“Thank you,” Belle replied.
Armand spread a hand. “Shall I show you around? What are you in the mood for tonight?”
She put the teacup back on the coffee table.
“I actually wasn’t looking for something like that.”
“Oh?”
“I want to hire an escort, probably for several weeks.” Belle paused for a moment before telling Armand the purpose of her visit. He listened attentively.
“A fake boyfriend. Interesting.”
“Can you do it?”
“Can I? I’d be happy to.”
“How much do you charge?”
Armand’s smile widened. “An arm and a leg.”
“Seriously?”
“Make a pact with me and I’ll grant your wish.”
“I…I don’t understand what you mean.”
He rose from the sofa, offering his hand. “Come with me. I’ll show you what I want.”
Armand Shah, the Duke of Seventh Realm, couldn’t believe what he saw when Madame Chabert came to the Common Hall with a human woman. He didn’t know how Belle could wander past the barrier between the human world and the spirits. Especially in a place like Maison Plaisir, where the perimeter had been tightly warded with spells and protections against unwanted pests. Some gifted humans like witches and mediums were able to see his kind. But Belle didn’t fall into the latter category. She was just an ordinary human woman.
Pretty little thing, too.
A very pretty little thing. She was slim and delicate, but her body curved in all the right places. Her green eyes looked like precious jade, large and oval shaped, shielded with long, lush lashes. She had a pert nose and soft pink lips he couldn’t wait to kiss. Her dark, reddish hair was long and straight, and it looked so soft to touch. She didn’t wear makeup. Didn’t need to. Belle was a natural beauty.
Just his type.
His uncle, who owned this pleasure house, was also fronting a mirror establishment in the human world, but it catered exclusively to those with appetites for unorthodox pleasure. Uncle Isaac had taken a human consort who refused to live in Seventh Realm. To make things easier for her to travel between worlds, Uncle Isaac had started this establishment several years ago as a doorway to the Unseen. Unlike the otherworldly beings, humans couldn’t see the other worlds, let alone pass back and forth between them. Only a human who had been claimed by the otherworldly beings was able to sieve through the barrier. Belle had just wandered in.
Innocently.
Madame Chabert had called it fate. Maybe she was right. Armand wouldn’t have met Belle if this wasn’t fate.
He took Belle’s hand and led her through the sea of Maison Plaisir patrons. Her delicate hand felt so small. She was a petite woman. Young, too. Even by human standards. Armand usually disliked fragile looking woman, but there was something about her that drew him instantly. Even though her smile could stop a man’s heartbeat for a second, Belle had the perpetual sad eyes that elicited the protective urge in him. She reminded Armand of someone dear to him a long time ago—his dead fiancée, Minette.
Belle followed him quietly as they ascended the stairs to the second floor. Armand stole another glance at her. Those eyes. Her beautiful eyes might have fooled everybody into thinking she was a free-spirited girl, but Armand had a knack of looking through a person’s windows to their soul. Belle looked to be someone who had been living her sorrow in silence for a long time. Who hurt you? What could you possibly have done to deserve it?
“Where are we going?” Belle asked.
“Showing you what Maison Plaisir has to offer.”
“B-but I already told you what I wanted.”
“Yes. But I haven’t told you what I want.” Armand tugged her hand. They walked into the heart of Maison Plaisir, where the most talented courtesans—or associates, as the management preferred to call them—entertained the wealthiest folks in Seventh Realm.
Belle stalked nervously beside him, looking uncomfortable with her surroundings. Judging from her expression, she wasn’t accustomed to being in places like this. Armand became curious. Could she possibly be a virgin?
They arrived in a spacious circular room with seven towering doors. Each of the doors was an entry to each level of Maison Plaisir. “We are now in the Eye of the Lounge,” Armand explained. “Nothing is forbidden in Maison Plaisir. All pleasures are meant to be explored and all taboos are meant to be broken.”