Page 5 of The Duke of Pain

Of course, dissipation ran rampant through the aristocracy. How many orgies had Gideon attended at various manors and country estates through his early years? Gideon also had a few short-term affairs with the wives of earls and viscounts—with the men’s knowledge—since they were usually off pursuing their own carnal delights.

This situation was surreal, as he had just attended a ball at the duke’s London townhouse not one month past where everything was in strict propriety and decent society.

What manner of perversity would the duke and the duchess perform?

He watched as Glenholme deliberately and reverently disrobed his wife, laying affectionate kisses on her bared shoulders. Layers were removed and tossed aside. The duchess was attractive; Gideon had always thought so. The duke was surprisingly fit.

The couple lay on the wide settee, and Glenholme proceeded to make love to his wife. Nothing untoward or sinister in the act. The duke was skilled and thorough as he left no part of his wife’s skin untouched by his hands or lips. The duchess arched her back in ecstasy as Glenholme’s head disappeared between her thighs.

Gideon was riveted by the scene.

Clearly, the couple’s deviant thrill was performing for an audience. Gideon never guessed it of the very proper duke and his duchess. Weren’t they concerned about the gossip? Though there was an unspoken rule of privacy to some degree. The aristos had a pact of not revealing each other’s secrets, although they managed to slip out in certain circles.

How strange.

Gideon had never performed oral sex on a woman. He never saw to their needs, touching, embracing, and kissing. Far too intimate and negated his own pleasure. He did not make love.

To him, it was fucking. Nothing else.

I am a selfish bastard.

The duchess cried out, her head back, her long reddish-brown hair touching the wood floor. The duke then proceeded to make a meal out of her breasts. A low, simmering flame grew and slowly spread through Gideon.

This scene was exquisitely erotic and damned desirable to observe.

There was no frantic rutting. The duke made passionate love to his duchess. The look on the duke’s face as he thrust deeply was akin to awe and what Gideon supposed could be love. He felt ashamed for observing such an intimate act. Stepping away from the wall, he was surprised to feel heat flushing his cheeks.

Good God, an emotional response.

Not just arousal, for he experienced that as well, but a rush of emotions he could not name. A sense of loss that perhaps he was missing out on something quite profound.

What utter bollocks.

Gideon exited the small room and stepped into the next alcove. His hand shook as he reached for the door handle. Taking a deep breath and exhaling, he walked in.

The stark contrast from the tender lovemaking he had observed to this torture chamber scene was hard to fathom.

Sir Anthony Tollingham, Knight of the Realm and a respected judge at Chancery, was completely naked and restrained by chains hanging from the ceiling. His arms elevated slightly; the older man glanced toward the door. Mixed with his look of trepidation was also expectation. The man no doubt waited to be birched or flogged.

The door swung open, and a woman strode confidently into the room.

Gideon’s breath caught in his throat.

She was exquisite.

Her golden-honey hair hung in thick waves down her back. Lush and shapely, she wore a black lace bodice with knee-high boots a pirate might wear. Along with black leather gloves, she held a riding crop, which she tapped absently in her palm as she walked around the judge as a lion would stalk its prey. Her light blue eyes were hard and cold. The look on her beautiful face was furious and determined, and Gideon felt the blood rush to his head and to his cock simultaneously.

“Do you wish me to commence?” she asked the judge in a tone of voice that she might use to ask him if he wanted sugar in his tea.

The judge closed his eyes and smiled. “Oh, yes, please.”

“Yes, please—what?”

“Yes, please, Mistress Birch.”

Gideon choked back a snort of derision. These types of games were fascinating to him, and he indulged a few times to be certain. Gideon had once used a cat-o-nine-tails but hardly made a mark on anyone. He just reveled in the role of master in complete control.

Come to think of it, he was the authoritarian in all his salacious sex play.