Three Times the Scandal by Madelynne Ellis Read Free Book Online Page B

Actually, despite common opinion, Pennerley isn’t half as promiscuous as many of his peers,” said Giles. The skin between his brows wrinkled in an endearing way that made her want to rub away the furrows. “He doesn’t flaunt his conquests, and I’ve never seen him make love. I wish that I could say the same about Neddy…” he glanced back down the stairs, “whom it is rather difficult to avoid seeing.”
    “ And you? What of you?”
    Giles smiled. “That, Miss Allenthorpe, you’ll have to learn for yourself. I made you a promise earlier, and your past adventures don’t change that. I won’t do anything unless you ask it of me. You may stay as long as you wish.”
    Fortuna bit her lip. “Doesn’t that make you a funny sort of rakehell?”
    “ Perhaps,” Giles mused. “But I would never describe myself like that.”
    * * * * *
     
    A tester bed with thick red drapes dominated the guestroom. Dark wood wainscoting lined the walls to shoulder height, above which, the walls were painted the maroon of dried blood. It might have been oppressive if the decorations had been less lascivious. Numerous paintings hung from the picture rails and several lewd sculptures graced the surfaces of the furniture.
    Fortuna stared at the obscene images, many of which depicted acts that both sent a thrill through her and made her cheeks burn with embarrassment.
    “ Good night, Fortuna.”
    Curiously deflated, she sat on the bed and swung her legs. He wasn’t supposed to leave. Really, he should have seduced her in the carriage. She understood why that hadn’t happened, but now... She stared at the large empty bed, not wanting to run after him to beg for his attention. Couldn’t he at least offer her a little encouragement?
    From the bed, her gaze slid to the paintings, taking in the various poses; ladies sucking upon their lover’s cocks, coitus performed in a myriad of different positions, intriguing scenes involving multiples of lovers, whips, shackles, and feathers, and imperious naked ladies flogging naked male behinds.
    Fortuna licked her dry lips. The hall clock chimed an hour after midnight. She knew she ought to snuggle beneath the sheets and sleep, but the paintings made her want to touch herself. They fed her base instincts.
    Hesitantly, she turned back the bedcovers, only to remember she had no nightdress, and only a half petticoat and stays beneath her gown. In twenty-four years of life, she’d never once slept naked. Perhaps Giles would loan her a shirt.
     
    The splintered remains of her teacup and saucer still lay strewn across the hall tiles. Fortuna crept to the bottom of the stairs. There was no sign of Dovecote or his man to ask for a nightshift, but Lord Darleston stood in silent repose against the wall by the drawing room door. His eyes were closed, while his long hair lay fanned across the shoulders of his dark coat like rich seams of copper.
    Fortuna warily approached. She reached past him to open the drawing room door, only for his hand to close on top of hers as she clasped the doorknob.
    “ I shouldn’t if I were you.” His whispered words hissed against her cheek, sending a zing of fear and excitement through her insides.
    “ Why?” She jerked away from his touch, and rubbed at her hand as if she could remove the impression of his palm.
    He was more powerfully built than Dovecote. Taller, his shoulders broader, hips narrower, and his mouth far more sultry. She recalled how he’d crowded her mother, and made her blush. How he’d spun her about the dance floor, his agenda hidden behind a façade of civility.
    “ Giles isn’t in there.”
    A streak of danger hung about him that piqued her interest in a way that she dared not explore. She couldn’t imagine Darleston offering to protect her in the way Giles had.
    He moved ever so slightly, so that his thigh brushed her skirts. “Do you believe in free love, Miss Allenthorpe?”
    She blinked up at him uncertainly. “Free love?” It sounded