“Can we talk about this afterward?” Anthony said.

“After what?”

“After I’ve had you.”

“Why would you think I’d agree to that?”

“Because you want me, and I’m offering you the perfect opportunity to use my body to release all your tension and anger.” He shoved his hand under her skirts, cupped her sex, and felt her moist core settle over the palm of his hand. “You want me.”

He backed her toward the wall, kissed her mouth with a savagery he hadn’t known was in him. She slid her hand into his hair, held him close, her fingers between them wrenching at the buttons of his breeches. He groaned and thrust his cock into her hand.

“Please . . .”

She guided him downward, and the dripping crown of his shaft bumped against the softness of her stomach, the hair beneath it, her clit and finally the welcoming opening below. He grasped her around the waist and lifted her onto him. He gasped at the tightness and fierceness of her grip on his shaft. Hard and fast this time, to slake the need and to forget himself in the welcome of her body.

Even as he pumped into her, he remembered to thumb her clit, to bring her with him to a crashing conclusion. He even remembered to pull out, to let his seed release on her belly rather than where he really wanted it, deep inside her.

“Hold on to me,” he murmured, as he carried her into David’s bedroom, her legs wrapped around him, their bodies still close and connected. He placed her carefully on the bed. She immediately rolled away from him.

“That wasn’t fair.”

“You didn’t enjoy it?”

“Of course I enjoyed it, but sex is not a substitute for a serious conversation.”

He came up on one elbow over her, smiled at her indignant expression. “Are you sure about that?”

With one deft motion, he threw her skirts over her head, exposing her sex, and licked his way through the wetness he’d helped create. She bucked against him, grabbed hold of his hair and pulled hard. He winced at the pain but didn’t stop, driving his tongue deep, sucking her clit into his mouth until she whimpered and shuddered with release.

He moved off her and allowed her to sit up, trying not to smile as she fought her petticoats and patterned muslin skirts to reveal her flushed face. “Anthony Sokorvsky!”

He deliberately licked his lips, watched her eyes widen in response.

“Anthony . . .”

“What?” He sighed and flung himself down on his back, savored her taste in his mouth even as he braced himself for her next remark.

“My mother wouldn’t say what else you liked in bed. Will you tell me?”

He’d known the question would come, but he still balked at answering it. How honest could he be, especially when he wasn’t sure what he really did like? He stared up at the cracked ceiling.

“The thing is . . . I’ve changed.”

Marguerite sighed. “You don’t have to say that.”

He rolled over to look at her. “But I have, you have no idea how much . . .” Dammit, the fact that he was lying there next to her having the conversation was astounding by itself, but he could hardly tell her that.

“Then tell me. You promised to be honest.”

He stared at her. What did he like? He’d never been given the opportunity to form his own tastes, only accepted those that were forced on him. He looked over her shoulder at David’s oriental cabinet. “Sometimes, I . . . like to be tied up.”

She nodded, her expression as serious as he suspected his own was. “And what else?”

Oh God. “I also liked it when you pulled my hair hard, when you dug your nails in my back, made me hurt.”

He held his breath, would that be enough? The rest of it he was too confused to even consider. She looked away from him, down at her hands, and he swallowed hard.

“Why?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Why do you like these things?”

Now he was the one to look away. There was no chance of him sharing that part of his life with her. “I don’t know, and as I said, I’m trying to change.” He hated the uncertainty in his voice. He sounded so pathetic, so needy and so defensive about the indefensible.

“And do you only like it when a man does these things to you?”

“I’ve never tried them with a woman.” He forced a laugh. “Not that any woman would want to do such things.”

“My mother obviously thinks I wouldn’t.”

He glanced up at her sharp tone, recognized the anger in her face. It seemed he wasn’t the only one frustrated by his parents.

“She has no idea what I am really like. Why should she decide such matters for me?”

“Well, she does have a lot of experience.”

She glared at him, hands on her hips. “So you agree with her? You think I’m too weak to deal with your needs?”

He sat up against the headboard, held up his hands. “I didn’t say that.”

She turned her back on him, and he flinched.

“Help me take this damned dress off.”

“Marguerite?”

She glared over her shoulder at him. “Help me!”

He complied, undoing the ties and loosening her corset. He resumed his position cross-legged at the top of the bed as she struggled out of her clothes down to her shift. When the outline of her body was revealed in all its lush, flushed glory, his cock thickened and pressed against his untucked shirt. She gave him an impatient glance.

“Take off your clothes too. Do I have to do everything?”

He stripped, his excitement rising as she glared at him, his heart thudding in time to the pulse in his cock. He hadn’t realized she had such a temper and was surprised at his eagerness to see where her anger took them.

“Now what are you going to do?”


Marguerite scanned the small bedroom, returning her gaze to Anthony. “This friend of yours, does he like to be tied up too?”

“Yes, he does, but . . .”

She jumped off the bed, “Then he must have something here to secure you with, yes?”

“You’re going to tie me up?”

“Yes, why shouldn’t I? I’m fed up with being treated like a porcelain figurine, protected and alone inside the china cabinet.” She glared at him, dared him to challenge her, to tell her not to be silly, to laugh. He did none of those things and the understanding in his gaze almost made her forget her anger.

He shrugged. “I’m tired of people underestimating me too. I’m not going to stop you.”

She headed for the chest of drawers and hesitated at the thought of invading another person’s privacy.

“May I help you, ma’am?”

Marguerite gasped and spun around to stare at the man who leaned against the bedroom door. He was dressed in naval uniform, his hat in his hand, his long blond hair disheveled from the wind. He was also distinctly familiar.

“Captain David Gray, at your service, ma’am. We met at Madame Helene’s.” He nodded at Anthony. “I can only apologize for the interruption. I’ll get what I need and I’ll be off.”

Anthony looked appalled as he scrambled to the side of the bed. “God, David, I’m so sorry. We’ll leave immediately.”

Marguerite’s fingers curled into her palm until they bit into her flesh. He was probably mortified at being caught naked in his lover’s bed with a woman.

But Captain Gray didn’t look angry. If she remembered correctly, he was a friend of her mother’s and Lisette’s and therefore unlikely to betray them. She curtsied, difficult to do well when wearing only one’s shift.

“Perhaps I should go and leave Captain Gray to satisfy your needs.”

“Marguerite . . .”

Captain Gray smiled. “Please, both of you, stay here. I am the one who is de trop.”

“And what if I asked you to stay?” Marguerite couldn’t quite believe the bold words emerging from her own mouth.

Captain Gray hesitated. “Ma’am?”

“I want to tie Anthony up. Can you show me how to do it?”

The captain exchanged another longer glance at Anthony. “Sokorvsky?”

“I’m quite happy to be tied up, David. If Marguerite wants your help, I’m not going to stop her.”

“Then I’d be delighted.”

David put down his tricorn hat, took off his gloves and shut the bedroom door firmly behind him. Marguerite tried to breathe normally. He seemed to accept her seminakedness as nothing out of the ordinary and showed no tendency to salivate over her. And it wasn’t as if she hadn’t been naked in front of two men before.

“You need something strong but supple enough to tie well, if that makes sense.” He stepped past her and opened the second drawer of the red lacquered tallboy. “I find long silk scarves work very well. Which color would you like?”

Marguerite peered into the drawer and saw a rainbow of colors. “Black, I think, do you have that?”

“Indeed I do.” He extracted four scarves and handed them to her. “I suggest you tie a scarf around each wrist and ankle first and then attach him to the bed.”

Marguerite almost wanted to laugh at his quiet, businesslike tone, but she didn’t want to lose the anger inside her either. She turned toward Anthony on the bed, noted his barely concealed excitement, the heaviness of his straining cock quivering against his belly.

David bowed to Anthony, “I do apologize for coming back. I assumed my work would keep me out until the end of the week, but the ship I expected didn’t arrive.”

Anthony sighed. “I’m the one who should be apologizing. This is your home.” He glanced at Marguerite. “This wasn’t planned.”

“These things rarely are.” David’s smile seemed genuine, his interest in the situation obvious even to Marguerite. “Shall we proceed?”

Marguerite climbed onto the bed and awaited further instructions.

“Loop the scarf around his wrist, tie a loose knot and then tie both ends to the bed frame.”

“How tight should it be?”

David came up behind her and tugged at the scarf. “It depends on how much you want to mark him.”