Page 6 of One Night with a Prince
“I would prefer to be your pretend mistress. If you don’t mind.”
“Ah, but I don’t need a pretend mistress. I can have a real one whenever I wish.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Are you saying you won’t help me unless I become your mistress in truth?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” It was less a bluff than he’d like. The idea of making Lady Haversham his mistress had begun to hold a certain appeal.
Take care, man,he cautioned himself. It was fine to desire the woman, but her usefulness lay in the property that Prinny seemed so eager to have her regain. Gavin meant to get more than a barony out of this. He would settle for nothing less than Prinny’s public confession of how he’d wronged Gavin’s mother.
Never mind that it might cause a scandal that Prinny could ill afford these days. Gavin wanted the record set straight. But he needed leverage for that, which Lady Haversham might provide—ifhe didn’t let his lust for the woman run away with him.
A long sigh escaped her. “Oh, all right. I suppose I can endure having you lie atop me and do your business if I must.”
That brought him up short. “Lie atop you and—”
“I endured it well enough with my husband, so a few encounters of the sort with you won’t hurt me.”
Her heavy sigh alerted him. She was calling his bluff, but doing it in a way designed to put him off, the clever chit.
“Ah, but if you sharedmy bed, it would be—”
“Yes, yes, it would be sheer bliss with you. Of course.”
Her sarcasm didn’t fool him, either. “Then we’re agreed.”
She stiffened. “I don’t think it’s quite fair for you to ask an additional payment for your services when His Highness has already offered you a barony.” When his eyes narrowed, she added hastily, “But I’ll meet your price if I must.”
Now she was trying to reduce his seduction to a mercenary act. But her shaking hands gave her away—this was all bluster. Damn, but this must be important to her—and to Prinny. He ought to keep pressing her to see how far she’d go, but the truth was, he liked his women willing.Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmlWhat pleasure would there be in taking a woman to bed who didn’t want to be there? If he agreed to her scheme, though, he’d have plenty of time to bring her round. And that would make the pleasure even sweeter in the end.
When he said nothing, she added, “Shall we seal the deal now? You gentlemen are usually quick with your swiving, so I could throw up my skirts, and you could take care of matters before anyone guesses—”
“Enough, madam, you’ve made your point.” Not the point she thought she’d made, but an effective one nonetheless. “Where did you learn a word likeswiving, anyway?”
She eyed him coolly. “I’ve spent most of my life in the company of soldiers. My father is a general, remember?”
“Right.” Which was why, when pressed to the wall, she had tried to outmaneuver him. Little did she know that it would take an army of general’s daughters to outmaneuverhim .
“Very well,” he said smoothly. “I agree to keep this a masquerade only.” The relief in her eyes at not having to share his bed pricked his pride. “For the moment.”
“Are you sure?” she snapped. “Because I could still—”
“Watch it, my sweet,” he said in that soft, deadly tone that men knew to beware. “Best to stop while you’re holding the winning hand.” He dropped his gaze to her trembling mouth. “You won’t get another.”
He walked to the door and opened it. “Now run along like a good little girl and let the men talk. My agreement with you is conditional upon whether His Highness will agree to certain terms of mine. And they don’t concern you.”
Though she bristled at his insulting dismissal, she nodded and headed toward the open door. “Thank you for your help, Mr. Byrne.”
“No need to be formal. If we’re pretending to be lovers, call me Byrne as everyone else does.” He arched one eyebrow. “Or feel free to call me ‘darling.’”
An inelegant snort escaped her. “Feel free to call me Christabel.”
“For God’s sake, how did a general’s daughter get such a fanciful name?”
“I had a mother, too, you know.” With that she stalked out, her lovely hips swinging. As heat rose in the wrong places, he marveled at the perverse intensity of his attraction to her. She had a mother, did she? Then it must be some Amazon or fairy queen or succubus from hell. No mere Englishwoman could possibly have spawned that whirling dervish of a female. A whirling dervish who thought to put him off by implying that his lovemaking would be a chore, or worse yet, a business transaction. But that wouldn’t last long. He would have the Widow Haversham begging for him to take her if it was the last thing he did. He’d built a fortune on his ability to mix business with pleasure, so he would play her game for now, but in the end he’d have it all—her mysterious property, his revenge upon Prinny, and a willing Christabel inGenerated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.htmlhis bed.
“Well?”
Iversley’s voice snapped him out of his reverie. He looked up to find his brothers approaching. After they entered the room, he shut the door. “I’ll do it.”
