He slipped out of the chair and knelt on the floor in front of her. Taking her hands in his own, he realized how cold they were. He rubbed them vigorously as he spoke. “It would please me if you would sit here by the fire and talk to me.”
Her eyes widened even more. A few tears spilled onto her cheeks. “W-why?”
“Why do I want to talk?”
She nodded.
“I need some information about the owners of this establishment.”
“Please tell me what you want from me. I am very well-trained. I can—”
“Truly, I want only to talk.”
She pulled her hands free of his and began sliding her chemise from her shoulders, but he stopped her.
“No, Susanna. Stop.” He pulled the garment back into place.
“I don’t know how to play this game.”
“This is no game. I need information, and you can assist me. When I get the answers I need, I’m going to find a way to help you. You don’t have to be scared anymore.”
She looked so panicked then that he thought she would run. He reached out and cupped her face, forcing her to look him in the eye. “I promise I will not hurt you.”
“She will.”
“Who?”
“Miss Caroline will hurt me if I don’t do as I’m told. She told me you wanted—”
He pressed his finger to her lips, not wanting to know what had been said about him. “I swear I will make no complaints. She will never know.”
“But she will. She will see that you did not mark me.”
He’d never thought of that, never thought that the level of a man’s enjoyment would be measured by the harm he’d done to a woman’s body. It made his stomach churn. “I will make whatever explanation is necessary to see you are not punished, but I will not harm you. I would never force any kind of attention on a woman.”
Susanna started to cry then, gentle tears at first and then wracking sobs. Mark pulled her into his arms and held her tightly.
When she quieted, he scooped her up, set her in the other chair, and covered her with a blanket. “How long have you been working here?”
“A-about a month.”
He poured two glasses of brandy from the decanter on the bedside table and handed her a glass. She took a drink and nearly choked.
“It’s strong. Sip slowly.”
She made another attempt, this time managing to swallow without coughing.
Mark smiled. “Do you know who owns this place?”
She almost dropped her glass but managed to tighten her grip on it before any of the liquid spilled. “I cannot tell you that.”
“You must. I want to help you and the other girls.”
“Most of them want to be here. They like it.”
“But you don’t?”
“Please, I cannot talk about this.”
“I need you to tell me who owns the place.”
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “Everyone is afraid of those men, even Lady Caroline. I have been with several of them, but there’s one man I’ve never seen. He’s called The Cat.”
“Do you know his real name?”
Her eyes widened, and she vigorously shook her head.
“Susanna, please. A friend of mine is in trouble. Her husband is dead and someone is trying to kill her. I believe the men who own this place are responsible.”
“He will kill me. I’m not supposed to know anything.”
“I’ll do everything I can to protect you.” He walked over, knelt by her chair, and brushed the hair from her tear-stained face. “Please.”
“Southwood.”
The word was said so quietly, he barely heard it. He must be mistaken. “Southwood? Lord Southwood?”
“I overheard Lady Caroline talking to Mr. Linton, about him. That was the name they used. That’s all I know. I promise.”
Lord Southwood. Mark would never have guessed. No wonder he accepted Katherine’s behavior. He was obviously even more depraved than she. Had she known this when she accepted his proposal? Surely she had. It must have been the real reason for her choice.
“Do you know the names of the other men?”
“Lord Reddington and a second Mr. Linton. They are brothers.”
As he stood, he leaned over and kissed her on the top of the head.
“Thank you so much, Susanna. You do not know how much this information means. Now I need to ask you another question.”
She nodded again and took a sip of her brandy.
“Did one of those men force you to come here?”
More tears flooded her eyes, and she turned her face towards the back of the chair. Mark wanted to comfort her, to tell her it would be all right. But he couldn’t guarantee her safety, no matter how much he wanted to.
“Susanna, please, I need you to tell me this.”
“It was my fault. I was so foolish.”
“You have been hurt, and that is not your fault. Let me help you.” She shook her head. “You can’t. I’ve ruined my life, and no one can help me now.”
“Tell me what happened.” He spoke sternly, knowing he had to prevent her dissolving into hysterics.
She took a deep breath and turned to face him. “I took a job as a maid in Mr. Oscar Linton’s house. I didn’t like him, but I needed the work, and it was all I could find. He tried to take advantage of me, to kiss me and touch me where he shouldn’t. I refused his advances, but he did not care if I was willing.”
She paused to wipe tears from her eyes. “One night, he came to my room. He’d been drinking. He could hardly stand, but he managed to pull me from my bed and throw me against the wall. He screamed at me, told me he was tired of my refusals. He said I worked for him, and I would do what he said. I was terrified. I hit him with a pitcher and got away.”
Mark wanted to reach out to her, to give her comfort, but he was afraid she would stop talking if he did.
“I took some money from his jacket pocket and ran. I should never have stolen from him, but I did not know what to do. I had nothing of my own, because he had not yet paid me for the work I had done.
“He must have recovered quickly. He and his brother found me not long after. I still don’t know how they tracked me. They told me I could either come work for them, or they would turn me over to the authorities. I agreed to this. They took me home and both of them had me that night.”
“Oh Susanna, I’m so sorry.” He reached for her, but she pushed his hands away.
“There’s nothing you can do. I made a mistake. I’m stuck here now. Maybe it would have been better to hang as a thief.”
“Are there others who were brought here by coercion?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know if any of them have been taken to another house or even out of England?”
“Two girls who came to work after I did disappeared a few nights ago. There are rumors about where they are. Some of us think they’re dead, but they could have been taken away.”
“Were they scared like you or did they like it here?” “They didn’t like it, but they didn’t talk much. They…” She shuddered and did not say anything else.
“They what?”
Abject fear returned to her face. She shook her head violently. “It’s not important.”
Mark decided not to push her further. “I want you to leave with me tonight.”
“Southwood would hunt you down and kill you. I know you want to help, but it would be better if you never came back. I can’t leave now, it’s too late…” Sobs poured out of her again.
Mark gripped her shoulders. “Why?”
She shook her head.
“Please, Susanna, more lives are at stake. What is it you are trying to hide from me?”
She shook her head violently. “I cannot leave with you. Accept that and go.”
If he left her there, she would be abused by her next customer. He could brag about his satisfaction to Miss Caroline, but he could not protect her from other men. However, sh
e was right, if he tried to smuggle her out, someone would come looking for them and be led straight to Cassandra. He needed time to use the knowledge he had gained if he wanted to help Susanna and the others?
“I’m going to go downstairs and tell Lady Caroline that I changed my mind, and I want you for the whole evening. If I tell her you won’t even need time off to heal, because I know how to hurt a woman without leaving any evidence, will that keep you safe from her retaliation?”
She blew her nose on the handkerchief he handed her. “It should, but you don’t have to do that.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Please, you don’t understand. These men would not mind killing you. In fact, they would probably enjoy it.”
He laid his hand on her head. “I can protect myself. I’ll come back upstairs to check on you. Then I’ll slip out the window. I want you to get in bed and get some rest.”
When he got back upstairs, he told her the address of Cassandra’s house and made sure she committed it to memory. He told her that if she had a chance to escape, she would be welcomed there, but he doubted she would come.
As he was opening the window, she wrapped her fingers around his arm. “They don’t give us time to heal. They use us for their own entertainment until we are pretty enough for men to pay for us again.”
Rage clouded Mark’s vision. “I will stop them if I have to wring their necks with my bare hands.” He was damn sorry Reddington couldn’t be resurrected so he could kill him again.
He had intended to return to his rooms after he left, but he needed to feel Cassandra’s warm arms around him and know that she was alive and safe. Susanna’s story had shaken him to the core. How many women had Reddington and his friends treated in such a fashion? He needed the reassurance Cassandra could give him. When he was in her arms, he felt invincible.
Never would he have connected Southwood—a man who had never seemed capable of organizing anything more important than his cravat drawer—with such a sickening operation. At Eton, and later at Oxford, Southwood had come across as vapid and prideful. He’d walked around as if he had a rod stuck up his ass, but he had always struck Mark and his friends as rather prudish. He was annoying to be sure, but never did Mark get a sense of evil around him. Reddington and the Lintons wore their evil like cologne.
Cassandra was still awake, sipping tea by the fire when he arrived. “Why aren’t you in bed?”
“I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking about you and what you were doing.”
Mark tensed. “I told you I would not lie with the women there, and I didn’t.”
She shook her head and smiled. “I didn’t worry about that. I feared someone would realize why you were there and try to kill you.” She held out her arms and he joined her on the settee. “I’m glad you’re here.”
He caressed her back and whispered. “I’m glad I’m here too.”
She’d never seen him look so defeated or so tired. “What happened?”
He told her about Southwood’s involvement first, because it was easier to talk about than the pain Susanna had suffered. When he did tell Susanna’s story, he became so choked he could barely speak. He explained that he forced himself to leave her there and was sick that he’d done it partly to protect himself.
Cassandra held him tightly against her and didn’t say anything for a long time. “Katherine was a fool to leave you. You are the most compassionate man I’ve ever met.”
His arms tightened around her waist. “I still want to strangle her every time I see her.”
“She deserves far worse than that.”
He pulled away and looked into her eyes. “I thought I loved her. Can you believe that? I thought I loved a woman who now makes my skin crawl.”
“Even as a girl she excelled at manipulation. A man would have to be a saint to resist her physical charms.”
“She deceived me so well. That’s what I can’t get over. At first I thought I would be miserable without her. Then I realized I had been in love with a woman who does not exist. The real Katherine is nothing but a bitch.”
He stood and walked across the room. He braced himself against a table and looked at the floor. Cassandra wished she knew what to say. What could she do to heal him? If she got the chance, she would strangle Katherine herself.
“I tried everything to rid myself of her influence. But memories plagued me, the feel of her skin caressing mine, the cold look in her eyes when she refused my proposal. Nothing worked until…”
Cassandra’s heart beat frantically. “Until what?”
He shook his head, still not looking at her. “Nothing. I’m sorry.”
“Mark, I said I would listen whenever you were ready to talk about her. I meant it.”
He pushed away from the table and walked toward one of the tall windows. “She ruined my hopes of ever marrying. I can no longer trust anyone.”
Cassandra came up behind him and tugged on his arm until he turned to face her. “Do you trust me?”
The depth of emotion in his eyes made her want to back away. But she stood her ground, knowing he needed to think this through.
He held her gaze for several seconds and then turned away again. “I’m afraid to, more afraid than I’ve ever been of anything.”
She traced the firm muscles of his shoulders, visible even through his jacket. “I won our wager yesterday. I am ready to fulfill my fantasy, but for me to do that, you will have to trust me.”
That got his attention. He whirled around to face her again. “What do you want?”
“I want to see if you enjoy surrendering as much as I did.”
In a matter of seconds wonder, desire, and ecstasy crossed his face. “Let’s go upstairs.”
Her heart pounded. Could she really do this? “Mark, I—”
“Don’t you dare back out on me. You knew what you wanted last night, didn’t you?”
“I did. I’ve thought about it since you… actually since the party. I mean, I’ve wondered if you would enjoy such a thing.”
“Yes, I would enjoy it.” The smile he gave her was enough to banish her concerns.
When they entered her room, she took a deep breath, gathering her courage. “Take off your clothes.”
He complied without hesitation. She watched, giving herself permission to do nothing but enjoy the beauty of his form. His jacket hit the floor, followed by his cravat and his waistcoat. When he lifted his shirt over his head, her breath caught. Would she ever stop feeling lightheaded at the sight of his wonderful body?
He caught her eye and smiled as he stood bare-chested before her.
“Wait,” she said when his hands went to his breeches.
His hands dropped to his sides, and he watched her intently.
“Sit down on the bed.”
He did as he was asked. She knelt before him and removed his boots. When she looked up at him, heat rose in her cheeks. “You know how you enjoy kissing me down there?”
“Down there?”
“Between my legs,” she said.
“Yes, indeed I do.”
“I was wondering if you would like that too.” His eyes widened, and she held her breath.
“Cassandra, I would like that so much I think you’d better tie me up first. I won’t be able to let you lead otherwise.”
Her cheeks heated even more, but she smiled, glad she’d been bold enough to ask. “Take off your pants and lie down.”
She opened her wardrobe and took out the ties he had made from her chemise. After he'd left the night before, she'd removed them from the bedposts and saved them, hoping they would be able to use them again.
She glanced at the bed and realized Mark was watching her, following every move she made. Pure animal lust showed in his eyes. Could she possibly hope to restrain such power, to have control over his body or his heart? No, she wouldn't think about his heart. This relationship would not outlast their bargain. She simply had to make the best of the time she had.
The more she watched hi
m watching her, the hotter her body grew. She was more than ready to couple with him and part of her wanted to climb right on top of him and sink down onto his hard shaft. But she would not let her impatience spoil her fantasy. She wanted to see how he would react to being restrained even more than she wanted immediate release.
“Stretch your arms over your head.” He did as she asked, and she tied the wrist closest to her. “Is that too tight?”
He pulled against it and it held, though she suspected he could free himself if he wanted to.
She tied his other wrist and let one of her hands trace the line of his side. When she reached his hips, she lingered, making circles with her fingers, closer and closer to the part of him that reached for her.
Mark sucked in his breath, and she stopped. She brushed her hands down his legs. Then she grasped one ankle and wrapped the fabric around it. She flicked her tongue across the pulse near the circular bone of his foot. He gasped and strained against his bonds.
She laughed. “It’s not easy to keep still, is it?”
“Cassandra, you'd better tie my other leg, now.”
She took his other ankle and pulled against his leg, encouraging him to stretch it out for her.
When she had him completely restrained, she stepped back and looked down at him. “Tell me how it feels.”
“Cassandra,” his voice was husky.
“You love it, don’t you? Knowing I can do anything to you.”
***
Mark’s hands gripped the slats in the headboard, and he pulled so hard he thought the bed might break. Cassandra was making him crazy. Seeing her revel in her sexual power was enough to bring him to the edge before she'd ever touched his cock. He didn't know how he would bear the touch of her mouth.
Moving to stand by his head, Cassandra brushed something across his skin. He guessed it was the remnant of her chemise before he saw it. She covered her hand with it and stroked him, drifting across his chest and stopping to tease a nipple.
Everywhere she touched him, his skin burned. All his nerve endings tingled with need for her.
A Carnal Agreement (Regency Intrigue Book 1) Page 17