Page 70 of Making of a Scandal
Nick halted, dread filling him as he turned back to face her. She gave him a coy smile and motioned at him with a crooked finger.
“What do you want?” he growled, annoyed that he had no choice but to acquiesce to her demand. He had to protect Calliope from public ruination.
She took hold of his sleeve and pulled him toward her as she backed into the room. “Why so dour,mon amour? Surely you wouldn’t begrudge me a simple conversation.”
He yanked his arm free of her grasp. “Don’t touch me.”
She pouted, hands braced on her hips. “Oh, yes, I’ve forgotten … you cannot be touched without a price, can you? I assure you, I am prepared to pay whatever you require.”
He scowled, a bitter taste filling his mouth. Being a courtesan had never felt more sordid than it did just now.
“In case I haven’t made myself clear, I am not interested—in you, or anyone else thinking topurchaseme.”
Her teasing pout turned into a harsh scowl. “I suppose you think the Barrington chit will have you. Is she really so special? I thought her an innocent, but who knows what sort of heathen wiles she conceals with those pretty smiles.”
“I will warn you only once,” he seethed, hands shaking with the urge to throttle her. “You will not speak that way about Miss Barrington. My association with her is none of your business. I am no longer beholden to you.”
She approached him, slowly, like a viper holding prey in its thrall. “Oh, but you are. You see, I had a difficult time sleeping and finally roused myself from bed around dawn. I heard a scuffling noise outside my guest chamber and was startled. Of course, I cracked my door to see who might be skulking about in the corridor. Would you like to guess what I found?”
Nick felt as if all the air had been knocked from him, and he couldn’t speak, couldn’t think of anything to say to put Carlotta off the scent. There were only two unmarried ladies attending this party—Carlotta and Calliope. The Countess of Hastings was the only other woman of an age with him, the others being quite long in the tooth. She’d never believe that he’d been in anyone else’s bed.
“Oh, yes,” she crooned when he didn’t reply, reaching out to smooth her hands up his chest. “I know what you got up to last night,mon amour.You were always such a naughty boy, but I’d never taken you as one with a taste for virgins.”
Nick’s fury swelled and he took hold of her wrists, prying her hands off his chest. “What do you want?”
She licked her lips, looking up at him with ominous intent in her eyes. “You cannot possibly be satisfied with her. I was willing to pay whatever you asked, but now I think I prefer this way. Consider my silence on the matter your payment.”
He stared at her in disbelief, unable to believe he’d ever found this woman alluring. “You are vile, and your petty jealousy does you no credit. Calliope is everything you could never hope to be, and I am ashamed of ever having anything to do with you.”
Shock and rage twisted her features into something hard and ugly. “MyGod, you’re already beholden toheraren’t you? I would hardly have believed it.”
She laughed, the sound grating and shrill as she wrenched her wrists out of his hold. Her eyes began to water as she cackled, pointing an accusing finger at him.
“You’re her little whore, aren’t you? Oh, that is too good!”
“Shut your mouth,” Nick hissed, advancing on her. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
His momentum carried her straight into him as she lunged, reaching up to grasp his hair while her other hand went between his legs. She cupped his disinterested cock and angled her head as if seeking a kiss.
“Remember all the filthy things I let you do to me? You could have that again. I would let you have everything, whatever you wanted.”
“Damn it, get off me … Carlotta, stop!”
He wrestled with her, forced to tread the line between escape and doing bodily harm to a woman—something he’d never done in his life. He might have been a whore, but he was still a gentleman. She was relentless, pawing at him as he backed away, heedless to his grasping hands as he fought to get her under control.
Something hard came against his back—the pianoforte—and she dropped to her knees before him, busy hands ripping at his fall. He had just made up his mind that a foot to the chest wouldn’t injure her too badly, when the sound of a dull thud rang out through the room.
Carlotta froze, her head whipping in the direction of the door. Calliope stood on the threshold, a music stand and scattered sheet music littering the floor at her feet. She looked horrified, one hand clapped over her gaping mouth, eyes accusing as she took in the damning scene.
Momentarily swiveling his gaze down to Carlotta, he glowered. “Take your hands off me. Right now.”
The woman finally responded to the threat in his tone, though she lost none of her bravado, crossing her arms and giving Calliope a knowing look.
“Oh, Miss Barrington. You’ve arrived just in time! Dominick is reluctant to break the rules of your arrangement, but I’m sure if we pool our funds, we can convince him to take us both on at once. What say you?”
With a strangled sound of outrage, Calliope whirled and fled. Dominick nearly doubled over from the force of the terror and panic that slammed into him. But, Calliope was gone, drawing farther away from him with each passing second, and there was no time to waste. He had to explain, to find some way to make her understand that he’d wanted none of what Carlotta had offered him.
He didn’t spare a thought for Carlotta, who stood staring after him as he rushed from the room. Calliope was running, tearing down the corridor in a flurry of pink skirts. Desperation pounding a rapid cadence in his chest, Nick gave chase.
