The Escape by Kristabel Reed Read Free Book Online Page A

present she had no real part in? She’d been accepted back into the Club, but only because they’d confiscated a masque for her just in case they found her again.
    Did she feel alienated here? No longer a full member but a woman to be tolerated because of her lovers? Anger slashed through him, but more than that, Eric feared her response. Gabrielle couldn’t lie about her feelings for he and André—he’d known her too long and too intimately to not believe she still felt the same as she had the last time they’d seen each other.
    But…but. Two years was a long time.
    They continued to walk through hallways decorated with the finest tapestries French nobility could once buy, with candelabras and paintings. Even in the midst of revolution, enough candles illuminated the room to light an entire avenue.
    In the larger chambers they passed, groups indulged in what they enjoyed most in the Hellfire Club—sex. Eric led them past a couple energetically enjoying each other while another couple looked on, enjoying them. Two men feasted on a third who knelt on a table bound and blindfolded, his cock hard as the men took turns mercilessly teasing him.
    Not an unusual sight at the Hellfire Club, particularly when passing certain rooms. But Eric needed to take Gabrielle and hold her close. He ushered her faster along the corridor, past the open rooms. It was an old habit, and by the look she gave him, the reminiscent smile, she well remembered it. That smile eased him somewhat, but he could tell she was still nervous, still anxious as to what might happen.
    Everything they saw, the people, the paintings, the tapestries, all of it lining those open rooms, all paled in comparison to what he wanted to do with Gabrielle. Since seeing her yesterday, Eric wanted to forget everything—the danger, the years between them, even the fact of her impending marriage. He cared naught for that and wanted only her. Wanted her between he and André, wanted to hear her cry out in pleasure, wanted to feel her body moving against his.
    Curling his hands into fists, lest he touch her, rush her, Eric silently led André and Gabrielle to their rooms. Despite the lack of Gabrielle, he and André agreed to maintain their oversized room no matter the cost, confident one day they’d find her.
    As they turned into their rooms, the same curtains hanging over the bed they’d once shared, the same floor rugs and paintings, Eric saw that Gabrielle’s nervousness grew. She no longer walked close to André, in fact held herself aloof and rigid at his side. Her gait hesitated with every step, and her breathing raced. The confident and vivacious woman who greeted Bernard disappeared beneath the weight of time. Her hands bunched the rough fabric of her gown, her shoulders hunched as if afraid of a blow.
    Anger colored Eric’s vision. What had that bastard Theodore done to her?
    The three of them stood in the center of the room, André held Gabrielle’s hand, fingers lightly stroking her arm, inner elbow, her palm. She didn’t jerk from his touch, but could barely meet his gaze.
    As tenderly as he could manage, Eric asked, “Do you remember our first night, Gabrielle? I remember it so clearly.”
    André gave him a wicked grin, knowing exactly what he planned. Having placed the satchel on a far chair, André joined them in the center of the room.
    “Ah, Eric,” André said, stalking closer to Gabrielle. He moved like a predator, smooth and sleek and Eric hardened at the sight. “You’re referring to that jumpy wisp of a girl we found slinking through the corridors that night.”
    André gently turned Gabrielle, whose shoulders had lost their tension, and began to unbutton her coarse gown. His mouth glided along her shoulder, and she shivered. Eric caught her chin and watched her, lowering his head to place soft kisses along her jaw, at the corner of her mouth.
    “Her eyes as wide as I’ve ever seen,” André continued, slipping her gown off her shoulders.