“You asked me if I had come for an interview for the activities on the second floor. Did you think I was an exotic prostitute looking for work?”
His pale skin flushed, and he looked away from her. Idly, she wondered if the rest of his body reacted in the same way.
“I have already begged your pardon for that incident, my lady. Perhaps we might put it behind us.”
Even though he still wasn’t looking directly at her, she continued to study the lean angles of his arresting face. He wasn’t a handsome man, his features chiseled out of the same mountainous rock as the harsh place where he was born. Not a man to cross easily—unless one wished to take on a tiger. She closed the book and turned away from him.
“I’ll be more than happy to help you choose suitable acts for the second floor, Mr. Maclean. I have been married, and I am not easily embarrassed.”
“So I see,” Mr. Maclean murmured. “Shall we move on?”
She was an interesting woman. Alistair shut the door behind Lady Theale and went back to his desk. He had no doubt that she would manage the ladies of the Sinners with great aplomb. She’d asked intelligent questions, seemed unruffled by any of his answers, and was more willing to listen to his advice than he’d anticipated.
Which made his sense that something was not quite right even harder to understand. Had the countess and Lord Keyes had her investigated before she joined their organization? It would be most unusual if they had not, but that information hadn’t reached him. Was it possible that because of her connection to the countess and to Nicodemus that such checks were considered unnecessary? And if that was the case, how could he find out?
The clock on the mantelpiece chimed twice. He automatically delved into his pocket to check that his own watch had the correct time and found nothing. He checked his other pocket and then his trousers, but there was no sign of his much treasured pocket watch.
With a soft curse, he hunted through his desk and then rang the bell. Maddon appeared and bowed.
“May I help you, sir?”
“I appear to have lost my pocket watch. If anyone finds one in the house, will you let me know?”
“Indeed, sir. I will also ask the staff to keep an eye out for your watch as they work.”
“Thank you.”
Alistair waited until Maddon left and then stood up. It was most unlike him to lose anything. He tried to remember when he had last handled his watch. After the disruption of the previous day, was it possible that he had forgotten to wind his watch at his usual time? He couldn’t recall doing it, which meant he’d either lost his timepiece at the pleasure house when he’d removed his clothes, or his brother had taken it.
He’d damn well kill Harry if he’d stolen it. The watch was the only thing he’d managed to save of his father’s after the bailiffs had come in. He’d carried it through all the military campaigns in Spain and considered it something of a lucky charm.
Much better to imagine he’d lost the thing at the pleasure house. Forcing down his anxiety, Alistair picked up his pen. He had seven letters to write for his employers. He’d go back there later tonight after he’d finished his work and hope to God that this was one mystery Christian Delornay and his staff would be able to solve for him with ease.
The clock chimed eleven times, reminding Alistair both of his lost watch, and that he needed to stop working. He had no concerns about the pleasure house being closed. It was open most of the day and all night and busiest when most decent folk had gone to bed.
Maddon had brought him something to eat on a tray, so he took the remains of his supper down to the kitchens on his way out. Most of the staff was also asleep, but one of the footmen was at his post and more than willing to fetch Alistair’s hat and cane for him. There was no light under the door of Diana Theale’s new office, which sat beside the breakfast parlor. She hadn’t bothered him for the rest of the day. He assumed she was far too busy reading through the copious notes he had given her.
It was a fine night, so he decided not to bother calling a hackney and instead walked through the collection of mews houses that backed onto each new square and led him directly to his destination. He used his key to access the rear of the property and made his way into the kitchens. There was no sign of Christian Delornay, but Donal Murray sat at the table eating a bowl of soup and chatting to the French cook.
Alistair made his way over and sat opposite him.
“Mr. Murray, I have a question for you.”
Murray put down his spoon. “Good Lord, Mr. Scott, you are prompt. I barely sent that message off to you not five minutes ago!”
“What message?”
“That the lady found your pocket watch. She said she’d wait for you in the room where she found it.”
“That’s excellent news.” Alistair smiled at Murray. “I’ll just go up and retrieve it, then. Thank you.”
He took the servants’ stairs to avoid the majority of the guests. The room he’d occupied on the previous night had been the one closest to the door leading to these particular stairs, so if his luck held he would be able to escape undetected. His steps slowed.
If
Lady M simply gave him back his watch. If she was in an unpleasant humor, she might demand more from him and he was still sore from the night before.
He shrugged that consideration aside. He was willing to do whatever it took to regain his watch. Another beating with a crop or a quick fuck was not going to stop him.
The door was shut, so he knocked briskly and went in, closing it behind him.
“Lady M, I—”
“Good evening, Mr. Maclean.”
His horrified gaze fastened on Diana Theale, who sat at her ease in one of the chairs. She held something out to him.
“Were you looking for this?”
4
M
r. Maclean took a step backward and almost collided with the door. “I was not expecting to see you here.”
“I can see that.” Diana tilted her head to one side. “You were expecting Lady M.”
“I do not understand—”
She smiled. “How could you?” She gestured at the chair opposite her. “Perhaps you might care to sit down and discuss the matter?”
“I don’t wish to sit down. If you give me my watch, I’ll be on my way and we can forget this ever happened.”
“Do you think this is an unfortunate accident, Mr. Maclean? That I picked up your watch from the floor, recognized it immediately, and sought to return it to you with the least amount of embarrassment possible?” She paused to study his face. “If that was the case, surely I would’ve waited until the morning, and left the watch among the papers on your desk, leaving you none the wiser?”
His green eyes narrowed. “Then perhaps you might tell me what is really going on.”
She held his gaze. “Sit down.”
After a long moment, he did as she had asked and she breathed a little easier.
“Lady M found your watch and she gave it to me.”
“Why would she do that?” His tone was faintly amused, as though they discussed something of little importance. She had to admire him for that. “Are you, perhaps, her secretary too?”
“No, we share other tastes.” She let her gaze linger on him, and he looked away.
“Does this have anything to do with my brother?”
She sat back, his watch dangling from its chain in her fingers. “Now, why would you think that?”
“It’s hardly likely that two women wish to blackmail me in the same week.”
“
Blackmail
you, Mr. Maclean?” She widened her eyes. “I have absolutely no intention of doing that.”
His skeptical expression didn’t alter.
“Perhaps I merely wished to return your watch to you?”
“I doubt that, or why would I still be sitting here?”
“One has to agree.” She paused deliberately to consider him. “You would look much better on your knees.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Did you wonder why Lady M brought you in here last night? Doesn’t she usually play with you in the more public salons?”
He didn’t speak, but his hands fisted by his sides.
“She says that you need more training, and from what I witnessed, I would have to agree.” She waited, but he remained silent, his expression resolutely remote. “You need someone stronger, who won’t let you get away with such behavior.”
“Do you really expect me to stay here while you discuss my sexual proclivities?” This time he raised his head and glared at her. “I am what I am. I’m not ashamed of myself.”
“Of course you are not,” she said soothingly. “There is no shame in wanting to be mastered.”
“Then give me back my watch.”
“But you don’t really want Lady M to master you, do you? You expect her to give you what you want on your terms.”
“This has nothing to do with you, or the return of my watch.”
She kept talking. “You
pretend
to submit, but you don’t actually intend to let go of your control.”
“I haven’t had any complaints.” He shrugged. “This is a house of pleasure. I give my mistresses what they ask of me.”
“No, you do not. You give them what
you
are prepared to give.” She shook her head. “That’s not the nature of true submission.”
“And what the devil would you know about it?”
Despite his faint smile and relaxed stance, he was quite angry now. She could only stoke the flames—and that would be a pleasure.
“If you were mine, I’d show you the difference.” She licked her lips. “But you are far too conceited to ever want to learn anything from a mere woman. You pick your partners, don’t you, Mr. Maclean? God forbid that one of them should pick you because that would mean you weren’t able to control them.”
“You know nothing. I do what I am told.”
She laughed. “Good gracious, Mr. Maclean, you are such a liar. You wouldn’t even sit down when I told you to.”
“
You
are not my mistress.”
She smiled into his eyes. “Only because you are too scared to relinquish control to me.”
She flinched as he erupted from his chair and went down on his knees in front of her. “You’re wrong. I assure you I can take anything you choose to do to me.”
“Then strip.”
He started tearing off his clothes and throwing them to the floor into an untidy heap, which spoke volumes for his disquiet. When he was completely naked, he returned to kneeling in front of her. His cock was hard and arced toward his flat stomach.
“Put your hands behind your back.”
She smiled as he instantly complied, and stood up to circle him, noting the faint whip marks Lady M had left on his buttocks the previous night. When she reached the front again, she gently dropped his pocket watch onto his discarded coat.
“Good night, Mr. Maclean.”
She moved toward the door, but he was up and on her in a second, one hand grasping her wrist. She tried to pull free, but he held on, his wet cock tangling in the silk of her skirts.
“Let me go,” she ordered, but he didn’t comply.
“What do you want from me?” he snarled. “I did exactly as you asked, and you walk
away?
”
“I did what
I
wanted, Mr. Maclean. That’s the whole point, isn’t it? It’s supposed to be about what
I
want, and not what you think you deserve. I
tell
you what you deserve. I
tell
you what I am willing to give you.”
She shook free of his suddenly slackened grasp. “If you decide you want that kind of relationship, please let me know. Otherwise I’ll let you go back to playing silly games with women like Lady M who don’t know how to treat you.” She patted his cheek. “Good night, Mr. Maclean.” And whisked herself out of the door.
Picking up her skirts, she ran along the corridor and through to the staff quarters. She didn’t think Alistair Maclean was quite angry enough to pursue her naked, but one never knew, and she had certainly unsettled and enraged him.
Knocking on the door, she waited until she was admitted and went in, smiling at the figure on the bed.
“I escaped unscathed!” She sank down on the side of the bed and pressed a hand to her bosom. “Now I’ll just have to wait and see if he takes the bait.”
Charlotte poked her arm. “Tell me more.”
“There’s nothing much to tell. I took him by completely by surprise. He didn’t have time to think about what I knew, or how I was able to gain access to the pleasure house, he just reacted.”
“He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
“Of course not. He was furious, but when I challenged him he stripped and knelt at my feet.” Diana shivered as she allowed herself to remember that extraordinary moment of capitulation.
“And what did you do then?”
“Gave him back his watch and walked away. If he wants to take things further, he knows where I am.”
“At the Sinners.”
“Exactly.”
“But won’t this make it more difficult for you there? What if he demands your resignation?”
“He won’t.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because he would have to explain why he wanted me dismissed. I don’t think he is going to do that.”
“But Lord Keyes and Mr. Fisher are members here themselves. They are hardly going to be shocked at what Mr. Maclean chooses to participate in when he isn’t working.”
“Mr. Maclean goes to great lengths to conceal his presence here. I suspect he doesn’t want
anyone
to know what he does.”
“Which works in your favor.”
“And also makes the task far more interesting.” Diana sighed. “
If
he chooses to let me train him. Even if he doesn’t, I’ll still be able to find out what I need to know at the Sinners. I’m not comfortable being so underhanded, but I cannot think of another way to accomplish what I need.”
“You could just ask.”
“The Sinners doesn’t work like that. If Nico can’t find out the truth, there must be a reason. They must be hiding something.”
“I think you are overcomplicating matters.”
“Says the woman who’s already allowed herself to be drawn into the tangled lives of the Maclean brothers.”
Charlotte shrugged. “I simply passed on a message to your Mr. Maclean about his horrible brother, Harry, who, in my opinion,
deserves
to be held accountable for his actions.”
“But now if he finds out we are connected, the older brother will assume I’m in league with Harry’s blackmailer,” Diana said.
“Well, we
are
in league.”
“I suppose we are, even though our goals are somewhat dissimilar.”
“We both want to find out the truth, don’t we?”
Diana studied Charlotte, who looked rather belligerent. “Yes, we do, and you know I’ll do anything in my power to help you. But I’d much rather deal with
my
Mr. Maclean than yours.”
“Harry Maclean doesn’t belong to anyone except himself. That’s why I dislike him so excessively.” Tears sprang into Charlotte’s gray eyes. “He destroyed Maria and he didn’t even notice.”
Diana wrapped an arm around Charlotte’s shoulders. “I know, my love, and we’ll make him pay for that.”
“Do you think your Mr. Maclean knows what his brother is really like? When I held the gun on him in the hackney cab, he seemed unwilling to accept that Harry had done anything wrong at all.”
“He’s a man. You had him at a disadvantage. He was extremely unlikely to confess all.” She paused. “I have a sense that he knows more about his brother than you might think. His loyalty to his family also does him credit.”
“I suppose so, although Harry doesn’t deserve a thing.”
“I know.” Diana pursed her lips and remembered how Alistair Maclean had looked naked and on his knees in front of her, his cock hard and wet, his gaze lowered.... She shook off the pleasurable sensations the image evoked and turned to her companion.
“Can I stay with you tonight? I don’t want to go back the Sinners in case Mr. Maclean is lurking in the shadows waiting to question me about my deplorable behavior.”
“Of course you can stay. It will be just like old times.”
Diana yawned as Charlotte blew out the candles and plunged the room into darkness. Below them the hum of noise from the pleasure house continued unabated, but it wasn’t annoying. She’d grown used to it when she’d lived there. Despite her confrontation with Mr. Maclean, she felt much more secure. If he didn’t want to play her game, she still had power over him. He wouldn’t like that, but it might stop him attempting to eject her from the Sinners. If he did want to play . . . she sighed with anticipation.
No matter what, she wouldn’t forget her true task, but if it came with the additional thrill of taming Mr. Maclean, it might make her days far more interesting than she had anticipated.