Make Me Beg. Alice Gaines

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ satisfied that she’d hooked his ire to the point where he’d say something so indecent.

      She swept him from head to toe with an appraising glance. “I’d expected to meet a few famous swordsmen during my visit. I didn’t anticipate finding one in a library.”

      “That’s the second time you’ve mentioned my reputation,” he said. “You haven’t been in London long, or I would have heard of you.”

      “You’re the topic of conversation for all the women here tonight. If I were looking for a lover, you’d be at the top of my list.”

      His jaw fell, and he had to consciously shut his mouth. What an audacious, little witch. Worse, she sat there smiling at him as if she’d taken his measure as an opponent and found him wanting. They’d see about that.

      “If you expressed an interest in me, I’d have to disappoint you,” he said.

      That, at least, set her back. She straightened in her chair, and her eyes widened.

      “When I happened on you, I’d just decided to abstain from the pleasures of the flesh,” he said.

      “Fascinating,” she answered. “I made the same decision the other day.”

      “Then, we have nothing left to discuss.”

      She held up the book. “Unless you’d like to talk about Darwin.”

      “Not at all.”

      “Fine.” She turned her back to him. “I’ll get on with my reading.”

      Add irritating to audacious. She’d dismissed him. She’d bloody well dismissed him. He could trace his roots to the seventh duke of Banning. He had an income of ten thousand per annum. Satisfied women all over England and in parts of Wales happily welcomed him into their beds. He could ride, shoot and gamble with the best of them, but this arrogant snippet of skirt from an upstart backwater of a country found a book more interesting than his company.

      Of course, insolence had done nothing to cool his cock’s fascination. Now fully erect, it had forgotten about boredom and had focused on her. Well, that was his decision, not his rod’s. He wouldn’t honor her, but he would tempt her. Yes, he’d make her want him and then declare his own lack of desire.

      He walked around her and stood, his feet firmly planted in the Oriental carpet. “Not interested in taking a lover, are you?”

      She closed the book and lifted her chin. “I’m tired of fucking for the sake of doing it.”

      He almost choked. “Fucking?”

      “You must know the word.”

      “Of course, I do. I didn’t think a lady would.”

      She lifted a hand and stroked her neck—her long, soft neck. “I’m not a lady.”

      “A woman, then.”

      Her fingers next dallied over the flesh above the bosom of her gown—her plump, soft flesh. “I am a woman.”

      “And you fuck for the sport of it.” His throat went dry at the thought.

      “It feels very good when it’s done properly.”

      Priapus nearly jumped at that declaration. She might have been able to see it through his pants. Every rational thought flew out of his head.

      “Women have the same drives as men,” she went on. “Stronger, if they’d admit. But the costs for even discussing our needs are so high we keep them hidden. We simper and flirt and tease. Always denying our men. Always denying ourselves.”

      “You’ve found a way to satisfy yourself.”

      She blushed. Actually blushed, her cheeks turning an appealing pink. “Wealth helps. I’m sure you’ve found that true.”

      “A wealthy American.”

      “We’re not a myth.”

      “Texas cattle baroness? Southern planter? Descendant of a Yankee whaler, perhaps.”

      “Northern industrialist. My father had a small forge in upstate New York. He and my husband built it into a major industry. I run it now.”

      “Fascinating,” he said. “That leaves you time for fucking?”

      “I keep my days and my nights separate.”

      “My dear madam, may I know your name?”

      She nodded graciously. “Mrs. Olivia Trent.”

      He took her hand and bent to kiss the backs of her fingers. “Pleased to make your acquaintance, Mrs. Trent.”

      “Well, then, what do we do now?”

      He straightened. “Do?”

      “Now that we’ve been introduced, I can’t go back to reading Darwin and ignore you.”

      “I could leave you alone to read.”

      She bit her lip for a moment. She had a lovely mouth, lush and full of interesting curves. It would look devilishly good around the head of his cock. Priapus swelled even further at the image and began the slow ache that inevitably led to more urgent desires.

      “Unless I misread your state, you don’t want to leave me alone,” she said.

      “What do you know of my state?”

      “I know a bit about male anatomy.” She let her gaze linger on his pelvis. Something flashed in her eyes, either admiration or outright lust. She recovered quickly, though, and lowered the mask of serenity over her features. “But then, you’ve given up fucking.”

      “I have. And, I can assure you that I’m the master of my body, not the other way around.”

      She rested her elbow on the arm of her chair and bent her head to stroke her fingers over her lips. “Really.”

      “A man who can’t control himself makes the worst sort of lover.”

      There it was again—that spark of interest. Her eyes even widened this time. Intellectual as well as physical, though. He could almost watch the wheels turning in her mind. A clever woman and very sure of herself. She’d have to be both to run a company in this male-dominated world.

      “You never cede that control?” she asked.

      “Only at the right moment. When I’m sure I’ve satisfied the lady in question. When I know for a fact that I can make her climax with me.”

      Any woman proud of her virtue would slap him for that, but she only bit her lip again.

      This time, he gave her an easy smile. “That won’t work, Mrs. Trent.”

      Her eyebrows rose in frank surprise. “I beg your pardon.”

      “That thing you do СКАЧАТЬ