Read Online Just Another Lady (Xcite Romance) by Penelope Friday - Free Book Online
Authors: Penelope Friday
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let her go until he had done what he chose to her. And even then ... she thought of the rotting teeth and dirty nails of the man called Ted, who was “owed” by Sir Hugo for his kidnap of her, and felt sick.
Finding it hard to swallow past a lump in her throat, she did her best to smile. ‘Please, do not think I am challenging you,’ she said, fighting to keep a quavering note from her voice. ‘It is all so – unexpected, you understand.’ She gave a laugh that sounded false even to her own ears. ‘I was anticipating a card party, not a ... a flirtation.’
‘That’s what Crozier calls it these days, is it?’ Sir Hugo said, his loathing for Lucius evident in every syllable. ‘How refined of him. A “flirtation”. Such a nice phrase.’
‘I don’t know what you mean,’ Elinor said instinctively.
‘Yes.’ Sir Hugo’s voice was suddenly low and intense. ‘Yes you do, Mrs Crozier. Why do you persist in these denials? Do you think to protect that man – that so-called-man to whom you are married?’
‘I apologise.’ Elinor’s voice wobbled a little. Forgive me, Lucius, for what I am about to say. ‘I am accustomed, you understand, to defending my husband. It feels most strange to be in a position where I need not do any such thing.’
Sir Hugo leaned against the wall. ‘Believe me, there is certainly no need to do so in my presence.’ His voice became gentler, though his fingers still stroked the flat edge of the knife. ‘Come, this is surely no terrifying ordeal; certainly it need not be. You never know, you might even enjoy yourself.’
‘Perhaps.’ Elinor wished she knew how to look coy; she looked up at Sir Hugo from under lidded eyes and hoped her expression was seductive enough. ‘Why do you not show me what you know? If you are as talented as you sound, I may very well take pleasure in it. I must confess that I have not enjoyed many sexual experiences with gentlemen before now.’ Which last was true enough: Elinor had not had the chance to experience more than one. If Sir Hugo chose to take her words with a different meaning, why, that was his prerogative. Lucius’s words came back to her: there is one area in which we are weaker than water. So help me, Lucius, she thought desperately; I hope you are right.
‘You are very easily persuaded,’ Sir Hugo said, a note of suspicion in his voice.
Elinor gave an insouciant shrug. ‘As you say, you are hardly suggesting something I am not accustomed to.’ She allowed her eyes to look him up and down. ‘And, indeed, you are certainly considerably more handsome than the majority of my conquests.’ She allowed a note of admiration to creep into her voice. A stroke of brilliance occurred to her: one which she thought might convince Sir Hugo more than anything else she had said so far. ‘And maybe,’ she murmured, coming closer to Sir Hugo and putting a hand on his arm, ‘if I please you well enough, you might consider finding a – a different reward for my original captor.’
He laughed, and Elinor thought with relief that her tactic had worked. He believed her willing to do anything with him in the hope that she would not then have to endure the grubby hands of “Ted”.
‘I might consider it,’ he acknowledged, a loathsome smile flickering at the corner of his lips. ‘If you are a very, very good girl.’ To Elinor’s relief, he reached up and placed the knife on the mantelpiece. Knowing she was watching, he smiled more broadly. ‘Don’t think about trying to reach it,’ he said coolly.
‘I won’t.’ Elinor looked up at the blade with an expression of anxiety which was by no means faked. If her plan for escape did not succeed, she had no doubt that the knife would be used on her. ‘Can’t we move a little further away from it?’ she pleaded, her fingers clinging to his arm as she edged away from the fireplace.
‘A nervous little thing, aren’t you?’ Sir Hugo said, but his voice was amused rather than angry.
He
Finding it hard to swallow past a lump in her throat, she did her best to smile. ‘Please, do not think I am challenging you,’ she said, fighting to keep a quavering note from her voice. ‘It is all so – unexpected, you understand.’ She gave a laugh that sounded false even to her own ears. ‘I was anticipating a card party, not a ... a flirtation.’
‘That’s what Crozier calls it these days, is it?’ Sir Hugo said, his loathing for Lucius evident in every syllable. ‘How refined of him. A “flirtation”. Such a nice phrase.’
‘I don’t know what you mean,’ Elinor said instinctively.
‘Yes.’ Sir Hugo’s voice was suddenly low and intense. ‘Yes you do, Mrs Crozier. Why do you persist in these denials? Do you think to protect that man – that so-called-man to whom you are married?’
‘I apologise.’ Elinor’s voice wobbled a little. Forgive me, Lucius, for what I am about to say. ‘I am accustomed, you understand, to defending my husband. It feels most strange to be in a position where I need not do any such thing.’
Sir Hugo leaned against the wall. ‘Believe me, there is certainly no need to do so in my presence.’ His voice became gentler, though his fingers still stroked the flat edge of the knife. ‘Come, this is surely no terrifying ordeal; certainly it need not be. You never know, you might even enjoy yourself.’
‘Perhaps.’ Elinor wished she knew how to look coy; she looked up at Sir Hugo from under lidded eyes and hoped her expression was seductive enough. ‘Why do you not show me what you know? If you are as talented as you sound, I may very well take pleasure in it. I must confess that I have not enjoyed many sexual experiences with gentlemen before now.’ Which last was true enough: Elinor had not had the chance to experience more than one. If Sir Hugo chose to take her words with a different meaning, why, that was his prerogative. Lucius’s words came back to her: there is one area in which we are weaker than water. So help me, Lucius, she thought desperately; I hope you are right.
‘You are very easily persuaded,’ Sir Hugo said, a note of suspicion in his voice.
Elinor gave an insouciant shrug. ‘As you say, you are hardly suggesting something I am not accustomed to.’ She allowed her eyes to look him up and down. ‘And, indeed, you are certainly considerably more handsome than the majority of my conquests.’ She allowed a note of admiration to creep into her voice. A stroke of brilliance occurred to her: one which she thought might convince Sir Hugo more than anything else she had said so far. ‘And maybe,’ she murmured, coming closer to Sir Hugo and putting a hand on his arm, ‘if I please you well enough, you might consider finding a – a different reward for my original captor.’
He laughed, and Elinor thought with relief that her tactic had worked. He believed her willing to do anything with him in the hope that she would not then have to endure the grubby hands of “Ted”.
‘I might consider it,’ he acknowledged, a loathsome smile flickering at the corner of his lips. ‘If you are a very, very good girl.’ To Elinor’s relief, he reached up and placed the knife on the mantelpiece. Knowing she was watching, he smiled more broadly. ‘Don’t think about trying to reach it,’ he said coolly.
‘I won’t.’ Elinor looked up at the blade with an expression of anxiety which was by no means faked. If her plan for escape did not succeed, she had no doubt that the knife would be used on her. ‘Can’t we move a little further away from it?’ she pleaded, her fingers clinging to his arm as she edged away from the fireplace.
‘A nervous little thing, aren’t you?’ Sir Hugo said, but his voice was amused rather than angry.
He
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