Fifty Shades of Dorian Gray Read Free Page B

Helen shrieked.
    Rosemary leaped up and grabbed Helen by the shoulders, looking straight at her.
    â€œPlease don’t seduce him!” she begged. “Don’t take away the one person who gives to my art the charm it possesses. My life as an artist depends on him. I’m trusting you, Helen.”
    â€œWhat nonsense you talk!” cried Helen, smiling mischievously and, taking Rosemary by the arm, leading her down the hall toward the sitting room.

CHAPTER II
    R osemary could hear her heart pounding in the throes of anticipation. He was here . Every day for weeks she’d had the pleasure, pained though it could be, of seeing him —this ecstatic creature who so beguiled and bewitched her. The thrill never dulled. As soon as Parker announced the arrival of Mr. Gray, Rosemary’s hands tingled, her breath became a heated pant, and the slow walk down the hall behind the rickety butler became like a walk upon a teetering bridge, every step leaden with anticipation. She could not get to the end of it quickly enough. When she finally reached the door to the sitting room, she was famished for the sight of him.
    Helen was determined to be literally one step ahead of Rosemary. Her broad hips were in full, seductive swing, satin skirts thrashing against her surprisingly elegant ankles. She wore the smuggest expression, and her eyes were ablaze with an unfathomable confidence. Rosemary wondered, digging her teeth into her lower lip, how Dorian would respond to a woman so strong and entitled.
    He was seated at the piano with his back to them, turning over the pages to a volume of Schumann’s “Forest Scenes.” Seeing him at last, Rosemary’s heart fluttered with such fury she felt in danger of fainting. That would make for quite a scene , she thought. Perhaps he would leap up to catch her and carry her away to bed where he’d restore her with a passionate kiss. She forgot all about Helen. There was no one in the world but Dorian Gray, and here he was, just feet away.
    When he turned around, he appeared surprised by Helen. He raised a brow inquisitively at Rosemary. Just one of our many private communications , she thought. Not even the devilishly observant Helen would catch the secret exchange of their expressions, their dancing eyes. Rosemary went in for a curtsey that, with her trembling knees, was a near-disaster. Helen arched and dipped like a pro, raising her bundle of fine skirts a little too high above the ankle for Rosemary’s taste. She winced as she noticed a faint blush color Dorian’s cheeks. He stood to greet them.
    â€œThis is Lady Henry Wotton, Helen. She is a dear friend of mine. I have just been telling her what a wonderful sitter you are,” said Rosemary, and, feeling her face heat up as she went in for a joke, she said, “And now you stand and spoil your fine reputation!”
    Nobody laughed. Helen made a sad, faint hmph .
    â€œYou have not spoiled my pleasure in meeting you, Mr. Gray,” said Helen, stepping forward and extending her hand. “My aunt has often spoken to me about you. You are one of her favorites, and, I am afraid, one of her victims also.”
    Dorian looked as if his eyes could pop out of his skull. It was likely he had never heard a woman speak so boldly before—and surely not one as peculiarly beautiful as Helen. He regained his repose, and then appeared the wickedly playful smile Rosemary had so anticipated.
    â€œI am in your Aunt Agatha’s black books at present,” said Dorian, with a funny look of penitence. Rosemary wondered with a quick, needling pain in her breast what such a look meant. Dorian went on. “I promised to go to play a piano duet with her in a show last Tuesday, and I really forgot all about it. This isn’t the first time I’ve been so negligent. I am far too frightened to call.”
    Helen tilted her head back in a laugh. Rosemary marveled at her. She was so expert in her movements.