrangement you wish. The occasional Sunday afternoon stroll? A ride in my carriage? Dinner at the Savoy Hotel, in the Grill Room? Anything you desire. Or am I overwhelming you?”

“Yes, you are. I’m not used to such attention, and it is overwhelming. And what am I to do as this strange courtship unfolds? Continue on at The Velvet, birching my customers and collecting my fee?”

His brows knotted. “I hadn’t thought that far ahead.” Gideon took a couple of sandwiches and laid them on his plate.

“What would your mother think, you escorting a sex worker in public? You are a duke,” Olivia whispered fiercely.

At the mention of his mother, his handsome features darkened. “If I don’t care what society thinks, then you may be sure that I do not care what my mother thinks. I also am not certain I care for the fact you will be continuing your work at The Velvet, but that is not my call, is it?”

“No, it isn’t. I need to make money. I have made a commitment to Pan. Obligations. I will not abandon them on a whim.”

Gideon chewed thoughtfully on his sandwich, his gaze firm on hers.

“Then, by all means, continue to thrash willing men and collect your fees. And what is happening between us is not a whim.” He took another bite of his sandwich. “Next Wednesday night, dinner at the Savoy. It is formal dress. I can give you money to buy an appropriate gown.”

Yes, he was acting the imperious duke here, and no mistake. Just like that, she decided she would meet him for dinner. If he didn’t give a toss for his reputation, then why should she?

“I have a formal gown. Very well, dinner at the Savoy. I am certain it will be an adventure with the place setting holding four different forks and five different spoons, and five goblets, all of which I have no idea what they are for. But you can continue to instruct me, Your Grace, in the fine art of formal dining,” Olivia stated sarcastically. “I will be your apt pupil.”

Gideon leaned forward. “Actually, some formal place settings have eight different forks. There is so much more I can instruct you on,” he whispered only for her ears. “Be my apt pupil in all things, Liv.”

The offer was tempting. Perhaps far too tempting.

Olivia was provoking fate if nothing else. One more meeting outside of their now-defunct arrangement. What could it harm?

The logical thing to do would be to never see him again. But logic was not factoring into her thinking here at all. Olivia finished her sandwiches then selected a raspberry tart.

“I have no need for an instructor. But dinner it is,” she replied. “And after our tea, we may take a walk, with Colin following behind. But as far as an assignation, or affair, or whatever your class calls it, I’m afraid that is not in the cards.”

Gideon sat back and regarded her closely. “And why not?”

“Even though I am attracted to you, it is not something I wish to follow through with.”

“You haven’t had sex with anyone, ever?”

Olivia dabbed the corner of her mouth with her napkin. “No. I don’t think I can. Not for one hundred sovereigns.”

“I want to make love to you, Liv. Without the inducement of coin.”

The emotionally spoken words seized her breath. What could she say to such a request?

“Listen to me,” he continued his voice low. “At the club, before I observed you and the judge, I watched a duke make love to his wife. The act was a revelation to me. I have never made love to a woman like that, saw to her needs, or even cared if she received any pleasure. Not in all these years. I engaged in selfish rutting. Making love is apparently more than thrusting one’s prick into a woman’s wetness. But I wouldn’t know about that.”

“Neither do I,” Olivia murmured, looking around the room to make sure they were not being heard. Thankfully, the tables were spaced far enough apart to afford a modicum of privacy.

“Put your trust in me as I have with you. Give and take, Liv.”

“You’re asking too much of me. I need time.”

“But you are not dismissing me outright?”