Read Online Darius: Lord of Pleasures by Grace Burrowes - Free Book Online

too tired to give a damn.
    Vivian Longstreet should be a means to put a new roof on his stable, a duty, a convenient source of revenue, and here he was, offering to escort her past reason into the land of sexual pleasure and harmless dalliance. Offering her a choice had been rash, and upon reflection, he wished he could recall his words and sneak into her bed of a night, pretending by day her body had been shared with some other man. That would be smarter—better, at least for him.
    But by breakfast, Darius had come to a decision: if she allowed it, he was going to pleasure Vivian Longstreet out of her clever, nimble, ladylike mind.

Four
    The dress made up Darius’s mind, a shapeless, no doubt warm atrocity in a color that put him in mind of calf scours.
    “Good morning, Mr. Lindsey.” Vivian smiled at him shyly when Darius seated her at the breakfast table.
    “Good morning.” He let himself lean in for a little whiff of her, catching the scent of daffodils. Lemon verbena might have been more retiring, but only just. “I trust you and Lord Byron slept well?”
    Her smile widened. “I wouldn’t presume to speak for him. I slept like the proverbial baby.”
    “I’ve wondered where that phrase came from.” Darius poured her tea. “My experience with babies suggests they are better at waking entire households than sleeping. May I fix you a plate?”
    “Thank you.” She accepted the tea. “You’ve had the raising of your… relation since infancy?”
    “I’ve had exclusive responsibility for him since shortly after his birth.”
    “How old is he now?”
    “He’ll join us shortly.” Darius focused on sorting through the ham slices to find one he deemed thick enough for her. “You can ask him yourself, but be warned, he can talk nonstop for days.”
    “Not a typical male.” Vivian frowned at the plate he set before her. “I can’t possibly eat all of this.”
    “Especially”—Darius took a slice of bacon off her plate—“if you stare at it until it gets cold. You start, and when you’ve had your fill, you stop.”
    “But that’s waste…” He stuffed a bite of bacon into her mouth between syllables, and finished the strip himself.
    “I like it crisp like this,” she said. “William likes his thicker than I do, and oh, you’ve had cheese cooked in the eggs, you shameless man.”
    Darius nodded complacently and sipped his tea. “That would be me.” Did Longstreet even realize what a treasure he shared breakfast with each morning? Did he see her or merely disappear behind The Times and consume his soggy bacon?
    “Is this the lady?” a small voice piped.
    “Good morning, John.” Darius smiled at the lad who hovered in the doorway. “Make your bow.”
    “Good morning, my lady. John Cowperthwaite Lindsey, at your service.” He bowed dramatically and came up grinning. “You’re our guest, so I’m on pro… I have to behave.”
    “Probation.” Darius hoisted the child onto his lap. “If you’re on your best behavior, you can have breakfast with us, and perhaps we’ll go riding while Lady Vivian is here.”
    Lady Vivian, not Lady Longstreet, because Darius intended to exercise as much discretion about her visit as he could.
    “Do you like horses?” The look John aimed at Vivian suggested this was the pressing question of the day.
    “Very much. Do you like bacon?” She held up a crispy slice.
    “Darius?”
    “You may.”
    “Thank you!” John took the slice of bacon and was away from the verbal starting line at a gallop, waving his bacon around minus one bite as he spoke. “I have a pony. He’s old but sturdy, and his name is Hammond. He doesn’t like Waggles, because Waggles is sneaky and hard to see in the dark, which is good for hunting mice, though there aren’t any in my bedroom ’cause Wags sleeps with me. May I please have another piece of bacon?”
    “I’ll fetch you a plate.” Darius rose and sat the child in his own seat as John went on about how cold weather