His Temporary Mistress

by Bethany Sefchick

  “They stayed and, in time, I truly believe he would have killed them had his heart not taken him first. Mostly because, eventually, I believe that my brothers would have found the strength to fight back as I did.” He shrugged, likely as a way to push back the lingering hurt and anger. Dory could sense those emotions were still there, lurking deep within him, but they did not rule Jeremy as they likely once had. “But even when my father was gone, it was too late. The damage was already done.”

  “How so?”

  Jeremy’s hands were on Dory’s breasts now, kneading them, teasing them. He wanted her. She could tell. And she would give herself to him again. As often as he wished. But this conversation had to be finished first.

  “Everyone, including my mother, blames me for my brothers’ reckless streaks but really? That came from my father. He pushed us and goaded us and even when he was gone? They didn’t know how to stop seeking his approval, even though he could no longer give it.”

  Dory shook her head. “Jeremy, I…”

  He stilled her with a finger to her lips.

  “I knew how to stop seeking it, because I was gone from that house of horrors, but Alfred? He was still determined to prove to my dead father that he was no molly, among so many other accused sins, real or imagined. So he whored his way across the Continent until the pox killed him, leaving him with Maggie, a girl born on the wrong side of the blanket with no one to care for her. Her mother was a whore of indeterminate origins who died giving birth to another child. Possibly Alfred’s but just as likely not, for they were not wed. Or faithful as far as I can tell.” Jeremy blew out a long breath. “Maggie is now my ward and only a few select people, you now included, know of her existence.”

  Dory stroked Jeremy’s face tenderly, her heart filled with emotions she could not name. “She is the reason you were purchasing the duck at Mr. Okey’s the other day.”

  Jeremy nodded. “She was. Maggie means the world to me, my sweet. In fact, I care so damn much for a child that I didn’t even know existed two years ago that I have placed her in the Bloody Duke’s care so that my mother cannot destroy Maggie as she tried to destroy me.”

  “Maggie is with Nick and Eliza?” Dory hadn’t known that, but then, if it was a secret, she supposed she wouldn’t.

  “She is,” Jeremy confirmed. “Maggie is not of my own blood, despite rumors otherwise, but there are days when she feels as if she is mine. Odd for a rake and a rogue, I know, but there you have it.”

  Dory smiled and gave Jeremy a deep, long kiss. “Not so odd,” she offered when she pulled back. “But what of your older brother? He became the duke when your father passed. Couldn’t he see that he was only destroying himself by continuing down that path?”

  This time, Jeremy snorted with disgust. “No. My brother is, or rather was, a mercurial sort, and in many ways, Wilson was worse than Alfred, still taking risk after risk to prove that he was fit to be the Wyncliffe heir. I say he was worse because he knew what he stood to lose if he gambled with his life and lost. I am told that Wilson was in a mood when he agreed to the bet to see if his horse could jump an impossibly high stone wall. As they approached, the horse balked and Wilson was thrown, hitting the wall skull first.”

  “And that is why he is in the country.”

  Jeremy nodded, toying with her breast again. “Wilson didn’t die that day, but perhaps it would have better for everyone if he had. Himself as well. My brother has existed, unconscious, in a state of nothingness ever since. My mother insists he will awaken one day and that is true. He might.”

  “But he will never be the same,” Dory finished for him. “He can’t be. Brains are funny things and damage, once done, cannot be undone.”

  “Your mother.” Jeremy’s voice was soft. “Dory, I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”

  “I have made my peace with the situation. Or at least I am trying to. There is no way to change what has already been done.”

  “You shouldn’t have to make peace.”

  “This helps, though.” She stroked his cheek. “Being here with you.”

  “It shouldn’t.” She watched his throat work for a moment. “I am hardly the sort of gentleman a lady should seek comfort from.” His voice grew soft. “I’m the Devil of Sin. Remember?”

  At that, Dory’s heart broke for this wonderful, incredible, kind, generous man. A man who had suffered and, whether he knew it or not, still loved. Still cared. Even if he wouldn’t admit it. Not even to himself.

  Slowly, carefully, Dory kissed him. It was a kiss of kindness and not passion, and it nearly broke her when he kissed her back in the same fashion. As if he could not comprehend her kindness. Or understand why she thought him worthy.

  “I know what you are and what you are not, Jeremy, and I know you are far more than what the world sees,” she whispered when she pulled away. “For, you see, my father was a monster too. A real one. That is how I know that you are nothing like those men. That you are better.”

  At that, Jeremy’s face became marred by confusion. “I don’t understand, sweet. I thought your father only abused your sister. Sarah. You and Aurelia were spared. Weren’t you?”

  Dory shook her head and sighed. “Aurelia? Yes. Me? No.”

  She laid a finger to his lips when he would have spoken. She needed to tell someone this awful truth and she wanted Jeremy to be the person who heard her tale. She also needed to tell it all at once because if she didn’t finish this now? Upon the first telling? She wasn’t certain she would be able to start again.

  “I was five the first time he spanked me and I likely deserved it.” Dory placed her hand over Jeremy’s heart and felt it beating, strong and steady beneath her hand. “I had probably been tormenting Sarah in some fashion, for she was forever lording over me that she was prettier than me and would likely be a Diamond of the first water upon her come out. Unlike me.”

  Jeremy shook his head. “She pales in comparison to you.”

  Dory once more stroked his cheek. “I was five and a pest. One with something of a temper. He was right to punish me.”

  “Except…” She could see that he was waiting for her to continue. Waiting for her to be ready to tell the story in her own time.

  “Except that even then, I was a hellion and the punishment didn’t make me cry as much as he probably had hoped. I was a defiant child. My father was also likely drunk, because he almost always was. I remember that he became enraged.” For a brief moment, Dory closed her eyes, lost in her memories. “He vowed to me he that would sell Sarah to the oldest, most lecherous reprobate he could find, so long as the man was willing to pay enough coin for her. He then informed me that I would not be too far behind.”

  “Dory, he…”

  Once more, she shushed him. “You see, we were nearly destitute. He was a drunk and a gambler and we were living on the last of our credit. It was only a matter of time until we were tossed out of our house. And he was afraid.”

  “And he took that anger and fear out on you.” Dory could see fresh anger building on Jeremy’s face.

  “He did,” she admitted, “but when I offered to help him, so long as he wouldn’t sell me? That made him pause because even then, I was good at maths. More so than him, even And so he began to teach me.”

  A look of understanding dawned on Jeremy’s face. “Your talent for ledgers and bookkeeping and the like?”

  Dory nodded. “Do not misunderstand me. My father still beat me when he was of a mind, but it wasn’t the same way that he punished and tortured Sarah. For you see, she whined and cried. Even then, she was in love with Rayne and knew that if Papa sold her to an older gentleman before Rayne came of age? She would lose him. With me? There were equal parts punishment and teaching.”

  “He was still a bastard,” Jeremy growled as he stroked her arms as if needed to assure himself that she was here and unharmed.

  “He was,” Dory agreed, “and I wish so very much that he had never laid a finger on my sisters or me. Or Frost. But he did a
nd, despite what Frost and Sarah would have everyone believe? With me? He was only a monster part of the time. The rest of the time? He was just my father, flawed as he was.”

  Jeremy drew her tightly into the circle of his arms. “He should not have hurt you, sweet. You were a child and did not deserve such punishment.”

  “Neither did you,” she countered quietly, nestling against him. “And yet, if my father had not taught me to keep books and do business? I would likely have become just like my sisters. I would never have been a hellion who liked to rebel.” She paused. “And I never would have ended up here. In your arms. Who we were as children made us into the people we are today. Without that? Would we have ever found our way to each other?”

  “Likely not,” Jeremy sighed as he drew her close again so that he could kiss her. And fondle her breast. He did seem to have an affinity for them.

  “I wouldn’t wish to be anywhere else, Jeremy,” Dory breathed as he eased her down onto the divan, pinning her in place with his body once more. “Just here with you. This is exactly where I wish to be.”

  “And I would not wish to be anywhere else either, Dory.” His eyes burned hot and she swore she could see something that looked very much like love in their green depths. “Here. With you. That is where I am meant to be.”

  And then, without waiting and without making her ready, Jeremy slid inside of Dory’s body, claiming her for his own. Except that he had no need to make her ready for him, because she was ready. She was ready to be possessed by this man and this man only.

  She did not want anyone else. Only him. And it broke her heart to think that this might be the last time she felt him thrust inside of her. Making her feel as if she mattered. As if she was important. As if she was loved.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Town Tattler

  (Pre-dawn Supplemental Edition)

  I refuse to believe that the rumors are true. No! I don’t believe them! They are lies planted by God-only-knows-who in order to stir up trouble, and I won’t repeat those same vicious words here.

  And that is all I will have to say upon the matter, dear readers. So do not ask for more. Nothing more will be forthcoming.

  -Lady A

  Angry shouts in the hallway awakened Dory from her sleep. Sleep that she desperately needed.

  She had only returned home a few hours ago, sneaking back inside after Jeremy had seen her safely to the servants’ entrance in the mews behind Chilton House. They had made love until nearly dawn and it was only the fear of discovery that had sent her from his arms even then.

  Dory had wanted to stay with him. Begged really. For they both knew that might be the last night they spent together.

  However, in the end, rational thought prevailed and Dory had reluctantly allowed Jeremy to help her dress enough so that she could sneak back into Chilton House. At which point she had simply dropped into bed fully clothed, her body and mind exhausted.

  Now, though, the voices that had interrupted her sleep were getting louder, and she thought it might be to her benefit to see what all the fuss was about. Especially if it had something to do with her mother.

  However, before Dory could even get out of bed, the door to her chambers burst open and Sarah stormed in, her new sister-in-law Miri trailing a bit more sedately behind her.

  “Is it true? Is any of this true?” Sarah demanded so loudly that Dory thought her head would split open.

  “Is what true?” Dory squinted into the light as the drapes were thrown open and drew the counterpane more tightly around her for protection, however ineffective. “And would you please stop shouting, Sarah? My head aches.”

  “This!” Ignoring Dory completely, Sarah shoved a copy of The London Scandal under her nose with a growl. “Are you Lady Peacock? Are you the woman who has been cavorting like a common whore with the Devil of Sin himself? Because other than The Town Tattler, every other bloody gossip rag in this city is claiming that you are! And they can’t all be wrong!”

  An icy knot of fear formed in Dory’s stomach. How had word spread so fast? How had anyone known? Hewson. That had to be the source of this gossip. But how had he known? Or had he? Maybe he had only guessed, but it had been an educated guess, not to mention a correct one.

  Slowly, Dory met her sister’s eyes and swallowed. It was time to tell the truth and face the consequences of what she had done. She also would not lie about this. Not when a lie might hurt Jeremy, too. He had been hurt by too many people who claimed to care about him. She refused to be among them.

  “They aren’t wrong.” She pushed aside the counterpane to reveal the scandalous peacock-hued dress that she had worn to Dionysus the night before. “I am Lady Peacock. And Lady Raven.” Though it took quite a bit of effort, Dory placed her feet on the floor and stood in front of her sister, defiant now. “And I would do it all over again for the chance to meet Jeremy and fall in love.” She swallowed hard. “He is not the Lord of Sin or the Devil of Sin or whatever nonsense title they are giving him today. His name is Lord Jeremy Dunn and he is as fine of a man as I could ever know.”

  “Good Lord above, Dee, what have you done?” Sarah was near hysterical now, but Dory was having none of it.

  “Hush, Sarah! You are making a scene for no reason!” she chided, her head really beginning to ache now. “Please. Calm down and we can discuss this like adults. There is no need for hysterics.”

  “Discuss this? Discuss? What is there to discuss?” Sarah shot back, her own temper unleashed now. “You are ruined, Dee! As are we all!”

  Behind her, Miri snorted and then laughed. “Somehow I don’t think it’s as bad as all that.” The young woman was leaning heavily on her cane this morning, a clear indication that her leg was most likely bothering her. “This family has survived much, much worse. After all, Sarah, if you will recall, I wanted to pay Will to bed me. And I did. Sort of. Dory being seen in the company of Lord Dunn is hardly any worse. Besides, he is wealthy and will be a duke one day. Those two things combined forgive a great number of sins in our Society.”

  Sarah spun around to glare at her sister-in-law. “He is a title usurper! His brother is alive, well, and recovering.”

  Miri rolled her eyes as if she could not believe her sister-in-law was so foolish. “Sarah, did you or did you not marry my brother? The same man who has, off and on for the last however many years, spied for the Bloody Duke?”

  “What has that got to do with anything? We are talking about Dory and how she has destroyed us all!” Sarah shook the paper for emphasis, though Dory did her best to ignore her sister as she reached for her wrapper.

  If someone else were to come bursting into the room, she would rather them not see her in this dress. It had been meant for Jeremy’s eyes only. And Dory had the feeling that if Sarah and Miri were here? Their husbands could not be too far behind.

  “Rayne was rife with scandal and you know it.” Miri shook her head as if she could not believe how dense Sarah was being. “A summerhouse full of gifts that he bought just for you? Courting so many women that he was known as the Earl of Heartbreak? Generally behaving like a disreputable rake and whoring about London as if he hadn’t a care? I think that qualifies as more than a bit of scandal, don’t you?”

  “It is not the same thing at all,” Sarah sniffed indignantly. She had also finally stopped shrieking. “And we are not talking about me. We are talking about Dee.”

  “Dory,” her sister spat out through gritted teeth. “How many times have I told you that I despise that nickname.”

  “But you didn’t really mean it.” Sarah simply stared at Dory as if she had grown a second head. “Did you?”

  Dory threw up her hands in exasperation. “Of course I did, Sarah! I meant it every single time I said it, but since you and just about everyone else give me no more thought than Mama’s ugly lamp in the breakfast room, you don’t really listen. You don’t really care, either.” She paused and shook her head sadly. “Jeremy did. He does. He sees me and you cannot have any
idea what that means to me.”

  Now Sarah looked truly puzzled and for the first time since she had stormed into Dory’s room, was at a loss for words. Thankfully, Miri was there to assist.

  “Despite how it might seem at the moment, this will pass,” Miri assured Dory. “However, when it will pass is another matter and, as you might imagine, Rayne has some things to say about the issue.” She glanced at Sarah. “Albeit in a much quieter, more rational manner. For what it’s worth, my brother is willing to listen to reason. Will is also here. I know he is not blood family, but we are all linked, and as Frost is not here and your mother is indisposed….” She trailed off and gave Dory a wan smile.

  “Thank you, Miri.” Dory, too, took a moment to glare at Sarah. “Please give me a moment to dress.” She glanced down at the top of the scandalous corset dress she still wore which was peeking up through the top of her wrapper. “I will be down in a moment.”

  “I don’t think…” Sarah began but Miri gently turned the other woman toward the door and led her out, still sputtering about how Dory had ruined the family.

  When they were gone, Dory sank down onto her dressing table chair with a plop. She had expected her time with Jeremy was running out. She hadn’t expected to be exposed as Lady Peacock. She really was ruined. After all, Lady Peacock was infamous and had been the subject of gossip for weeks upon end.

  Her every move inside of Dionysus had been reported upon. Each time she had flirted with Jeremy, it had been noted with breathless anticipation regarding what came next. And if no one was reporting the likelihood that she was no longer an innocent? Well, they soon would be. Especially if the despicable Hewson and Jeremy’s mother had their way.

  Dory was certain they had been the ones to feed this story to the press. Unfortunately, Jeremy had decided to wait to appeal to the Bloody Duke for assistance in the matter. Meaning that, other than the investors in Dionysus, and a few friends, Jeremy was now alone. Well, not alone. He had her. Assuming she was ever allowed to see him again, which was probably unlikely.