Prince of Persuasion

by Scott, Scarlett

  He could leave her entirely innocent.

  But he was not going to.

  “Come with me, Blanden,” he said, the devil within him breaking free as he turned on his heel.

  This would earn him his place in hell. But it would be worth an eternity. He had no doubt.

  “I beg your pardon?” she called after him. Her attempt to keep her voice gruff and low faltered, revealing the sultry notes of her own mellifluous tone.

  He stopped, sparing her a glance over his shoulder. Once again, her loveliness hit him with the force of a fist to the gut. Christ on the cross, she was beautiful. A few tendrils of her dark hair had escaped its confines to curl about her face.

  Every instinct within him screamed to keep her here. To keep her to himself as if she were a rare treasure. He wanted to kiss the sweet fullness of her lips. To worship her limbs, from ankle to thigh. He wanted to open the fall of her breeches and set his tongue against her. To work her until she shivered and shook beneath him, finding her release with his name on her pretty lips.

  But none of those things were meant to be. He would not touch her.

  He flashed her one of his most charming grins instead. “Come along if you please, my lord. There is something I wish to show you.”

  Her brows rose. “N-no thank you, sir. I must take my leave at once.”

  It was time to give her games a try himself. “I understand your dear mother is in ill health, but on your last visit to my club, I was told you made a discreet inquiry. If you accompany me now, I shall take you to the secret rooms as you asked. I seek only to offer you solace in your time of trials, my lord.”

  She blinked, her spectacles rendering the action exaggerated. “I do not recall making such an inquiry, and I must be on my way.”

  “Nonsense.” His grin deepened. He was enjoying himself. It had been some time since he had been intrigued by anyone. This woman, this madcap duke’s daughter with her penchant for fantastical falsehoods, had somehow managed to garb herself as a man and inveigle her way into his club for reasons that currently eluded him. But he would have his answers, and she would accede to his whims. “I insist, my lord. Just a few moments of your time is all I require. Then you can return to your darling mother’s side. Though I must say I find it rather perplexing that the Duchess of Westlake should be attended by only a gouty, one-legged, blind manservant.”

  A flush tinged her cheeks. “Indeed, I fear my family has experienced a reduction of circumstance in recent years. Naturally, we prefer not to discuss our private concerns unless the situation requires it. I would appreciate your discretion.”

  “Of course, my lord. I am the soul of discretion whenever merited.” Truer words were never spoken. He bowed. “Now, if you will accompany me?”

  He could almost hear the wheels inside her mind spinning as she attempted to plot further means to deny him. What an odd, fascinating creature she was. Pity he could not do as he truly wished with her.

  She swallowed. “I…perhaps I might accompany you for just a few moments, sir. But I cannot be detained much longer, I fear.”

  “We shan’t need much time at all,” he promised, feeling like a fiend and utterly unrepentant in spite of it.

  He predicted she would flee within seconds of pressing her eye to the viewing hole in the scarlet chamber. Duncan strode to the hidden panel in his office that allowed him access to the secret corridor running behind the club’s public pleasure rooms. His fingers found the mechanism that opened the door, and he stepped into the dimly lit hall.

  In addition to providing his members with all the gambling, excellent French food, and illegal Scottish whisky they desired, he also catered to their sexual whims. The polite world thrived upon clandestine excess, and he happily indulged his wealthy patrons in every vice they could imagine. Birching, orgies, binding, two men together, two women…it mattered not. Occasionally, he watched.

  Watching was the only way he would allow himself to participate, and even that was a solace for rare occasions. When the black mood struck him. When no one could slake his needs. When he looked inside himself and saw nothing but darkness where a soul should be.

  “Where are you taking me, sir?”

  Her hesitant voice—not even an attempt to disguise its lilting femininity now—stayed him. He turned to find her hovering at the threshold, and with the light of his office at her back, she glowed. How like Persephone she was, on the brink of entering his dark underworld. But unlike Hades, he had no need of force. His inquisitive goddess would follow him because she was curious, and because she could not find another means of extricating herself from her tangled deceptions.

  “Come and see,” he invited. “Not every member of The Duke’s Bastard is granted entrée here. It is a privilege.”

  She was intrigued. He could read her so easily. But she was also afraid of what she would encounter, hence the hesitation. Her sheltered mind could not possibly imagine the depths of depravity to which he could introduce her. For a moment, he imagined leading her into the sapphire room, using the silken bindings kept there to tie her to the bed. Stripping her of her masculine clothes.

  Or better still, opening only the fall of her breeches so he could slide inside her. He would watch himself take her in the mirrored walls. He would make her scream his name. He would…

  Bloody, bloody hell.

  He would do none of those things.

  “Blanden,” he snapped, irritated with himself for his lack of control. A man did not reach the height to which he had scrabbled, fought, and clawed without being as rigid and orderly as a soldier. Duncan Kirkwood did not relinquish his power over himself or others. Not for anyone. Not for any reason.

  Ruthlessly, he tamped down the desire burning through his veins. He had always been aroused by the forbidden, and Lady Frederica Isling was no different. Ladies stirred his blood and his cock. Even when they wore dreadful spectacles and the ill-fitting garb of a gentleman, it would seem.

  She made her decision and stepped into the corridor at last, walking with a natural sway to her hips he could not help but admire. Her thighs were shapely beneath the fluttering drape of her coat, and damn him if the sight of her in those boots did not make his prick rigid once more.

  She reached him, eyes blinking behind the thick lenses, magnified and vibrant even in the low lighting. “What is it you wish to show me, sir? Let us make haste so I can return to my mother.”

  “The viewing you requested, my lord,” he said, sliding the small door covering, the viewing hole open.

  He looked first, needing to be certain what she was about to see was suitably shocking. Within the scarlet chamber, two of his ladies had a naked Viscount of Eversley tied to the bed. One was dripping hot candle wax upon his chest and the other was on her knees betwixt his spread thighs, running her tongue over the head of his erect cock.

  Pity his lordship’s prick was on the smaller side. It would have been much more shocking for Lady Frederica to spy a Priapus rather than a Lilliputian. But some things simply could not be helped.

  Duncan stepped away from the viewing slot and gestured for her to take his place. “Here you are, my lord.”

  The scent of violets taunted him, perfuming the air. He slid the viewing slot closed and drew a chair forward. Some who made use of the viewing corridor preferred to be seated so they could discreetly pleasure themselves as they watched.

  “Take a seat if you please, my lord,” he invited.

  Lady Frederica frowned up at him, but she did as he asked, gingerly seating her bottom on the edge of the chair, as if it was fashioned of live hearth coals rather than the finest upholstery, stuffing, and wood. He opened the slot before her, unable to resist drawing nearer to her.

  Lust hummed through him, and it had nothing to do with the voluptuary scene unfolding on the other side of the wall and everything to do with the lady he was about to shock. Perhaps even horrify, though he hoped his inquisitorial minx would at least know a modicum of prurient interest. The m
oment crackled with intimacy, almost the way the air did in the midst of a lightning storm. Anticipation made his cock twitch. The mere notion of opening her eyes to the sins of the flesh aroused him in a way it ought not.

  “What am I going to see, sir?” she asked, frowning at him as if she did not trust him.

  Wise girl.

  “An education.” He reached out, plucking her spectacles from the bridge of her nose. “You may thank me later, my lord.”

  “Sir,” she protested. “I cannot see without them.”

  “Try,” he said, tucking the spectacles inside his coat. He had no intention of returning them to her, as he was reasonably certain she did not even require the damned things to see. They were now his spoils, along with everything else that would come of her ill-fated trip to his territory. “Press your eye to the hole, my lord, and tell me what you see. If you require the spectacles, I shall return them.”

  A fabrication, of course. But she had laid the foundation for deception, and he was merely playing this game of chance by the rules she had established. He watched with grim satisfaction as she tentatively leaned forward and placed her eye to the small viewing hole.

  He waited for a gasp.

  Waited for her outrage.

  And was met only with her silence and stillness.

  Duncan hesitated another minute more, trying to dismiss the fresh surge of desire her rapt attention for the depravity in the scarlet chamber sent through him. Was she watching because she was intrigued? Because—Lord help him—the salacious scene unfolding struck a chord of desire within her? Or was it because she had been telling the truth about the spectacles and without them, she could not distinguish a cock from a chair leg? He rather hoped it was one of the formers instead of the latter. The thought of her enjoying the wickedness unfolding before her made him impossibly hard.

  That simply would not do.

  He cleared his throat. Attempted to clear his mind. Failed abysmally, for the only question on his lips was a wicked one. “My lord, what do you see?”

  “I see a man cavorting with two women of loose morals,” she announced frostily, but still she did not move. “Good heavens, that is Viscount Eversley. He courted me…er, my sister last season.”

  His entertainment soured at the notion of Eversley flirting with and attempting to woo Lady Frederica. Eversley was a fop, and he gambled far too deep for his pockets. Duncan liked the man even less now he knew Eversley had been sniffing after the paradox before him. At least there was a season between them now, which meant either Lady Frederica had been wily enough to reject Eversley’s suit or Eversley had searched for a larger dowry and a less distinguishing mind elsewhere.

  Either way, he had not expected her to recognize Eversley, and the fact she had presented a quandary.

  “Naturally, you are aware anything you witness within these walls must remain here,” he was quick to remind her. The positions of far too many wealthy, important lords would be in jeopardy if their peccadilloes were ever to be made public.

  Secrecy, discretion, and a healthy respect for each other were core tenets of his club. Along with debauchery, sin, and overindulgence, of course. But if even one gentleman’s privacy was violated, Duncan’s entire castle could crumple and fall about his feet. If the men who spent and won their fortunes in his establishment did not trust him, they would no longer frequent it. If they no longer frequented it, he would be left with a hulking, expensive St. James’s Street building, a ridiculously costly French chef, hundreds of bottles of illicit whisky, the money he had amassed over the years, and not much else.

  But it would appear she was not in the least inclined toward bandying gossip about, not for the moment.

  “Good…oh dear, he is…oh my, she is…that is…heavens. I did not think it possible,” she was saying to herself, her eye pressed to the viewing slot. “This is most irregular, I feel certain, Mr. Kirkwood.”

  Yet, she did not look away. She held herself still, as if riveted to the wicked sights before her.

  It was the first time she had called him by his name, and he liked the sound of it on her tongue, delivered in her husky rasp. “Please do call me Duncan,” he invited, for he longed to hear that name on her lips above all else. He wished for a drink in that moment. A whisky. A brandy. A port. By God, anything.

  She gasped, the sound undeniably feminine. “Why is she sitting upon his face? How can he breathe? Mr. Kirkwood, you must put an end to this madness at once. I do believe that young woman is attempting to murder Lord Eversley. And whilst I never liked the fellow, I cannot countenance his demise as I watch on.”

  He almost swallowed his own tongue. She tore her attention from the viewing window at last, her stricken gaze meeting his. And he was in a hell of a state. His initial reason for bringing her here—vengeance, pure and ugly—was all but forgotten. His instincts were at war. Part of him wanted to ravish her here and now—as long as she was willing, of course, and spent at least half a dozen times—and part of him wanted to laugh.

  Hilariously.

  Uproariously.

  And so he did, giving in to the weakness he knew would be less dangerous to the path he had chosen for himself so many years ago. He laughed. Because she was so innocent and had no inkling of what she had just seen. He wondered if she’d even realized she’d been viewing two women and one man fornicate.

  “Precious, my lord,” he said, extracting a handkerchief from his coat and using it to dab his eyes when at last he’d caught his breath. “Your innocence is precious.”

  “You are not concerned in the slightest for the wellbeing of your patrons?” she asked, her voice high.

  He slid the viewing window closed, not wanting their dialogue to carry to the occupants of the scarlet chamber and interrupt their enjoyment of each other. “The Viscount is perfectly well, Blanden. Of that you can rest assured.”

  “How can I?” Indignant, she rose from her chair, forgetting herself. Forgetting her ruse entirely. “It seems to me that woman was trying to do him harm. He was making all manner of horrid sounds of alarm.”

  Dear God. He bit his cheek, wondering how he could respond. Wondering how his plan to shock the innocent Lady Frederica Isling and use her misguided adventure against her father could have gone so awry. He counted to ten inwardly. Then fifteen before he could be assured he would not laugh again.

  “My lord,” he said, doing a poor job of keeping his humor at bay, “I thought you would have understood the purpose of this corridor and the private chambers here at The Duke’s Bastard. Indeed, I was certain it was why you had requested access to them. But perhaps you had not realized, in your innocence, the nature of the rooms and the activities within them.”

  “I…” she faltered, her full lips parting as she struggled to find her words. How he longed to kiss her, then and there. To press her to the wall and fuse their mouths together.

  But it was not meant to be.

  She was not meant to be.

  He knew this.

  “These chambers are used for pleasure,” he forced himself to explain. “Club members can choose a lady who appeals to them—or two or three—and bring the lady or ladies to their choice of private chambers for lovemaking.”

  Her face went pale. “My God,” she spat, her expression a humorous commingling of horror, disgust, and something else he could not quite define. “You truly are depraved, sir. Do you abuse the privacy of all your members in such an egregious fashion?”

  Of course she would think him guilty of spying upon his patrons. He clenched his jaw. “All who are watched are aware of the viewing slots. Indeed, they prefer it. They can choose which member watches, or they can decide to leave it unknown. Not knowing who is watching heightens the pleasure for some. Some members do not dabble in the sin of being watched. Thus, not every chamber possesses viewing windows.”

  She stared at him as if he had announced he was Hades himself, and he was about to spirit her away into the underworld. “Lord Eversley is not in dange
r?”

  Irritation pricked him. He disliked her protective inclinations toward the dark-haired lord. He was the antithesis of everything Duncan was, cock included. There was no need to be envious on that particular score. “No, the viscount is not in danger. He is being pleasured by two paramours at once. The sounds you referenced? Not alarm but pleasure, my lord. These rooms and viewing windows are dedicated to desire. Nothing more, and nothing less. Witnessing your shock, I can only suggest you leave this club and never return.”

  She stared at him for a beat, before her full lips pursed into a moue of displeasure. “No.”

  His brows snapped together. What in the hell? Surely he had misheard. “I beg your pardon, my lord?”

  “I wish to return,” she said.

  He should stop her. Put an end to this. Here was his chance. He could inform her he was not fooled by her ruse and she treaded dangerously close to ruin. But she was daring, and she was lovely, her unusual eyes sparkling with intelligence, and he was a man who could appreciate bravery above all else. He was also a man who could afford to indulge his whims.

  Even when he knew he should not.

  He flashed her a grin, feeling like a fox who had entered a house of plump hens with no one to stop him from feasting. “When?”

  Chapter Three

  “I do beg your pardon, Freddy! You simply cannot be planning to return to that den of iniquity. To do so would be the height of ruin.”

  Yes, it would. But she was not about to allow caution to curtail her quest for knowledge. Frederica chanced a surreptitious glance about the brightly lit Riverford House morning saloon to ascertain their lady’s maids were suitably distracted and beyond earshot before answering her best friend, Lady Leonora Forsythe. Fortunately, their mothers were otherwise occupied—Leonora’s mother was abed in typical fashion, and Frederica’s was on Bond Street, also in typical fashion.