The Thorndykes 1: Dispossessed Read Online Free Page B

in one room she’d entered. He’d asked her to join them, and she’d beaten a hasty retreat. So that disclaimer meant something. And she sensed other Talents, minds grazing hers, then moving on, satisfied she wasn’t a threat. She’d only come across that kind of community when she visited Houston.
    She wanted to see Jay’s art, to see him again, to change her life. A threefold mantra that had plagued her until she’d given in. She could have said no to Missy if she’d really wanted to. Jay had stirred her, induced a sense of recklessness she couldn’t deny. She’d thought maybe this Regency orgy might be the answer, but no. She didn’t like it after all. The sights and sounds of this place instilled curiosity. It didn’t turn her on. At least, not until she’d seen him crossing the room in powerful strides with her in his sights.
    She shifted, preparing to get to her feet. “I should go,” she said. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have come—”
    “I warned you what happened at my parties,” he said, silky tones barely masking hidden threat.
    “Yes.” She shrugged. “My mistake.”
    His lips twitched in what was either a smile or a grimace. She couldn’t tell which in the dim light.
    She fidgeted. How did people wear these dresses for more than an hour at a time? The bones of the bodice dug painfully in to her breasts.
    A scream shattered her calm as the man taking his third or fourth dick of the evening shivered in agony or ecstasy. She scarcely suppressed her start of shock, but although she was almost sure she hadn’t revealed her alarm, the corner of his mouth flicked up. He knew.
    “I don’t belong here,” she said.
    The smile turned into a full-blown one. Lucille caught her breath. The expression transformed him from a stern, scary aristocrat into a man. Confident, but not one-dimensional. The Jay she’d met earlier today.
    She shifted, unable to stop the dress poking her. She must have put on weight since she wore it last. Her breasts bulged uncomfortably over the top of the garment, unlike most of the women here. Their gowns cinched in below their bosoms, pushed up their breasts to spill or swell in a tempting display. Not everyone had corsets on. Not everyone wore anything on their upper half, but their clothes were obviously expensive, made to fit. Now she felt stupid. Out of place.
    “You don’t like it here,” he said abruptly. “What is it?”
    Dropping her gaze to the toes of his glossy dancing pumps, she knew it was futile for her to deny it, pointless too. “I’m okay.”
    A pause before he spoke again, one that stretched an agonizingly long time. “I see.”
    She licked her lips. She couldn’t say more, despite the strange feeling of safety he gave her. An illusion. Always an illusion. Keep safe and quiet.
    Closing her eyes tightly, she forced her attention to remain on his shoes. No looking up though now she wanted the recognition in his eyes.
    “Were you curious, mignonne ?”
    The caress in his words shivered through her mind. “I wondered.” She took a sharp breath. “I was wrong. These things interest me, but they don’t…”
    “Turn you on?” The intimacy in his tone told her far more than mere words. “Time you spread your wings, perhaps?” He wasn’t sitting close to her, but she didn’t need to look at him to know how his countenance would warm. Nevertheless, she looked. So much more than warmth waited for her there. Desire. Nothing else would do to describe the stark, open expression on his face. He knew, and she didn’t. They were unequal in experience, probably in temperament and in sexual needs, if this party was anything to go by.
    She spoke to him in the way of their kind.
    “I’ve lived here all my life, and I enjoy it. I don’t want to change until I have to. Momma always called it the back end of Texas, but it’s my home. And there’s nobody around these parts like us.”
    “Don’t talk to me this way. One other is here. Someone I didn’t