The Wicked House of Rohan Read Free

another.”
    There was a chorus of drunken assents. Alistair said nothing. He’d been the first, seducing her away from her older husband out of boredom. If he hadn’t, the next man would have, he thought, still watching the drowned kitten before him.
    No, that wasn’t quite it. A drowned cat. There was a flash of real fire in her eyes. “Then if you aren’t in need of a governess, why, pray, am I here?”
    â€œIn fact, we are in need of a virtuous woman,” Wesley announced. “A virgin, in fact. And it sounds as if, rumors to the contrary, you qualify?”
    She said nothing, waiting.
    â€œWell, then,” Wesley continued, only slightly ruffled by her lack of response. “We both appear to have problems that are easily solved. You’re in need of money to discharge your debts and pay passage home to London, am I right?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “And you have a commodity that interests us, one we’re willing to pay highly for. Your virginity.”
    She tried to rise, but Marblethorpe dropped his hand on her shoulder, pushing her back down.
    Alistair rose then, ambling across the room, and removed Wesley’s thick hand. “If we’re doing this, and apparently we are, she needs to agree to it without any coercion from you. Look at me, Miss Strong.”
    She didn’t move, her head and shoulders bowed.
    â€œ Look at me! ” he snapped, and she jerked her head up. Her eyes were no longer a dull brown, they were blazing with rage. “That’s better,” he said in his coolest voice, the one his mistress once complained could freeze hell. “Do you understand what Sir Wesley is asking of you? What we’re asking of you?”
    â€œA-all of you?” she stammered.
    He glanced back at Wesley. “No, not all. One of us. We’re asking you to offer up your virginity in return for financial security and a swift trip home.”
    â€œA few short hours,” Wesley broke in eagerly. “No restraints, no whips. Just coitus.”
    â€œPenetration and the breaking of your maidenhead,” Alistair continued. “With an audience.”
    He wouldn’t have thought she could turn any paler. She looked up at him with such hatred in her eyes that he was taken aback. What had he ever done to hurt her that she would despise him so? It was Marblethorpe who had lured her here under false pretenses.
    And then the animation left her eyes. “Yes,” she said in a voice so low he couldn’t believe he’d heard it.
    â€œLouder, Miss Strong. We need everyone to hear your assent.” His voice was like a lash, trying to sting her. He was furious, and he couldn’t imagine why. Despoiling a willing virgin as part of their silly gathering was harmless. He was a firm believer that any excess was permissible so long as those involved were in agreement, and when Marblethorpe had proposed the notion of the ritual breaking of a hymen, he’d found the idea vaguely erotic. Still did, if he looked at Miss Kathleen Strong, though he wasn’t sure he’d like an audience for it.
    â€œI said I agree,” she said in a stronger voice. “On one condition.”
    â€œName it,” Marblethorpe said eagerly, but she didn’t look away from Alistair.
    â€œThat the man chosen isn’t you.”
    It shocked Alistair, when he thought he was past being surprised by anything. And then he laughed. “It shall be as you wish, though I do need to tell you that you’re rejecting a true master of the erotic arts. Be that as it may, how shall we decide who gets this particular treasure?” His voice was sarcastic, almost cruel, surprising himself. Had the wretched creature actually offended him? Apparently she had.
    â€œI found her, I should get her,” Marblethorpe said eagerly.
    â€œNot fair!” Jasper protested. “I say we wager for it.”
    â€œThen do so,” Alistair said