Seduced

by Kate Allure

  Foreboding descended, a thick black cloud that choked her. The inconceivable had, indeed, happened. Victoria Whittingstall, high court judge and member of the Queen’s Council, had been caught in a sex club.

  And she knew exactly the identity of her unmasker, however improbable.

  Slowly, she turned to face him, her former friend and companion and short-term fiancé. He was absolutely the very last man on earth she’d ever expect to run into at Club Exotica.

  Outwardly, she remained motionless, seemingly composed, but inside, emotions ricocheted through her, making her dizzy. Nausea threatened to return her dinner.

  “Victoria, is that really you?” Rupert bellowed, anger turning his face red. “What in the world are you doing here?”

  Defiantly, chin raised, she met his incredulous stare thrown at her from behind his brown leather mask. While she didn’t know how to explain her presence here, she also wondered the same thing about him.

  Then, she spied the commedia dell’arte ring on his finger—the one he’d dropped in the restaurant. The one she’d thought so oddly similar to Diana’s.

  Suddenly, a double sucker punch nearly knocked her to her knees, the air whooshing out of her lungs.

  Rupert wasn’t here by chance.

  Rupert was a full-fledged member of the club. Had already been one on the night he’d proposed to her.

  She swiped at her eyes, fighting the burning tears as everything became horrifyingly clear. He’d been here fucking at Club Exotica all those nights he hadn’t been making love to her.

  “Victoria! I demand to know what you are doing here!”

  She rushed up to him, urgency in her whispered hiss. “Will you please stop using my real name!”

  Her gaze darted around to see if anyone was listening, and she was grateful to see no one close by. A small relief, but it soothed her pounding heart.

  “Oh!” He cleared his throat. “Yes, of course. I apologize for the slip but, criminy, what in the blue blazes are you doing here?”

  She didn’t answer. Instead, she asked, “How did you recognize me?”

  “I would know you anywhere, but it is your beautiful hair that caught my eye. I am probably the only person who has seen you with it down.” His voice took on a hard edge. “Until now.” His gaze swept her dress and stopped on her bare thighs. “However, I cannot condone you going out in public in that…slag attire!”

  So accustomed to his appraisals, she automatically glanced down to check her clothing. Granted, she looked a little more risqué than normal. She laughed. Her look was smutty, no doubt about it. But her mystery admirer liked it. What was more, she liked it.

  She whipped her gaze up to look him over. He wore a brown smoking jacket and dress slacks, utterly proper as always.

  Eyes narrowed, she silently observed him. What exactly did he do when he came here? What manner of fetish or sex play was too immoral to do with her?

  She went on the attack. “I should ask you the same thing. What are you doing here? How often do you come here? How long have you been coming?”

  He didn’t answer.

  Coward.

  “And may I remind you, we’re not a couple anymore. What I wear and what I do is not your concern.”

  His head jerked back, and he stared at her as if seeing her for the first time. His eyes repeatedly swept her body, and, perversely, she saw a flicker of admiring heat in them. But only for a second. Then his gaze returned to hers, flashing daggers of disdain and arrogance.

  She tilted her head, her thoughts swirling, trying to wrap her mind around the preposterous fact that Rupert held a club membership. Their sexual relations had been so proper, so very vanilla. It didn’t make any sense.

  He looked down his nose at her. “To think that I offered to make you my lady and stepmum to my sons. I was prepared to bestow a real title on you, not just an honorary one as you have now. Thank god I saw the truth in time.” He huffed it out starchily, appearing for all the world like he was the aggrieved party.

  She sucked in an angry breath, seeing red on a titanic scale. Had her eyes been lasers, she would have vaporized him instantaneously. Her fury reached a level that was entirely new to her. She wanted to scream at him. Swear at him. Do all manner of unladylike things at him and to him.

  At the same time, a strange, unexpected exhilaration filled her. There was power in anger—something she had not understood before.

  She marched right up to his haughty aristocratic nose. “How dare you insult me. You are here, too. Why is it okay for you, a member of the peerage, to be in this club and not me?”

  He seemed taken aback by the question, thinking for a moment, before saying, “It is obvious, Vic—” Clearing his throat, he started over. “Surely, you are not that obtuse, dearest. Gentlemen have always been allowed greater freedom of movement and behavior. It is a necessary fact of life that men must have outlets for their baser needs, which a real lady cannot, should not, be expected to accommodate.”

  “That’s a whopping double standard and a load of cack. In today’s—”

  “It may be the twenty-first century, but I assure you, standards have not changed so very much. You will spare yourself future grief by remembering that.”

  “You’re an insufferable jerk, and I’m leaving.” She turned, anxious to get out of the place before running into anyone else she knew.

  He placed a staying hand on her forearm. “A good idea. It is not too late to salvage your reputation. Rinaldo is waiting outside. Please allow him to drive you home.”

  Her head swiveled back to him, a fresh punch of disbelief hitting her. “Let me get this straight. You want to send me scuttling back to my flat, tail between my legs, while you stay here to play? Are you fucking kidding me?”

  “I would not have put it like that, but yes. I am only thinking of what is best for you. Truly, this is not the place for a woman of your recently improved standing and legal responsibilities.”

  “Ha,” she snorted, not caring one bit how unladylike it sounded. “It’s mind-bogglingly arrogant of you to suggest I have no right to be here, when you are a full-fledged member of this club.”

  Suddenly, she changed her mind. She had absolutely no intention of leaving. Rupert would not scare her into running away while he stayed here getting his joystick played.

  “Unbelievable!” she muttered. Flaming fury heated her blood and filled her with adrenaline. It consumed her and had her teetering on a knife edge of passion. Her feelings were just this side of raw, primal lust, creating an almost clawing need to fuck. No entanglements, no complications, not even romance. Tonight, what she needed was earthy, satisfying, grinding sex.

  Her lips curled up at the edges. Her mysterious masked friend would give her what she needed.

  “What? Why are you looking so odd?” Rupert demanded.

  The smile on her face grew until she beamed with pleasure. A brand-new sexual power blossomed within her, a sense of her worth as a woman and of the exquisite ecstasy her body was capable of. She trembled with hunger for her masked mystery man. The thought of him taking her, pounding her until she climaxed, filled her with supreme confidence.

  Was this what men felt? This overwhelming pull to mate with a particular person? She’d never felt it before, but it thrilled her. Aroused her. Liberated her.

  Rupert no longer mattered. She tilted her head, observing him as if he were some alien creature. He’d become nothing more to her than a bug stuck on a pin in a dusty old museum.

  She turned and strode away without another word.

  Before rounding the corner, she threw him a last wicked grin over her shoulder. “Have fun. I certainly intend to.”

  He followed behind, not seeming to want her to have the last word.

  And then her mystery man appeared before her. He opened his mouth to speak, but she grabbed him first. Yanking him to her, she kissed him aggressively, encircling him in her arms and molding herself to his frame. She moaned loudly and gyrated against hi
s crotch.

  She did it all for show—for Rupert. But her mystery lover gave his all to the performance he didn’t know he had a starring role in. She loved it best when he reached around to squeeze her ass with both hands and jerked her against him. Rupert’s furious exclamation made her grin, and she vigorously, sluttily, rubbed her sex against her new lover.

  While she might have meant to send Rupert a message, her body heard it, too. Wherever she touched Randy, sensation blazed like electricity along her nerves, tingling out to every part of her body. Sparks of pleasure tightened her nipples and made her clit ache. Waves of dizzying need made her oblivious to anything but this warm man in her arms. Her knees started to give out from the body-melting strength of her lust.

  Her masked savior swept her up into his arms in one grand motion and started walking toward the back.

  Rupert was forgotten.

  “I take it you changed your mind?” he said, sounding desperately hoarse.

  “No talking,” she murmured back. “I just—” She sucked in a breath and forced herself to say what she really desired. “I want you to fuck me. Hard. No talking. No romance. I want it dirty, filthy. Rough.” She barely recognized her own rasping, lust-filled voice.

  Through the holes in his mask, Randy’s eyes flared with answering lust, and his head jerked in a single nod of agreement.

  “Make me feel glorious,” she whispered.

  His eyes became wild. Nodding again, he grasped her even tighter to his chest and walked rapidly down the stairs to the basement.

  Chapter Seventeen

  As Randy carried Tori downstairs, each step revealed more of the Animal Training Reserve—the main dungeon that was Club Exotica’s crowning achievement. Worth the price of admission, said those into BDSM. The large space was filled with naked people strapped to weird furniture or hanging from the ceiling, their captors strutting around their conquests.

  She shut her eyes against the onslaught of shocking images but couldn’t block the awful noises. The slice of air from a flailing whip, the almost wet sound of a slapping paddle, the thud of wood on flesh. All followed by the blissful shrieks and moans of twitching, jerking, panting recipients.

  He whispered reassurances as he walked them briskly toward the back. “Shh. It’s okay. We’re almost there.”

  Arriving at an arched portal with a solid wood door that looked ancient, he swiped his ring across the lock. The door clicked and opened.

  Once inside, he shoved the door closed with his foot. She opened her eyes and looked about. It was just a bedroom, a beautifully appointed one, done up in what might be described as safari chic meets naughty boudoir. Soft music played, and merciful darkness shrouded everything. Too much light and the magic would surely evaporate. She’d feel like a skanky, grasping cougar about to fuck a youth.

  She wanted the magic. Needed to believe in her generous and kind mystery lover, who, she sensed, would show her more passion than she’d ever before experienced.

  He lowered her feet to the floor next to a huge bed, bigger than king-size, the satin sheets already turned down and waiting for them.

  “You’re sure?” he whispered, his voice raw with need.

  She gazed up at his dark-blue eyes…and wondered what his face looked like behind the black leather mask. Safe in the circle of his arms, she nodded.

  He smiled at her. “You are beau—”

  “No.” She put her finger against his lips. She didn’t want words, didn’t want anything that would make the moment ordinary and ruin the magic.

  She slid her fingers into his thick hair and pulled him down to her, tilting her face upward. When their lips touched, she melted, opening to him. He rewarded her with his warm, wet tongue sliding in to mate with hers. He tasted of Hendrick’s, tangy and crisp. He traced a line of kisses along her jawline and along the sensitive skin on her neck. She tilted her head, giving him more access, each delicate kiss a tingling erotic caress. He kept one arm wrapped around her, but the other explored her body, leaving trails of sparks everywhere he touched her through her dress. She didn’t want even that thin barrier between them.

  She moaned and pressed into him. Her hands moved lower along the firm expanse of his strong, muscular back. She wanted more—needed his naked skin, hot and slick, against hers. Every part of her being craved his touch, her breaths coming in soft pants, the overwhelming desire turning her limbs to water.

  Slowly, he raised his head and released her. She started to collapse, and he caught her, lowering her gently to the bed. The loss of his warmth pressed against her left her feeling bereft. She reclined on her side as he pulled his shirt over his head. With a gasp, she took in how beautiful he was, his body tight, built, and smooth, with strong, defined muscles in his chest and arms.

  Just how young was he? Without him pressed against her, distracting her with those fiery kisses, apprehension flared.

  What would he think of her older body?

  Her determination to make love to him never wavered, but anxiety made her fidget and her eyes dart about. Elegant brocade drapes in dark, earthy greens hung from the ceiling, giving the impression of an Arabian tent. All luxurious in the extreme and sensually decadent, even without any naughty equipment in sight.

  The sound of a zipper lowering drew her attention back to him. She held her breath. He pushed his pants down, revealing firm thighs and nicely curved calves. His beauty stunned her, her eyes hungrily learning every inch of him. He stood there calmly letting her look as long as she wanted.

  It would be her turn to strip next. He would want to look at her, too. He would want to see all of her.

  She flinched. Her chest felt tight, like she wore a corset bound too tightly. She couldn’t breathe. She wanted it completely dark in the room. She looked about for the light switch. She glanced at the door. Shut tight and solid, it offered escape. She could leave before he bared her, body and soul. She didn’t want the side-by-side comparison of her aging body next to his youthful physique.

  You’ve come this far. Don’t give up now.

  To combat her agitation, she adopted an audacious air, a mask far more concealing than the one covering her face. She forced her gaze back to her mystery lover and boldly perused his body.

  Watching her observe him, he eased down his briefs ever so slowly, his motions deliberate and provocative. Her eyes flared when his very large, very aroused cock sprang free. Long and thick, it jutted arrogantly out from between his legs. Her pulsed quickened, seeing how much had been hidden under his jeans. Could she take all of him inside her?

  His thick, heavy shaft beckoned to her, it waited for her mouth, and she could almost taste him. Her tongue snuck out to lick her lips.

  He groaned, and her gaze flicked to his face. He looked at her with such longing the force of it staggered her. Her body responded to his yearning hunger. Her sex clenched violently, needing to be filled, and her breasts grew so heavy she had to stop herself from cradling them. Her nipples peaked and ached and wanted his warm, wet mouth on them.

  They were frozen there, seconds ticking by, as they stared at each other with such intense yearning they couldn’t move. The passion in his eyes brought a sense of familiarity Tori couldn’t quite place—she’d certainly never seen such raw desire in Rupert’s eyes.

  His confident, sexy grin slipped back into place, distracting her yet again. Her mystery lover lowered himself to the mattress and crawled toward the headboard. He plucked a condom from the bowl on the bedside table before slowly reclining across the middle. Resting on his side, his elbow supporting him, he slowly looked from her face down to her dress, silently asking her to undress for him.

  He tilted his head in question and waited, making no attempt to crawl closer or touch her. He proved again his generous nature, giving her yet one more chance to cry off.

  She flushed hot at the way he hungrily eyed her breasts in her tight dress before his gaze traveled down, caressing every curve and juncture.

  As before, he hunte
d her with his eyes, a predator staking his claim to a potential mate. Again, it had an unexpected effect on her. Rather than making her shrink, she preened, arching her back and thrusting her breasts higher. Weak and compliant and uncomprehending, her thighs opened, and she offered herself to him.

  For tonight, even if only this one time, they were a mated pair, and like animals everywhere, she didn’t need spoken words to make the connection real. She was bound to him by lust that washed away any concerns about her age or their relationship or the future.

  Tonight, she was his.

  After rolling to the edge of the bed, she stood to face him. She reached down and slowly drew her dress up, enjoying the way his gaze followed the hem as she revealed inch after inch of bare skin. Pulling it over her head, she tossed the dress onto a nearby chair.

  Sucking in her stomach and pushing her breasts up, she let her hand trail down from her chest across her belly to the apex of her thighs. She refused to be embarrassed by her softer, older body and raised her chin, watching his reaction.

  He seemed to stop breathing altogether. His cock jerked, appearing to grow even bigger. From deep in his chest, he groaned—approval and lust in one hungry note, and music to her psyche.

  Reaching behind her, she unhooked her bra and let it drop from her shoulders. His sharp inhalation rewarded her. Emboldened her. He gestured for her to come nearer, but she gave him a naughty grin and shook her head.

  Enjoying giving her first-ever striptease, she wanted to take it to the grand finale. She bent her knee and lifted her foot to rest on the bed. Sliding one hand down her chest, she swirled it around her body all the way to her ankle before removing her spiked pump. She repeated the sensuous movements with her other leg. At last, she hooked two thumbs into the waistband of her panties and slowly pulled them down till they fell to her feet. She delicately kicked them aside and, finally, lay down proudly naked before him.

  She had earned her new sense of feminine power and reveled in the sexy woman she’d become. Stretching her arms and legs out, she raised her pelvis. She swiveled her hips to the slow beat of the soft music, all the time watching his increasingly hot gaze on her naked form. No longer relaxed and reclining, her lover moved upright, taut and impatient and ready to pounce.