Nothing had prepared Lady Katharine Montgomery for the jumble of feelings overwhelming her when Alex worshipped her body, first with words and later with his hands and mouth. For years around this house, she’d been forced to appear dowdy, unintelligent, and totally self-effacing to never anger her father, or draw his wrath. Now, though, every degrading restriction was lifted from her mind, body, and life.
Her father was dead. Yesterday, she’d buried her hatred for the despicable man who’d given her life during the quarter hour it took to stand at his grave and, along with all the other hypocrites present, pretend to mourn as they buried his mortal remains. He’d cheated traders, beaten plantation workers, and horse-whipped her within an inch of her life. She and all the other mourners hoped he’d rot in hell.
Last night, she’d felt free to liberate the passionate nature she’d kept buried for six and twenty years for fear of her father’s explosive wrath. But one night with Lord Alexander St. John had changed everything. One night with a lover who was gentle and caring had her aching for more, more of Alex and more of life with him.
“Be warned, my lord,” the woman said. “I shall return. Tomorrow. Early. Very early. And if you refuse to speak with me, I’ll haunt your house until you are prepared to listen to me.”
Justin Tremayne, Viscount Hawkesbury, felt the air suck out of the room. Movements ceased, breaths held, no one spoke. Every person in the room, including the courtesans, was aware of the reason he’d spent four years debasing himself before the wealthiest members of the ton.
The reason he forced himself to get out of bed each day, to place one foot in front of the other and go through the rituals, the pretense of living a normal life. Why he arranged wild bedroom antics for women and men that he barely knew and certainly didn’t like or respect. His guilt festered like an open wound and the pain never lessened. His obsession was to locate his mother and two sisters, to bring them home, and try to make amends for his absence at the time his deranged father had evicted them.
Unable to reply, he shook his head, robbed of coherent thought, unable to believe her declaration. Unable to convince himself it wasn’t another misery-causing lie. Unable to gather the energy to conclude his night’s business. Nothing mattered above the bait she dangled before his nose, the thing he yearned for more than any other—to bring his family back to him. This tiny despot had forced him into negotiating with her.
“Bart, Thomas. I ask you to leave me to my visitor. Then I’m off to find my bed.”
Disgust suddenly flooded Viscount Hawkesbury’s body and the heart Justin had assumed was frozen in his chest clenched, hard. Despite being forced into unseemly money-making ventures, the three of them had vowed to remain, at heart at least, gentlemen. They all needed to take their places in society, which was why Justin never usually entertained this sort of female at his house. Too many watching neighbors and too many wagging tongues in this respectable neighborhood.
Had he now passed the point of no return? Had the indecent acts he’d committed, all to either survive or earn his some of the ready, tainted his thinking to this extent? It terrified him that his morals were as lost as those idiots who assumed a title and riches gave a man leeway to be rude, arrogant, and even to inflict pain on those they considered inferior. He’d picked out this woman and had intended using her as an example, encouraging her to pass along his message to the long line of societal whores who would continue to plague him. He wanted to stand in the street and scream and yell, “The Virile Viscount is finished!”
Behavior such as his here showed the arrogance he’d always deplored. Rude attacks on a woman were despicable, and it was especially ill-bred of him to tease and taunt what he now suspected was a well-bred lady. But he’d underestimated the woman’s pluck, or perhaps her determination to make herself heard.
“Be warned, my lord, I shall return. Tomorrow. Early. Very early. And if you refuse to speak with me, I’ll haunt your house until you are prepared to listen to me.” Her ferocious expression made him burst out laughing again.
Bart wiggled his eyebrows in a suggestive manner and held out his hand to encourage the woman to take a seat on the thigh of the woman he still held.
“I like her, Justin. Can I have her?”
“Feel free, Bart. If you dare! Though I suspect Thomas is correct. I’ve come to the unwilling, and unfortunate, conclusion that she’s not here to audition for the Harem.”
“Certainly not.” Her tone was icy. “I’m offering you an exchange. Your skill in tutoring my friends in return for information.”
“Regrettably, my services are no longer for hire.”
She inhaled so sharply he swore her ribs vibrated. Then she made her announcement.
“If I leave this room, I’ll take with me what may be your last chance to see your mother. Alive, at any rate.”
Have you read Suzi Love’s Books? Romance, Mystery, Military and History. Regency, historical and contemporary romance. Plus non-fiction history and writing.
The Viscount’s Pleasure House Book 1 Irresistible Aristocrats Disenchanted Viscount tutoring three Regency Ladies. What could go wrong? #Regency Erotic https://books2read.com/suziloveTVPH
Four Times A Virgin Book 2 Irresistible Aristocrats: The countess will do anything to prevent her younger sisters being forced into sordid marriages like hers, even if it means joining forces with the Duke of Stirkton and revealing the horrors of their intertwined pasts. books2read.com/suziloveFTAV
Pleasure House Ball Book 3 Irresistible Aristocrats: Lord Mallory attends his first courtesan’s ball in ten years to appease his concerned friends, though he’d rather stay home and read to his motherless daughters. Though mortified that Brenton unmasks her at a scandalous ball, Lady Lillian Armstrong doesn’t regret their night together. books2read.com/suzilovePHB
Petunia and the Pearl Diver Book 4 Irresistible Aristocrats Series: The pearl diver needs a working girl to rouse his body. Petunia needs money to save her family. A night at a London brothel could be the solution to both problems. But walking away is impossible when one night leaves them craving more…and more. https://books2read.com/suzilovePetPD
Loving Lady Katharine Book 5 Irresistible Atistocrats: When Lady Katharine Montgomery flees London after her scandalous husband was murdered, the Pacific islands of the New Hebrides (Vanuatu) become her haven. Her life changes when Lord Alexander St. John, British ship’s captain and trader, sails into Port Vila. https://books2read.com/suzi
Embracing Scandal Book 1 Scandalous Siblings: Lady Rebecca Jamison saves her family from financial ruin by investing in railways, but when a greedy syndicate murders her friend, Becca is forced to beg assistance from Cayle St. Martin, the new Duke of Sherwyn. https://books2read.com/suziloveES
Scenting Scandal Book 2 Scandalous Siblings Series: Richard, Earl of Winchester, may not know it yet, but he’s Lady Laura Jamison’s perfect match. Lady Laura Jamison believes her extraordinary olfactory senses will sniff out her perfect match, but will Richard prove her theory wrong? https://books2read.com/suziloveSS
December Scandal Book 3 Scandalous Siblings: The Jamison family joins the Duke of Sherwyn and the St. Martin clan at the duke’s country estate, but guest numbers double when early December snowfalls make roads impassable. #HistoricalRomance https://books2read.com/suziloveDS
Love After Waterloo: When Lady Melton and son join antagonistic Captain Belling and the last group of wounded British soldiers evacuating Waterloo, she anticipates hardship and trouble with deserters. Not her relationship with a belligerent Captain. #RegencyRomance #military books2read.com/suziloveLAW
Self Publishing: Absolute Beginner’s Guide. Information, contacts, and checklists steer you towards professionally produced books. Helps both fiction and non-fiction authors and available in digital and paperback. Co-Authored by two Australians: multi-published Imogene Nix and best-selling and award winning Suzi Love. http://books2read.com/selfpublishing
History Notes Books 1-28: Do you need more factual and visual information for your historical fiction? Non-fiction Series: Fashion, music and social manners in the 18th and 19th centuries books2read.com/suziloveFashWomen1700s
”Remove that hideous gown!” Justin Tremayne, known in amusement- seeking society as Handsome Hawkesbury or the Virile Viscount, struggled to hide his rising frustration. “I need to examine your body. All of it.”
Thomas, red-faced, lurched to his feet. “I say, Justin, she seems like a lady.”
“Thomas, you should know by now, on the outside they’re all ladies. However, underneath they all seek the same thing.”
The woman flinched. Justin yawned, not bothering to cover his mouth, and then collapsed back into his armchair. Leaning his head back on the headrest, he laughed. “My love, if you’ve better to show me than them, do as I’ve asked. Undress!”
She muttered something that sounded like, “Rude swine.” He laughed and indicated the empty space on the chaise longue beside Bart. “If you’re suffering personal timidity, at least take a seat and watch. Give the girls your opinion on what tricks attract gentlemen the fastest. What do you do to entice a man?” Her hands fisted at her sides but she stood her ground.
“I realize you’re amusing yourself at my expense, but I give you fair warning, my lord. If you continue with these childish taunts and force me to leave without letting me speak to you, in private, you’ll regret it later.”
He pointed to the door. “And I’m also issuing a warning. Join in or leave. Perkins will show you out. I’ve run out of patience with the so- called weaker sex and the schemes and lies that women seem to delight in bringing to my door.”
Brenton, Lord Mallery, sniffed again. Shook his head in denial. Ridiculous to imagine Lillian, his Lillian, was the wearer of that country orchard scent. Or to picture her here, at a pleasure house ball. Bloody hell, perhaps his family’s worst fears had become a reality and he’d morphed from a recluse into a madman.
His cousin, Michael, stared at him and snorted. ‘What on earth are you doing?’
Brent shook his head again. ‘Must be imagining things. I know only one person who wears that perfume and she mixes it herself, her own blend of citrus fruits. That woman is a lady and a duke’s daughter and certainly wouldn’t be attending a courtesan’s ball.’
Leaning in, Lord Mallory whispered in Lady Lillian’s ear. “Well, well. I certainly didn’t expect to find you in attendance at a scandalous ball.”
1820 Blackstone House, Twenty miles south of London. Brenton, Earl Mallory, secreted himself behind a life-sized statue of a naked man. Hiding from the two hundred guests spilling through the rooms Lord Browning had opened for the Pleasure House Ball. Clearly he’d suffered a moment of insanity when he’d yielded to his friend’s pleas to accompany him to this ball. ‘For God’s sake, Michael, why are we wasting our time here? I’ve no intention of engaging a mistress and….’
Brent shook his head. ‘Must be imagining things. I know only one person who wears that perfume and she mixes it herself. That woman is a lady and a duke’s daughter and certainly wouldn’t be attending a courtesan’s ball.’
‘Good God! You don’t mean−’
Pleasure House ball Book 3 Irresistible Aristocrats books2read.com/suzilovePHB. Lord Mallory, attends his first courtesan’s ball in ten years to appease his concerned friends, though he’d rather stay home and read to his motherless daughters.
The Viscount’s Pleasure House. Irresistible Aristocrats Book 1 By Suzi Love. Three naive country ladies coerce their way into London’s most infamous brothel and the last Sultan’s gala. Disenchanted Viscount tutoring three Regency Ladies. What could go wrong?
The Viscount’s Pleasure House allows Justin, the most notorious Viscount in London, to fund his search for his missing mother and sisters. But after three years catering to the sordid whims of the perpetually bored Upper Ten Thousand in early Victorian times, the Virile Viscount announces his retirement.
Justin plans to sell his exotically themed brothel and cease all Arabian Nights held on his estate, a desperate attempt to cleanse his blackened soul and perhaps revive his deadened sexual interest. So when Lady Chrissie Wellsby begs Justin to tutor her two friends in the amorous arts in exchange for information about his family, Justin is torn. For though he’ll do anything to discover the whereabouts of his family, including teaching three naive ladies how to act like well-schooled courtesans, he loathes being forced into this last performance as a sex God served by his harem.
Having Chrissie willingly act as his sex slave stirs the world-weary viscount into the wildest performance ever given at the Sultan’s tent, but does little to convince Chrissie that he has fallen head over heels in love with her and put his rakish ways behind him. Justin enjoys a wonderful reunion with his family but feels cheated of his chance at love until Chrissie’s friends encourage her to trust the newly reformed viscount.
Chrissie organizes one final gala at the Pleasure House, an erotic night of lovemaking for two to prove her love for Justin and show him she longs to be his wife. https://books2read.com/suziloveTVPH The Viscount’s Pleasure House. Irresistible Aristocrats Book 1 By Suzi Love.
Want a HOT historical romance for the holidays? Disenchanted Viscount tutoring three naive ladies in seduction. What could go wrong? #christmas #holidays #RegencyRomance #EroticRomance #HistoricalMystery https://books2read.com/suziloveTVPH
I love Pinterest for keeping thousands of historical images in some sort of order.And I love using Pinterest Boards as inspiration for my romance books.What about you? Do you use Pinterest for planning something, or just for fun?Need more hints for what to do with your boards and pins? Take a look at these fascinating articles on Pinterest. if you want even more Pinterest information and tips for becoming a power user, check out my Suzi Love Pinterest Boards
