Page 51 of An Affair with a Notorious Heiress
“That’s fair.” He would be doing a great deal of escorting.
“However, there will be no complete consummation until she is betrothed.”
He narrowed his eyes. “It’s not an affair if we’re not—” He bit back the word he wanted to use. “If I’m not buried inside you.”
“Once you have that, what assurances do I have you will work diligently to see she is settled with a proper gentleman?”
“My word and my honor.”
“Yes, well, I’ve had another lord offer me his word and his honor. Little good either did me.”
What did she mean by that? What had Landsdowne done? “You were the one who was unfaithful.”
She lifted a shoulder, dropped it back down. “If you want a complete coupling, those are my terms.”
“I want more than once, so I don’t find those terms agreeable. But I understand your concerns. A counteroffer.” He leaned forward, elbows digging into his thighs. “Are you familiar with Fair Vixen?”
A tiny pleat appeared between her brows while she seemed to be scouring her memory. Finally she nodded. “I’ve seen her race.” Realization seemed to dawn as her eyes widened. He wanted to see pleasure reflected in the blue. “You want Black Diamond for her.”
“I do indeed. If I don’t uphold my end of the bargain, if I abandon this quest to find a match for your sister after you and I have been together, I forfeit my most prized mare to you.”
She blinked, studied him. “That would no doubt make me the most expensive whore in history.”
“Damn it, Tillie. You’re not going to be my whore and I shan’t treat you as such. You can’t deny there’s an attraction between us. If I say no to helping you with Gina, are you truly going to walk out of here without making use of that bed that’s only a few yards away?”
She shot to her feet and walked over to the window. She wasn’t foolish enough to stand before the glass, but took a position so she was hidden from view by the pulled-aside drapery, but still she could see out. He contemplated staying where he was, but he loathed the distance between them. When he reached her, he didn’t touch her, although he longed to with a need that was close to a physical ache.
“There’s no shame in desire, in wanting intimacy,” he said quietly.
“Society would disagree.”
“Society isn’t going to know.” Slowly, so very slowly, he touched a finger to a bared spot on her shoulder, drew a tiny circle on her skin, felt a shudder ripple through her. “Tell me I’m wrong; tell me you don’t go to sleep at night wondering what it might be like between us.”
She shook her head. “You’re not wrong. But these terms, they feel degrading.”
“They merely extend what otherwise might have been only one night.”
“If you discover... if you’re disappointed... if one night is enough for you.”
It wouldn’t be. He trailed his finger down her arm, back up. “Then you acquire Fair Vixen.”
As though her limbs were controlled by the slow steady movement of the minute hand on a clock, she unhurriedly turned to face him. “If Gina is not settled by Season’s close, our arrangement will come to an end at that time. I can’t have you striving to undermine your own efforts just to keep me about.”
“I would not be so underhanded.” The words were a lie of course. If they were half as compatible in bed as he suspected they would be, he was going to take his time seeing her sister set. Although it was also possible he’d have no control over it at all. He couldn’t stop a gentleman from falling in love with her quickly, nor could he prevent gentlemen from not wanting her at all.
“Fair Vixen becomes mine at that time.”
He couldn’t help himself. He barked out his laughter. The cheek on her. Damn but he couldn’t wait to have her in his bed. “I beg your pardon?”
“I need to ensure you are working diligently to see to her happiness. So there must be a cost to you if you fail.”
He heard the hesitancy in her voice, as though she feared she’d pushed him too far, had demanded too much. He wondered how it was that she failed to comprehend her worth, how badly he wanted her. She could have asked for his entire stable, and still, he would have said—
“I agree to your terms.”
Chapter 11
Sitting at the breakfast table the following morning, Tillie couldn’t believe he’d agreed to her outlandish terms. He was either very confident or very foolish. She knew the value of his mare. He wouldn’t part with it. He’d find a suitable match for Gina, even if he had to step into the role himself.
