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“Because you’re a
perv
,” Daniel and Larry said in unison, their laughter breaking the tension. Daniel was still smiling when Allen’s text came through.

* * * * *

“We’re almost there, Ms. Benson. There appears to be a bit of a backup with the valet.”

“Thank you, Allen.” Erin met his gaze in the rearview mirror and offered him another appreciative smile. The man had amiably chatted with her from the time she walked toward the car. He had told her she was beautiful and she had blushed. Then blushed some more when he pointed out that her cheeks were very, very flushed. She’d been more than relieved when he handed her an iPod and informed her she needed to listen to it.

“It appears to be a busy night,” Allen commented.

Erin leaned forward and watched the people exiting their vehicles. None wore long dresses and she smoothed her hands over the silky fabric covering her knees, more than a little nervous.

“I’ll pull up and escort you up the stairs. Danny will be waiting inside.”

Danny, huh. No “mister” from him.
Erin frowned, uncertainty coiling within her. Maybe he did this all the time—opening pathetically naïve women up to a variety of kink. Indecision fused with a rush of jealousy and Erin struggled to tamp it down.

“Or maybe not.” The surprise in Allen’s voice had Erin following the path of the man’s stare.

She saw the boots first. Hessians. Polished to a sheen that reflected the neon marquee. A pair of tight riding breeches were tucked in and Erin gasped at the way they hugged his lean hips and a great deal more. She watched him make his way down the short flight of stairs, stepping aside and offering a small smile to a group of women who had tufts of horse hair attached to the tight black skullcaps they wore. They turned and watched him walk toward the car, one of them calling out something Erin couldn’t hear.

The back door opened and Erin slid across the seat, only to be stopped by him leaning inside, the billowing white shirt he wore gaping enough that she could see straight down to his rock hard abs.

“I missed you, beautiful. You ready?” he asked, planting a quick but thorough kiss on her parted lips.

“How many women have you brought here?” Erin blurted.
Nice. Here it comes, crazy woman. That what-the-hell look. Might as well just get back in the car now and have Allen drive you home.

His warm hands cradled her face and she saw him fighting to keep the smile from his lips. “One, Erin.”

“One, plus me?” she asked, trying to decide if it would have been better to hear it was a handful instead. So it was her and another woman who had enthralled him to the point of bringing them here.

“No. One person,” he said, taking her hands as he backed out of the car. She swung her legs around and was standing before him in the middle of the alley before she realized he had even moved. “Just you, Erin. Come on.”

Just me.
She let that thought roll around her brain as he held her hand and led her up the stairs and into the building. The décor startled her. She had been expecting something that resembled a Big Easy bordello but instead it was contemporary with a great deal of sleek lines and
ultrasoft
leather furnishings.

“The guy who owns the place, Larry, is standing over by that pillar. Bald guy. Pretty buff. If you’d like to meet him, let me know. He generally stays on the fringe, totally unobtrusive.”

“Unobtrusive is good,” Erin whispered. She wasn’t sure why she lowered her voice. Everyone else around them was chatting up a storm. Danny waited until they were through the throng of patrons before pulling her close to his side. His fingers curled around the curve of her hip, his palm warm against her skin, despite the layers of silk and satin that separated their flesh.

“Do you realize how hot you are? Wearing more clothing than anyone else here, but ten times more desirable? I never thought about your hair. Pulling it up like that was masterful. Your neck, your shoulders—they’re just begging to be kissed. Licked. Nipped.”

Desire clenched low in Erin’s belly. It seemed to tighten with each step they took down a long, increasingly darkening hallway. Wall sconces lit the way, the yellow glow of lamplight muted to the point of seductiveness. There weren’t numbers or names on the doors as she had expected. She had envisioned the one they’d be walking through being called the Voyeur Lounge or something equally obvious but small, silver reliefs adorned each panel. Danny slowed his steps and Erin looked at the door to her right, able to see the design clearly.

“Saints?” she asked in a shocked voice.

Danny chuckled. “That’s the religious schoolroom venue. We’re right up here.”

Erin walked to the door at the end of the hall, her heart thundering against her ribs. She stood stock-still and stared at the door, the sculpted image of four men in a theater box, lorgnettes perched over their noses making her close her eyes and take a deep breath.

“If you don’t want to do this, Erin, you don’t have to.”

That was a challenge if she’d ever heard one, but she also knew that she could turn around and totally walk out the front door. Her mind waged a mini war as the seconds ticked by. She could try to fool herself and pass the whole experience off as an erotic research project. Justification was a good thing—until a woman came face-to-face with the fact she was lying to herself for no apparently good reason. Deep down she wanted to see how it felt having more than one set of eyes on her.

“But I swear to you, you’ll be safe the entire time. The people inside are there for your pleasure as well as their own. They’re going to sit hidden in the shadows watching your vignette play out. They’re going to see each and every caress. Hear your sighs and moans and pleas. Watch you get off and in return, get off themselves. Just know that at any time, you can call a halt to it all.”

She looked into his eyes—clear and intense—and nodded before she spoke. “With a safe word. Something unique. Something other than ‘stop’. Something like ‘hazelnut’ or ‘cornucopia’.”

“Cornucopia?” His deep chuckled echoed through the hallway. “I was thinking something one syllable. Something easy. Like ‘red’.”

“Oh.” Erin felt her cheeks flame the exact color he suggested. “Okay. Red.”

“Anytime you feel you need it, babe. I mean it. This isn’t going to be some in-depth BDSM session, although I did ask Larry to provide a few props that were fitting to the setting, but you stop when it gets too intense on any level.”

Props. The setting?
Her manuscript hadn’t delved into anything that kinky, had it? The impact of what was about to happen slammed into Erin and she clutched her hands and pressed them into her stomach, much like any literary Victorian ingénue might do.

“Understand?”

“I do,” Erin replied, licking her lips. The sudden urge for control assailed her and she pressed her shoulders back and straightened her spine. “What’s the scenario?”

“
Oo-hoo
. Look at you,” he smiled. “All ramrod straight and very proper…just like Lady Belgrade. You’ll find it very easy to play along. If all goes as I’ve planned, you’ll get to experience your deep-seated fantasies and maybe some you don’t even realize you harbor. Kiss me, Erin. Once for good luck and once because you just can’t resist.”

“I can’t resist,” she replied honestly, rising onto her toes to brush her mouth against his. He smiled against her lips and backed away, turning the knob and easing the door open as he spoke.

“That’s what I’m counting on, babe. That’s exactly what I’m counting on.”

Chapter Six

“The earl would like to see you, my lady.”

The booming voice from behind the blue velvet curtain startled her and Erin turned her head, only to find Danny was no longer behind her. He was gone and the door they had just walked through was tightly shut.

She looked to her left and to her right, smart enough to realize he had probably slipped behind the fabric. In that second everything became suddenly very, very real. She had no idea what sort of playtime he had devised, other than it was historical in nature. The fact that the iPod had offered the strains of a stringed quartet probably had something to do with what was about to transpire.

A white-gloved hand snaked through the hidden seam where the curtains met and one of the heavy panels was drawn to the side.

“If you will,” a heavily muscled, short man said in a haughty manner. Bare from the waist up, he wore black pants that clung to his body like a second skin. No butler in her historical research would have been as outrageously garbed or undeniably fit.

Erin stepped through the curtain and was whirled around, strong hands at her shoulders hauling her against a very solid chest.

“Where have you been, my lady?”

His tone was firm and commanding, not at all like Danny. Definitely more “Daniel”. No. Lord Belgrade. She watched the muscles in his neck work as he swallowed and she mirrored the response, her mouth suddenly dry.

“Answer me.”

The roughness of his voice reverberated through her body, landing firmly in the hot folds of her pussy. She shifted her hips, only to have him step closer and walk her backward, his strong thighs guiding her toward the middle of the room.

“I-I was—” Thoughts raced through her mind. Getting ready, the costume, her story itself, the music she’d been told to listen to on the ride over. He was waiting for the correct response. That she knew.

“At the
Ashfields
’ ball?” Her tone sounded much too hesitant, even to her own ears, and Erin squared her shoulders as she looked into his eyes. “Yes. I was at the ball.”

“The ball? When I specifically told you we would not attend?” Her ass hit the edge of a hard surface and Erin tried to turn her head to glance down but his large hand cupped her chin and held her stationary. “You disobeyed.”

She dropped her gaze, not at all sure why it seemed like the logical thing to do. Or why gooseflesh broke out on her arms. The earl was preparing to give her a
setdown
and Erin’s heart began to race. She knew the scene he was creating and she knew it ended with the earl riding his lady doggie style with firm, fast strokes that had her begging for more. The truth—that she’d beg for him in a heartbeat—hit her with a force that was staggering.

“I’m
sor
—”

“Do not waste your breath, you wanton slut.”

She was shocked by his words and her eyes snapped to his. His expression was severe but there was a bit of a twinkle in his gaze. He was enjoying himself. Maybe a bit too much. But she couldn’t look away.

“Kenneth, ask her ladyship’s maid to join us. I’m in need of her services.”

Her breath caught in her throat. Her
maid
? Surely he wasn’t—

“You’ve been a very naughty woman, my dear. On many, many levels. You’ve flaunted your deliciously gorgeous body in front of anyone within eyesight, have you not?”

Have you not? Oh my god, he’s good at this.
But why wouldn’t he be? Danny was proficient at anything he put his mind to. He strove for excellence. Why would role-playing in a local sex club prove any different?

“I’m waiting,” he said softly.

“Perhaps,” Erin replied. She heard the click of heels against the smooth concrete of the floor and stopped herself from pulling her head free and turning away from his penetrating stare.

“Oh my dear, you definitely have. Should I tell you how many have watched as you’ve found release, either at my hands—or cock—as well as your own fingers?”

“Sir?” A meek female voice echoed behind her and Danny exerted a little pressure, silently urging Erin to move forward as he took two steps backward. Erin literally jumped when soft, cool fingers brushed the back of her neck.

“Proceed, Tina,” Danny said, releasing his grip and crossing his arms over his chest. “But very slowly, I think. Her ladyship likes things that way. Isn’t that right, Philip?”

As the maid undid the top button of the dress, Erin noticed movement to her left and watched a man exit one of the private rooms and stand directly in front of the mirror. He was burly and wore the garb of an eighteenth-century groundskeeper. He was pretty close in appearance to the character in her book and Erin marveled at the effort Danny had expended to make the scene as true to life as possible. The man
was
her creation. Her Philip. Who had been privy to an eyeful of rowdy lust in the topiary garden.

“Aye sir. That she does.” He crossed his arms over his chest and gave Erin a smug smile. “I’d like to feel her mouth on my cock.”

Erin gasped, her gaze shooting to the man’s crotch before she quickly looked at Danny. There hadn’t been anything like that in her book. No threesomes. Nor had there been a lady’s maid who reached inside her heroine’s opened gown to caress the underside of each ass cheek. Erin tightened her
glutes
and tried to shift unobtrusively to the side but the woman followed.

“That will be the lady’s choice, Philip,” Danny said, and Erin’s thoughts flicked back to the man. To both men. The things they could do to her if she allowed it.

“What do you think, my lady? Would you find it a new dimension to your current debauchery to have me thrusting into your pussy while he fucks your sweet, sweet mouth?”

“Danny!” Erin clutched at his shirt, closing her eyes when he leaned forward and nuzzled her neck, his familiar cologne a suddenly comforting scent.

“Baby, relax. It’s all play. As much or as little as you want,” he whispered. “Behind each of those seven mirrors are watch lounges. All of them are filled. Or were filled. That’s where Philip came from. There are others who are watching. I know you like the idea. I think you crave it, quite frankly. There’s nothing wrong with that. Absolutely nothing. The wrongness comes by not owning up to the truth. Just take some deep breaths and really think about what you need from this experience.”

“Need?” she whispered just as softly. At that moment the woman behind her shifted her fingers and carefully stroked the silky fabric of Erin’s panties, using firm, wide circles to rub her ass. She leaned forward, placed her chin on Erin’s shoulder and offered an opinion as she slid her hands under the elastic and nails scored her bare flesh.