His Courtesan Bride (Brides of Mayfair 3) by Michelle McMaster

accept such a priceless gift from me, and accept me into their bed to show their undying gratitude.”
    “Then give it to them!” she scoffed. “If you think that’s all it takes to get into my bed, sir, you are sorely mistaken. I am insulted you would suggest such a thing.”
    Now his eyes danced with amusement, which infuriated Serena even more. “Insulted? My dear, are you, or are you not, offering yourself to the highest bidder as a courtesan?”
    “It is not about money.”
    “Is it not?” He sounded intrigued. “Do tell.”
    “It is about freedom,” she answered, “—of choice, of expression, of passion.”
    Darius gave a bitter laugh. “If you believe that, Serena, you’re even more naïve than I thought you were.”
    “You think marriage offers a woman more freedom than the life of a courtesan?” Serena demanded, incredulously. “A woman trades the rights to her womb to a man willing to pay for the privilege, becoming little more than a slave with the title of ‘Mrs’ or ‘Lady’ or ‘Countess’? I believe marriage to be a bad bargain, sir, for the woman, at least.”
    Darius raised a brow. “You seem to be quite soured upon an institution which you personally know nothing about.”
    She whirled on him. “If I know nothing about it, it’s because you rendered me un-marriageable! But now that I am older and wiser, I should thank you for your callous ruination of me, for it spared me the unfortunate fate which so many unhappy women in our society are forced to endure. My friend, Lady Felicity Sterling, was married to a vile man who enjoyed tormenting and abusing her as if she were nothing more than a mongrel. His death made her a very Merry Widow, indeed. Now, she has chosen the life of a courtesan over returning to the abject imprisonment of marriage, and I daresay she wished she had chosen it sooner.”
    “I am sorry for your friend,” he said. “And I wish her every success in her new vocation. She made a bad match with Sterling, it is true. But all marriages are not so unhappy.”
    “No?” Serena asked. “You refer to your own then, to Miss Barton?”
    Darius’s eyes held a dangerous warning. “I did not come here to discuss my marriage with you, or my late wife, if you please.”
    “Why did you come, my lord?” Serena demanded. “To deliver a gift of jewelry? Or to try to make amends for that fateful night at Telford House?”
    “I think we both know why I came here tonight, Serena,” he said. “The fact remains just as it did that night at the Telford Ball. I want you .”
    A dangerous, forbidden thrill danced across Serena’s skin, and she hated herself for feeling it. “Then you shall be sorely disappointed, Darius. You did not have me that night, and you shall not have me now, nor ever.”
    Her words seemed to push Darius over an edge of control, which he had been fighting against since he arrived.
    He took two long strides and pulled Serena close against him again, forcing her to hang onto him for balance. “Tell me again that you don’t want me, after this.” He covered her mouth with his, teasing, plundering, penetrating with his tongue. Serena fought to keep her head, for Darius was a formidable opponent in this sensual battle of wills. His blazing kisses were hotter than she had remembered, hotter than the ones she’d lain awake night after night thinking about, hotter than they had a right to be.
    She pushed him back, and realized with shock that she was weak as a kitten. Her body flooded with passion, trembling from Darius’s sensual onslaught. She forced herself to look up into his sapphire eyes and saw with awful regret that they still had the power to make her melt like butter in the sun.
    “It will take more than that to win me this time.” She stepped away from him, catching her breath, forcing herself to play the cool, controlled courtesan. She decided to blow a little smoke his way. “You see, you are too late. I’ve already chosen to accept an