More than a Mistress by Mary Balogh

Author:Mary Balogh [Balogh, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
ISBN: 978-0-345-52998-5
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2011-04-04T16:00:00+00:00

“I thought perhaps you would wish to stay for dinner,” she said.

“No.”

They were dressed again and back downstairs in the sitting room. But he had not seated himself as she had. He had gone first to stand in front of the fireplace to stare down into the unlit coals. Then he had paced to the window to stare out at the rain.

He filled the sitting room with his presence and energy. Looking at his immaculate elegance, his proud, erect posture, his powerful shoulders and thighs, Jane found it hard to believe that just half an hour ago he had been lying naked with her in the bed upstairs. It was already hard to believe any of it had happened despite the physical evidence of soreness and tender breasts and unsteady legs.

“I have a dinner engagement,” he said. “And there is an infernal ball to be attended tonight. No, I did not come to stay, Jane. Merely to consummate our liaison.”

It was not going to be easy, being his mistress. She had never expected it to be. He was an arrogant man of uncertain temper. He was accustomed to having his own way, especially with women. But it was going to be especially hard to cope with his strange, sudden mood swings.

She would have felt hurt by his words, belittled by them, as she had when he had spoken in a similar manner in bed earlier. But she realized that the words were not spoken carelessly but quite deliberately. She was not sure why. To remind her that she was his mistress, not his lover?

Or to convince himself that she meant nothing to him beyond a female body to be used for his pleasure?

Despite all her ignorance and inexperience, she would swear that the first time he had entered her he had not been using her. She had not been a mere woman’s body. It had not been just carnal pleasure.

He had made love to her. With her.

He was ashamed now of having shown such weakness.

“That is a relief, then,” she said coolly. “There are several rearrangements to some of the other rooms that I hoped to start today, but I have already lost most of the afternoon.”

He looked over his shoulder at her without turning and regarded her steadily.

“You will not be put in your place, Jane, will you?”

“If you mean,” she replied, “that I will not allow you to make me feel like a whore, your grace, the answer is no, I will not. I will be here whenever you need me. It is our agreement. But my life will not revolve around your visits. I will not spend my days gazing wistfully from the window and my evenings listening expectantly for the door knocker.”

She remembered guiltily how she had paced back and forth to the windows all morning. She would not do it again.

“Perhaps, Jane,” he said softly, his eyes narrowing dangerously, “I should send a message in advance whenever I wish to bed you to ask if you can fit me into your busy schedule.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.