Carnal Pleasures Read Online Free Page A

as clearheaded as he might have been. Liquor still burned through his veins. For four bloody years he had tried to win back the needed self-esteem he denied himself during his youthful debauchery. Because he didn’t defend himself at the blasted episode in Spain, he was again in disgrace, penniless, and at odds with his mother’s prissy family who put him out of their minds and forgot him.
    “Madame? I don’t believe we have met. May I be of some help?”
    “Of course you can, young man, otherwise I would not risked such indiscretion or spoken with you without a proper introduction.” She looked up at him through thick lashes while kneading his forearm with caressing fingers, then leaned closer to brush his jacket’s sleeve with her generous bosom.
    She was standing close, and her exotic perfume rolled over him like a wave. Griff almost sneezed on her bare décolletage. He covered his lips quickly with his gloved hand and coughed. “Ahem! Excuse me, my lady, I’ve been troubled lately with a throat itch.”
    “Ah, an itch, eh? Poor, poor boy! Back from the wars, are you? I’m sure there is something I can scratch for you.” Her ladylike smile had turned lewd. “Perhaps, later.”
    Griff was taken aback by the obvious innuendo coming from an older, well-dressed, elaborately-coiffed, and bejeweled woman. Nevertheless, he kept his expression bland, didn’t even arch an eyebrow.
    “I am the Countess of Eberley,” she announced abruptly with a firm whisper. “And I have a proposition for you.”
    Now, he did lift an eyebrow. “Oh? And what could that be, pray tell?”
    “If you’re willing, we can discuss it further.”
    Willing? Hmm? Willing for what?
    “You don’t even know who I am, ma’am…”
    “Give me your arm, and let us stroll. I’ll tell you what I propose.” She hadn’t let go; she still grasped his jacket’s sleeve. “By the way, I know more about you than you think, Lt. Spencer. I knew your father.”
    Dammit. I hoped the scandal was buried deep in the archives of London’s newspapers and forgotten when Father’s suicide was printed in the bloody rags. Did I resemble him so much that she picked me out of the crowd? he wondered.
    When the Countess Eberley explained what she wanted of Griff, at first he refused. When she told him how much she was willing to pay for his time and his help, he hesitated. When she mentioned a few additional bonuses, there was no way he could refuse.
    He agreed to be her cicisbeo —her paid escort—and more .
    It was in that context that the countess had approached him. She smiled contentedly and slipped him her calling card showing her direction. She wanted him at that address within a day. She would spread the word to the ton that he was a forgotten nephew of hers, appearing suddenly on her doorstep from India after serving in the King’s army. Since he was family, it was deemed proper for him to stay in her home.
    The countess told him she had scads of money and could easily make his life more than tolerable. All he had to do was fawn over her like a cow-eyed gallant, be a willing errand boy, and—this was going to be the hard part—hop into her bed whenever she ordered him to fuck her.
     

Chapter Three
    Discussing the matter with Rand the next morning, Griff wondered if he had made up his mind too quickly. “She more or less accosted me at the ball, Rand. After I thought about it, I decided to accept her offer. She’s easy enough on the eyes, you know, even if she has lived almost a decade longer than me. But, what the devil! All pussies fuck alike in the dark, eh?”
    “You’re sure you want to … well … prostitute your, er, ego like that? I told you I’d let you borrow from me until you latched onto a rich debutante.”
    “I have little to sell, old chap, except this face and body. I’m not a dashing hero, although I still wear the uniform. My inheritance is in the damn hands of mortgage holders. My pockets are all but to let.” He laid