A Counterfeit Courtesan

by Jess Michaels

  His mind briefly screamed at him to resist. To push her away. To end this. But the moment passed and then all that was left was desire. Need. And a draw that he’d never expected, but which had become as important to him as air or water or food.

  He wrapped his arms around her, moaned against her lips as surrender. And he kissed her back.

  Chapter 12

  Juliana had expected Ellis would give in the moment his gaze had flickered over her from head to toe and she’d seen his desire for her. It had been a triumph to recognize he wanted her. That she had some power over this powerful man. And when she kissed him, she had expected him to be swept away.

  Only he…wasn’t. He held her, cradled her like she was something worth her weight in gold. His mouth moved over hers and it was so infinitely gentle. Almost reverent as his hands fisted against her back and his tongue breached her lips.

  She shivered, and he cupped her closer, molding their bodies until there was no space between them, no breath between them. She clung to him, tilting her head to allow him deeper.

  Some small part of her shifted as he tasted her. As she tasted him. She was not going to make it out of this unchanged, no matter what happened next.

  As if she’d said that out loud, he cupped her waist and pushed her aside gently. He stepped back, his breath coming short. “Don’t do this, Juliana.”

  “To myself or to you?” she asked, her voice shaking as hard as her body.

  He met her gaze, and there was a desperation there. “Both,” he whispered.

  Her lips parted at that one word, spoken in a tone that broke her heart. He was trying so hard to be cruel, to be cold. To push her away and be the villain he’d been his whole life. But it wasn’t real. He was vulnerable.

  And she realized in that moment that she would not walk away.

  “You need me,” she said softly.

  He shook his head even as his gaze moved over her again. “No, I don’t. I don’t need anyone, angel.”

  “Liar,” she said, without heat. Without cruelty.

  He nodded. “Yes. Absolutely. I tell lies to beautiful creatures like yourself, and all of them believe me. They give me what I want and it means nothing.”

  She saw the truth of him now and so the harshness no longer stung her. She placed her hands on her hips and arched a brow at him. “Then what did you get from me?”

  His brow wrinkled. “What?”

  “You said you only trade on what you get. So what did you get from me?”

  His jaw set. “Fun,” he ground out, his angry tone belying the meaning of that one little word.

  She smiled. “Good. I want that fun, too. And in return, I’ll help you.”

  He jerked back and she almost laughed, for he looked truly confused. “Help me?” he repeated.

  “Yes, I want to help you,” she said. “It means to render aid. Be of assistance. And I’m doing it so you might as well stop arguing with me, you great oaf.”

  Looking at Juliana Shelley, hands on her hips like an angry governess, green eyes flashing, absolute certainly on her utterly beautiful face, all of Ellis’s act slipped. How could he pretend to be cold when she was so…so…so utterly mystifying?

  “I know what the words mean,” he said. “I just…you want to help me? How do you think you could possibly do that?”

  She clucked her tongue. “Come now. You’re supposed to be some great underground lord, aren’t you? You must see what use I could be to you. Winston Leonard isn’t just some everyday villain. He is a duke’s son. Lord Winston. And I have access to parts of his world that would be far more challenging for you to breach. That means I can find things you cannot.”

  “Juliana,” he gasped, and reached for her. He caught her wrist and tugged her a fraction closer. “That would be very dangerous.”

  She covered his hand with hers and stroked her fingers across his skin. “I’m not afraid of dangerous, Mr. Maitland. Or haven’t you figured that out yet.”

  “You should be,” he snapped even as he staggered back from her temptation. “You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.”

  “Perhaps not,” she said and smiled at him. “Certainly, I would be much safer if a man from that world was protecting me and helping me, just as I am helping him.”

  “God, you are relentless,” he barked as he paced away from her. “You are out of control.”

  “I am relentless,” she said with a chuckle. “My poor sisters would tell you the same. But I’m very much in control, perhaps for the first time in my whole life. I’m taking control.”

  He pivoted back toward her. She was the most frustrating and fascinating woman he had ever encountered. Part of him applauded her singular focus on what she desired. The other part was absolutely terrified of what that focus would expose her to. Dangers far deeper than just him.

  “In addition,” she added softly. “I also have access to the plans Rook and Harcourt are hatching. I know you want access to those.”

  He froze. He did, indeed, want to know what his cousin was planning. And where he had put the code that would lead to the treasure Leonard sought so desperately. If Ellis had that, drawing out his quarry would be far easier.

  But was it worth putting Juliana in danger…again?

  He shook his head. “Just stay out of it.”

  She held his stare. “No.”

  Lunging forward, he caught her arms. There was a ripple that worked through her when he did. She trembled against his chest. Was that fear? Was that desire? Was it both?

  “Stay out of this,” he managed to repeat, grinding the words past clenched teeth. “You aren’t wanted in this. I don’t want you in this.”

  She leaned up and brushed her lips to his again. Then she pulled free of his grip and stepped away. “You either want it all or you want nothing. And whatever you say, I know you don’t want nothing.” She stepped toward the door. “I’m not giving up, Ellis. Think about it.”

  Then she turned on her heel and left the parlor. He heard her exit the house, and he threw up his hands in frustration.

  “Fuck!” he barked, picking up the glass of whisky and hurtling it against the back wall. He gripped his hands against the sideboard, his heart throbbing as her carriage jangled by merrily, taking her back to God knew where.

  The woman was truly unstoppable. And as much as he admired that, he also feared it. In this situation, it might get her killed. And to what? Protect him? He didn’t deserve that.

  So he was going to have to take the next step. And he was very much not looking forward to it.

  Ellis had broken into the home of many a fop in his long and illustrious career as a thief. It was never as difficult as those who inhabited the places likely thought it should be. And the house of the Earl of Harcourt was no different.

  With a flick of his wrist, he managed to pry the window open and slid inside. He shut it behind him and turned, only to find his cousin, Rook, leaning against the door that led to the hallway. Glaring at him.

  Ellis jumped despite himself and returned the glare with his own. “What the hell? How did you know I was here?”

  “I heard the dogs barking,” Rook said without moving. “And then I watched you from my bedroom window as you crept in from the garden. You’re getting sloppy, Handsome. Distracted?”

  “Yes,” Ellis grunted, and then shook his head. “No.”

  Rook pushed off the door and took a long step toward him. Ellis hated that his reaction was to shift into a fighter’s stance. This was how far they’d fallen. And it was all his own fault.

  “What the hell are you doing here, Ellis?” Rook growled, his hands fisting at his sides as he brought himself up short.

  “I’m breaking into Harcourt’s house,” Ellis barked back. Rook’s jaw tightened and he folded his arms. Ellis felt his shoulders roll forward. “I needed to see you,” he admitted softly.

  There was a flutter of emotion that moved over Rook’s face. All the love that the two cousins, nearly as clo
se as brothers, had ever felt. And then it was gone, hardened and erased in a moment. Ellis hated the loss of it and hated the pit it caused in his own stomach.

  Caring about others was exactly the distraction Rook had mentioned earlier. And it was endangering everyone.

  “See me,” Rook said. “Well, here I am. What do you want?”

  Ellis drew a breath. He had been rehearsing this on the ride from his home. The words still didn’t come easily. He paced away so his cousin wouldn’t see his face when he said it. “Juliana.”

  There was a long, heavy pause, and then Rook took a step toward him. “What. About. Her?” He ground out, accentuating every word.

  Ellis pivoted to face him. “She is endangering herself.”

  Rook shook his head. “You must be desperate to drag her into this. To lie.”

  “It’s not a lie,” Ellis snapped. “She’s been sneaking out of her father’s house. Going to—” He broke off. Juliana would never want her family to know where she had gone. That betrayal would be far worse than getting her banned. And yet he had no choice if he was going to protect her. “She’s been going to the Donville Masquerade.”

  Rook’s eyebrows lifted. “Juliana Shelley? You’re certain?”

  “Yes.” Ellis bent his head. “And she…she came to my house here in London this afternoon.”

  “Wait…so she came to the Donville Masquerade and you two interacted?” Rook said in disbelief.

  A flash of Juliana arching beneath him, crying out with pleasure, ripped through Ellis’s mind. He pushed it away with great difficulty. “Yes. We interacted.”

  “She spoke to you, the man who all but kidnapped her sister, the man who set in motion all the events that led to her family’s scandal and her own injury.”

  Ellis jerked away from those very true words. The accusations he made against himself every time he saw her. They were worse coming from Rook’s voice.

  “She did.” He gripped his hands at his sides, gathered himself and faced his cousin again. “She is altered by everything that happened. She’s looking for a way to feel something. I think we both understand that.”

  Rook flinched and then nodded. “I suppose that makes sense. Thomasina and Anne have both commented on the change in her. They’ve tried to speak to her, to comfort her, but she feels outside of her own family now.”

  “Perhaps because she’s been left out,” Ellis said.

  “Fuck you. You don’t know anything about it.”

  Ellis shrugged. “She came to me. That’s how desperate she is. So I think I know a little more than you do, cousin. You can hate me all you want, but don’t dismiss me and endanger her.”

  “I don’t hate you,” Rook said softly.

  Ellis walked away from him. He stood at the fireplace, watching the flames lick at the logs. For a moment, all was silent between them, though not comfortably so. All the unspoken anger and hurt hung there like a wall. Insurmountable. His making.

  “I don’t want to hurt her,” he said at last. “I don’t want to betray her like this and humiliate her. But she needs intervention. She needs a reminder that I’m dangerous, and none of mine seem to break through that marvelously thick skull of hers.”

  Rook snorted out a laugh and Ellis turned to watch his cousin scrub a hand over his face. “Shit. Anne is going to be livid.”

  Ellis smiled then. “I don’t think there’s much room for her to talk when it comes to making bad decisions.”

  “With you,” Rook added.

  “Yes. I suppose. Though her heart was never in it. And neither was mine. Anyone can tell just by looking at her that she is in love with you. Foolish girl.”

  Rook laughed a little and the tension between them faded a fraction. “They like the bad ones, those Shelley sisters. Even Harcourt isn’t as straitlaced as he might seem.”

  A ripple of jealousy tore through Ellis before he could control it. He and Rook had been best friends as well as family. Rook had been his right-hand man for years. Now he was pulling away, separating. It was better for him, but it still stung.

  “Well, then you’ve found a new place for yourself,” Ellis said. “One with far less trouble. So why don’t you let me take care of the trouble still here? Give me the code. I know you still have it.”

  The softness to Rook’s expression dissipated in a moment and he clenched his teeth. “All this pretending to care about Juliana’s well-being and what you really want is the code. Why are you so set on getting the gem, Ellis? To enrich yourself?”

  “No!” Ellis burst out. “You really think that when its very existence threatens you, threatens my brother, threatens—”

  He broke off because if he said Juliana’s name, it would be clear he cared about her. After all, the other people he’d listed were the only ones he’d ever loved. While he didn’t lump Juliana Shelley into that category—he would never be that foolish—he certainly could admit he had a stake in her well-being. The woman had all but forced him to.

  “I want to take care of Winston Leonard,” he said softly.

  “He’s back in London,” Rook said with a groan. “Shit, Juliana saw him at the Donville Masquerade, didn’t she?”

  Ellis drew back at that revelation. “She told you she saw him?”

  “Reluctantly,” Rook said. “And she refused to say where. I understand why now. What is between you, Ellis?”

  “Nothing,” he said, and heard how unbelievable the words were.

  “Liar,” Rook drawled, repeating the same slur Juliana had thrown at him earlier in the day.

  “I’m trying to make it nothing,” Ellis said. “She doesn’t make it easy.”

  Rook threw up his hands. “She’s suffered enough.”

  “I know!” Ellis lunged forward and caught Rook’s arm. “Because of me. This is all because of me. So let me fix it.”

  Rook yanked away from him and looked him up and down. “Your desperation has always been dangerous. It’s what started all this mess in the first place. So we’re going to do this Harcourt’s way.”

  “The gentleman’s way,” Ellis sneered.

  Rook’s gaze flickered, but he nodded.

  “You know he’ll still come,” Ellis said. “He’ll threaten your wives and my brother and Juliana because it entertains him to do so.”

  He saw Rook knew that. That he understood the truth even if he wasn’t ready to do what needed to be done about it. He sighed. “Well, we’ll face that if we must.”

  Ellis backed away. “She’s changed you,” he said, softly and with disbelief. It wasn’t meant as an insult. Just an observation that made him long for…

  Well, a great many things he shouldn’t long for.

  “I’m glad she has,” Rook said.

  “So am I,” Ellis admitted. “But you are wrong, even if you refuse to face it.” He let out a long sigh. “Just talk to Juliana. Help her. Because I can’t. I am poison, and I will destroy her if she keeps pushing. I won’t be able to stop myself.”

  He turned and walked away. Returned to the window he had come in and stepped out. He heard Rook say his name, but he ignored it. He moved out into the night. The only place he belonged. He just had to remember it and act accordingly.

  Chapter 13

  Juliana sat on her bed in her father’s house, scribbling in her diary. It wasn’t her usual type of entry, which was heavy with reflections on her life and cheeky descriptions of those she knew. Today she was making a list. Things to do to make Ellis see her worth and accept her help in his grand scheme, whatever that was.

  There was a knock on her door and she answered without glancing up, “Come in.” When the door opened, she said, “Mary, do you think you could lay out my blue silk for tonight? The one with the gold gathering?”

  “It isn’t your maid.”

  She jerked her face up to see Thomasina and Anne standing at the entryway to her chamber. For a moment, she was pleased, because despite the fraught feelings in their current situation, she was always happy to see he
r sisters. Especially now when they were so often parted.

  But the seriousness of their expressions sucked the joy from her chest. Replaced it with anxiety when Thomasina ducked her head and Anne pursed her lips.

  “I did not expect you two,” Juliana said carefully as she closed her journal and slid it beneath her pillow. She got up and smoothed the front of her gown. “To what do I owe this pleasure? And why didn’t you have me come to the parlor where we could have tea?”

  Anne shut the door behind them as they entered. Thomasina flinched at the sound of it closing and said, “We wanted to talk more privately. I do miss our chats at night in our bedchambers.”

  Anne glanced at her. “She is too clever not to see past that lie, love. Rook and Harcourt are downstairs discussing something with Father. I think it’s best they don’t hear what we have to say.”

  Juliana’s heart rate doubled at both the look and the tone. “That doesn’t bode well.”

  “Sit down,” Thomasina said, taking her hand as she led her to the chairs before the fire. Three of them, just as there were in each of their rooms so they could commiserate together.

  Juliana did as she’d been told, buffeted on each side by her sisters, and held her breath as she waited for whatever was going to be said.

  She wasn’t surprised when it was Anne who spoke. “We know about the Donville Masquerade.”

  Suddenly it seemed the room was thrust underwater. Everything sounded tinny as her blood rushed to her ears. Her sisters stared at her, but there was no doubt in their eyes.

  “I-I don’t know what you mean,” she said after what felt like a lifetime. Of course, she knew they would never believe her. They had always been able to root out the lies in each other. “I don’t even know what that is. Donville Masquerade? That sounds like—”

  “Juliana,” Thomasina interrupted gently.

  She cut herself off. There were two choices before her. She could continue to prevaricate and shift and try to get her sisters to change the subject. An unlikely outcome, considering how certain they seemed of the accusation.