More letters.
Only these were different. These ensnared him. These were addressed to his mother.
Nicolas flipped through them. At least twenty letters, all written by a grandmother he’d never known to a mother who’d regretted her marriage—yet was never forgiven for her impetuous act.
Scanning each letter, he was astonished to read remorse in the old woman’s words. Cold anger slowly seeped through his body and congealed in his blood. Damn her. Why bother writing letters she never intended to send? Merde. What was the point? Was this some twisted way of purging her conscience? Having never sent the letters out clearly showed the Comtesse had chosen her pride over her daughter.
Now that his mother was gone, it was too late. The Comtesse would never have the opportunity to express her regrets.
Nicolas tossed the letters back in the box, disgusted. Yet at the same time he was . . . relieved. There was nothing damning Anne.
There is nothing that proves Henriette is Leduc either.
Now that he had the master key, he could search for proof—in the Comtesse’s private rooms as well as Henriette’s chambers.
Dismayed that he was feeling reluctant at hunting for evidence, he steeled his resolve, retied the yellow ribbon around the box, and locked it in the desk once again.
The key firmly clenched in hand, Nicolas stalked from the room with purposeful strides.
He had a job to do. He’d get it done.
And in the meantime, none would be the wiser.
Anne slammed her book of poetry shut. “I’ve decided to take a lover,” she blurted out.
Camille gasped.
Sitting behind the desk, her quill frozen in hand, Henriette’s mouth fell agape.
With a squeal, Camille jumped out of her chair and clapped her hands, the book on her lap falling to the floor. She rushed over and dropped down beside Anne on the settee.
“Who is it?” she asked with breathless anticipation. “It’s Nicolas, isn’t it? His eyes devour you whenever he looks at you.” A giggle bubbled out of her.
Her younger sister’s giddiness made Anne smile. “Yes, as a matter of fact, it is.”
Slowly Henriette set the quill down, rose from the desk in Anne’s private apartments, and walked around it, staring at Anne as if she just sprouted a horn out of the middle of her forehead, her expression a mixture of shock and horror. “Have you lost your mind?”
“No.”
Camille let out another squeal of jubilation. “I think it’s wonderful!”
Henriette glared at Camille, the same incredulous expression etched on her face. “Pray tell, what is wonderful about Anne and the Comtesse’s grandson?”
“Well, Henriette,” Camille began, “unless you’re completely blind, you may have noticed he’s incredibly handsome.” Turning to Anne, she beamed once more. “And he’s interested in our sister!”
Henriette rolled her eyes. “Good Lord.” She approached and sat down in a nearby chair. The latest chapter of Gilbert Leduc’s story that she’d been editing now lay forgotten on the desk. “He has beguiled you.” Henriette shook her head. “I knew I didn’t trust him.”
“He has not beguiled her. Anne knows what she is doing,” Camille defended. “Go ahead, Anne. Tell Henriette she’s wrong.”
“Perhaps I wish to be beguiled,” Anne stated.
Henriette’s eyes widened. “But he’s only looking for a tumble.”
“As am I.” Anne’s answer set Camille into a fit of laughter.
“You see! I told you, Anne knows what she’s doing,” Camille countered, then leaned into Anne. “Has Nicolas said or done anything to initiate a physical involvement? I must say, I’ve been having rather shameless thoughts about Thomas and wondering if he would—”
Henriette threw up her hands. “Am I the only one who has any good sense left? Anne, you are talking about the Comtesse’s very own grandson. What will she say?”
“The Comtesse is no prude,” Anne said.
“I think the Comtesse will not mind at all. She adores Anne, and she’ll adore her grandson, once she gets to know him. He’s very charming.” Camille patted Anne’s hand. “However, I do think you should still be discreet.”
“Anne, I think this is a mistake.” Worry creased Henriette’s brow. “Though it pains me to mention it, you and I have hardly had good luck in selecting men. I married out of love . . . and look how disastrously that turned out. And then there’s your involvement with Jules d’Orsay. He took your innocence and your heart before he left and married the Baron de Grimaud’s daughter—who, he’d conveniently neglected to mention, was his betrothed all along.”
Anne leaned forward and squeezed her older sibling’s hand. “Henriette, this is not about love. That is not what I am looking for.” She’d found a man who stirred her. Excited her. She wanted more of the same. More of the wild abandon she’d experienced with Nicolas earlier.
He was nothing like Jules.
The sumptuous memory of what had happened in the library with Nicolas flooded her mind. Hot need unfurled in her belly, sending waves of heat shimmering over her nerve endings. Her body tightened and ached for more.
Anne picked her book of love poems off her lap and held it up. “Do you see this, Henriette? Today, for the first time in a very long while, I reread my poetry.” It had been jarring and revealing. “I realized just how withdrawn I’ve become. I used to want passion. After Jules, I wanted nothing. No passion of any kind—involving either the heart or the body. And this is how I have remained. Embracing nothing. It’s empty.”
She’d gladly turn her back on love, but in no way did she want to withhold herself from the glorious passion she’d discovered in Nicolas’s arms.
With one wickedly delicious act, he’d showed her that she wasn’t as dead inside as she thought. Moreover, he’d made her see the physical act of love in a whole new light. It wasn’t simply an act where the man took and the woman gave. At least not with him.
Henriette frowned. “Your life is not empty. You are Gilbert Leduc. You are doing something with your writing. You are giving women a chance to speak through his stories.”
“Yes, and I must confess that there are times during the interviews I feel like screaming, ‘Is there not one decent man anywhere in the realm worthy of a woman’s heart or body?’ ” Anne let out a sharp breath and placed her book back down on her lap.
“What are you saying?” Henriette asked. “You can’t be thinking of quitting—of no longer writing Leduc’s stories. We couldn’t earn enough to feed ourselves from our writing before. And you know how the Comtesse feels about the stories.”
“What I am saying is that we live in the most powerful nation in all of Christendom. A nation of twenty million people, half of which are men and none of which seem to have any appeal,” Anne said.
Her sisters fell silent.
“Well, I have found one who appeals to me,” she continued. “One can indulge in physical intimacies, share some bliss, without involving the heart. Men do it all the time. Why can’t I?”
Her sisters looked at her with a mixture of emotions. The predominant one—concern.
Anne rose and helped Henriette up out of her chair. Guiding her back to the desk, she said, “Everything is fine and is going to remain that way. For me and for Leduc. His stories will continue to delight his avid readership. Now get back to editing so this story can be published.”
She would never stop writing Leduc’s stories. She believed in them. The Comtesse believed in them, and the people clamored for them.
She’d never allow anything to interfere with them. Not even a heavenly affair with a beautiful man. The deadline approached. The volume had to be sent to the printer soon.
She had a job to do. She’d get it done.
And no one would be the wiser.
Nicolas pressed the key into Thomas’s palm. “Take this. It’s the master key to the desks in the hôtel.”
The afternoon had trickled by. At las
t it was evening. Only a few more hours before he’d be with Anne. “I want you inside me.” Each time her provocative words spiraled through his system, his cock swelled and his fever for her spiked.
Thomas’s eyes widened. “Where did you get it?”
“Anne.” His response was purposely short and tight.
Thomas grinned. “I take it the lady’s unaware you have her key?”
“That’s correct.”
Still grinning. “Care to share some details?”
“Absolutely. You have a stomach ailment,” Nicolas said, grabbing the justacorps Thomas was about to put on and tossing it onto a nearby chair in Thomas’s rooms. “You’re in great discomfort and are unable to go to supper.”
“I am?”
“Yes, and I will offer your regrets to the ladies.”
“Why can’t I go to supper?”
“Because you’re going to be searching Henriette’s and Camille’s private desks in their chambers. During the day and at night, a search is quite impossible. They are almost always in their rooms. The only time one can be conducted is while they’re together in the Salle de Buffet for supper. I’ve already searched both of the Comtesse’s desks. Neither desk yielded any evidence of any kind. I found nothing that proved or remotely hinted at the identity of the author of the pen portraits.”
Thomas held out the key. “Since you’ve been conducting such thorough searches, why don’t you look through the desks and I’ll go to supper.”
“Because I’m in charge of this mission, and therefore, you’re the one with the stomach ailment.” Nicolas didn’t mention that he was experiencing an annoying stomach ailment. It was driving him mad, but each time he thought of the proof he might uncover in the end, his entrails tightened.
“Ah. Yes. I see your point.” Thomas’s arm dropped to his side. Disappointment was evident in his eyes and Nicolas suspected it had something to do with Camille. “Do you want me to search Anne’s desk, too?”
“No!” Nicolas mentally cringed at how strongly that came out.
Thomas lifted a brow.
Nicolas cleared his throat. “I’ll take care of Anne’s desk and her rooms. Search her sisters’ rooms, desks, everything. Keep the key. I’ll get it from you in the morning.” If Thomas found evidence implicating one of the other two, he wouldn’t have to search in Anne’s private domain. “Make certain you leave nothing unturned.”
7
Nicolas’s heart rate doubled as he approached Anne’s door.
Supper had been long and drawn out. Being forced to make witty commentary and polite conversation, with Anne so near, had been maddening.
Her cheeks slightly flushed, her breaths slightly quickened, she’d looked achingly beautiful. And—God help him—aroused by his presence at the table. He’d been impatient for the ordeal to be over, so that he could join her in her rooms. Each time her eyes met his, a bolt of heat shot through him. Starved for her, he’d barely touched his food. He couldn’t get the image out of his mind of her on the desk in the library, her sweet body half exposed, her glistening pink sex slick with desire, looking every bit like every man’s fantasy.
Because Anne and her sisters had been in their rooms all afternoon and he couldn’t search Henriette’s chambers as he’d wished to, he’d had to find other ways to fill the long hours before he’d be with Anne. Caring nothing about the books in the trunk—his grandmother’s favorites—he was drawn to Anne’s volume of poems.
He’d reread them.
He shouldn’t have done it.
Her words had affected him more strongly this time. This time he found them even more moving than before. Because this time he knew the woman behind the words. Her smile. Her voice. Her taste. Intimately.
Her heart was on those pages. But her heart had changed. She didn’t believe in love anymore. It was absurd that the notion continued to bother him but he couldn’t shake it. A heart that had had such depth had closed itself off. It was a shame.
Worse, rereading her work, knowing now that she’d had some intimate experience with men, had stirred up suspicions he’d spent most of the day trying to mute. He refused to believe Anne was Leduc without definitive proof.
Entertaining thoughts of his mission only aggravated that annoying emotion in his gut that wouldn’t go away. He had absolutely nothing to feel guilty about. He was not the guilty party here, and yet he was left wrestling with that very emotion that clashed with—even threatened—his lustful longing for her.
Nicolas reached Anne’s door.
In short, he’d been in turmoil when he’d walked into the Salle de Buffet for supper, and he was in turmoil now.
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
On the other side of this door is an alluring woman no man would refuse to bed. She’s waiting for you, warm and willing. Knock on the bloody door!
He rapped on the door lightly.
It flew open and he was yanked inside. The door slammed shut. Shoved hard, his back slammed against it. He grunted. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dimmer light in the room.
Anne stood before him, hair down in long fiery-colored curls, wearing nothing but her chemise, her palms pressing against his chest.
He feasted on the sight of her. He had to remember to breathe. Jésus-Christ, she looked incredible.
Anne frowned. “What took you so long?”
He swallowed before he could summon his voice. “I—”
Rising onto the balls of her feet, she crushed her warm mouth against his, thrust her tongue between his lips, and he forgot what he was going to say. Her taste was inebriating.
She stroked his tongue with zealous swirls, kissing him with magnificent intensity. He hauled her up against him, his cock pulsing between them, and trailed his hands down her back, returning her kiss with equal ardor. Skimming his fingers up under her short chemise, he was stunned to find his hands on her pert—and very bare—derrière. Dieu, she wasn’t wearing any caleçons.
Anne pulled away abruptly.
Nicolas reached out to drag her back, but she shook her head.
“Take this off.” She was already pulling off his justacorps, her breaths as rapid and rough as his own.
Nicolas shrugged the knee-length jacket off his shoulders. Before the garment even hit the floor, her hands were tugging at the fastenings on his breeches, trying to open them.
He loved it when a woman got straight to the point.
Her fingers fumbled. He brushed them aside and opened his breeches in haste.
She pulled his shirttails out. He pulled his shirt off and discarded it.
Anne froze, her gaze slowly moving over his chest, down to his aching cock now straining out of his breeches.
“You are more beautiful than any man has the right to be,” she breathed.
Before he could respond to her endearing comment, her soft fingers wrapped around his erection and slowly pumped his prick. His words were lost in his groan. He closed his eyes and leaned heavily against the door, basking in the sensations radiating along his cock.
Her other hand slipped inside his open breeches and cradled his sac, gently caressing. “I want to pleasure you, Nicolas.”
Oh, she was going to pleasure him, all right. Satiate him fully. He’d see to it. Then finally, finally this lust that had invaded his mind and was torturing his body would dissipate. He’d have it under control and be able to think clearly once more.
Suddenly, her hands were gone. His eyes flew open, dazed, his body rioting for more. He found her kneeling before him, the candlelight in the room giving her bright beautiful hair a bedazzling glow.
She grasped the base of his shaft and licked her lips.
Essence oozed from the tip of his eager cock as thoughts of feeding his length into her mouth burned in his mind.
Nicolas delved his fingers into her hair. This was not what he’d intended when he first walked in. Thanks to her parting words in the library, all he’d thought of the rest of the day
was being inside her juicy core, riding her hard. But the famished look in her eyes and the lure of that hot wet mouth were . . . irresistible.
He brought his prick closer to her moist lips. “Are you hungry for my cock, Anne?”
Anne squeezed her knees together, trying to find relief from the throbbing ache between her legs. Yes, she was hungry for it! She was ravenous for him. Seeing how aroused she made him had her on fire and filled her with an exhilarating sense of power. She wanted him in her mouth. She wanted him filling her sex with that thick, glorious part of his male anatomy.
Undaunted by his size and her limited experience, she said firmly, “Yes. Tonight, it’s all mine to pleasure.” She should have been shocked by her words, her brazen behavior, but wasn’t. It thrilled her to see his eyes darken and feel his shaft twitch in her hand.
He brought out a side of her she never knew existed. She had no idea how he drew it out of her—so effortlessly, when no one else ever had—but was grateful for the remarkable revelation.
“We’re not stopping at tonight,” he wickedly promised. “We’re going to have at each other until we’re sated.”
His words sent a hot shiver through her body. Briefly, she wondered how long it would take to satisfy the hunger she had for this man.
“Tell me if this pleases you.” She swirled her tongue around the engorged tip of his shaft. He grunted sharply. Hiding her smile, she moistened her lips, then closed them over the crest of his sex. His breath hissed out through clenched teeth, his reaction causing her nipples to tighten and her core to cream. The sudden surge of desire made her light-headed.
“Take more,” he growled.
His feral state was an aphrodisiac. She slid him farther into the wet heat of her mouth, drew him out, then plunged him back in deeper still, growing more and more emboldened and sure of her actions. His hips jerked.
He swore softly. His control snapped. Rearing back, he pushed back in, her mouth widening to accommodate him. He began to thrust. She matched his rhythm, her tongue caressing the underside of his penis with each rhythmic stroke as she sucked and sucked and sucked on him. The taste of his surrender was sweet. A moan, a sound of pure pleasure, escaped her throat and drew a hearty groan from him.
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