His Mistress (5 page)

“I must sound quite blood-thirsty.”

“I confess I’ve never seen you so…angry.”

“I am far from angry, Jane. I am furious,” Angélique said as she stood up and crossed the room to stare out the window at the traffic in the street. “Every member of
La Maison des Plaisirs Sombres
is in danger of being exposed if I fail to find this traitor. Whoever it is poses an even greater threat to me. Like you, I value my independence and freedom. The membership fees for
La Maison des Plaisirs Sombres
ensure I have a roof over my head, and I’ll not allow anyone to take that from me.”

Despite the ferocity of Angélique’s words, there was a note of fear in her voice as well. Jane quickly crossed the floor to reach her friend’s side. She wrapped her arm around Angélique’s shoulders and gave the Frenchwoman a slight hug.

“It will be all right, Angélique. We’ll find the traitor whoever they are.”

“
Oui
,” the Frenchwoman said with a sharp nod, “And when I do, I shall make the bastard pay for putting my life and that of my—my clients in jeopardy.”

Puzzled, Jane studied her friend’s profile. The abrupt break in Angélique’s voice made Jane think the other woman had caught herself from saying something quite different. Although the two of them were as close as sisters, Jane knew there were still secrets in Angélique’s background that her friend had yet to share.

“What are you going to do?” Jane asked.

Angélique patted Jane’s hand in an absent-minded gesture and turned away to walk to her secretaire. The Frenchwoman picked up a piece of paper and stared at it for a long moment then lifted her head to meet Jane’s gaze.

“When I first opened the doors of
La Maison des Plaisirs Sombres
, I knew a thing such as this might happen. So, I took steps in the hope I could prevent it.” Angélique shook her head as if unable to believe the misfortune that had befallen her. “This is a list of every member who has ever entered my establishment.”

“The pseudonyms they use in the club or their actual names?” Jane stared at her friend in surprise.

“Their actual names. It’s a requirement for joining the club. It also ensures I receive the monthly fee required to enter
La Maison des Plaisirs Sombres
. In return, members receive anonymity within the club with the understanding that their name is one of the ways I protect my clients from discovery.”

“That is why there are members who don’t bother to hide their identity.” Jane said with quiet comprehension.

“
Oui
, I am not aware of any woman in the club who reveals her identity, at least not openly, but a large number of men have always felt free to go
sans
domino. Now, all of that has changed.” The bitterness in Angélique’s voice revealed how devastating the betrayal was for her.

“How may I help?” At Jane’s question the Frenchwoman looked at her with an expression of sadness.

“Perhaps it is best you not visit the club for a while.” Angélique’s soft words were like a hard blow to Jane’s body. She stared at her friend in amazement before she clenched her jaw and shook her head.

“Absolutely not,” she said with a sharp shake of her head. “I will not desert you, and I’ll not give up the freedom I enjoy in the club.”

“But
chérie
—”

“Not another word, Angélique. We must find this traitor as soon as possible,” Jane said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. “Now, what do we need to do?”

“I have already written notes to all the members explaining what has happened,” Angélique gestured toward the stack of notes on her desk. “Henri and Jacques will deliver them directly to members this morning.”

“Good. What else?”

“Maurice will ensure all members are aware of what has happened when they enter
La Maison des Plaisirs Sombres
this evening. Then we wait.” Angélique sighed. “And that will be the hardest part of all.”

“Then we must see to it that you’re occupied until we discover who’s betrayed the club and one of its members,” Jane said firmly as an idea took root in her head. If there was anyone who would know what looked well on her, it would be Angélique. “We shall visit your modiste.”

“Modiste?” Angélique raised her eyebrows in astonishment. “You despise entering a dressmaker’s shop unless it’s necessary.”

“Perhaps, but as I am to be married, I have need of new gowns that are not meant for Bernadette’s skillful modifications,” she said as she referred to Angélique’s ladies’ maid who altered the gowns she wore inside her friend’s establishment.

“
Mon Dieu
, you are actually considering buying something to wear
outside
of
La Maison des Plaisirs Sombres
?”

“Yes.” Jane nodded as she remembered Tobias’ stipulation that she enhance her appearance with color.

Tobias’ request would not be an easy task for her to accomplish. The standard grays of her wardrobe were more than simply practical as she’d pointed out to him. They allowed her to go unnoticed. The drab colors allowed her to fade into the background, where a more colorful gown only opened her to possible ridicule by her father and Irene.

“So,
ma petite
, you have come to realize how hideous these gray gowns are.” Angélique flicked her fingers toward Jane’s gown with a sneer of disgust.

“My dresses are practical and serviceable,” she said firmly.

“They should be burned.” The Frenchwoman curled her lip with condescension. “And I cannot refuse the chance to make you a butterfly.”

“Forgive me, Angélique, but it is impossible to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear,” Jane said with a laugh.

“We shall see. Look what I have done when it comes to the gowns you have bought for
La Maison des Plaisirs Sombres
.” The Frenchwoman shrugged her shoulders in disagreement as she focused her gaze on Jane’s dress. With a small noise that echoed with resolve, Angélique met Jane’s gaze with a smile. “Come, we will go to Madame Duval’s shop. We will go now, before you think of an excuse to stop me.”

Determination and glee crossed the Frenchwoman’s features as she caught Jane by the hand and tugged her toward the salon door. Jane went willingly and ignored the reason why she did so without any protest.

J
ane leaned over the rail to watch the performance below. It wasn’t the first time she’d witnessed Angélique hold sway over a man. Nonetheless, watching her friend exerting her will over her submissive lover invoked the same awe as it always did. Angélique was considered the most powerful Lady in
La Maison des Plaisirs Sombres
, and every time Jane watched her friend in the Obedience Chamber, she understood why men stared at Angélique with such intense lust. Her mind rushed back to the first time she’d ever witnessed her friend in the chamber.

That night had been an eye-opening experience as she’d watched her friend seduce a man with just a simple touch or look. Jane had wavered between shock and a fascination. Nothing in her darkest, most wicked dreams could have prepared her for what took place in
La Maison des Plaisirs Sombres
. Not even her singular experience with Barnaby, which had been far from memorable other than for the pain that had followed, could have prepared her for the sinfully erotic acts found in the club. Jane shoved the memory of her past aside and returned her attention to the couple in the center of the room below.

For not the first time, Jane marveled at Angélique’s ability to literally bring a man to his knees. The Frenchwoman did so with a sinful decadence that enticed, tempted, and excited the man at her feet. And the man was definitely aroused. Jane drew in a sharp breath of renewed excitement as the handle of Angélique’s whip gently scraped its way up along the man’s erection before lightly tapping the tip of his phallus. The action made the man groan loudly.

“Please, my Lady.”

Angélique ignored the fervent plea and slowly circled the man. The Frenchwoman was like a lioness studying her prey. In this venue, her friend dominated the man. Yet despite being the one in control, Angélique still retained her alluring presence. She was a siren calling to the man. With a dark, seductive self-assurance, she tempted him to follow her every movement and touch.

Gentle, tender, and loving, her friend controlled the man at her feet not with force, but with her strength of will. It was the darkest of seductions, and the man willingly, eagerly submitted himself to the Frenchwoman’s commands. From where she sat in the gallery, the sight of Angélique circling the naked man kneeling on the floor enthralled Jane. There was a raw sensuality in the way Angélique moved. Deliberately and patiently, Angélique bent the man to her will with little more than a smile here, a playful touch, and a promise of something more, but only when
she
chose to give it.

It had never occurred to Jane until her first visit to
La Maison des Plaisirs Sombres
that a woman could be so strong in her ability to control a man and yet retain her soft feminine nature as well. It was clear Angélique and her lover had chosen their roles. Not once since the couple had entered the chamber had her friend coerced or punished the man to keep him in the room.

Completely free of any bonds, the man could have left the room at any point in time. Instead, he willingly surrendered himself to Angélique’s quiet, sometimes playful, commands. The man had even begged for the Frenchwoman to whip him in the belief that pain would ease the torment of his arousal. Her friend’s skill with the whip had inflicted little more than pinpricks on the man’s back, and it was obvious the experience had only served to increase the man’s need for Angélique.

Sweat covered the man’s back. It glistened, darkened by a slight tinge of red from the small scratches the thong had left on his skin. A simple cloth mask hid the man’s features, but not his state of arousal as Angélique continued to deny him what he clearly craved. A deep groan escaped the man, and the sound sent a shiver of excitement racing across Jane’s skin.

The man’s desire to please the Frenchwoman, no matter what she commanded, stirred something deep inside Jane. The sensation was visceral and intense in nature. It was the same feeling she had every time she watched Angélique in the Obedience Chamber. It made Jane feel capable of a similar strength as well. What would it feel like to have Tobias growl with need at her feet in the same way this man did for her friend?

Her pulse skidded out of control before she ruthlessly smacked the idea aside. Even if such a thing were remotely possible, the man was dangerous. A danger she didn’t need in her life. She winced. It was too late for that. Soft laughter echoed around her, and Jane’s gaze quickly scanned the audience in the gallery. The evening crowd was smaller than usual tonight with only a scattered few foregoing a domino.

In all likelihood, Angélique’s hand-delivered notes to her clientele had made people wary about visiting the club, or at least made them take extra care to protect their identity. Whoever the traitor was, it was important to find the person as quickly as possible. More laughter echoed quietly on the balcony, and Jane turned her attention back to the chamber below. Angélique slowly walked around the man kneeling at her feet, her fingers lightly stroking her lover’s shoulder before she stopped in front of him.

A bright turquoise mask, trimmed with black lace, covered Angélique’s face. Her dark hair was swept back in a chignon leaving her shoulders bare. The corset Angélique wore matched the color of her mask, and it pushed the Frenchwoman’s bosom upward until her nipples rested on the edge of the boned garment. Attached to the corset was a black skirt that completely covered the rest of her body. The Frenchwoman bent at the waist and gently lifted the man’s head. In a tender gesture, she brushed aside a lock of hair.

“Do you wish to please me,
mon ange
?

“Yes, my Lady.” The man’s voice was a harsh rasp as his eyes remained downcast.

“Then tell me what you desire. What is it you want from me?”

Angélique’s voice was soft and soothing as she positioned her body so the man’s face was less than mere inches away from the front of her skirt. The man shuddered, and Jane saw his upper body strain forward. Angélique pushed him back slightly with the rod of her whip, and the man swallowed hard.

“To serve you, my Lady.”

“Ah, so you think you can please me?”

“Yes, my Lady.”

“I am not so certain of this,
mon esclave
.” There was a note of amused skepticism in Angélique’s voice.

“I know I can, my Lady, if you will but give me the privilege of doing so.”

The man’s face illustrated he was deep in the throes of a white-hot desire, and yet he continued to keep his gaze focused on the floor in front of him. With a small laugh, Angélique caught up two looped ribbons hanging from her waist and pulled them back to hook them around a knot of fabric positioned just below the small of her back.

The moment her friend tugged on the ribbons, her black satin skirt parted to reveal Angélique’s naked body. She swallowed hard at her friend’s ability to reveal herself so openly to anyone watching her. Jane was certain she’d never have the courage to expose herself in front of the gallery with the same confidence the Frenchwoman possessed. A dark guttural sound poured out of the man’s throat, and he quickly leaned forward. The Frenchwoman immediately took a step backward.