A Marriage Most Scandalous (Scandalous Ballroom Encounters Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

illegitimately with a foreign princess. Whatever the case, that accent of hers only added to her appeal.
    “Welcome. I am Madame Petra. What’s your pleasure this evening?”
    Sheridan kept his eyes on the Persian rug beneath his feet while his friends placed their orders. Tristan and John liked to share, redheads their favorites. Madame Petra knew just the girl, and placed them in the care of a maid who would take them to her.
    Bartholomew was greedy, and never shared. In fact, he often overindulged, the reason why the Madame had sent him off with a second maid to a pleasure room where three whores would await his delight. Shooting him a devilish grin, his friend left him standing there in the hall, with only the Madame for company.
    She studied him in silence for a long time before speaking. “You do not wish to be here, do you?”
    Her soft, low tone surprised him. He started, glancing up at her with undoubtedly bloodshot eyes.
    “I beg your pardon?” he slurred.
    She took his hand and lifted it, eyeing his wedding band. “You are a newlywed. Your ring shows no sign of age and you have the dazed look of a disillusioned husband about you.”
    He glowered at the Madame. She proved too perceptive by half, and her nearness set him on edge. The only woman he ever had such a visceral attraction to was Cecily. It must have been the brandy, he decided, and the sensual atmosphere of the brothel.
    “What business is it of yours?” he snapped, snatching his hand away.
    Instead of responding with irritation, she folded her hands before her and kept her cool eyes fixated on him.
    “It is my duty to ensure that the men who patronize this establishment leave happy. What can I do to make you happy, Lord …?”
    “Cranfield,” he supplied. “And I am not disillusioned. I love my wife.”
    She inclined her head and pursed her inviting lips. “I can see that you do. Your friends cajoled you into coming here because they can see you are sexually deprived. You need stimulation that your wife does not provide.”
    His hand shot out to grasp her arm in a bruising grip. She flinched, and if he wasn’t mistaken, shivered a bit in his hold.
    “I will not stand here and talk about my wife with a whore .”
    Despite his insult, she lifted her chin and fixed him with a haughty stare.
    “I go by ‘Madame,’ if you please, my lord, not ‘whore.’ And we do not need to talk. I can see quite clearly what you need. Follow me.”
    She turned and began to walk, with his hand still wrapped around her arm, forcing him to let go as she sashayed toward a darkened corridor.
    “Where are you taking me?” he asked, his voice coming out a bit gruff. He hated that this woman inspired such lust in him when his beautiful wife waited for him at home. He hated the fact that no matter how wrong he knew it was, he wanted so very badly to go wherever she led him.
    She turned and smirked at him, her eyes dancing with amusement. “There is a way you can enjoy yourself here without being unfaithful to your wife. Don’t you wish to know what that is?”
    Curiosity, it had been said, killed the cat. And so, too, was he led toward absolute destruction by his own inquisitiveness.
    Where they went, he soon discovered, was a darkened hallway. The narrow corridor lay shrouded in blackness so thick, he had to hold his hands out and feel his way along. He could hear her breathing and the swish of her skirts as she preceded him.
    “Here we are,” she murmured, her voice no more than a whisper.
    He halted, his every muscle tensing when he brushed against her. The soft swell of her bottom fell against his crotch, the friction causing a primal reaction. He bit back a groan and fought the urge to lift her skirts and bend her over right there in the dark hall. A sliver of light appeared, slicing through the darkness. It shone on Petra’s face when she turned toward him, the dark eyes assessing.
    “If a man cannot touch, he is always free to watch,” she purred.