Perilous Pleasures by Jenny Brown Page B

unable to face him. She must keep him thinking she was as flighty as her mother so he wouldn’t guess the truth. “I was afraid,” she whispered. “I couldn’t bear to wait until we reached Scotland to find out how bad it would be were you to take me—I had to find out now what kind of man you were, before there was no hope of escape.”
    â€œAnd what kind of man did you find me to be?” He didn’t try to hide his disgust. “One who would rape his ward in his sleep?”
    â€œNo! I came to your bed of my own free will.”
    â€œAnd what did you find there. Tell me!”
    â€œA gentle man. A man who whispered of love.”
    â€œLove,” he said bitterly. “Only in my dreams would you hear me talk of love. I was dreaming, you know.”
    â€œI know,” she said, contrite.
    â€œI can’t fathom it. What did you hope to gain by giving yourself to me like that?” He tilted his face so that the moonlight painted his stubbled cheeks with silver, heightening the sense that he was not of this world. His glittering eyes stabbed into hers, seeking an answer. She forced herself not to flinch as she returned his stare.
    With a sigh, he let his eyes drop away first. “It wouldn’t have been money. Not you. You were ready to send me away with my tail between my legs when I offered you that bracelet. But what, then, were you after? Are you so much your mother’s daughter that you did it just to satisfy your lust?”
    â€œNo!” She shook her head, too ashamed to say more. He’d come too close to the truth. Whatever her original motivation had been, her idiotic scheme had taught her how strong her lust could be. She pulled her robe more tightly around her midsection, as if that could stop her shivering. “When I asked you about my fate, you wouldn’t answer me.”
    â€œWhen you asked me about your fate, I told you the truth. I don’t know what the Dark Lord’s intentions were when he bought you from your mother, but I know my own. There are enough young harlots in the world, without my adding to their number. You behaved very foolishly, whatever you thought you were doing.”
    She shrank back, frozen by his tone. Then his eyes widened, and a look of sudden realization swept over his face. “Or am I the fool? Of course, that’s it! I must still be more than half asleep not to have thought of it.”
    Beneath his blazing eyes, his pale skin had darkened with anger. Had he figured out her plan? She tightened her hold on the knife.
    â€œYou lied about being a virgin, didn’t you? And when you realized you’d be caught out in that lie, you came up with a clever stratagem, so that I’d get blamed for deflowering you.” He lunged toward her and seized her by her shoulder, forcing her to look him in the eye. She clutched the hidden knife more tightly.
    â€œThat’s why you came to me, wasn’t it? You are a harlot just like your mother, and your innocence was nothing but an act. You hoped to trick me into thinking I’d taken your maidenhead in my sleep to cover up your lie.” His voice was like broken glass. “Did your mother sell you to some other man when you were young? She was eager enough to sell you to me. You can tell me the truth. I won’t hold it against you. I know how little she cares about harming others. Just answer me. Did she violate the Dark Lord’s bargain for a few golden sovereigns?”
    She could say yes now and he’d let her go . She’d have attained her object, without the sacrifice she’d been so close to making when she’d pressed herself against his demanding body. She wanted to say it, to grasp that freedom that was so near at last. But under the pressure of his steady gaze, she could not. Pinned by those gold-flecked eyes that gleamed in the darkness like meteors falling to earth, she was incapable of anything but the