A Seduction in Scarlet (Aphrodite's Club 1)

Long, powerful fingers fastened about her slender wrist. Startled, Portia caught her breath, and when she turned to him, he was watching her through half-closed eyes in that lazy, teasing manner she was already growing to enjoy.

“Oh no, not yet, my lady. We are not done.”

“I have to go.” She meant to be firm but her voice treacherously wavered.

“Do you?” His mouth curved into a smile. He rolled onto his back and stretched, the powerful muscles in his arms and legs tightening, and she couldn’t take her eyes off him. Portia didn’t remember moving, she didn’t remember making the choice, but the next thing she knew she was climbing on top of him, pressing herself to him, all that hard bare skin beneath her naked body.

He grinned, reaching up to stroke her back, following the curve of her hips down to her rounded bottom. She felt him hard against her thighs, and with a smile of her own she bent her head and lifted her veil, just enough so she could taste his skin.

“Well, perhaps not just yet,” she murmured, feeling him tremble against her lips and tongue. “Perhaps I can wait a little longer.”

“Marcus,” he groaned. “That’s my name.”

I know, she thought, but didn’t say it aloud. Instead she sat up, resting her hands upon his shoulders, and gazed down at him through the safety of her veil.

“You are mine for this evening,” she said, her voice seductive and powerful. “I can fulfill all my fantasies, act out my wildest imaginings, and no one will ever know.”

Except her…and Marcus.

“Please do,” he said, and his smile was pure invitation.

Chapter 3

“Marcus? What time did you get in?”

Marcus opened one eye, hoping it wasn’t his brother’s voice, but unfortunately it was. Since Sebastian had married he’d become a first rate bore when it came to bedtime. But then again, he thought, if he had a wife as delicious as Francesca to retire with, he might be a little more prompt.

“Is that bacon I can smell?”

“Probably. Are you coming to breakfast or are you going to lie there on my library sofa all morning?”

The library had seemed as good a place as any to brood on last night’s experiences. The mysterious lady with the body of a goddess. Oh yes, there was plenty to think about. Including why he had told her his name. It had been the perfect scenario. No names, no commitments, not even the need for polite pretences. Just hot, exciting, bodily contact. And then he’d had to complicate matters by giving her his name.

Why the hell had he done that?

Moodily, he followed Sebastian into the breakfast room and threw himself down into a chair, still managing to appear graceful. His brother, after giving him a sideways glance, began to pour him a cup of coffee.

“I had a letter from my manager, Grieves, yesterday. There’s a problem with some of the tenants at Worthorne Manor.”

“Do they need their hands held?” Marcus retorted. “I know what you’re doing, Seb. You’re trying to find something for me to do, to keep me occupied. I don’t need your help. I can run my own life.”

Sebastian began to pile up a plate with a selection from the sideboard. “It seems to me you aren’t running it very well. Months have gone by since you left the Hussars, and you still haven’t decided on a new course of action, a new career.”

“You spent eight years off playing, brother. I’ve only

wasted a year so far. I think of a career as a new pair of boots…you have to find the one that fits without pinching.”

Sebastian frowned and set the plate down in front of his brother.

Marcus gave him a charming smile of thanks and set to eating. His exertions last night had certainly given him an appetite. He wondered what she—the mystery woman, the lady in scarlet—was doing at that moment. Was she lying in her bed all warm and desirable, while her maids prepared her for the day ahead? Or was her husband lying next to her wondering why she didn’t seem quite as vigorous as usual?

No! Now he’d gone and spoiled the image. No husband, then. She was alone, dreamily sipping her hot chocolate and thinking of him. She was remembering the pleasure they had experienced together at Aphrodite’s Club. Now her hand had slipped beneath the bedclothes and was moving down over the soft curve of her belly, closer and closer to—

Sebastian cleared his throat meaningfully.

“What is it, brother?” Marcus said, stifling a yawn.

“You were sitting there with your mouth open. I thought in a moment you might start to drool. You were with a woman last night I take it?”