Secret Mercy by Rebecca Lyndon Read Free Book Online Page A

stilettos, her gait uneven, as if she were unaccustomed to walking in the sharp heels. The sacrificial woman hesitated at the two-tiered dais that held his chair.
    “Come, come, up the steps.”
    She lifted her gaze to his. Still no emotion. Still no feeling. And apparently she was mute. After another moment of hesitation she placed one foot daintily in front of the other until she stood directly in front of him.
    Up close he could see the makeup slathered over her face. Rouge painted her cheeks, deathly pale beneath the false front. Her mouth, the pouty, puffy lips glossed shiny and slick, trembled.
    Finally emotion. Energy he could feed off of. Fear? Desire?
    Vetis tested the air, sniffing delicately to sense her mood. Besides an overabundance of some blowsy floral perfume, nothing else scented the air.
    “Of course, I can’t make a decision until I sample the merchandise.” He rubbed his fingers against his thumb, then wiggled his digits, like a safecracker getting ready to breach a vault. Vetis slid his palm inside the slinky halter top and brushed a thumb against her nipple.
    The woman’s skin was frigid.
    As cold as her ice blue eyes.
    Even in the heat of his room, she was nearly frozen. She didn’t react. Not one flicker of emotion crossed her face. With the exception of that slight tremble in her lips and the barest flinch of an eyelid earlier, she showed no reaction. She remained perfectly still while he brushed his thumb against the hard point.
    He slid his other hand between her knees and with a gentle press, indicated she spread her legs. The skin of her inner thigh was soft as the down feathers that stuffed the comforter on his bed. Slowly, he slid his fingers toward her mound.
    No underwear blocked his path. Wiry curls protected her feminine slit. He rubbed his fingers over her. Nothing. No juice wet his hand. The little nub of her clitoris was cold and dry against his fingertips.
    He couldn’t take his gaze away from hers.
    She was like a giant void. He had to wonder, as she stood without protest against his intimate invasion. What would it take to corrupt her?
    Tucked into leather breeches, his cock lay flaccid against his stomach. He waited for some sort of response. If nothing else she’d be good for a few blow jobs. He imagined his cock ramming in and out of her mouth, fucking her throat, until he came jetting down into her body.
    And still his body remained limp, uninterested.
    Gods, this boredom was killing him.
    The sensible, the logical move would be to send the woman home and feed off the sick energy pouring from the gambler. But, her absolute lack of emotion was like a siren, tempting him toward an uncertain path and payout. He wanted to corrupt her, wanted to harness her energy.
    Prince Gaap would clearly advocate for the former.
    But Vetis needed something. Needed a challenge.
    The woman stood straight and still while he tested her indifference. With one hand he cupped her breast while he trailed the other back down her thigh.
    He probed her mind again. And finally, he saw.

     
    Enjoy The Demon’s Bargain now!
    EXCERPT: Master of My Surrender
     

     
    By LGC Smith

     
    With all the melodrama of a forties film star, I clutched my robe together and summoned a look of high dudgeon. All I got for my trouble was a bark of laughter.
    “Oh, no, you don’t.” Rafe covered my hands with his and pried the robe loose from my grip. “I didn’t get a good look at those magnificent breasts in any kind of decent light.”
    He spread the material wide, and I let him. In part because I was too flummoxed to stop him, and in part because I wanted him to look at me. I wanted to see what the sight of my naked flesh did to him.
    It put fire in his eyes. And his cock, if the rapidly swelling bulge in his crotch was any indication.
    He pushed the robe off my shoulders, then pulled it tight at waist level, trapping my arms against my body so that they pushed my breasts up.
    “Lovely.” Lust darkened his