His Mistress (3 page)

“I shall also receive an allowance of one hundred and seventy-five pounds a month to do with as I please.” Her demand was more than one third of the annual living her father had settled on her, but with his own personal wealth, he had no need of the earl’s money. About to nod his head, his gaze swept over her drab dress. The desire to see what possible treasures lay beneath the garment made his mouth go dry.

“I shall agree to your conditions provided you grant one or two of mine,” he said quietly.

“And those are?”

Anger flashed across her face as she studied him with an imperious tilt of her head. In the space of a heartbeat, his body tightened with anticipation. She was a natural. What he wouldn’t give to have her exerting her will over him in their bedroom. His jaw tightened as he tried to redirect his thoughts. He failed.

“You’re to buy several dresses that are more colorful than this depressing gray you seem so fond of.” He waved his hand at her gown in a sweeping gesture.

“I don’t understand.” A startled look crossed her features, and she looked down at her dress then back up at him in puzzlement. “My gowns are quite serviceable.”

“Nonetheless they are drab. Despite our leading separate lives, it will be impossible to avoid seeing each other while sharing the same house. I see enough dark colors in my daily work. I have no wish to see more when I come home.”

He pushed aside the fact that there was more to his demand than he was willing to admit as she slowly nodded. From the wary expression on her face, he had no doubt she would balk at his next condition. There was only a small risk tied to his demand, but an image of her hovering naked over him with her dark hair loose about her shoulders compelled him to name the additional price.

“As for our martial relations, you will agree to welcome me into your bed for at least one night before our first anniversary. The time shall be of
your
choosing, and you shall have
complete
control of your pleasure.”

“
No
.” It was a staccato beat that echoed loudly in the room despite her soft voice. Cheeks flushed with a dark pink, she eyed him with righteous indignation.

“Then I shall bid you good day, my lady.”

Tobias kept his features unreadable as he turned away and walked toward the door. The fact that he was pushing her deeper into the corner her father had penned her into made Tobias’ gut clench. He was just as much a bastard as Culverstone.

“
Stop
.”

It was a firm, simple command that tightened his gut with an inexplicable emotion. He slowly turned around, and his gaze focused on her rebellious expression. In a split second, pure, dark lust unleashed its fury inside him. His unexpected reaction to her made his muscles grow taut as he forced himself to rein in the anticipation coursing its way through him. What the hell was wrong with him? It wasn’t like him to be moved by a woman outside of his dark world.

“Yes?” He cocked his head in a display of nonchalant curiosity, while desperately fighting off the urge not to tug at the shirt collar that had suddenly become quite snug against his throat.

“Like my father, you leave me with no choice but to accept your conditions, Mr. Lynsted.”

Like a proud Amazon princess, she studied him with contempt. The strength in her tugged the dark lust back to the surface as his gaze met her challenging one. He crushed the rising tide of desire, but with greater difficulty than before. Bloody hell, he’d gone too long without sexual release. What else could explain the intensity of his base reaction to Jane?

“Then we are in agreement,” he said through clenched teeth and extended his hand to her.

“We are.” Jane stepped forward to shake his hand.

The moment her hand slipped into his, a jolt of electricity streaked up Tobias’ arm and spread its heat through every inch of him. Like a fire out of control, it stirred his blood until he craved even the smallest taste of her. Citrus and the subtle hint of vanilla filled his nostrils, and he barely managed to let her hand go after sealing their bargain with a handshake.

Disappointment slashed at him the instant she withdrew her hand from his. Almost as if she knew the effect she had on him, a small smile touched her lovely mouth as she met his gaze. God, but she would be magnificent if she were ever to learn how to exert that incredible feminine power dwelling just beneath the surface.

Desire surged its way through him until he hungered for her to lay siege to his body in every way possible. The abrupt sound of alarm bells clanged wildly in his head. Damnation, Culverstone’s inescapable web had just become a cocoon. He swallowed hard. Ruination might have been the better of option after all.

“M
arried
,” Jane exclaimed angrily as she paced the floor in quick, sharp steps. “It’s absurd. I’m almost thirty-one and far too old to be married off as if I were an ingénue.”

“Then refuse,” Angélique Bissette said blithely. Not missing a single step, Jane directed a fierce look at her friend, and the Frenchwoman shrugged. “Your father has no legal authority to make you marry.”

“You’re right, but he gave me one of two choices. Destitution or marriage. Which would you choose?” Jane said with bitter sarcasm.

“Then your choice has been made for you,
non
?” The Frenchwoman said in an insouciant tone of voice.

“Yes….but…he sold me, Angélique,” she said with a catch in her voice as she came to a halt. “He sold me for an annual sum of five thousand pounds.”

“
Mon dieu
, that is a paltry sum,” Angélique exclaimed in horror. “You are worth far more than that.”

Jane flinched. She knew it was a meager dowry, but it represented much more. It illustrated how powerful Lady Hounslow’s hold over Jane’s father was. If it had been any other woman, Jane had no doubt her father would have simply set her up in her own household to make his bride happy. But Irene had never liked the way Jane continually thwarted her attempts to run the household before she became countess. Irene also resented Jane’s refusal to submit herself to any of the woman’s whims.

The woman’s glee had been evident yesterday before Tobias had entered the salon. Of all the possible reprisals Irene could have suggested to Jane’s father, it had never occurred to Jane that marriage would be one of them. Her father’s eagerness to rid himself of her was unmistakable given his quick surrender to Irene’s plotting. He would never have chosen a commoner for a son-in-law otherwise. His condescension toward those beneath his station was not a secret, and his willingness to endure the barbs of his peers for having married her off to his solicitor emphasized his desperation to please his bride and rid himself of Jane. A knot swelled in her throat and she choked back tears. What in God’s name had made her think her father would find it difficult to cast her aside?

She stiffened her shoulders. It wasn’t the first time others had so readily discarded her. But it puzzled her as to why Tobias had agreed to marry her. Her future husband had not even negotiated for a larger dowry. It made no sense. Old insecurities rose painfully to the surface until she pushed them back into the compartment where she stored every disappointment and sorrow. She would survive. As if suddenly aware of Jane’s pain, her friend shook her head, a sympathetic, yet practical, expression on the Frenchwoman’s face.

“
Ma chérie
, it is the way things are done.” Angélique waved her hand in the air in a placating manner. “But the sum is insulting. And your husband-to-be? He didn’t bargain for more?”

“No,” Jane said flatly and resumed her pacing. “Father and Irene actually gloated about it at supper last night. Even more humiliating is the fact that my father has insisted that I be courted before the official engagement announcement.”

Jane winced at how easily she’d accepted her fate. Even the skills she’d acquired under Angélique’s tutelage had failed to save her. She’d found it impossible to exert her will and convince her father to set her up in her own household. Then again, would she have been more assertive if her betrothed had been another man? She knew the answer, but dismissed it.

“
Merde
,” Angélique spat out. “You will be well rid of your father and Lady Hounslow once you’re married. Your fiancé, do you like him?”

“I barely know him. Up until yesterday we’ve only exchanged pleasantries in passing.” Jane shook her head. “It made our conversation…decidedly uncomfortable. He’s…”

“Surely he is not
un monstre
,” Angélique exclaimed in horror at Jane’s inability to finish her sentence.

“A monster? No, he’s…he’s…” Her voice trailed to a halt as she remembered the way her heart had stopped then began to race at a frantic pace when Tobias had entered the salon yesterday morning. Jane darted a glance at her friend to see a small smile on the beautiful woman’s mouth.

“Ahh, so he is handsome,
non
?”

“Yes,” Jane said tightly. And Tobias was. In fact, he was the most wonderful specimen of male beauty she’d ever seen. She’d admired him from a distance ever since her father had retained Tobias’ services. But she’d never imagined she’d be in such close proximity to him on a regular basis. What if he discovered…? She fought to quiet her fears with little success.

“Then, perhaps being married might not be so bad,
ma petite
.” The Frenchwoman shrugged in a pragmatic fashion. “And do stop pacing or you will wear out my carpet.”

Jane abruptly came to a halt at Angélique’s gentle command. One hand on her hip, she pressed the other into her stomach in a futile effort to stop its churning.

“What if he learns….he could easily lock me up and keep me from visiting
La Maison des Plaisirs Sombres
Angélique. I couldn’t bear that. If I lose that freedom…” The idea was so horrifying Jane couldn’t finish her sentence.

“I understand,
ma petite
,” her friend murmured. “However, I do not think your need to escape society’s restraints is in jeopardy. After all, your fiancé agreed to your demand that the marriage be in name only. I doubt he will wonder how you spend your evenings. Things will continue as they are,
non
?”

Angélique’s practical response made Jane slowly nod her head. Her friend was probably right. Tobias had seemed as reluctant to marry as she was. Still, the thought of him discovering her life behind the closed doors of
La Maison des Plaisirs Sombres
frightened her.

The House of Dark Pleasures. For the past eight months, she’d observed Angélique time and again exert her will over her lovers. After each session of play, as Angélique referred to them, they would discuss the various methods the Frenchwoman used to bring herself and her lovers the most intense pleasure possible.

It had only been in the past few weeks that her friend had deemed Jane ready to venture out on her own to test her skills. She’d engaged in several flirtations since then, and her elusive manner had already earned her a small following. Yet despite the numerous offers of service she’d received, Jane had not attempted to explore her feminine strength in a more intimate exchange.

Angélique had said it was because Jane was still uncertain of her abilities and would find her way when the time was right. Jane knew differently. She’d simply not met a man who intrigued her enough to test the full power of her feminine strength. Perhaps it was too much to expect, but she longed for something beyond the trivial relationships she saw exist among many of the club members. She wanted a challenge, and she’d yet to find that in any of the men she’d met so far.

“Where is your head,
ma chérie
?” Angélique asked with a small laugh. “I asked you the name of your fiancé.”

“What? Oh. Tobias. Tobias Lynsted.”

“
Tobias Lynsted
,” her friend gasped softly.

“You
know
him?” An unfamiliar emotion curled in her stomach.

“
Oui
, I know him.” Angélique nodded as she met Jane’s gaze.

“How?” The moment she spoke, Jane wanted to bite her tongue off.

The one word question held a dozen more wrapped inside it. Jane studied her friend intently. Where had Tobias and Angélique met? It couldn’t have been at
La Maison des Plaisirs Sombres
. If so, surely she would have seen Tobias there herself. For a fleeting moment, she almost laughed at the idea of her future husband visiting Angélique’s establishment. It was a ludicrous notion. From what little she knew of him, Tobias did not present himself as the type of man to enter Angélique’s establishment.

An uncomfortable expression crossed her friend’s face, and Jane’s stomach lurched violently. Dear Lord, had Angélique shared Tobias’ bed? A sharp pain in her chest made Jane clench her jaw to avoid crying out. It was happening again. No. It wasn’t. This time her heart wasn’t involved. Whatever Angélique and Tobias had been to each other, it didn’t matter. She wasn’t in love with Tobias Lynsted.

“Tobias sav…helped me with a problem I had just before you and I met.” A haunted expression swept across the Frenchwoman’s face. “He is a thoughtful, caring man. I would have been lost without his friendship.”