Mistress - Amanda Quick [0]
EXPLOSIVE PASSION
Marcus took a single step closer. His face was ruthless in the shadowy lamplight. “It was your choice to go about London disguised as my paramour, was it not?”
Iphiginia took a wary step back. “Well, yes, initially, I suppose one could say it was my idea. However—”
“Let me make something plain to you. If you expect me to allow you to continue playing this part, you will follow my advice to the letter.”
She lifted her chin. “Sir, I shall play this part as I see fit.”
“No, madam, you will not.” Marcus reached out and grasped the statue behind her, effectively caging her between his arms. “I am the authority on this role. I created the role. Therefore I shall direct you in it.”
He brought his mouth down on hers, pinning her against the stone.
She heard him groan. It was a rough, dark sound that came from deep in his chest. He leaned closer, his body as hard as the statue’s but infinitely warmer.
She was supposed to be acting out a role, Iphiginia reminded herself But everything suddenly felt very real….
Bantam Books by Amanda Quick
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AFFAIR
DANGEROUS
DECEPTION
DESIRE
MISCHIEF
MYSTIQUE
RAVISHED
RECKLESS
RENDEZVOUS
SCANDAL
SEDUCTION
SURRENDER
WITH THIS RING
I THEE WED
WICKED WIDOW
SLIGHTLY SHADY
And coming in summer 2002
DON’T LOOK BACK
TO ALBERTA CASTLE,
MOTHER AND FRIEND,
WITH LOVE FROM A GRATEFUL
DAUGHTER
PROLOGUE
YOUR LATEST MISTRESS IS CREATING A SENSATION BACK IN London, Masters. Society finds her vastly entertaining.” Charles Trescott, seated before the fireplace, downed a swallow of brandy and eyed his host with a sly expression. “As you’ve taken a notion to rusticate here in the country at the height of the Season for some odd reason, I thought you’d better know what’s going on back in Town.”
“Very thoughtful of you to go out of your way to give me the latest gossip.”
“Least I could do, especially since it’s your name that is on everyone’s lips at the moment. I know how that sort of thing annoys you.” Trescott, bored and dissolute at thirty, paused with a barely concealed air of anticipation.
“You are mistaken, Trescott. I do not give a bloody damn what the ton chooses to gossip about over tea.”
Trescott was disappointed but undaunted. In the manner of a willful child intent on provoking a lion in a cage, he made another stab at eliciting a reaction. “Must admit, I’m as curious as everyone else to know why you’re letting her get away with her outrageous conduct. Whole world knows that you always insist on discretion from your paramours. Thought that requirement was one of your infamous rules.”
Marcus Valerius Cloud, Earl of Masters, turned the crystal brandy glass slowly between his large, callused hands. He studied the reflected glow of the flames imprisoned within the heavily cut glass.
Several months ago he had grown interested in the curious properties of light and glass. He had undertaken extensive experiments with prisms and mirrors.
Those studies had led him to his current passion for telescopes. Astronomy had proven so fascinating that he had left London at the height of the Season this year in order to pursue his experiments at one of his more remote estates. The night skies here in Yorkshire were pristine and clear, unlike the smoke-filled air of the city which impeded the view through his new telescope.
It had always been thus for him. Ever since he had been a lad growing up on his family’s farm in Yorkshire, he had been endlessly enthralled with matters of a mechanical, technical, or scientific nature.
From carriage springs to clocks, from music boxes to the stars, he had a passion for discovery, invention, and a need to comprehend the rules and laws that dictated the way things worked.
Marcus liked rules, especially his own. He had a personal set which he had formulated several years ago and from which he never deviated. They were simple and straightforward:
Never remarry.
Never discuss the past.
Never explain his actions to others.
Never retreat from an objective