Page 16 of Only Pleasure Will Do

“I actually believe I can help you, Sir Reginald.” Her gaze shifted from his face to his crotch.

“I don’t think so, madam.” He hurried down the steps, determined to rush past the temptress at the bottom, but when he set his foot on the dirt floor once more, she seized his arm in a strong grip.

“You protest vigorously for one so obviously in need.” A confident smile lit her face. “It may not be the most comfortable of surroundings, but I promise you, that will matter little in the end.” She peered up at him, dropping the smile and facing him with a seriousness in her eyes that surprised him. “If Tommy Redmond is indeed behind this scheme, we may need to face the fact that he likely wishes me dead. And you as well if it will keep my death secret. For myself, if these are to be my last hours on earth, I wish them to be spent in pleasure rather than fear.”

The woman had courage, he’d give her that. Most women would be crying and shaking with fear if they believed they were facing death. Well, save for his cousin Katarina, who, he was sure, would meet it with the same fortitude as the woman who stood before him. Despite his admiration, however, he would not take her offer. “A bold attitude, Madam Vestry, and one whose validity I cannot deny. Still, even in these extreme circumstances, I will not allow myself to take advantage of you.”

Her throaty laugh sent a shiver of renewed desire down his spine.

“Do not fear on that account, Sir Reginald. No one takes advantage of me. I make certain of that.” She cocked her head. “Perhaps you’ve heard the rumors about me and my particular ‘skills’ in the boudoir? Numerous claims have come from a wide range of former customers of the House of Pleasure.”

He would swear he hadn’t nodded, but her smile widened.

“Pray do not believe everything you hear about me in the streets, Sir Reginald. Quite often none of it is true.” She grasped his hand and softly tugged at him.

He gritted his teeth and dug in, thwarting her efforts to propel him toward the other room. Toward the bed.

With a sigh, she stopped, raised his hand and clasped it between both of hers then stroked it with light, gentle fingers. “Would it surprise you to discover that, save for Sir Peter, I’ve taken lovers only when I desired them?”

His senses already befuddled due to her fondling of his hand, he could only stare at her, unable to grasp the meaning of her words. “Do you mean you desired all your customers?”

“You would paint me as Messalina, then?” Her deep chuckle sent a frisson of heat straight to his groin. “I fear I will have to disappoint you, Sir Reginald. Although in a sense, you are correct. I took two customers to my bed out of my desire for them, though for very different reasons.”

“Two?” Reginald blinked. Only two? He’d heard from at least five acquaintances that they’d been served at the House of Pleasure by none other than its infamous madam. Dozens more gentlemen claimed to have bedded her as well.

“By the look on your face, you’ve been listening to rumors.” She tsk tsked then smiled. “But then I know that gentlemen do talk, and what they profess is not always the truth—especially when a lie will serve their reputations better.”

“But— Oh.” Her skilled hands had kneaded his as she spoke, manipulating the fingers, massaging the knuckles. Now she dug her thumbs into his palm, pressing hard until he wanted to groan with the pleasure of it.

“Disbelieve me if you will, Sir Reginald, but I swear to you the only men I’ve allowed in my bed were the Marquess of Dalbury and Mr. Redmond.” Head bent over his hand, Madam Vestry continued the massage, her face now shielded from him. “The marquess came to the House of Pleasure the first year after I reopened it. He was a gorgeous, virile man, a rake with a scandalous reputation, out to carouse in the new brothel. I made sure that the only goods he sampled were mine.” She raised her head, a fierce defiance in her dark eyes. “After my encounter with Sir Peter, I thought I’d never wished to endure such intimacies again. But when I saw the marquess…” Her face softened, and she shrugged. “I wanted him. I had no expectations, beyond the handsome face and powerful body. That he turned out to be very kind and generous surprised me as much as the pleasure he was able to give me. And in turn, made me wish to please him any way I could.” Faint pink tinged her cheeks. “So I learned how best to please a man.”

“You learned?” Reginald frowned. If Madam Vestry was to be believed, she hadn’t gained this experience with other men, so then… “How?”

A rueful smile touched her lips. “As many others do, Sir Reginald. With books.”

Horrible suspicion dawned. “What books?”

“Very instructive ones.” Her smile widened as she turned his hand over and kissed his palm.

Heat shot through his body, making him breathe deeply. When her tongue emerged to stroke his flesh, fire speared downward to his already inflamed member.

“Perhaps you’ve read some of these books as well?”

“Do you mean you’ve read Fanny Hill?” He stared down at her, holding onto his composure by a thin thread. Although not a man of excessive appetites, he’d been curious when friends had recommended the popular volume. He’d read it through, although not without pauses to either deter or indulge in a potent release. Just as he wished to do now. What he’d never dreamed was that a woman would’ve read such a book.

“The full title intrigued me.” She raised her head, her eyes drowsy and somewhat unfocused. “Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure sounded exactly like the kind of book I needed.” The seductive smile returned. “It was very illuminating and quite easy to use as a guide. The marquess was surprised and extremely pleased by my studies.”

No doubt any man would be. Her ministrations just to his hand had brought Reginald to almost full arousal. What might it feel like to have her explore other parts of his body, using such knowledge as she’d gained?

“Unfortunately, our connection was abruptly severed when rumors surfaced that he owned part interest in the House of Pleasure.” Her smile disappeared and her hands on him stilled. “Not a property any gentleman wants attached to his name. How Sir Peter kept his involvement in the establishment hidden all those years I do not know.”

The hard planes of her face had re-emerged, a stark contrast to the smiling woman of a moment ago. Just as beautiful, but now cold and dangerous. “Dalbury left the country, I believe, and only returned last year.”

“He did.” She clenched her jaw and released his hand altogether. “Without warning, or any word at all. He simply left—without even saying goodbye to me.” Madam Vestry’s eyes flashed an angry black. “That…betrayal prompted me to commit perhaps my greatest folly, for to spite the man I cared for, I immediately took his best friend as my lover.” She turned on her heel and strode to the table. Gripping the sides of the old boards, she squeezed the wood until her knuckles threatened to come through the skin.

“Mr. Redmond.”

“If I’d only stopped, waited until my anger cooled, but no. I wanted to hurt Dalbury as much as he’d hurt me. What better way than allowing his friend to take his place in my bed?” She gave a mirthless chuckle. “I found out later that the marquess didn’t even know of my alliance with Mr. Redmond until his return to London. So much for my revenge.” Her voice broke, and Reginald’s stomach twisted. She turned away and hung her head.

Without thought, he hurried to her side. The poor woman had been through so much in her life. He made as if to put an arm around her then stopped himself. Perhaps she would rebuff any such contact at the moment. Katarina had elbowed him smartly in the ribs when he’d tried to comfort her in a moment of anguish. Cautiously, he laid his hands on Madam Vestry’s shoulders. “Please do not distress yourself, my dear. You can hardly be blamed for having such feelings when you’d been hurt.”

Shaking her head, she turned to him, tears shining in her eyes. “But don’t you see? Had I not become allied with Mr. Redmond, we would not be here, and Pearl would not be in danger. There’s nothing he won’t do to make me pay for my part in foiling his plot against Lord Dalbury and assisting the woman who wounded him so grievously.” She swallowed hard. “If he finds my daughter, he knows he can do with me what he will. I would give my life for her, and he knows that. He doesn’t even have to threaten her with physical harm to make me do his bidding.”

“What do you mean?”

The woman’s whole body trembled. “All her life, I’ve shielded Pearl from the eyes of the world in the hope that if I kept her hidden, if no one knew who she was, or who her mother was, one day I would have money and freedom enough to take her away somewhere. Someplace we could begin life over again, where Pearl might grow up happy, with a chance to marry without the stain of her mother’s downfall ruining her as well.”

The tears in Madam Vestry’s eyes spilled down her cheeks, leaving tracks that glistened in the morning light. “Mr. Redmond could snuff that dream with a word. If he tells the world who Pearl is, we are finished.” She hung her head and seemed to shrink in on herself. “No matter where we ran, no amount of money could redeem her in Society’s eyes.”

Sight of the formidable Madam Vestry trembling and desperate in her concern for her child’s well-being touched Reginald’s heart as nothing else had. A mother’s love was precious, no matter her circumstances. Moved to pity, he impulsively gathered her small form into his arms, cradling her against his chest.

“Shhh. We’ll find a way to prevent him doing that.” Unfortunately, killing the man was likely the only way to ensure his silence. Not that the world would be a poorer place for Redmond’s demise, but as a magistrate of the court, Reginald was supposed to frown on such measures being taken.

She nestled against him, generating a warmth that spread from his chest downward with alarming speed. When she raised her tearstained face to him, her eyes miserable and hopeless, he cursed his inability at present to offer her more than empty promises. He wanted to assure her that she and her daughter would be able to don the cloak of respectability and live in peace. Wanted to pledge to her he would kill Tommy Redmond when next he met the man and thus put an end to the terror that now consumed her. Yet such assurances were impossible.

“Do you promise, Sir Reginald?” The sable eyes begged for his word even as the body pressed against him urged him to give her something else.

“I do.” Reason flew out the window as he lost his battle with control and sank his mouth down onto her luscious red lips.