Page 75 of The Assassin and the Libertine
At that, I threw an elbow into his gut and smiled at the pained grunt and ensuing laughter that spilled forth. He nipped at my neck and turned away to light a candle so I could better dress.
“You still don’t trust The Order after all that’s happened?” I asked. “Even with my new…position.”
He cocked a dark brow at me. “No offense, darling, but you’d have a hard time trusting anyone who’d ordered your assassination at least three times in the last several years.”
He had a point.
“Perhaps. Though if The Order hadn’t mistakenly blamed you for Madame de Pompadour’s death and despised your liberal vampire rights views, they’d never have sent me to stake you, and I wouldn’t be sharing your bed today,” I smiled.
Étienne cinched a velvet dressing gown around his waist and winked at me. “Don’t be ridiculous,” he mocked. “It would have only been a matter of time before I’d convinced you to abandon your entire life’s work, upright principles, and unwavering desire for revenge to throw yourself at my carnal mercies.”
I meant to laugh delicately, but it came out in an unladylike guffaw with a sardonic roll of my eyes. Étienne pretended offense.
“Chérie, please! My fragile ego! If you do not cease being horrible to me, I won’t come to your Christmas Everéveillon.You’ll be left to entertain an entire party of snobbish, entitled aristocrats all by yourself.”
“You wouldn’t dare!” I challenged.
“I might reconsider…if you get back in this bed with me right now.”
I gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “Much as I’d like to,mon amour,I really must be off.”
“Very well. The consequences will be on your own head then,” he said with a smirk.
“Threaten all you like, Étienne,” I smiled at him mischievously. “By the way, I invited your sisters.”
Étienne stilled, panic creeping into his face. All of his former mirth vanished.
“Daphne, you didn’t.”
“I certainly did. Christmas is a time for family.”
“Yes, but not everyone’s family is made up of Paris’s better-known prostitutes. This is an awful idea, Daphne—you don’t understand what you’re risking by having them here with half of Versailles. You’re paving your own road to ruin!” Étiennegrasped my arms and stared hard into my eyes, his golden hazel irises sparkling in the candlelight. “I’m serious. You can’t just expect thetonneto happily mingle with ladies of the night over champagne and hors d’oeuvres. The scandal could jeopardize your influence with King LouisandThe Order.”
I finished dressing and pinned my hair up under my lace cap.
“And they say women are the emotional sex,” I tutted. “Étienne, one of the hard lessons I learned over the last few years is that it doesn’t matter to me what thetonnethinks. I spent enough time being married to—andwidowedfrom—le Duc Dépravéthat I know rumors will circulate regardless of their veracity. Despite being trained from birth to be the most accomplished duchesse in court, I was a scandal soon after my debut. My brother was a scandal. My cousin Charlotte is a scandal. And you, my darling, are the vampire son of a disgraced vicomteand possibly the biggest scandal of all. Your sisters attending a Christmas Everéveillonat my château would probably be the tamest thing any of us do this year.”
Étienne scowled at me and crossed his arms over his chest. My stomach fluttered at the way his lean muscles bunched beneath the dressing gown. He really was a beautiful sort of rake.
“I won’t be responsible for their behavior,” he grumbled.
“You don’t need to be,” I finally admitted with a laugh. “They have a prior engagement and sent their regrets that they could not attend.”
Étienne gave me a dark look and threw a pillow at me. “You torturous minx,” he growled, and pulled me in for a passionate kiss.
“Get some rest today,chéri,”I said. “I’ll see you this evening.”
“One last question before you leave,” he said, putting his hand on my arm.
“If it’s about The Order summoning you, I truly have no idea what it’s about,” I said earnestly. “But I did manage to send them a message stating you were willing and able to assist them with the other vampires. Perhaps it’s to do with that.”
He nodded and smiled at me, but I sensed the trepidation behind his eyes.
“If it’s anything else, I promise I’ll do everything in my power to protect you,” I added.
“Imagine that,” he mused. “One of thetonne’s most talked-about duchesses swearing to protect afilthy sanguisugefrom harm.”
“Will wonders never cease?” I grinned and turned to leave.
