A Most Unusual Mistress (Rogue Scandals) (5 page)

“I will take and enjoy
all
you would offer to your mistress.” Her voice rang with conviction, muffled though it was. “However, I fail to believe even your mistress does not receive the consideration of a little at a time. For Ashley, you know I am a virgin, inexperienced and untried.”

“So you tell me; and a sugared one. Where did you learn that art, I wonder? Sufficient to say, it means I do not need to teach you. Although the enjoyment we would both have from those lessons almost makes me wish you did not. However, not enough to demand you regrow those curls, merely to resugar them. This look and feel is much too enticing for that.” Satisfaction was evident in his voice as he stroked before reentering her. Two fingers? How could her body accept and enjoy the way he stretched and prepared her for whatever was to come?

To her delight and amazement, she knew not only was she accepting, but reveling in it. Her disappointment was overwhelming when his fingers withdrew. Her gown was slid down her body, teasing sensitive nipples to almost pain.

She stared, uncomprehending, at his amused face shadowed by the flickering lamp.

“Your mama is waiting.”

Riana knew her brain was not engaged. A sharp tap on her behind brought everything into focus.

“Why did you do that?” She was indignant.

Ash laughed softly. “Better a gentle spank at the moment than what I would prefer to do. Which, before you so inquire, is feast myself on that beautiful, bare cunt until you are screaming for more. For anything and everything I choose to indulge in. For as long as I desire. However, our first coupling will not be here, like this. No hurried fuck as yet. That is for later. Our first time will be long enough to sate us both.”

“I cannot wait.” She knew not if she was being honest or sarcastic.

“Nonetheless, wait you will. ‘Tis good for you. Anticipation increases arousal. By the time you scream my name as you come, you will have reached heights of passion you knew not existed. Over and over again.”

His words painted pictures so vivid, she could have screamed
now,
but in vexation. He had not finished.

“You will be pleasured in all ways imaginable and in techniques you cannot believe. As will I. Be prepared this night, my love...be very prepared. Now.” His voice changed from that as a lover to brisk, impersonal. “Follow me.” He turned to a door she had not previously noticed.

Obediently, she began to move, but then stopped suddenly. “What on earth could my mama want of me, Ash? For she has spared me no thought for many a year, and, in all truth, I do not wish to be confronted by her.”

He kissed her nose, a friendly, unlover-like salute. “I will be by your side. She will say nothing. We will confront her as an affianced couple.” His sharp glance dared her to defy him.

What, Riana wondered, would be her fate if she did? She almost thought it might be worth it to try! However...not where her mama was concerned. She was one forceful being.

“Thank you.” Riana tried to make her tone meek, her demeanor subservient. Judging by the way his grip on her arm tightened momentarily, she did not totally succeed. As Ash ushered her through the door, she looked around in amazement. They seemed to be in a small antechamber, empty except for Ivo, Serena, and Arabella.

Serena laughed when she saw them.

“’Tis so good for us to be your decoy, Ash. For so often it has been the other way around. Ivo, take Ash. We will follow as soon as I have pinned up Riana’s flounce.” She waved her hands at the men who, with mocking bows and a swift, “until later,” left the room via yet another door.

Adriana was sure she looked as confused as she felt. “My flounce needs no pinning.”

She felt a tug and watched, fascinated, as Arabella swiftly tore a few inches of frilly hem, leaving it loose and dangling around her slipper.

“It does now. One moment whilst I repair.” She opened her reticule and knelt at Adriana’s side, swiftly undoing the mischief she had just affected.

Arabella gave her a compassionate look and hugged her. “Ivo told your mama we were with you, repairing your gown. So we will do so. Although never to my knowledge has it taken a half-hour to restore such a simple thing.”

Half an hour? She had been standing—to all intents and purposes—naked in front of Ash for that length of time? No wonder her brain was addled. Her companions giggled at her astonishment.

“Some men have that effect on one,” Serena remarked in a kindly voice. “Don’t worry about it. Enjoy it. It is rare. We three are lucky to be wanted and adored by our men.”

“Serry,” Adriana spoke impulsively. “How do you all cope? Knowing you cannot show your love openly. Is it not hard?”

Serena sighed. “Very. For we can neither admit to Bella and I as a couple or all three of us as one. But...” She shrugged. “’Tis worth it.”

Arabella stood and kissed them both. “Very worth it, and yes,” she said to Adriana, “at times, I could cry at the injustice done to us. But crying only blotches my complexion and makes me down. So I just give thanks for all the times we are together. At least in our old-maid state and given we are renowned for our eccentricities, Serry and I can share our house without too many frowns from the Ton.”

Adriana nodded, her thoughts somber.
And I was worried because I wanted to be more than a milksop wife.

“Enough maudlin thoughts,” Serena spoke briskly, although not before Adriana saw her wipe her eyes. “Now, are we done?”

“Well, as nothing was needed in the first place,” Arabella retorted, amusement in her voice. “I would say we are. Remember, Riana, I trod on your flounce, so we retired to effect repairs.”

Adriana nodded, her head spinning. If she had been aroused before, now she was bemused as she let herself be ushered toward yet another door. How many entrances did this small room have?

She must have voiced her question, because Serena answered her.

“Four. One to the room—cupboard—you entered from, which is intriguing in its own right, is it not? One to the corridor where we are going, one to another corridor hard by the study where Ivo and Ash went, meaning they will meet us for supper, if we are not too late, and one to the servants’ corridor. It is very convenient.”

So it seemed.

“I had forgotten you two would know all the suitable nooks and crannies in these houses if ever you may need one.”

“As it seems you may now also discover.”

The idea both excited and intrigued her. Sadly, she thought perchance not, for she was mistress of her own household. Then a thought struck her. “Do you still have a use for them?”

Both her companions smirked as they nodded, before tucking her between them and wandering slowly along the corridor, toward the music and chatter that could be heard getting louder with each step.

Oh, well, perhaps she would be searching for and using such accommodations after all.

C
HAPTER
F
IVE

The music and her mama assailed her simultaneously. Neither was welcome. The music because Ash was nowhere near to rescue her and dance with her; her mama because she was an irritant. Someone who had all but ignored her for several years unless she required something. The woman had come to her most recently for pin money, as her allowance, she declared, was pitiful. Adriana knew this to be untrue, but her mama had never learned the art of apportioning. After Adriana had denied her yet another substantial sum
to tide me over, my love,
knowing it would neither be returned nor used wisely, their interactions had been minimal. Indeed, for the last several months, nonexistent. All thankfully accepted and enjoyed by Riana. She and her mama were chalk and cheese; best kept apart, something Riana strived to keep in place. Until this night.

“
Adriana!
How ungainly, I despair of you. How clumsy can you get?”

“Oh, a lot worse, mama, I assure you,” Adriana retorted, shushing Arabella—who was, she thought, about to jump to her defense—under her breath and giving her a warning glare. She was well able to contend with her mama, however brutish she chose to be.

“As you are deigning to speak to me, mama, I assume you want something?”

Her mother simpered. A truly awful sight. “Now, my love, how can you think such a thing? Your...er...friend will begin to think the worse of me.” She essayed a smile.

“Oh, I do already, my lady,” Arabella opined as she gave a slight mocking curtsey. Adriana’s mama well knew who Arabella and Serena were, both their mamas being nodding acquaintances. The older woman flushed angrily. Adriana stepped in hurriedly.

“Mama?”

“Well, I
am
a little strapped at this moment. As for the cost of bringing Tilly out...” She stopped and looked up at her daughter—in a manner she no doubt hoped would warrant sympathy, but instead made its recipient cringe.

Adriana was neither moved nor impressed.

“Is covered by me, and as Tilly well knows, will continue to be so. The cost of your losses at the gaming tables or your household expenses will not, as
you
well know,” Adriana pointed out. “How you choose to spend the considerable fortune papa left you is your concern, not mine. So if there is nothing else?”

She was not to be so lucky. It seemed there was more.

“What are these rumors I hear? That you and the Earl of Addersley are no longer betrothed?” Her mother all but spat the words out. “I was more than mortified when Lady Summerford asked me if ‘twas true. It is bad enough you keep your own household, a scandal I oft have trouble defending, but to hear that my daughter no longer has the ability or the nous to hold on to her only chance of avoiding spinsterhood is beyond all understanding. I had no recourse other than to respond it was malicious rumor. But to hear if from that gossipmonger...” Her voice trailed off, her tone one of disgust.

How had that got out? Before she had a chance to answer, she felt a hand curl around her waist, fingers splayed, comforting her as a deep voice replied in her stead.

“Not that it is of any concern to you...other than of course, if there was substance to the rumor. I know you would want to stand by your daughter.” Though the tone was mild, the inference was not.

Adriana knew Ash had no time to expend on her mama who, it seemed, realized his contempt of her, as she stood with her mouth agape, her hands clenched at her sides. Ashley however, had not finished with her.

“I can reassure you, my lady, that is all it is. An unsubstantiated and untrue rumor. To allay your fears, someone tried to pull a prank, which backfired. As you see, I am here, and Adriana is safely in my hands.”

Again, Adriana watched as her parent flushed. She opened her mouth to speak, but a squeeze at her waist halted her. Impatiently, she waited to hear what else Ash had to say, noticing that in the meantime, he had maneuvered them so they were three apart from any other people. Even Arabella had moved away, allowing the privacy Ashley seemed so determined to achieve. For once they were distanced from others, he leant toward her mama, drawing her close with him.

“If I hear more, I will be extremely annoyed. Not merely vexed. You, I am sure, wish for no slur to be attached to your daughter’s name?” One well-groomed eyebrow rose.

Adriana had never seen her mama so flustered as the woman stuttered a reply.

Ashley, however, was not finished. “Furthermore, madam, I will reiterate what my fiancée told you. Tilly will continue to be helped; you will not. Not now, nor after our wedding...at which, it seems, we will unfortunately have to accommodate you. When the date is fixed, be sure you will be notified. And that date, I may add, will be at
our
convenience and that of no one else. Now we wish you a good evening.” He bowed punctiliously.

Hurriedly, Adriana made her curtsey and let him lead her away from her choleric-looking mama. So rarely was she bested in such a superior manner.

“I cannot believe you are from that harpy,” he said in a conversational manner as he ushered her away, making her giggle. “She has the manners and mouth of a fishwife, and that, I fear, is doing the fishwife an injustice. Are you sure you are not adopted?”

Adriana gurgled in delight. “I fear not, but I have oft wondered what terrible deed I did in a past life to be burdened so in this. She has always been the same. When my godmama left me her fortune, she saw it as a deliberate slur against her. Well...” She was reflective. “I suppose the letter godmama addressed to me was damning regarding mama’s maternal instincts.”

“Nonexistent?” Ash inquired.

She nodded. “With regards to me, certainly. Tilly fares much better. Although she is so much more amenable when she needs to be. She is only seventeen, and as you have frequently remarked, an acknowledged beauty, luckily not affected by the praise and adulation she receives.”

“If we marry, I will take care of your mama, and I mean not in a monetary manner, merely ensure we are not bothered by her. Naturally, I will, of course, be responsible for your sister’s continued well-being.” She noted his swift glance as he gauged her response.