Venus Read Free Page A

miss a guinea. He could not know how much the purse had contained.
    Stealthily, she bent over the still figure, her fingers sliding inside the pocket of the velvet doublet.
    “So that’s your game!
Thieving doxy!”
    The world seemed to tilt; then Polly found herself flat on her back on the bed, staring wide-eyed with shock into a pair of dazed but unmistakably livid emerald eyes.
    “You take your payment before rendering the service, isthat it?” His body was heavy on hers, one hand holding her wrists above her head, the other gripping her jaw with a determined force that was not consonant with the drinking of one of Prue’s specials.
    “You are supposed to be asleep,” she gasped with mistaken, ingenuous candor.
    “And God help me, I deserve to be!” he muttered. “Of all the dupes! To be taken in by such a trick in a place like this.” Nicholas did not know why the feel of those probing fingers had penetrated his torpor, but he did know that he must fight the continuing creeping insensibility with his last ounce of strength—both mental and physical. Anger was a powerful aid as he examined that beautiful, deceitful countenance, the enormous glowing eyes leading him into a green-brown land of promise, the sensual mouth slightly parted over perfect white teeth. The soft body moved beneath him, bringing the image of her nakedness to vibrant life. Lust was also a powerful force, particularly when combined with fury. “This time you provide the service
before
payment,” he said, bringing his mouth to hers.
    Polly writhed and twisted beneath a ravaging assault; the buttons of his coat bit into her softness; the velvet seemed to rasp against her skin. And threading through her panic was the infinitely terrifying thought that Josh and his cronies would arrive at any minute, would find her naked … would find their victim in possession of his senses … She did not know which thought was the more hideous. She had not waited for the gentleman to finish his mulled wine, and to that extent she was responsible for the failure of the plan. But Prue must have miscalculated, also.
    “Please!” She fought free of his mouth. “You do not understand.”
    “Understand!” Laughter cracked in sharp derision. “I understand that I am buying what you promised to sell.”
    “But I did not promise …” Polly’s voice faded as she realized how pointless and unconvincing was her defense. She had always known that one day her luck would run out; one day she would not be able to protect herself; one daywould come the unvanquishable assault on a maidenhead that she had so far managed to preserve against all the odds, knowing that its possession was the only thing that set her apart from the ranks of dull-eyed slatterns who peopled her world. Lost virginity led to a swollen belly, to the pox, to the hopeless, self-perpetuating cycle of rape and childbirth, broken only by the grave. Once she had started upon that road, there would be no turning back, no possibility of theatres and stages and applauding audiences—no possibility of a future.
    But if the time had come, then perhaps it was better at the hands of this man, who might have some delicacy, than for a few pennies with one of the hardhanded, foul-mouthed customers belowstairs. Her struggles ceased. “Do not hurt me,” she whispered.
    Nicholas stared down at her. “Hurt you! Why should you imagine I would do such a thing?”
    Two large tears rolled hotly down her cheeks. “It hurts to breach the maidenhead, does it not?” Her voice was small, her face set.
    Nicholas took a deep breath, struggling with the sense of unreality that seemed to have transcended the physical confusion brought about by whatever had been slipped into his drink. Since when was a tavern whore in possession of her maidenhead? “You would have me believe you are a maid?” he demanded incredulously, releasing his hold. He got off the bed and stood looking down at her as she lay sprawled on the