Page 22 of The Devil’s Submission
“No need to apologize,” Eliza said quickly. “I am the one who is sorry. I had no idea what you did. How you saved his life, gave him a home after Lord Reyburn…my God, that man better hope he never meets me in the street.”
“The marquess is a bastard of the highest order. Dev loses nothing being estranged from him, and we’ll jostle for grave-spitting position when the man finally does everyone a favor and cocks up his toes.”
“What about Grayson’s mother and brother?”
“His mother doesn’t have a maternal bone in her body. I believe the two boys were mostly raised by governesses and tutors. But his brother, well that is a damned shame. Lord Upton is a decent fellow by all accounts.”
Eliza nodded. “And you are a very decent woman. I treated you shamefully, especially at the chapel. Jealousy is a terrible thing, especially knowing you and Grayson…”
“Me and Grayson, what exactly?”
“You know,” she mumbled uncomfortably, wanting to discuss her husband’s previous liaisons like she wanted to be crushed by a runaway cart. “The two of you…together.”
Charlotte burst out laughing. “Together? As in Dev and I in bed? Good God, no. Not ever. That would be like fucking a brother…ugh, I’ll need plenty of brandy to wash away that thought.”
“But…but you, ah, lived with each other for years,” said Eliza, disbelief warring with desperate joy. Grayson and Charlotte weren’t lovers and never had been?
“We did. No offense, Lady Eliza, but he just isn’t my preference. I like very tall, very broad men with a rougher edge. Dev is too aristocratic. Too bookish. Unfortunately, finding a large, strapping submissive man is about as easy as finding an honest politician. So I spend my evenings wielding crops and whips downstairs instead. Which is where I should be right now.”
An idea sprang into her head, one so outrageous, she almost tumbled over. “Do you…do you think I could watch?”
Charlotte tilted her head and gave her a thoughtful look. “To enjoy, or something else? I hear you administer a perfect slap.”
Her cheeks burned. “I know Grayson has certain, ah, needs. I want to see how it is done. Then I’ll know if maybe I could do it for him, or not ever.”
“You’re serious, then? Lady or no, I will never consent to assisting you if your damned sensibilities are going to take over again and you hurt him by pulling right back. Because this time would be so much worse, when Dev has seen what happiness could be like.”
Eliza let out a slow breath. It was time to lay all her cards out on the table, and that meant her past regrets as well. Everyone, including herself, deserved the truth even if it was uncomfortable. “I was such a fool. Pulling back hurt me as well as him. I’m not delicate and ladylike, I’m bold and bossy. I love instructing him. I love being in control, and I’m so blasted tired of hiding it.”
Charlotte grinned. “Very well. Come with me.”
After fetching her mask, Eliza followed Charlotte downstairs and through a discreet back door into the club proper. Soon they were walking around a familiar corner, and her steps faltered slightly as she looked at the same room Grayson had been in with all the couples. Fortunately, Charlotte kept walking and pushed open the door to the room next to it. This one was a little smaller and had a wide padded bench, a tray of whips, crops and toys, and a curtained off square in the far right corner. “Can I sit in there?”
“Make yourself comfortable,” said Charlotte with a wave. “My first gentleman friend will be here very shortly.”
Eliza barely had time to sit down and pull the curtain mostly closed, when a naked man appeared in the doorway, his head bowed. He wore a numbered mask, his brown hair touched with silver, as were the curls dusting his chest. An older gentleman but with the strong thighs and thick wrists of an expert rider, a short but very thick cock dangling between his legs.
“Charlotte, ma’am, may I enter your domain?”
“You may,” said Charlotte crisply, and Eliza could only watch in amazement as the woman discarded her robe to reveal a very seductive Amazonian warrior costume: black leather corset, shoulder plates, gold forearm cuffs, and flat sandals with straps that wound around her legs from ankle to knee. She looked magnificent, so confident and powerful. “Are you well, pet?”
“I am indeed. And honored that you agreed to see me.”
“Good,” purred Charlotte, briefly cupping the man’s cheek as he stood in the center of the room. “Before we begin, I must tell you I have a colleague who wants to watch and learn. Do you consent or wish her to leave? In this instance, neither decision is wrong.”
He smiled shyly. “If it pleases you, I consent for the lady to stay.”
“All right. Come out, milady. A better view here.”
Eyes wide, and very grateful for the mask she wore, Eliza slipped out from behind the curtain. “Thank you both.”
Charlotte nodded and turned to the man. “Why are you here?”
“To see you.”
“No,” said Charlotte, picking up a riding crop and slapping it against her thigh. “Tell me why you are really here, pet. Only then can I give you what you crave.”
The gentleman quivered, then clasped his hands. “I’m so tired. Every day I give orders. Every day I must be…another. My wife, my children, my brothers and sisters, my mother…every day, they all want, so I must be that man. And I’m so damned tired.”
