Antonia's Bargain (9 page)

of the fire. Peter lay beside him. They had both removed their coats, waistcoats and

cravats.

“Is your father pressing you to marry again?”

59

Kate Pearce

Gideon toasted him with his glass. “Is it that obvious? He wants grandchildren and

I am supposed to provide them for him within the year.”

“After Caroline, I can understand why you are reluctant.”

Gideon held his gaze. “It’s not just Caroline. Most women simply don’t arouse me.

It’s not their fault, it’s just that I dislike the idea of being smothered in petticoats and

perfume and womanly sulks. I dislike being held hostage to their moods and their

mamas and their childish innocence.”

“It’s hardly their fault, Gideon. Women are not encouraged to use their brains, are

they? They are told men prefer them to be mawkishly pretty and completely innocent.”

“And that’s exactly what most men seem to want.”

“Not all men. Valentin encourages his wife to pursue both her musical career and

her mathematical studies.”

“Valentin is an exception and you know it.” Gideon sighed as Peter smoothed his

hand over his thigh. “I know I am being unfair. Most women are as chained to their

destiny as I am.” He bent his knee, allowed Peter to move his fingers farther inward.

“The interesting thing is, I think I have found what I want.”

Peter cupped Gideon’s balls. “A man or a woman?”

Gideon reached across to slide his fingers beneath the open neck of Peter’s shirt. He

tugged gently on his nipple ring. “A woman who only chooses to acknowledge me

when she is dressed as a man. Take off your shirt.”

“I can’t say I’m surprised. A woman masquerading as a man would suit you

perfectly.”

Gideon raised an eyebrow as Peter continued. “I know you’ve chosen to bed mostly

men in the last few years, but I’ve never believed your heart was in it.”

“You haven’t?”

“Just because you’ve tried to convince yourself that you prefer men, doesn’t mean

that it is the truth.”

60

Antonia’s Bargain

“And how would you know this?”

Peter locked gazes with him as he removed his shirt to display his lean muscular

chest and scarred skin. “Because I spent ten years of my life in a Turkish brothel and

I’ve been in every sexual situation imaginable. You use men because you believe they

can’t hurt you like Caroline did. If you truly preferred men, you’d let them fuck you as

well and you don’t.”

“Perhaps I’m one of those men who believe that if they don’t allow themselves to be

fucked, it means they aren’t a sodomite.”

“You’re not like that.”

Gideon let out his breath. How was it that Peter thought he could see things so

much more clearly than he could? “Does that offend you?”

“Me?” Peter grinned. “No, because I have no preference either way. I’m happy to

fuck or be fucked by either sex.”

Peter was tanned darker than Gideon, a legacy of his years in captivity. He knelt

between Gideon’s outstretched legs, the crown of his long cock already showing

through his unfastened breeches. He tugged at the fastenings of Gideon’s breeches.

Gideon stayed his hand.

“Wait. Why are you so certain that you are right?”

“Why are you even asking me that? It’s very simple. Despite all your lovers, how

many men have you fallen in love with?”

Gideon stared at him, his thoughts in turmoil. “None.”

“How many women?”

He shrugged. “Only my wife and look what came of that.”

“And now you are obsessed by another woman. I rest my case.”

Peter removed his hand from Gideon’s breeches and knelt up. “Are you worried

that this woman truly prefers to be a man?”

61

Kate Pearce

“In the sense that she prefers her own sex? No. I think this is more of a way for her

to explore her own sexuality and avoid the things that frighten her.” Gideon frowned. If

Peter was right, she sounded just like him. “But that is certainly something I should

investigate.”

Peter groaned as Gideon leaned forward, sucked hard on his nipple and slid one

hand down the back of his breeches. “God, I’ve missed being touched.” He shuddered

as Gideon gently squeezed his balls. “If she trusts you, surely you can persuade her to

want you as a woman wants a man?”

Gideon’s cock swelled at Peter’s obvious pleasure. “She wants me, but I have

already promised her I will not take her virginity.” He took Peter’s hand, placed it over

his covered cock and waited until he began to move his fingers. “Hoist by my own

petard.”

Peter grinned. “Your petard feels remarkably fine to me. Let me attend to you.”

“Let’s see who gets attended to first.”

Gideon shoved Peter onto his back and straddled him. He pressed his satin-covered

cock against Peter’s half-uncovered erection and enjoyed the pressure and roughness of

the rocking motion. Satin against skin, smoothness against hot, hard flesh. For him,

touching a man could be so much simpler than touching a woman. There was no fear of

being too rough or too demanding. No fear of becoming emotionally involved. A man

simply used his own strength to control his lover. With a hoarse shout, Peter grabbed

Gideon’s arm and rolled him onto his front. Gideon’s shirt ripped as it was pulled over

his head.

Facedown on the carpet, he shuddered as Peter dripped warm oil on his naked

back. He tried to roll over. Peter held his arm clamped to his side and brought his knee

up and planted it on Gideon’s back. Gideon grunted as his hips and swollen cock were

ground into the carpet.

62

Antonia’s Bargain

He tried to keep still as Peter spread the oil over his skin. His heart rate increased,

mimicking the thick steady pulse of his thickening shaft until he groaned. Peter slid his

hand around to massage Gideon’s chest, grazing the hard points of his nipples.

“Don’t you wish you’d taken off your breeches now, Gideon?” Peter increased the

rocking motion of his knee. “Because I’m not going to help you out of them until you

beg. And then I’m going to use my teeth.”

When Peter shifted his weight to reach for more oil, Gideon half rolled to one side

and dislodged Peter. With a growl he pinned him beneath him.

“That’s better.” He bent and nipped Pete’s nipple. “I always prefer to be on top.”

Peter slid his hands up over Gideon’s taut stomach and massaged more of the

sandalwood-scented oil onto his chest. “Does she let you touch her like this?”

“To some extent. I have made no secret of my desire to seduce her.”

Peter’s nimble fingers eased beneath the closed waistband of Gideon’s breeches and

down between his buttocks, pulling the front even tighter over his straining cock.

Gideon gritted his teeth. All he could hear was the thunder of blood pumping through

his constricted shaft. “She refuses to tell me her real name. She refuses to acknowledge

me at the
ton
balls we both attend.”

“You have approached her there?” Peter gasped as Gideon wrapped a fist around

his cock. “From what I saw this evening, you were avoiding someone, not courting

them.”

Gideon worked Peter’s cock, his strokes hard and fast just as he knew his friend

liked it. “It’s true; I haven’t approached her yet in her proper milieu. I’ve been hoping

she’d come to me.”

“You’re an arrogant bastard. I’ll come for you if you keep that up.”

Gideon grinned down at Peter and kept up the fast pace. “You need this more than

I do.” He bent his head to suck Peter’s nipple, his left hand slid beneath Peter’s balls

and headed toward his arse. “Let’s see how quickly I can make you beg.”

63

Kate Pearce

Antonia curtseyed to the Scottish Lord Kinsale, her latest partner and allowed him

to take her back to her aunt. He was one of her cousin’s preferred suitors which meant

he was dull, worthy and annoying. Despite being only thirty, his manners were those of

an elderly gentleman. He treated Antonia like a child which did nothing to endear him

to her.

At the start of the ball she believed she had glimpsed Gideon by the door talking to

an older man who resembled him enough to be his father. Gideon’s expression had not

been pleasant. He disappeared soon afterwards in the company of a tall blond man and

had not returned.

She fanned herself and sipped at the lemonade her partner provided her with.

“Lord Kinsale, can you tell me who that distinguished gentleman dressed in silver and

blue is?”

He frowned and raised his quizzing glass in the direction of her pointed fan. “That

is Viscount Harcourt DeVere, the heir of the Marquess of Valdemare. Have you met

him before?”

Antonia shook her head. “I thought I might have, but I was mistaken.”

“He doesn’t frequent
ton
balls very often. Rumor says he is trying to scare up a wife

for his eldest son and heir, Lord Gideon Harcourt.”

“Really?” Antonia pretended to flutter her eyelashes. “Does Lord Harcourt need

help to find a suitable woman?”

Lord Kinsale patted her gloved hand. “Some might say he needs all the help he can

get. His first wife died in mysterious circumstances and gossip has it that Lord Harcourt

was the reason for her demise.”

Antonia studied the tall figure across the ballroom. As if he felt the weight of her

stare, he turned and bowed to her. “Did Lord Harcourt murder his own wife? How

exciting!”

64

Antonia’s Bargain

“Hardly, my dear. But most of the mothers here might be a little reluctant, despite

his wealth and rank, to let their daughters marry a man with such a murky past.”

Lord Kinsale seemed to enjoy telling the tale. Had Gideon caused his enmity or was

it merely the jealousy of a plain dour man for a handsome popular one? Jane appeared

at Antonia’s side.

“Are you talking about the Harcourt family?” She winked at Antonia. “I heard the

viscount was asking about you and your fortune, cousin. He seems determined his son

should marry again.” She glanced around the crowded ballroom and pouted. “And

how naughty of Gideon Harcourt to disappear just as the dancing started.”

“Perhaps it was a good thing he left,” Antonia said.

Both Jane and Lord Kinsale stared at her.

“I know from my own limited experience that it isn’t at all amusing to be watched

and gossiped over by the
ton
. Poor Lord Harcourt has probably had to endure it more

than once.”

Where had he gone? She imagined him at Madame Desiree’s, a beautiful woman

naked in his arms as he made love to her. She wished she could just walk out like

Gideon could without having to involve herself in a million excuses of poor health and

petty lies.

With an airy laugh, Jane linked arms with Antonia and drew her away from Lord

Kinsale toward the ladies’ retiring room. “Are you mad?” she hissed. “Never praise one

gentleman when you are standing next to another unless you are trying to make him

jealous.”

Antonia shut the door and draped her shawl over the nearest chair. “What are you

talking about?”

“Your defense of Lord Harcourt. Have you even met the man?”

“No, I haven’t, but that doesn’t mean I can’t sympathize with him.”

65

Kate Pearce

Jane patted her fat curls. “Gideon Harcourt doesn’t need your sympathy. He is a

dangerous man. If he believed you were interested in him he would probably eat you

for breakfast and spit you out before tea just to teach you a lesson.”

“What has he done to gain your dislike?”

“I don’t dislike him, Antonia. After all, he will be a viscount one day and a

marquess after that. But some say he drove his wife to kill herself because she could not

provide him with an heir.”

A cold fist coiled in Antonia’s stomach. Her father had done as much to her mother

by insisting on endless pregnancies even when the doctors advised him it was

dangerous to continue. Was Gideon capable of driving a woman to her grave? She

pictured his face, the hint of command in his words as he insisted she must obey him.

“I still think it is unfair to gossip about a man who is not here to defend himself.”

Jane pinched her cheek. “You are so naïve. Society thrives on the misfortunes and

triumphs of its members. As soon as Lord Harcourt finds a wife and settles down with

her, all this will be forgotten.”

Antonia picked up her shawl and headed back to the ballroom. Would Gideon

provide her with an explanation if she asked him for one? Did she even have the right

to ask? Her association with him was only temporary. She had no cause to alarm herself

as to his future plans for his wife.

One of the reasons she tried to avoid Gideon at social functions was her fear that

once they met officially, she would be forced to reconsider her relationship with him. It

suited her to have him on the fringes of her existence. He was her exciting secret, her

tantalizing would-be seducer, the man who allowed her to be wild and passionate and

daring. If she acknowledged him within the repressive boundaries of their class, would

he change? Would he come to represent as big a threat as any other available man?

She sighed as her next partner, another of her cousin’s choices, came toward her.

Perhaps it was better to ignore the gossip and simply pretend to know nothing at all.