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managed to finagle the woman into fitting it to Jane’s body.
    The dress revealed softly rounded shoulders and a full bosom. Tentatively, Jane touched the base of her throat and allowed her hand to move slowly downward. Her head tilted to one side, she studied the way her body curved outward then inward and then outward again. While she’d initially balked at Tobias’ decree that she replenish her wardrobe, she was forced to admit that she enjoyed the new gowns.
    The last time she’d worn anything this lovely was the night she’d given herself to Barnaby. The random thought made her turn away from the mirror with a jerk. There was little point in revisiting the pain and misery of that period in her life. That young woman was dead and buried. Even the woman she’d become over the last fifteen years had changed over in the past few months.
    This evening she’d changed even more. Tonight she’d dared to bend a man to her will. Months ago when she’d insisted Angélique teach her how to use her feminine strength, Jane hadn’t really believed she’d ever achieve the ability to bend a man to her command. But tonight, she’d made Tobias do her bidding with only a few soft words. Never in her life had she ever experienced such confidence in herself until Tobias had agreed to her terms earlier tonight.
    Once more, a delicious exhilaration pulsed its way through her veins. The emotion quickly changed to trepidation. From the moment she’d accepted Tobias’ marriage proposal, she knew he would be a problem where her heart was concerned. But she’d never dreamed he would present such a complex one. The world of La Maison des Plaisirs Sombres was wicked, sinful, and filled with the darkest of erotic desires.
    It was a world Tobias obviously knew well, and one which she was still learning. Did she really have the strength to make him yield to her completely and utterly? Jane swallowed the knot of trepidation suddenly threatening to close her throat. What she lacked for in knowledge, she would make up for in determination.
    All her life she’d had little to no control over her own destiny. But all that had changed here in La Maison des Plaisirs Sombres . Here she’d been granted permission to be the one in control without penalty or disapproval. In this private, anonymous haven, she could satisfy every one of her desires. And her greatest desire at the moment was to bend Tobias to her needs when it came to how she wished him to pleasure her.

Chapter 4

    T he rich red carpet under Tobias’ feet muffled his footsteps as he made his way up the main staircase of the La Maison des Plaisirs Sombres . Beneath his hand, the dark mahogany banister gleamed in the soft glow of gaslight. When he reached the second floor landing, Tobias followed the corridor to the balcony overlooking the Obedience Chamber. Like the Lyceum, the Marlborough Set’s favorite theater, the gallery allowed full view of the stage below.
    But the theatrical spectacle Tobias could see in the chamber below was a much different type of play than one might find at the Lyceum. Most members of the Set would find the performance on the stage below more than shocking. Like Culverstone, a great many of them would find it a revolting pastime. Some would even deem the entire spectacle perverse and unlawful. The thought of the earl made Tobias grit his teeth. Despite being repulsed by the manner in which Tobias took his pleasure, Culverstone hadn’t hesitated to blackmail Tobias into marrying Jane.
    The balcony that wrapped around two sides of the Obedience Chamber was nearly full, and Tobias stood on the top landing searching for a glimpse of one woman. When he didn’t see her, Tobias uttered a soft oath and sought out a seat in a remote section of the gallery.
    Tobias stretched his legs out in front of him and tried to focus on the play below, but his thoughts kept turning back to her. Mystère . It had taken him two nights just to learn her name from Angélique. And