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She guessed he was in his sixties, although he had an ageless quality about him that so many men in their middle years exude, making it difficult to pinpoint an exact age. The greying hair and the lines etched into what was once a smooth and handsome face matured him in a positive way. A dynamic energy radiated from his well-built body—neither too skinny nor too fat—and helped to create a natural charisma that was virile, vibrant and capable of attracting any woman of any age.
Laney hesitated, nerves very much on edge—was this what she’d been waiting for…? She obeyed the order and moved several steps closer to the man in charge—there could be little doubt about who he was. For some reason, she’d thought she would be swept off her feet and transported to a nirvana of heightened sexual grace when she first laid eyes on the Marquis, but her experience now was quite different. Yes, she fel
t like a trembling bundle of raw nerves, but she was transported nowhere.
“I understand that you’ve been looking for me,” the man said.
What a profound understatement was Laney’s first thought, then when she was finally able to answer, she said, “You are the Marquis?” Her clear eyes had opened wide in wonder as she surveyed him carefully and let the reality of the moment and the man settle on her.
“That’s what I’m commonly called,” he replied.
“Yes, I have been anxious to find you.”
“And what is it you want from me?” he asked.
She stood speechless for several moments, until it seemed the bracelet on her arm began to burn her flesh as a reminder of her reason for being there. “This bracelet,” she said, and she held it out for him to see. “You gave it to my husband a year ago.”
“Indeed I did. So sorry about your husband; he was a good man, a good master. I know that you were devastated by the loss and to lose him in such a … a tragic way.”
“Yes, sir. He left so many things…” she struggled for the right word, “undone…” she bowed her head, needing to gather herself. All the emotion of the moment seemed to transfer to that tragic instant when she realized that Erik would not return to her. She fought back tears, then took a deep breath and looked up again. “I felt the need to find you, to fulfill the promise of this bracelet,” she declared simply.
“But you were not content to let me find you?”
“Sir, some days, this bracelet would burn, my desire burning in the same fierce way.”
“Then you should have been content to let it burn,” turning the phrase with an unmistakable hint of disgust.
“But I didn’t see how that was …”
“It’s not in the province of a submissive woman,” he cut her off, “particularly one bound by the code this bracelet implies, to initiate. It is for her to serve, to wait, to wait years if that is what her master demands of her.”
“I-I…didn’t…” she foundered in her attempt to reply, until the reply simply petered out.
“Yet, you…you took up the challenge of finding me like a medieval crusader off to find the holy grail,” the Marquis spat out, his temper steadily rising, although he was still very much in control. The wide-eyed Laney stared at him in petrified silence. “You returned to the island… you ran off to Paris and then came here to Prague and, isn’t it ironic, found yourself subject to the vicious elements of society who nearly enslaved you beyond my reach… beyond my reach…” He shook his head stunned, turned around, let the room fall into a breathless quiet, then whipped around again. “And how did you gain the information that brought you here—lies, trickery… and through the theft of my private property…” He suddenly pointed to a table, previously unnoticed by Laney, on which sat the two books.
“How…?”
“How did I get them?” he raised his brows, then continued, “I had a friend search your hotel room until he located what I suspected was there. You can be sure that was all that was taken.”
“How dare you enter my room!”
“How dare you steal from me!” he was right in her face, outraged, and she backed up, suddenly quaking in fear.
“I’m sorry. I’m forgetting myself,” she said weakly.
“Oh, but you are performing right in character, aren’t you?”
Her lip trembled as she bit it hard; her eyes welled with tears.
“I never meant…”
“I’m sure you didn’t mean any harm, which is why I’m actually seeing you now to set you straight. You can be appropriately punished for your flagrant crime—which you will be later. But your willfulness is another matter to be handled.”
She grabbed the bracelet. “I may have stumbled badly, sir, and for that I apologize, but I still very much want to…to be your humble property.”
“Oh? What makes you so sure?”
She didn’t know what to say.
