A Most Unusual Mistress (Rogue Scandals) (3 page)

“Ah, my love, ‘tis a sight to devour. No.” His voice sharpened as she began to open her eyes. “I trust you to do as I request. I will say when you may look.” His hands continued their exploration as he pulled her tight to his body, and she could feel the power of his erection hard against her mound. She leant in closer and with soft sighs and incoherent mumbling, tried to rub against him. The hand on her arse stopped its delicate probing of that tiny, puckered hole through her gown, and moved solely to her buttocks where it gripped firmly.

“Riana, as your master, I can control you as I desire. Perchance my desire is to spank you each time you cross my will...” He paused, and now his hand caressed her curves. “Of course, as my wife, you would command respect that does not allow this.”

Arrogant swine.
“So your wife—whatever else she does—receives no physical chastisement? Your mistress does. Whatever she does, if it not please you, you react in such a manner?” She paused, and an impulse made her continue. “So, if as your wife, I took a lover, you would accept this? Maybe that is the route to take?”

“Open your eyes now and look at me.” This she was happy to do, and after a swift glance at her dishabille and the yet-immaculate set of his clothing, looked him straight in the eye.

“Oh, my.” She schooled her tone into a mocking lilt. “You feel this is equality? You so unmoved by my body and me...well, me in a state of semi-undress, with my emotions in chaos from your touch and craving more. Perhaps if the day arrives that I do accept the position of your wife, and you have no need of my attentions, I may turn them to another.” She waited for his reaction. It was not long in coming.

“If my wife took a lover, I would kill both her and him.”

Well, that sounded definite.
Her palms began to sweat. He had not finished, however.

“That is the length of it. The differences are numerous.” He seemed to be waiting for an answer.

Adriana smiled, putting as much
sex
and promise as she knew how into her mouth, her eyes, and her demeanor.

“Some do say to be spanked by a dominant is highly arousing, that ‘tis erotically charged.’” She opened her eyes to their widest, aiming for a look of innocence, unsure if she achieved her goal. “Are you such a person, Ash?”

She would swear if he had been drinking, none would be left in glass or mouth; it would all be spread over the room as he spewed it out in surprise.

“What, my lady, know you of such things?” His tone was stern, but try as he might to control it, Riana could see the light of more than casual interest in his eyes.

“I know as much as I need at present. If I wish to know more, I will discover.”

“You will discover naught unless from me. In this, there is no debate.” He glared at her, his eyes becoming angry slits. In response, she smiled virtuously.

“And you know the answers, of course. Otherwise...” She shrugged.

“Otherwise,” he retorted grimly, “they will be so insignificant, you will have no need to know or understand.”

“In that case, I ask again. Are you a dominant?”

“And I say again, what know you of such things?”

Dare
I
say
that is for me to know and you to find out?
Perhaps... She glimpsed the storm clouds in his eyes.
Not.

“Relax; I know no more than gossip bandied about over dishes of Bohea and cakes. But it is said you are a dominant. You
need
to take charge. It is whispered this is both disturbing and arousing. Sadly, the gossips say little more. Nonetheless, I read, speak, and am inquisitive. This, along with a few careless comments dropped into conversations remembered, aroused my inquisitiveness. So I researched in general and you in specific.” She smiled, feeling her arousal increase by several degrees.

“There you learned
what?
” His hand was still caressing her buttocks through the thin muslin, its presence nigh rendered superfluous, she decided, as she felt the sensuous slide of the thin material moving beneath his hands. Once again, his other hand unerringly found one hard and eager nipple and pinched gently, and again, a sharp bolt of desire went straight to her quim.

“That your control is absolute, your staying power legendary, and your generosity overwhelming. You are faithful and true for the length of time you are amused, on average, which is believed to be between four and seven months.”

“Any more?” he asked, his tone laced with amusement. “Do I defend myself?”

Riana looked at him, considering. “I know not, my lord. Do you have a need to?”

Ash laughed. “Minx, I feel I may have a need to spank you until you cannot sit down for a sennight.”

She smiled in satisfaction, enjoying his teasing tone. This, she had been given to believe, was one area of depravity he excelled in. “Ah, so ‘tis true.”

“I crave your pardon?” He sounded bewildered.

“The kittle-cattle are correct in their surmise,
dominant.
”

“Oh, my dear,” he purred. “Of a surety. As you as my beloved mistress will discover.”

She was interested beyond belief. “What if I decided to be your wife, and I chose to be that alone, and you chose not to renege?”

He mimicked her smile. “As my wife,” he replied slowly and deliberately. “I begin to think you may also find out.”

“Then, my lord, when you change
may
to
will,
ask me again if you so please, and I will reconsider.”

“Perchance, my dear, I may so enjoy you as a mistress, I will feel no need for a wife, be it you or another.”

“Ah, well.” She strove to make her voice light and unworried. “Time will tell. In the meantime, what next?”

That did earn her a short, sharp tap on her rear. She felt her dress pulled back into place, freeing her arms.

“In the meantime, I bid you farewell and ask you make preparations to facilitate my easy and unnoticed entry to the house and your bedchamber this evening. At eleven. Before then, I have to show my face at Lady Pevensy’s ball. I believe we may meet there, and I will escort you to supper. Being cognizant of this, will you agree we keep our change in circumstance to ourselves at present?”

“Ash, we cannot. I have sent the directive to the papers.” She frowned. “Now I regret my hasty actions of earlier, but I felt sorely ill-used.”

“Ah, my love.” He finished retying her ribbons. “Worry not. Mister Barnes, the esteemed editor of
The Times,
contacted me in fear of the notice being a jape, and I persuaded him it was so.”

Argh.
She could scream. The bugger had been aware of her plans from the beginning.

C
HAPTER
T
HREE

“It seems, my lord…” Her voice was glacial. “…you have the edge.”

Ash laughed and kissed her hand. “My love, I will
always
have the edge
.
You will do well to remember it.” He watched her mouth drop open as she stared at him. He returned the gaze, his own face blank.
So now, my dear, you are out of kilter. And out of kilter you will stay...until I decree otherwise.
He made sure none of this showed on his perfectly schooled face as he took his leave, his mind already plotting the hours after the ball. He would bet his newly purchased hunter she was perplexed and, by now, beginning to seethe. He looked forward to the fireworks with a hunger that surprised him.

Smiling at Archer, he asked for pen and ink and executed a brief note with a polite request it be delivered to premises in an unassuming street nearby. Once assured it would be sent immediately, Ash retrieved his coat, sauntered down the steps, and then walked slowly along the square until he was able to hail a passing hackney. Directing the driver to Addersley House, he sat back on the squabs, satisfied with his opening skirmish. To say he had been aghast when Mister
Barnes
had sent word to beg his indulgence and to call upon him at his earliest convenience was a severe underestimation. Knowing Barnes as he had from when he was a young man, he knew he would not ask for his attendance without considerable provocation.

Reading the retraction of their intended vows had not only jolted him, but also angered him. It was nothing to do with the attitude of the Ton or the sniggers and tittle-tattle that would follow. It was to do with Adriana. He lusted after her. Not merely desired, but lusted. Love was not a word in his vocabulary. Having seen what so-called love had done to his father in the face of his mama’s disinterest and flagrant flaunting of her lovers, he had vowed never to fall prey to that particular emotion.

Lovers he had taken in their dozens. His prowess was legendary. Even the most reticent of individuals swore one look from Lord Addersley and they would do anything. Judging by the numbers of eligible, young women he had found ready to lure him into compromising positions, he agreed with that statement wholeheartedly. One of the few things he surmised his whole heart
was
involved in. Perhaps, if truth be told,
any
of his heart, except for where his hunters were concerned.

So now he had to decide what happened next. All previous ideas of a gentle, steady pursuit of her, in the eventual hope of more than a gentrified coupling, were now dead. Her ultimate capitulation was his final, nay,
immediate,
aim. He knew once she was his in every sense of the word, she would be bound to him. Not as a mistress but as his wife. Then he could sate himself when he so desired as well as continue his life as he determined, with a mistress or not. Why then, did this scenario not please him as he thought it should? More than this, why did he have a persistent quibble in the back of his mind that somehow things may not play out just as he so desired?

Dismissing that niggling feeling, he relaxed as the hackney carriage lurched over the cobbles. Time enough to worry later, if indeed, he had a need to. Now he would plot and scheme. He thought his jaded palate was about to be amused.

The movement of the cab, the way it swayed his body, reminded him of an on-dit passed to him a few days earlier. To whit, a close friend, a prominent member of the Ton, had recently created a circular, cobbled track in the grounds of his countryseat, with the specific purpose of creating cock-arousing friction and eventual climax. Ash remembered Ivo talking about such amusements months earlier. It seemed he had executed his idea. Ash could imagine just how arousing and agreeable that would be. Perhaps he needed to wangle an invitation when next they met? Even more interesting was the thought of what that chafing could do to a smooth, uncovered cunt. Once more, his cock responded to his thoughts with instant approval.

“Addersley House, gaffer.” The tone was respectful, the title not so. However, he forbore commenting and left the hackney after paying the jarvey his fare.

As if by magic, his front door was opened as he mounted the wide steps leading from the pavement, a new addition to this select area of London.

“My lord.” Higgins, his majordomo, stood to one side and bowed low as Ash entered his spacious hallway. “Moulton awaits your pleasure in the green salon.”

Excellent, the next phase of seduction was almost in place. His manhood swelled as if to signal its eager anticipation of forthcoming events.

Two hours later, it was very firmly in place, and Moulton left, satisfied with the large commission that had been put his way.

Ash sauntered up to his bathing chamber to enjoy a deep, relaxing bath and gave orders for the following day. Satisfied he had done all he could at present to ensure his demands were met, he dressed. A perfect gentleman from head-to-toe, from his artfully dressed curls, à la Brutus, to his crisply starched, perfectly arranged—in his own personal style—cravat and immaculate knee breeches, to hessians glossed and shined to perfection. Many a dandy had tried to get his valet’s recipe for blacking. None had succeeded. Elsome was too attached to his master to let another in on his secrets.

Satisfied with his appearance, he collected a package he had procured earlier and moved it into a place of prominence, where he would be able to collect it with ease on his return. Having arranged for his carriage to be ready, he soon found himself once more being driven over cobbles, the wheels catching each in turn. Even his well-sprung town carriage was no match for the uneven surface. Luckily, before his state of arousal became too noticeable, his destination was reached.

He was ushered inside and announced with all the pomp designated to a peer of the realm, especially one of his standing. The stairs leading to the ballroom were a crush of bodies, and it was with relief he made his bow to his hosts and was released into the body of the room. So much amusement during the season took place at soirées such as this. Also, although not generally spoken about, many dalliances and illicit trysts. Both of which he had enjoyed on numerous occasions. Tonight, however, he was not in quest of either.
Well,
he admitted to himself,
not to any great degree.
He did intend to rouse Adriana’s curiosity, to indulge in a little dalliance, and to make her intrigued about what lay ahead. Nothing, however, to bring the wrath of the tabbies down on either of them.