The Earl's Temptation Read online

  She blinked away tears and returned her attention to polishing the silver. It was a job she hated but at least she could sit down and do it. Besides there was no use crying over spilt milk, she thought with a grim smile. She knew that only too well.

  She was lost in thought as a familiar and hated voice filtered into the kitchen and she caught her breath. Leaving her work she gathered her skirts and tiptoed to the doorway to listen. Monsieur Pelletier was talking in low tones to Madame Maxime and Céleste held her breath, straining to catch their conversation. She detested the man who always tried to grope her if she was anywhere close to him, and there was a disgusting avaricious look in his eyes when he watched her, which he always seemed to be doing. The other girls said he was cruel, but as a wealthy merchant he paid enough to do as he pleased and none of them dared complain. Clara, who was the only girl who had made an effort to befriend Céleste, had warned her to hide herself when Pelletier was around. She said he was always asking questions about Céleste and Clara had been struck for refusing to answer. She said he'd wanted to know if she was truly a virgin, or if Madame Maxime was hiding the fact she was working from him.

  Now Céleste stood with her heart beating too hard and too fast as the conversation between Maxime and Pelletier became clear. Maxime was selling her to him, she was selling her virginity, and for such a price! Céleste covered her mouth with her hand to stop herself from crying out. The idea of that disgusting creature rutting away at her made her want to vomit but she forced herself to listen.

  "You will dose her with laudanum, just enough to keep her docile. I do not want her asleep you understand," Pelletier was saying, his voice cool and clinical, as though he was arranging the details of a dinner rather than the serving up of an abducted girl for his own pleasure.

  "Oui, Monsieur Pelletier," the bitch Maxime replied with a reassuring tone. "I understand just what you require. The girl will be bathed and dressed in the finest gown we have and will be ready for you in every way. You need not worry."

  "Non, I need not!" Pelletier sneered. "For if I find you have played me false, Madame, I promise you will regret it."

  Maxime gave an audible gasp, clearly taking the threat with the seriousness it deserved. . Pelletier was not a man to be crossed, certainly not at the price Maxime was demanding.

  "You will bring her to me tomorrow night at eight sharp. Do we have an agreement?"

  Céleste didn't wait to hear more. She ran out into the garden and out along the street until she reached the beach where she'd found Alex. She retched and retched, though her empty stomach had nothing to give. Oh, mon Dieu, she had to get away, she had to get out of here or she would be lost in Maxime's world for good. With panic holding her heart in a vice she ran back to the house to find Mimi.

  She found him round the back near the stables, chopping wood for the fire, but he looked up in alarm as she ran towards him.

  "Mimi, you said a man offered a sum for the brandy; tell him we accept and get the goods to him tonight."

  Mimi shook his head, and she stilled him by laying her hand on his arm.

  "I know it's not enough, mon brave, it's not nearly enough. But I have to leave. Maxime intends to sell me to Pelletier!" She was heartened at least by the fury in Mimi's eyes and he slammed the axe down into the trunk in front of him, shattering it into pieces.

  "I know," she said, pulling the big man into a hug. "I know you would kill him and then what? You will hang and I will be no better off. I have to go, far from here." She hugged him tighter as Mimi made a sound of distress. "And I will miss you too, but I will not become a whore, especially not for that ... con!" She looked up at him and already knew what the answer to her question would be. "You could come too, if you wanted?"

  Mimi clutched at his head and began to move back from her embrace, making a soft keening sound that tore at her heart. "Non, non, it's alright, it's fine, you stay, mon brave, you stay. I will be fine. Don't you worry."

  She stayed until he had calmed himself and returned to chopping wood before she went back to the kitchens. Poor Mimi. He was terrified of change, terrified of anything that was different from the usual routine of his day. He would never survive anywhere else. At least at Maxime's he had a roof over his head and enough to eat, and the girls were kind enough to him. He would be fine. But she needed to run, as far and as fast from Pelletier as she could. Her thoughts drifted back to the man in her bed and she prayed that ... maybe she would have a companion for her journey if she could only persuade him to take her. But then she remembered just how weak he still was. He had almost died. She couldn't force him to leave, not yet, but she knew she couldn't leave him alone either, not for any price.

  Chapter 5

  "Wherein deals are struck, temptation beckons the devil and threatens good intentions."

  By the time Céleste finally made it back to her room Alex was beside himself. Angry with himself at his own impotence to change the situation she was in, it was beyond frustrating. In normal circumstances he could sweep in with his money and his title, and failing that he would use a willingness for brute force and be assured of getting his own way. It had always worked in the past. But now with no proof of whom he was, not a sous to his name, and not even his own strength to rely on, he felt helpless. It was not a feeling he enjoyed. And yet when he saw Céleste enter the room, with her head bowed and her tread one of sheer exhaustion, he knew he was all that stood between her and utter ruin. He wouldn't fail her.

  To his horror she didn't speak but just sank to her knees beside the bed, threw herself against his chest and began to sob. For a moment he was too shocked to move or speak. Weeping women were something he usually avoided at all costs and yet he knew instinctively that Céleste wasn't the kind to indulge in tears just because she was thwarted or to try and get her own way. No. In those circumstances she'd probably shout and throw things from what he'd seen of her character so far. Which meant someone had hurt her.

  "What is it, ma mie?" he asked, making a concerted effort to keep his voice soft though he could feel a now familiar rage building in his chest. "Has someone hurt you?"

  "Non," she said, shaking her head and looking up at him with those wide blue eyes full of tears. "Not yet, but they are going to."

  "What?" He sat up and held her by the shoulders. "Who, Céleste, who wants to hurt you?"

  She blinked and he felt his heart squeeze as a tear rolled down her face. "Do you ..." she began, a small frown creasing her forehead. "Do you think I am ... jolie?"

  Alex felt himself frown in reply, perplexed at the change in subject. "What? Of course I think you're pretty, beautiful in fact, but why the devil are ..."

  His words were stopped in their tracks as she moved forward and pressed her lips against his. For just a second his brain stalled as her sweet, soft mouth sought his. He could feel the heat of her body through her threadbare dress and her heart thundering in her chest. With resolution he grasped her by the arms and pushed her gently but firmly away from him.

  "Oh, but s'il te plaît, you said I am beautiful, oui?" she demanded, and Alex was thrown by the desperation in her eyes. "Then you would like to lie with me?"

  "What?" Alex exclaimed in alarm.

  The desperation in her expression seemed to grow and she put a hand to her hair in frustration. "Fuck!" she said suddenly, as though this was an answer of some kind.

  Alex was momentarily speechless. "I beg your pardon?" he asked with caution.

  "Fuck, this is the word, oui? You want to fuck me?"

  He opened his mouth and closed it again. He knew he was on dangerous ground but he was damned if he knew how he'd got there.

  "Please," she said, reaching forward and taking his hand. "Please will you ... do it ... to me?" She pressed his hand to her breast and Alex snatched it away, making her gasp in shock.

  "No!" he said, with rather more force that he'd intended.

  "You ... you do not ... want me?" Her lip trembled a little and he swallowed a curse. There s
he sat, looking like a broken angel with her beauty and those big sad eyes and everything in him ached to take her in his arms and show her the difference between a man who would fuck her and one who would make love to her. But he had sworn he would do better than that, he had sworn he would protect her from the world, even from himself.

  "Céleste," he said, making sure his voice was soft and as gentle as he could make it. "Céleste, any man would want you, you are ... you are incredibly beautiful, more than I think you realise. But ... but you are perhaps half my age and ... and you deserve better than this. You deserve more than you have here, and I want to help you. We will leave here, you and I. We will leave here and I will take care of you. I will find you a place to live, where you will be safe. You will never have to ... to take another man to your bed, I swear it."

  He smiled at her and watched the emotions as they played over her face, from relief, to gratitude to ... sheer fury.

  "Merde!" she cursed, reaching out with one small fist and striking him. "You think I am a whore? You think I am one of those girls down there who spread her legs for any who will pay? You think this? Va te faire foutre!" She launched herself at him and Alex grabbed at her wrists before she could do any damage. But she struggled and cursed and so he flipped her onto her back, using his weight to pin her down and keep her still until she calmed ... a little at least. She was glaring at him with utter rage in her eyes and he realised with a wash of guilt that he had underestimated her. Though she was in a whore house and she had said she worked there so ...

  "Céleste, forgive me. I ... I just assumed. You said you worked here!" he exclaimed, unable to keep the accusation from his voice.

  "In the kitchens!" she spat back, and then looked away from him as tears began to gather all over again, which was far worse than any amount of anger she threw at him.

  "Céleste, truly, I am so sorry but ... but most women do not sleep next to men they don't know and ..."

  She looked back at him, apparently puzzled. "I am not sleeping with men I don't know," she objected. "I know you. I save your life!" she added putting her chin up. "We are friends, au moins, I thought we were," she added with a pout.

  Alex smiled and nodded. "Yes, yes of course we are friends, but Céleste, you don't even know my name and yet you get into bed with me like ... like we are lovers."

  "Your name?" she repeated and rolled her eyes. "Bah! Who cares for the name, I know you. You are a good man, a kind man. I trust you." She shrugged and with the movement Alex became forcefully aware of the position he was in, of her soft, and apparently willing, body beneath him. "I like you in my bed, I like to sleep beside you. You ... you make me feel safe and ... and warm and I like you, very much."

  Sensing danger once more Alex made to move but she stopped him by hooking an arm around his neck and wrapping her legs around his.

  "Wouldn't you like to ..."

  "Don't!" Alex said before she could say it again. "Don't say that word, it ... it is not appropriate."

  "It isn't?" she asked, eyebrows raised. "But it means ..."

  "I am perfectly aware of the meaning of the word," Alex snapped, with growing exasperation as he unhooked one arm to find it replaced by the other. "And a young lady ought never to let it pass her lips. A young unmarried lady ought not to even know it!"

  "Pffft," she said, rolling her eyes at him. "Then you prefer your young ladies to be stupid, non?"

  "Non! Oh good Lord."

  She sighed and moved against him in a way that made his breath catch, something she noted with a smile. "So ... what should I say if I want you to ...?" she whispered, repeating the movement of her hips to rub against his all too obvious erection. There was only a thin blanket covering his nakedness and he knew damn well she could feel his arousal.

  With rather more force than he wanted to employ he removed her hold on him and fled to the far end of the pallet, holding the blanket around him for modesty.

  Alex took a deep breath.

  "I am not going to ... to make love to you," he said, as much for his own benefit as for hers. Perhaps if he said it loud enough his cock would listen up and behave itself. Seeing the disappointment in her eyes didn't help, though he'd admit his ego enjoyed it.

  She shrugged and all of the fight seemed to go out of her. "Then Madame Maxime will send me to Pelletier and I will be the whore you thought I was after all."

  "What?" Alex demanded. "What are you talking about?"

  But Céleste turned her back on him and faced the wall, wrapping her arms around herself and shivering. "It does not matter now, mon brave."

  Alex suddenly realised how damned cold it was and he shivered himself.

  "Where are my clothes, Céleste?" he demanded. If only he could get dressed he would feel in more control of himself and this ... this ridiculous situation.

  "Mimi, 'as them," she said, her voice quiet. "They needed mending and I didn't want Maxime to see. I will give you back your things tomorrow."

  He sighed and lay back down beside her, pulling her into his arms but keeping her facing away from him. He felt her shiver and wriggle closer, and he gritted his teeth as her shapely behind fitted itself perfectly into his lap.

  "Now then," he said, trying to focus his mind on anything but the inviting body next to him. "Explain to me what is going on. Why were you crying, why did you try to seduce me, who the devil is Pelletier and why would Madame Maxime sell you?"

  He heard her sniff and waited until she was ready to talk to him.

  "Madame Maxime wants me to work for 'er, like the other girls, you see?"

  "Yes," Alex said, his voice grim. "I do see."

  "She 'as been making my life, my work, 'arder and 'arder, to try and make me do as she want. And now, today I 'ear her talk with Monsieur Pelletier, tomorrow night she is to drug me and make me ... ready for this man, Pelletier, for he 'as paid a lot of monies to take my ..."

  She stopped and began to sob and Alex pulled her close. Any desires he may have had fled in the face of such a story. Pelletier, he turned the name over in his mind and swore to remember it. He would be sure to make the acquaintance of this man as soon as Céleste was safe and far from his grasp. She turned in his arms and he held her close, stroking her hair and talking to her quietly until she stopped crying.

  "So that is why you wanted me?" he asked with a rueful smile hiding his own hurt pride. "So that you were no longer a virgin."

  She was quiet for a moment and then she looked up, with an expression that stopped his heart. "Not just for that," she whispered.

  He pulled her down so that her head was pressed back against his shoulder and reminded himself of everything the girl was up against until he could think of anything past his own desires. She had been fighting for survival in a cruel and callous world where even her own beauty could be used against her. He would not add to it by taking advantage of her innocence. With ruthless control he squashed any feelings he may have and reminded himself of his promise to her. She was clearly in need of a protector, a father figure, and he could only thank God that she had fallen into his hands. He wouldn't let her down.

  "Well, I am more flattered than you can imagine," he said, stroking her hair. "But it is not necessary, as I said before, we will leave here and I will take care of you."

  "But you are not strong enough to leave yet," she protested. "I had 'oped you would take me when you leave 'ere, but Pelletier expects me tomorrow night. It will be too late."

  Alex frowned and shook his head. "Then we will leave first thing in the morning."

  "But you are still sick."

  He waved away that argument. "Of more concern is my current lack of funds."

  "I 'ave a little money," she said. To his surprise she sat up and chewed her lip, looking guilty. "I must ... confess."

  "Oh?" he asked, wondering what the little devil had been up to now.

  She nodded and began to wring her hands together.

  "Promise ... don't be angry."

  He frowned at
her. What on earth had she done? "I promise," he said, if a trifle cautiously.

  "When I found you, there was also many ..." she frowned, apparently searching for the relevant word and coming up empty. "Barrique?"

  "Ah," he said as he began to understand. "Barrels."

  "Oui." She nodded. "Barrels of Cognac and boxes of tea and ..." She swallowed and looked at him with big anxious eyes. "I sold them."

  He stifled a laugh of surprise. "You did?"

  "Oui." She nodded and bit her lip once again.

  "How much for how many barrels?"

  She mumbled an answer which made his heart sink. It was a fraction of its worth in England and far less than he'd paid for it, but then with no connections and for a quick sale, she really hadn't done badly. He sighed and smiled at her.

  "Well done, Céleste. That is at least enough to get us most of the way to Bordeaux if we are careful."

  "Bordeaux?" she repeated in surprise. "Why Bordeaux?"

  "Because," he replied with a smile. "I would prefer to lie low and avoid home for a while in case the Revenue are asking questions, and that is where my brother is."

  "Oh," she said with a nod of understanding and then shivered, rubbing her hands up and down her arms. "Please let me under that blanket now, I am very cold."

  Alex frowned and she tutted at him impatiently.

  "Oh, for heaven's sake. I 'ave lived in a bordello for the past six month, I 'ave seen much ... and I 'ave certainly seen everything that you 'ave," she added with a smirk.

  Alex scowled at her and tried to consign that information to the far reaches of his mind where it wouldn't trouble him; though he had no faith in the possibility of it staying there. He could hardly allow the girl to freeze, however, and so it was with a triumphant grin that Céleste snuggled up to him and he knew he was in for a night of utter torment.