der her eyes, even with the frame that I could tell had grown thinner since she’d left our home.
I wanted to make her better. I wanted to heal her.
I also wanted to fuck her ass until she begged for forgiveness.
But. Restraint.
“I’d also like to extend an invitation. The Baron is having a party this week, and I think it would be lovely if you joined me.”
She met my eyes and raised an eyebrow. “Is this the infamous Baron that Molly and Silas went to visit this summer?”
“Yes.”
She hesitated. “What will the party be like?”
I wanted to lie. I wanted to tell her that it would be safe and sedate. But I had decided to invite her because it was precisely the opposite of those things. Because while it was important for me to show her that I would respect her need for physical and emotional space, it was just as important that I show her who she really was. She was like me. And like me, she wouldn’t be happy until she accepted that part of her.
“It will be wild,” I told her. “It will be debauched. And it will make anything you’ve seen at Markham Hall seem very proper in comparison.”
There. I saw it before it vanished—the faint wave of arousal at the very thought. Her pupils had dilated and her lips had parted. “I…do I have to participate if I go?”
“Not at all. You may merely enjoy the spectacle if you’d like.”
“Will your friends be there?”
“Yes.”
She bit her lip. “I’ll think about it.”
I withdrew a scarlet envelope from my jacket and pressed it into her hand. “There’s no obligation to go. But if you choose to, simply present this at the door and you’ll be allowed in. The address and time and dress code are specified inside.”
Irritation colored her face. She didn’t like rules or constraints. Unless of course, I was the one constraining her. My cock stiffened at the memory of knotting her wrists with my tie. One day, I’d like to blindfold her again. Yes, one day soon. The anticipation made me grow even harder. I needed to go soon before I ended up fucking her right here on the dance floor.
“Yes, wildcat, a dress code. It’s a masked party. And I might suggest that you avoid bringing your aunt.” And with that, I dropped a kiss on her forehead, lingering just a second longer than was appropriate to breathe in the flowers and soap smell of her hair.
Her mouth opened, as if she were sucking in a breath at my touch, and I could see her pink tongue behind those fuckable lips. And because I couldn’t help myself, I wrapped a hand around the back of her neck and whispered, “If you were still mine, my dick would be buried in that perfect mouth right now. If you were still mine, I’d bend you over the nearest chair and make all these guests watch as I ate your cunt and made you come in front of them like a little slut.”
She did gasp then, unconsciously moving to press her body to mine, her body no doubt remembering how I made good on all of my promises.
But I wouldn’t let her grind against me to seek relief. If she wanted it, she’d have to come and get it.
I bowed to her and then walked away.
He left me in the middle of the dance floor, in the middle of a dance, and for a minute, all I could do was stare after him, conscious only of the way his lips had felt against my skin, of his dirty, filthy words.
Like a little slut.
I shivered. I was, wasn’t I? Because, despite everything, I wanted to be his little slut still. If he had ordered me to my knees to suck him off right there on the ballroom floor, I would have.
But even though I could still see my Julian blazing in those green eyes and any fool could have sensed the naked desire sparking between us, he had never once actually slipped the bounds of propriety. His hands had never strayed and even his kiss had been chaste.
What was he doing?
And did I want him to stop?
Eventually, I became aware that I was blocking the path of other dancers, so I moved off the dance floor and back to the patio. I put my hands on the railing, and I remembered I still had that envelope in my hand. The Baron’s party. A party I shouldn’t bring my aunt to.
Curious, I started to open it.
