Read Online Simply Shameless by Kate Pearce - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Kate Pearce
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anyone want to do that when they can go to a thousand bawdy houses and pay almost nothing?"
"Because we will be offering something unique. We will offer our members the opportunity to take part in any sexual fantasy they can imagine or watch others exploring their own fantasies."
"Oh, I say." Lord Derek Knowles cleared his throat. "Are you quite sure you wouldn't prefer a nice little cottage in the countryside?"
"I think we should allow Madame Delornay to do anything she damned well likes." The Duke of Diable Delamere suddenly straightened and scowled at the other men in the room. "If this is the life she chooses, I will support her decision. At least she will be in control of her own destiny."
"Thank you, monseigneur." Helene inclined her head to the duke.
"A pleasure, madame, and might I say that your premise intrigues me on a personal level as well?" There was a wicked glint in the duke's pale silver eyes. "I think I might well become your first. .. member."
"After me, Delamere." The viscount rose to his feet. "There are a lot of details to be worked out, but I have no issue with Madame Delornay doing exactly as she pleases." He glanced at the other two men, who both nodded in agreement.
"I suggest we set up a partnership, giving Madame Delornay forty percent of the business, the rest shared between the four of us." He smiled at Helene. "And as this young lady is obviously as tenacious as she is beautiful, we will also offer her the opportunity to buy back our shares in the enterprise when it becomes successful. Are we all agreed?"
A chorus of agreement greeted his question, and Helene briefly closed her eyes as a wave of thankfulness enveloped her. She didn't believe in God any longer—how could she after all the destruction she had witnessed? But she did believe in fate and the strength of her own will.
If she could be successful at this, she would never want for anything again. Strange that it was Philip Ross's erotic love-making that had given her the ghost of an idea. At the thought of Philip, she remembered her more pressing problem.
"I appreciate your faith in me, gentlemen, and I promise I will not let you down." She took a deep breath. "But there is one issue that means I will have to put our plans on hold for about a year." She sighed. "It also means I won't be able to have my daughter back to live with me yet."
The viscount's smile dimmed. "Madame?"
Helene stood up and faced them. "I'm pregnant."
Chapter Six
December 1819 Eighteen years later. . .
Helene slipped out of bed, careful not to disturb the young man who lay sprawled across the silken sheets. Lord Thomas Roebuck had been too drunk to perform last night. In truth, he had come, but not in the appropriate place and not by offering Helene the slightest hint of pleasure. She sighed as she surveyed his luscious naked buttocks. So much promise and yet such a disappointment.
No doubt he'd forget his failure and boast of his conquest until either his friends tired of hearing him or he found another woman willing to put up with his inadequacies. She was tired of tutoring young men in the erotic arts and had begun to appreciate having her bed to herself.
She made her way into her dressing room and contemplated the gray leaden skies outside her window. Winter was closing in. It was her least favorite time of the year. The exposing of the bare bones of the trees and the unforgiving hardness of the earth made her think of death and the past. With a shake of her head, she dressed in a light corset and an old gown she could lace up herself. Sitting at her dressing table, she ignored her pale reflection in the mirror and quickly put up her hair.
The large clock in the main hallway struck six, echoing around the empty space as she walked down the back stairs to the basement. In the kitchen, Madame Dubois was already awake and working hard. Two scullery maids were busy preparing the fruit and vegetables bought fresh from the market that morning. The
"Because we will be offering something unique. We will offer our members the opportunity to take part in any sexual fantasy they can imagine or watch others exploring their own fantasies."
"Oh, I say." Lord Derek Knowles cleared his throat. "Are you quite sure you wouldn't prefer a nice little cottage in the countryside?"
"I think we should allow Madame Delornay to do anything she damned well likes." The Duke of Diable Delamere suddenly straightened and scowled at the other men in the room. "If this is the life she chooses, I will support her decision. At least she will be in control of her own destiny."
"Thank you, monseigneur." Helene inclined her head to the duke.
"A pleasure, madame, and might I say that your premise intrigues me on a personal level as well?" There was a wicked glint in the duke's pale silver eyes. "I think I might well become your first. .. member."
"After me, Delamere." The viscount rose to his feet. "There are a lot of details to be worked out, but I have no issue with Madame Delornay doing exactly as she pleases." He glanced at the other two men, who both nodded in agreement.
"I suggest we set up a partnership, giving Madame Delornay forty percent of the business, the rest shared between the four of us." He smiled at Helene. "And as this young lady is obviously as tenacious as she is beautiful, we will also offer her the opportunity to buy back our shares in the enterprise when it becomes successful. Are we all agreed?"
A chorus of agreement greeted his question, and Helene briefly closed her eyes as a wave of thankfulness enveloped her. She didn't believe in God any longer—how could she after all the destruction she had witnessed? But she did believe in fate and the strength of her own will.
If she could be successful at this, she would never want for anything again. Strange that it was Philip Ross's erotic love-making that had given her the ghost of an idea. At the thought of Philip, she remembered her more pressing problem.
"I appreciate your faith in me, gentlemen, and I promise I will not let you down." She took a deep breath. "But there is one issue that means I will have to put our plans on hold for about a year." She sighed. "It also means I won't be able to have my daughter back to live with me yet."
The viscount's smile dimmed. "Madame?"
Helene stood up and faced them. "I'm pregnant."
Chapter Six
December 1819 Eighteen years later. . .
Helene slipped out of bed, careful not to disturb the young man who lay sprawled across the silken sheets. Lord Thomas Roebuck had been too drunk to perform last night. In truth, he had come, but not in the appropriate place and not by offering Helene the slightest hint of pleasure. She sighed as she surveyed his luscious naked buttocks. So much promise and yet such a disappointment.
No doubt he'd forget his failure and boast of his conquest until either his friends tired of hearing him or he found another woman willing to put up with his inadequacies. She was tired of tutoring young men in the erotic arts and had begun to appreciate having her bed to herself.
She made her way into her dressing room and contemplated the gray leaden skies outside her window. Winter was closing in. It was her least favorite time of the year. The exposing of the bare bones of the trees and the unforgiving hardness of the earth made her think of death and the past. With a shake of her head, she dressed in a light corset and an old gown she could lace up herself. Sitting at her dressing table, she ignored her pale reflection in the mirror and quickly put up her hair.
The large clock in the main hallway struck six, echoing around the empty space as she walked down the back stairs to the basement. In the kitchen, Madame Dubois was already awake and working hard. Two scullery maids were busy preparing the fruit and vegetables bought fresh from the market that morning. The
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