5

“Lisette, whatever are you doing here?”

Lisette jumped at the sound of her mother’s amused voice and forced a smile. When she’d decided to slip in through the servants’ entrance of the pleasure house, she hadn’t expected to find Helene in the kitchen sharing a cup of chocolate with the cook. She blew a kiss at Madame Durand, who smiled and retreated to the far end of the kitchen. Lisette took off her cloak and bonnet and laid them carefully over the back of a chair, then slipped effortlessly into the colloquial French of her childhood.

“Nothing, Maman, I just decided to enjoy myself at the pleasure house this evening for a change.”

“But I thought you’d decided to avoid the place in favor of supporting your half sister’s debut.” Helene, her mother and the owner of the pleasure house, studied her quizzically. She was dressed for the evening ahead in a gown of blue silk that matched her eyes and sapphire jewelry that Lisette knew had been a wedding gift from her father.

Lisette sighed. “I’m wondering if I made the right decision about that. Christian believes I will do Emily more harm than good by being seen with her.”

Helene’s perfect eyebrows arched upward. “And you agreed with him?”

“My reputation is not exactly pristine.”

Lisette sat opposite her mother in the quiet of the normally bustling kitchen. When she and Christian had first moved to England, it had become their favorite place in the house. Madame Durand was endlessly kind and they’d enjoyed sampling her wares, listening to the scandalous gossip from upstairs, and plotting ways to annoy their mother. Christian was never there now. He was far too busy dealing with the real business of the house in the main office upstairs.

“And your reputation matters to you now because …?” Helene asked.

Lisette forced herself to meet her mother’s blue eyes, and remembered her encounter with Lord Swanfield on the previous evening. “I just wish I hadn’t been quite so …”

“Enthusiastic?”

“So keen to embrace the joys of the flesh.” Lisette grimaced. “I made some bad choices, Maman, you know I did. I’m not even a virgin anymore.”

Helene gave a dismissive snap of her fingers. “Any man who thinks less of you for that is not worth having. I’ve always hated such double standards.”

“I’ll remember that, Maman.” Lisette thought of Lord Swanfield. He hadn’t seemed shocked that she’d let him touch her so intimately; he’d just insisted that he wouldn’t share her with anyone else. Her smile dimmed.

“Is there something in particular you wish to discuss with me, ma petite?” Helene asked gently.

“Not really, Maman. Do you remember how hard I tried to scandalize you?” Lisette had to smile then. “That is, until I learned you were completely unshockable.”

“You were only eighteen when you first came to live with me, and, unfortunately, because of the nature of my business, I gave you more opportunities to explore your sexuality than most mothers would.” Helene sighed. “And you quite rightly resented me for my long absence in your life. I’m not surprised you wanted to provoke me.”

“You tried very hard to stop me even coming in here, but I refused to be put off,” Lisette said quickly. “Please don’t blame yourself.”

Her mother’s expression clouded. “I wasn’t there for you as a mother for so many years. I regret that more than I can say.”

Lisette rose to her feet and went to embrace her mother’s petite form. Helene still didn’t look old enough to be the mother of three children, including one, Marguerite, who was about to be married for the second time.

“I love you just the way you are, Maman, never doubt it. You made the best choices you could, and as Philip frequently reminds us, many young mothers simply abandon their bastards. They don’t enroll them in expensive French nunnery schools and give them an education.”

Helene winced. “Yes, I was able to take care of your material comfort; your emotional well-being is another matter.” She gripped Lisette’s hand. “Ah, but there is no point in regretting the past, is there? But I have always wondered if you and Christian would’ve been more … settled if I had been there for you.”

Lisette mock-frowned at her mother. “Maman, you have given me a father and a family I’m proud to belong to. That is quite enough.”

“Philip is a good man, isn’t he? And he was so happy when he was able to give you his name and acknowledge you as his children.” Helene half smiled. “Even if this ridiculously antiquated English law means that as we married long after your birth, Christian can’t inherit the title.”

“I don’t think Christian cares about that, do you? He never even uses the ‘Ross’ name. He is far too busy enjoying his life to worry about all the responsibilities poor Richard will have to face.”

Secretly Lisette wondered if that was still true. As Christian had withdrawn from her this past year, she had wondered whether he resented his position as the oldest son of a future earl, but not the legal heir to the title.

“That is true.” Helene rose to her feet and smoothed down the front of her blue silk gown. “I have to go back to my office and finish my work. Why don’t you run along and enjoy yourself, my dear?”

Lisette kissed her mother’s soft cheek. “I think I will.” It was the best revenge on Lord Swanfield she could think of. Not that she was thinking of him at all. “And don’t worry, I’ll wear a mask.”

Helene laughed. “I’m sure your father and Emily will be grateful for that.”

Lisette watched her mother leave and envied her grace and composure, even as her heart raced at the prospect of an illicit evening at the pleasure house. In her younger years, her mother’s perfection had made her feel so inadequate. It was only as she’d learned to listen to what her mother was really trying to tell her about the horrors of her youth, her struggles with the pleasure house, her desolation when Philip had first left her, that she’d come to understand and love the complex woman who had given birth to her.

And just talking to her mother had emboldened her. Since her far too intimate encounter with Lord Swanfield, she needed to prove that he was not the only man who could make her forget her resolve to behave more appropriately. Perhaps she truly was a wanton woman and any man would do.

After an hour of searching out all the delights the pleasure house could offer on the first floor, she was at a loss. None of the men excited her, even those who had solicited her company. None of them seemed tall enough or elegant enough or had dark blue eyes….

Lisette picked up her skirts and started determinedly up the stairs to the more intimate setting of the second floor, where the sexual games were both more explicit and performed in smaller settings. She’d deliberately chosen a brown satin dress more suited to a mature married woman and dressed her hair in a more severe braided style than her usual haphazard curls. With the half-mask over her face, she hoped her disguise was sufficient to fool most of the ton. A young, unmarried lady would be an unusual and unwelcome sight at the pleasure house.

Lisette headed toward the largest of the intimate salons and paused at the doorway to investigate. At first glance, nothing seemed too unusual: a fair number of women and some men were seated on the comfortable red couches watching a trio of naked performers entwined on the low stage at the front of the room. As they watched, a succession of half-naked men moved among them, serving drinks and small delicacies.

The masked servers wore tight white pantaloons that looked as if they had been stitched onto them, leaving the guests in no doubt as to the shape of each man’s arse, the size of his cock, and exactly who was aroused.

A flurry of movement drew Lisette’s gaze to the back of the room where a pair of women tried to attract the attention of one of the servers. Despite herself, Lisette’s gaze was drawn to the broad, scarred back of the man who faced them. Something about the way he carried himself alerted all her senses. One of the women reached around to caress the man’s buttock and pinched his arse through the satin as if testing the mettle of a horse.

The man sank to his knees and offered the tray of drinks to the women. They continued to talk to each other, one of them fondling the server’s cock as if she were petting a lap dog. As the candlelight fell on the man’s scarred profile, Lisette remained frozen in the doorway. Surely it couldn’t be …

She drew back as the man stood up again and turned toward the center of the room. He was magnificently aroused now, his thick cock pushing at the satin as if threatening to tear its way out. His gaze was respectfully on the floor as a good servant’s should be. Another man beckoned him over, pushed him against the wall and roughly handled his shaft. Lisette swallowed hard. Even though she couldn’t see his eyes, she knew exactly who it was. With all the care she could manage, Lisette moved away from the doorway and back into the hall, her heart thumping, and her hand over her mouth.

It was not uncommon for an aristocrat to take on the role of a servant in the pleasure house. In truth, a lot of people enjoyed playing a subservient character and submitting themselves to the will or the whims of others. But she’d never expected Major Lord Gabriel Swanfield to be such a man.

She slowed down and had to stop because her breathing was so erratic. Christian had warned her, so it was ridiculous to feel so betrayed. Obviously Lord Swanfield’s words about her being the only woman he wanted had been a lie. She’d been a fool to think he was different, that he’d wanted to be honest with her, that she would be able to be honest with him….

She found her mother ensconced in her office with a large accounting book in front of her.

“Maman, can I ask you something?”

Helene removed her spectacles. “Anything, ma petite, you know that.”

Lisette paced the worn rug in front of her mother’s desk. “There is a man …”

“Does this have to do with your reasons for regretting your reputation?”

Lisette chose to ignore that question and concentrated on the scene she had just witnessed. “The servers in the large salon on the second level. Do they have sex with the other guests?”

“You know the rules, Lisette. Each person here is allowed to make their own decisions as to how far they are prepared to participate.”

“So they can have sex, then?”

Helene’s eyebrows rose. “Is there someone here tonight you wish to bed?”

“There is someone here who drives me to distraction, but I don’t want to bed him, I just want to get even with him.”

“Because he has wronged you?”

“Because …” Lisette smiled at her mother. “Just because.”

Helene shuffled some papers on her desk and opened another book. “If you tell me which man you mean, I can find out what his sexual limits are. Would that help?”

“You don’t have to do that, Maman. Perhaps, with your permission, I could talk to whoever is in charge of the servers on that floor and get her to help me?”

Helene shut the book. “You do not want me to know which man you are interested in.”

“Not really, Maman.” Lisette tried to keep her tone light. “He doesn’t mean anything to me.”

“Yet you still wish to punish him for his transgressions?”

“From what I’ve seen tonight, he obviously enjoys being servile. He’ll probably enjoy himself more than I will.”

Helene held her gaze. “Be very careful, Lisette.”

“I will.”

“Just remember that when sex is involved, people can behave very strangely.”

“I know that.”

Helene blew her a kiss. “Then go and talk to Marie-Claude. Tell her I said she should help you and good luck.”

“Thank you, Maman.”

Sometimes Lisette was so relieved to have a mother like He-lene, a woman who allowed her to make her own sexual choices and didn’t expect her to behave like a conventional naive miss. Thanks to her mother, she had the perfect opportunity to expose Lord Swanfield as the hypocrite he was.

Gabriel stepped back into the servants’ hallway at the pleasure house and leaned against the wall. His cock ached like the devil tonight, and yet he’d refused all the offers to bring him release. He wasn’t sure why. Perhaps he preferred the torture of blue balls to the loss of dignity required to allow some stranger to make him come. He kept imagining Miss Ross’s expression if she could see him here, at his worst, at his most desperate.

“Monsieur?” He looked up and saw Marie-Claude beckoning imperiously to him. “Come along.”

Without thinking, he followed her to the end of the hall and into one of the smaller, more private rooms that adjoined the salon. A woman dressed in brown silk sat in a chair beside the bed, a woman Gabriel had no chance of recognizing unless he ripped off her bonnet and heavy veils. Marie-Claude nodded at him.

“This lady wishes you to pull down your pantaloons.”

For a moment, Gabriel balked at the calm request and wondered why the woman couldn’t speak for herself. Inwardly, he shrugged. He needed to come, and this was as good a way as any. In the struggle to push the tight satin down over his shaft he might even embarrass himself and spill his seed. At least then it would be over and he could go home and sleep.

Slowly, he worked the two buttons loose, wincing as his cock pulsed and soaked the satin in pre-cum. He managed to lower the placket and shove down the sides of his pantaloons. His cock strained upward toward his stomach, the wetness at the tip catching the candlelight.

“Touch yourself,” Marie-Claude said.

Gabriel was quite happy to oblige. He wrapped one hand around his thick shaft and worked his heated flesh through his fingers. God, he was so close, so close to coming….

“Stop, monsieur.”

His fingers stilled even as his mind screamed a denial and he forced himself to breathe slowly.

“Come closer.” Marie-Claude murmured.

Still clasping his shaft he moved nearer, he focused his attention on the woman seated directly in front of him. He shuddered when she lifted one gloved hand and traced from the tip of his cock down to his balls with her index finger. She returned her finger to the crown of his cock and slowly circled the tiny weeping hole at the center. His hips jerked toward her touch, straining, wanting, and she obliged him, flicked and circled his aching tip until he almost started to come.

He groaned out loud as she expertly shifted her grip to the base of his cock and cut off his spasms, leaving him suspended somewhere between pleasure and pain.

“Please …” he whispered. She let him go and Marie-Claude spoke again.

“Finish yourself. Come for her.”

He replaced his hand on his cock and with two savage jerks, he came hard, his cum pumping over his fingers to drench his fist and his stomach. He didn’t watch himself, he watched her, the woman who had wanted to see him like this, half naked and willing to let himself be touched by anyone who wanted to.

“Thank you, monsieur. You may go now.” Marie-Claude paused as the woman whispered in her ear. “Madame requests that you return to this room tomorrow night and meet her again.”

Gabriel nodded and shoved his limp cock back into his pantaloons. It was time for him to go home and perhaps he would sleep for what remained of the night, his cock now sated, his unsavory appetites indulged. He bowed at the two women again and retreated through the servants’ door. The mysterious woman had obviously enjoyed the show, and, to his shame, he had enjoyed it, too. Despite his self-disgust, he couldn’t help but wonder what she would ask of him on the morrow.

Lisette waited for the door to shut behind Lord Swanfield before throwing back her veil and pulling off her gloves. Marie-Claude smiled at her.

“Did it go as you wish? He has a fine cock, non?”

“He does.” Lisette could only agree, and she pictured Lord Swanfield coming in front of her, his face contorted in a grimace of pleasure as his cum released all over his fingers. She’d wanted to lean forward and lick it up, had almost done so before she’d remembered that would make it necessary for her to remove her veil.

“Does he have sex with the guests?”

Marie-Claude looked thoughtful. “Not full sex.”

Lisette wondered why that made her feel a little better. “Does he service men?”

“Yes, but with his hands and mouth. I don’t believe he enjoys male penetration either.”

Lord Swanfield was proving to be more of an enigma than Lisette had expected. She frowned up at Marie-Claude. “Then why does he do this?”

“Play the role of a servant?”

“Yes, and allow himself to be fondled and touched by complete strangers.”

Marie-Claude shrugged. “Perhaps it is the only way he can find sexual release, or the only way he allows himself to find sexual release.”

Suddenly Lisette remembered Lord Swanfield’s comments about not taking her to bed even if she’d wanted him to. “That might be true. Perhaps he really is saving himself for marriage or someone special after all….”

“Do you know him then, Lisette?”

“I’ve certainly met him before.”

“And you like him?”

Lisette stared at the older French woman. “I’m not sure.”

Marie-Claude’s brown eyes narrowed with amusement. “You like him. You were practically salivating when he revealed his cock.”

“Weren’t you?”

“I’ve seen so many.” Marie-Claude winked. “Although I must admit he certainly is large. What do you plan to do with him tomorrow night?”

Lisette smiled properly for the first time that evening. Major Lord Gabriel Swanfield, finally in her hands and at her mercy. “That remains to be seen.”

Gabriel spent much of the next evening searching for the woman in brown silk, not that any fashionable woman would wear the same dress twice; even he knew that. But he still hoped to seek her out. Something about the tilt of her head and her calm demeanor had seemed familiar. He hardly needed any of the guests to touch or stimulate his cock tonight. He’d been half erect since he arrived.

He endured the other guests’ fondling and groping, but turned down all the offers for further exploration. Somehow, keeping himself in readiness for the unknown woman appealed to his perverted sexual desires and made him even more aroused. When the clock struck eleven, he found Marie-Claude in front of him again.

“Come along, monsieur. She is waiting.”

Gabriel entered the room and saw the woman sitting, as before, in a high-back chair in front of the bed. Tonight she wore black, her bosom spilling over the top of her low-cut gown, her face still veiled beneath the high sweep of a Spanish mantilla and veil. Her gloved hands lay together in her lap, her fingers entwined. He nodded at her but she didn’t offer him anything in return. He took up a stance in front of her, feet slightly apart and hands behind his back.

“The lady would like to see your cock.”

Gabriel unbuttoned his pantaloons to display his shaft. He wasn’t as desperate as he had been on the previous night, but knowing she watched him quickly dispelled any notion that he wouldn’t come at her slightest touch.

“Touch yourself until you are almost ready to come.”

Gabriel applied himself to the task, no hardship for a man who deliberately sought out this particular form of sexual torture at the pleasure house. The only sounds in the room were his ragged breathing and the slick, wet sound of his cock sliding between his fingers. He just remembered to stop before he came and waited to be told what to do next.

The woman removed one of her gloves and leaned forward to scoop a bead of pre-cum from the tip of his cock. Gabriel shivered as she sucked the finger into her mouth and beckoned him closer.

“The lady wishes you to put your hands behind your back and close your eyes.”

Gabriel did what he was told and groaned as he felt her hand on his cock and then the unexpected coldness of metal. He opened his eyes and looked down. The woman was busy wrapping his cock and balls within a supple spiral of braided metallic wire. When she reached the tip she angled the metal coil over the slit of his cock.

“Monsieur, you were not supposed to look,” Marie-Claude said. “Do you wish to punish him, ma’am?”

Gabriel’s cock swelled at her words and his tender flesh pushed against the metal, hot against cold, yielding flesh and unresisting silver. He wanted her to touch him again so much it hurt to breathe. She shook her head and he tried to relax, found it impossible when she lowered her head and she blew a stream of air onto his beleaguered cock.

“Close your eyes, monsieur, and keep them closed this time or I will blindfold you,” Marie-Claude said.

The threat of that was enough to make him obey. After the long months in the unlit cells of a French prison, he hated not being able to see properly. Even the mask he wore at the pleasure house was almost too constricting. He braced himself for what would happen next, groaned out loud when the unknown woman’s tongue flicked over the silver constraints and delved deep to delight his flesh.

He squeezed his eyes shut as she continued to torment him with her tongue, and he fought the urge to slide his hands into her hair. What color was her hair? He was aware of his hips rocking gently with the rhythm of her licking, his buttocks flexing with the need to shove himself deep into her mouth and beg her to take his cock, to take all of his cum.

“Let me help you, ma’am,” Marie-Claude murmured.

He flinched as he felt movement behind him and then realized it was Marie-Claude, pushing his pantaloons down further to expose his arse. Her warm hands cupped his arse cheeks and then he felt her fingers stroking the sensitive flesh between his arse hole and his balls.

God, he wanted to die, wanted the subtle torment to end, but never end, wanted it harder and rougher, wanted to come … but could he come within the restriction of the silver coils? It felt as though his cock would always be erect and trapped. The woman’s tongue probed his slit, and he bit down hard on his lip, enjoyig the slight pain with the edge of pleasure.

She sucked him into her mouth, silver rings and all, and just held him there. Gabriel tensed as Marie-Claude’s now-oiled finger circled the tight bud of his arse hole and then eased inside. He held his breath as she went deeper and deeper and then he forgot anything but the desperate need to come as pleasure narrowed to a point so clear and sharp that he felt as if he was about to fall.

Cocooned in the woman’s warm mouth, his cock gave up the struggle and he started to come, each shuddering wave swallowed down her throat, his hands gripped together behind him, his nails digging deep into his own flesh. When he stopped shuddering, the woman had sat up and replaced her veil. Marie-Claude, however, still knelt on the floor. She glanced up at the woman and removed the silver bands. Gabriel sighed in relief until her heard her next question.

“Shall I make him hard for you again, ma’am, or have you seen enough tonight?”

The woman whispered something in French and Marie-Claude smiled. “Of course, ma’am.” She looked up at Gabriel. “It seems as if my lady approves of you. Now keep still.” She knelt up and cupped his balls in her hand. “I’m sure you can do even better than that.”

Marie-Claude winked at Lisette as she sucked Lord Swan-field’s cock for the second time. They’d played with him endlessly, licked him, sucked him, tormented him until his cock streamed with pre-cum and he was begging hoarsely for release. It was time to end the game now, and for that, she needed his full attention.

When Marie-Claude stood up, Lisette whispered in her ear, “This time we let him handle himself and when I nod, you will open the door so that we can make a quick exit.”

“Agreed, Madame.” Marie-Claude raised her voice. “Monsieur, you may pleasure yourself. We will watch.”

His long elegant fingers dropped to cradle his balls and curve around his cock. He was careful with himself this time, obviously feeling sore and well used. Lisette nudged Marie-Claire and frowned. “Tell him to do it faster and when he comes I want him to look at me.”

Marie-Claude relayed the message in flawless English and Lord Swanfield complied, his hands moving more quickly, his motions rougher. Lisette licked her lips and tasted him in her mouth, knew she wanted to taste him again at some basic uncomplicated level where he simply appealed to her most vital needs.

She watched his face through her veil, her hands ready, and waited for him to look up as he came. He started to pant, his hands gripping and releasing his thick, straining cock, and started to come, looked up at her as instructed. She raised her veil and let him see her, watching the horror and sexual high collide on his face as he realized exactly whom he had been performing for.

Before he even finished coming, Lisette blew him a kiss and left as fast as she could, making sure Marie-Claude locked the door behind her just in case Lord Swanfield tried to come after her. She wasn’t ready to go home yet, so where should she go? Her heart was beating so hard she feared she might faint, and her body was screaming for release.

The solution was obvious. Her old room in the private part of the pleasure house was still available to her. She would take herself to bed and worry about exactly what Lord Swanfield would do on the morrow.

“Damnation!” Gabriel fell to his knees, his hands cradling his still-spurting cock, his teeth clenched against the onslaught of pleasure. He stayed down, his head bent, and tried to breathe properly, to collect his scattered thoughts and make sense of what had happened. But it was impossible. His two worlds had finally collided. What the devil was a well-brought-up young lady like Miss Ross doing in the pleasure house?

He gave a shuddering sigh and tried to pull up his pantaloons, aware that his cock was now sore and throbbing from overuse. Normally he liked the sensation, but this time there was only pain. There had always been a risk that someone he knew would recognize him. He’d seen several of his old army colleagues at the pleasure house, and none of them had seemed to know him, not even his cousins.

Miss Ross had not only known him but made sure he knew it, too. He groaned and strode toward the door. What would she do with that information? She hadn’t struck him as the type of woman who enjoyed humiliating a man in public. But she had reason to believe he had deceived her, and that made any woman dangerous.

The door refused to open, and, after trying it several times, he slammed his fist into the wooden panel. She obviously didn’t want him to follow her. And what would he do if he caught her anyway? Wring her neck or shove his cock deep inside her and finish what she had started. God, he still wanted to fuck her, wanted it even more than he had before….

Shame washed over him, along with a sickening sense of his own stupidity. Why would she want him? With a groan, he retreated from the locked door and focused on washing himself clean and planning his next move. She couldn’t avoid him forever. Even if she never came back to the pleasure house, he knew exactly where she lived.