Simply Wicked

2

Even at this early hour, the public rooms at the pleasure house were busy. At least forty people were gathered in the large salon, chattering and laughing, anticipating the delights Madame Helene had surely arranged for them. Anthony wondered how many of them frequented the top floor, the place where pain and pleasure blended and all pretenses were stripped away.

With a sense of wary anticipation, he spotted Christian at the buffet table and moved toward him.

“Good evening, Mr. Delornay.”

“Good evening, my lord.” Christian bowed and stepped back. “May I introduce my sister, Lisette?”

Anthony took the proffered hand and kissed it. Lisette Delornay was almost as tall as her brother, her fair hair not quite as blond, her eyes hazel. If the rumors were true, and Anthony had excellent sources, she looked more like her father, Lord Philip Knowles, than her twin did.

Despite her age, her smile was as sensual as her mother’s, and Anthony couldn’t help smiling back.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, my lord.” Lisette gestured at the buffet. “If it pleases you, we will withdraw to our suite and eat privately.”

He tucked her hand into the crook of his arm and patted it. “I’m happy to oblige, Miss Delornay. Please lead the way.”

With Christian following along behind, Anthony soon found himself lost in the labyrinth of the big house as Lisette took him through to the more private areas.

“Here we are, my lord.”

Anthony stepped through a doorway into a lavish suite of rooms decorated in pale silver and cream. A table stood in front of the fire laid for three, and an elderly woman rose from the couch to curtsey.

“Good evening, my lord. I’m Mrs. Smith-Porterhouse, Lisette’s chaperone; I’ll be in my room if anyone needs me.”

Not an assignation then if Lisette’s chaperone was nearby. Anthony wasn’t sure if he was relieved or disappointed. Despite their age, the sexual antics of the Delornay twins were already legendary. Had he hoped to find an escape from Lord Minshom with them? He doubted they’d be able to stand up to the force of his lover’s acerbic personality, but they were Helene’s children after all.

“Lord Anthony?”

He bowed, aware that he’d been staring at Mrs. SmithPorterhouse for far too long.

“My apologies, ma’am, I was woolgathering. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“And you too, sir.” Mrs. Smith-Porterhouse nodded at Lisette. “I’ll be back in a while to check on you, my dear.”

Lisette looked resigned but not surprised. Anthony reckoned she still had a remarkable amount of freedom for an unmarried woman, but she wasn’t exactly a young lady of the ton. As far as he understood it, her social position was far more ambiguous.

“Please, sit.” Lisette headed for the table and Anthony moved to hold a chair out for her. “Thank you.”

He waited until Christian sat too and then took his place between them. To his surprise, he was actually hungry, so he settled down to enjoy his dinner before entertaining any thoughts about what the twins wanted from him and what he was going to do about it. The Delornays were surprisingly cultured and amusing compared to his younger siblings, and he found himself enjoying their wicked gossip and banter.

By the time the remnants of the second course were removed and he nursed a large glass of brandy in his hands, he was feeling quite benign toward them. He waited until the last servant withdrew and fixed his gaze on Christian.

“Thank you for an excellent dinner. Now what exactly did you want to discuss with me?”

Christian exchanged a quick glance with Lisette. “We wish you to give us your word that anything we talk about goes no further, regardless of the outcome.”

Anthony raised his eyebrows. “I’m not known as a tattletale. Of course, I’ll keep your secrets.”

“Good, then we wish you to help our sister, Marguerite.”

Anthony put his glass down. “Your sister? I didn’t even know you had a sister.”

Lisette smiled. “She doesn’t live with us and, in truth, she is only our half sister. She had a different father.”

Were they referring to Lord Knowles’s legitimate children? “An Englishman?”

“Non, we assume he was French. Marguerite is older than us. She is twenty-three.”

“But your mother seems scarcely old enough to have given birth to you two, let alone another child.”

Both of the twins glared at him, and he held up his hands. “I apologize. That is none of my business—I hold your mother in the highest regard.”

Christian cleared his throat. “Anyway, Marguerite needs help, and we think you are the right man to provide it.”

“Me?” Anthony laughed. “I doubt it. What exactly does she need? And please don’t tell me she is looking for a husband.”

“Marguerite is a widow. I doubt she’d want to marry you. That’s why we want you to help her.”

Intellectually, Anthony understood that no sane woman would want him in his present state, but it pained him to hear it spoken out loud. He struggled to keep his tone even. “I don’t understand.”

Christian smiled. “She doesn’t want anything. She stays in her house and doesn’t go out in case anyone starts gossiping about her.”

“And what am I expected to do about that?”

Lisette sat forward, her hands clasped together on the table top. “We want you to squire her around town, take her to balls, picnics and concerts, and make her smile again.”

Anthony stared at them. “Excuse my bluntness, but why in God’s name would you think I’d do any of that? I’m not exactly known as a ladies’ man.”

“We know—why do you think we’re asking for your help?”

“Now I’m completely at a loss.”

“I overheard some of your conversation with my mother this morning,” Christian said carefully. “You said that you wanted to change.”

Anthony’s smile disappeared. “I don’t appreciate being spied on.”

“I apologize, but it was unintentional. I wasn’t expecting anyone except my mother or her lover to be in her boudoir at that time in the morning.” Christian hesitated. “If you truly want to change, helping Marguerite might be beneficial to you. At least it might give you an opportunity to step away from a lifestyle which has obviously become abhorrent to you.”

Anthony fought the temptation to smash his fist into Christian’s calm face. But it was past time to face the truth, and Christian was repeating only what Anthony had realized for himself. However, it still stung to be judged by a mere youth.

“Your mother would not consider me a fit partner for Marguerite. I’m not sure that I do myself.” He held Christian’s gaze. “You know what I’m like; you know I’m usually involved with men.”

“That’s exactly why we think you’ll be perfect for Marguerite. She’s not ready to have a real sexual relationship with anyone. She’s still ‘in love’ with her dead husband, but she does need to gain some experience with a man, and you will be perfect.”

“But your mother will still object.”

Lisette smiled. “Then we don’t tell her.”

“She knows everything that goes on here. I hardly think my gallivanting around with her daughter will escape her notice.”

“But you won’t be here, will you? You’ll be escorting Marguerite to a different kind of place entirely. And don’t you want to keep away from here, anyway?”

Anthony studied Lisette’s face. Was it possible to change his life that easily?

“Excuse me for asking this, but if you two are not considered socially acceptable, how will your sister get away with it?”

Christian looked amused. “We are respectable. We just don’t choose to embrace that particular environment. Marguerite has no choice. She married an English lord; therefore she is entitled and expected to enjoy the benefits of high society.”

“Your sister is a titled lady?”

“Oui, Lady Justin Lockwood.”

Anthony paused. “Wasn’t there some scandal connected with her husband a few years ago?”

“He was involved in a duel with his best friend, Sir Harry Jones, and was fatally wounded.”

“That’s right. I remember it now. Weren’t they both supposed to be in love with the same woman?”

Lisette glanced at Christian. “Something like that.”

“Ah, that was your sister, Marguerite. Is that why she chooses to live in solitude?”

“Apparently so, although it seems ridiculous to me.”

Anthony managed a smile. “Perhaps you have a stronger constitution than your sister.”

Lisette met his gaze, and it was like looking straight into her mother’s eyes. “That is possible. I’m hardly a shrinking violet.”

“Hardly.” Christian laughed and Lisette scowled at him. “Marguerite lives with a chaperone in a small house owned by the Lockwood family on Maddox Street. The Lockwoods don’t particularly care for her, but they haven’t dared to disassociate themselves because of her powerful supporters.”

“I thought you said she had no family apart from you and her mother in England.”

“She doesn’t, but she has Viscount Harcourt DeVere and the Duke of Diable Delamere as godparents.”

“Powerful allies indeed.” Anthony studied his folded hands on the stained white damask tablecloth before looking up. “Have you spoken to your sister about this?”

“Not yet. We wanted to see if you were agreeable first.” Christian looked inquiringly at Anthony.

Anthony allowed a silence to fall before he replied. “Why would she agree to this? What possible reason is there for her to want to change her life?”

Lisette held his gaze. “The same reasons you have. If she doesn’t do something to save herself soon, she will become the kind of woman she has always despised.”

“And what kind of woman is that?”

“One who is afraid.” Christian said softly.

Anthony fought a shiver. Was it fear that held him back from trying a new path? Was he too afraid to step away from the familiar and find himself again?

He nodded abruptly. “I’ll think about what you have said and give you an answer in the morning.”

Anthony made his way back into the center of the pleasure house, his thoughts in chaos. Was it too late to go back, find the twins and tell them he wouldn’t even consider the idea? He paused at the half-opened doorway to one of the more select second-floor rooms where some of Madame’s patrons were enjoying a show. In the center of the room, two men attired in classical Grecian robes, laurel wreaths adorning their heads, were slowly undressing each other.

He moved closer to watch as the drapery fell away to reveal the oiled, muscled chest of one of the men. The second man kissed his way down the line of the fair-skinned man’s sternum, tugging at the material that still covered his loins to reveal his erect cock.

A knot of tension settled low in Anthony’s gut. Had he ever experienced such gentleness while having sex? Or had he just been fucked, his body a tool to be used by others for their enjoyment but never for his? He bit his lip. No, that wasn’t fair. He’d enjoyed the roughness, craved it sometimes, and even begged for it.

“I’m surprised to see you here again tonight. You certainly are a glutton for punishment.”

Anthony gently pulled the door shut. The bruises on his body seemed to throb in response to the softly drawled words spoken by the man behind him. He turned to face Lord Minshom, hands fisted at his sides. His nemesis wore an immaculately cut blue coat and black pantaloons, a diamond glittered in the white cravat at his throat.

“I’m not staying.”

Lord Minshom’s pale blue gaze flicked over Anthony’s groin. “Why not? You’re obviously aroused.”

“Not by you.”

“By that pathetic show in there? Two men acting like women?”

“Two men loving each other.”

“Men don’t love each other. They fuck to gain power, to win, to emerge as the winner.”

“Not all of them.”

Lord Minshom reached out and brushed his thumb over Anthony’s lower lip. The subtle caress made all Anthony’s senses come alive. He swallowed hard as Lord Minshom shoved his thumb into his mouth and moved it back and forth.

“I fuck to win.”

Anthony jerked his head away and swiped his hand over his mouth. “I know. You’ve proved that to me many times.”

“And you didn’t like it? You didn’t beg and plead for more?”

“I was a fool.”

“You are a fool. You can’t change your nature, Sokorvsky. You’ll always be down on your knees begging for it.”

Anthony closed his eyes as Lord Minshom’s hand closed around his cock and squeezed hard. Like a lapdog, he was responding, his shaft growing and thickening at the other man’s demands. He grabbed Lord Minshom’s wrist and wrenched it away from his cock.

“No more. I’m done with you.”

A slow smile illuminated the other man’s face, drawing attention to the exquisite lines of his cheekbones and pale porcelain skin.

“Now that is amusing, Sokorvsky. You, having the nerve to tell me you’ve had enough. I didn’t think you had the balls.”

“Well, think again. I’m done.”

“We’ll see about that. Perhaps I was a little hard on you last night. When you’re feeling better, you’ll be back for more.”

“Don’t patronize me. I mean what I say.”

Lord Minshom bowed, amusement clear in his narrowed eyes. “I’m sure you do—tonight. I’ll see you in a couple of days, naked and bound in the punishment corner, eager to do my bidding as usual.”

He nodded and walked away, leaving Anthony shaking. It seemed that no one believed he was capable of changing. He shoved away from the wall. Damn them all to hell, he’d take Marguerite Lockwood out and show them all how wrong they were.