Энни Бэрроуз – His Wicked Christmas Wager (страница 3)
No wonder he was thinking up ways he could make her pay.
“If you really want me to come to Hatton Hall,” he said, “and play at being a functioning part of one big, happy family, then you are going to have to make it worth my while.”
Something shrivelled up and died inside her. Something she had not even known still existed, until this moment. The belief that he was different. That he was not like other men. To be specific, like her husband.
“Am I, indeed?” Years of practice meant her voice showed no trace of her disappointment. She might have been discussing the weather, her tone was so bland.
“Oh, yes. If you want to change my mind, what you ought to do is offer me something that interests me.”
“Like what?” Though she knew. And the very thought of it chilled her. What men liked best was dominating and humiliating a woman to compensate for what they considered the weakness of desiring them in the first place.
“A wager,” he said.
A wager? That was not what she had expected him to say at all.
“You say I have become a notorious gambler, so what other way did you expect to impress me, but by offering a wager that would interest me? Something…a bit different. Something that will provide me with adequate compensation for giving up a large portion of my time in order to please our respective siblings. And something to compensate me for spoiling my plans for this evening, too.” His eyes flickered across the room to where Molly was draping herself over another potential customer.
She hadn’t brought enough money. She’d thought it sensible to bring only a very little with her, so that if she was robbed, at least she would not lose much.
“I…I have little to stake,” she confessed.
He shook his head, his mouth slowly widening into a cruel smile.
“I have already told you I don’t want your money,” he reminded her. “What I want you to stake is just one hour of your time. Upstairs, in the room I would have used with Molly.” He lowered his voice and leaned forward. “And just to be sure we understand each other, I would like to remind you of the fact that you never let me see any part of you unclothed. So now you will have to agree to stand before me completely naked.”
“Wh—what?”
“You heard.” He leaned back, and repeated, in a louder voice, “Your stake is to be one hour,” he lifted his index finger, “upstairs,” he lifted his middle finger, “in the room I would have shared with Molly,” he lifted his ring finger, “with every single inch of you on show.” And if that didn’t make her run for the hills, he didn’t know what would.
The word “naked” in conjunction with the word “wager” not only shocked her, but provoked a ripple of interest throughout the men already intrigued by her appearance in their midst. She could feel them turning toward their corner of the room, jostling one another as they moved closer, forming a natural ring—just like the men who’d clustered round the arena in which Arbuthnot had been reduced to human mincemeat.
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.