"Come, you suspect me of concocting plans, and you're right," Auguste said, taking my hands in his and rising from the table.
"You'll tell me?" I asked, jumping up to follow. We weren't the only ones getting ready to leave the dining room. Enrique and Sally were coming too, as well as a few of the others. Cassie was still in the throes of whatever her feathered gentleman was up to, but Hunter was murmuring something in Mary's ear, missing the scowl she wore.
"I won't, but I'll start putting them into motion and wait in pleasure as you learn what they are," Auguste answered, flashing me a grin over his shoulder.
I'd seen a few of the social rooms by daylight when I was bored and visited with the others—one parlor room after another in dramatic shades of wallpaper and velvet furniture that swelled and swooned and seemed designed for reclining in. Some of the girls spent their afternoons there, trading turns on the pianoforte or embroidering their dresses with embellishments. A few took advantage of the library to read, others painted in watercolors. They weren't skills I was especially familiar with, but I liked the company of the others, and occasionally, it was fun to lounge and pretend I was a fine lady.
Tonight, the first of the rooms already had a group of gentlemen and a few women drinking cocktails, one couple dueting at a pianoforte. The room was brightly lit and conversation was bubbling. It reminded me of a dinner party, and for the most part, everyone seemed to be behaving like fashionable, polite couples, regardless of the fact that one man had skin like smoldering coals and was faintly smoking through his dinner jacket.
"That's Ivan," Auguste whispered in my ear, nodding at the pale man at the piano who lifted his chin to belt a note and revealed a pair of pointed fangs.
"The terrible?" I whispered back, eyebrows rising. I'd heard rumors of the ancient vampire, but I hadn't expected to see him singing in a velvet waistcoat.
"Do you think so? I don't mind him," Auguste said, winking at me. "Do you want a drink?"
I nearly shook my head, I was too excited about Auguste's plans, but then I remembered we had an audience. For the most part at Rooksgrave, Magdalena seemed to have achieved her goal of finding excellent partners between the women and gentlemen, but Mary wasn't the only girl in the whole house who treated her clients as a duty rather than a pleasure. I wanted the whole house to know how I felt about Auguste, and most importantly, I wanted him to know. That I was proud to be on his arm and lucky to have him on mine.
"Should I have one? What tastes best on me?" I asked, feeling a moment of victory as Auguste's eyes darkened in answer.
"It's up to you, but I think you'll look beautiful, all flushed and drowsy as—well, that's still a secret," Auguste said, grinning, and then he led me to the bar in the corner. "Drink as much or as little as you feel comfortable with, but remember that I have plans for you."
"It might help if I knew what they were," I teased.
Auguste combined some concoction of rich red juice, wine, and something dark and syrupy before offering me a glass that looked almost like blood. It was sweet and sharp and heady, and Auguste leaned in to lick a droplet that clung to my bottom lip before sliding his tongue into my mouth to let me taste it on him.
"Would I make a pretty vampire?" I whispered, nuzzling against him, grinning at the growl that rose from his chest.
Auguste's arm snapped around my waist, lips claiming mine, his tongue fucking my mouth with a sudden hunger as he pressed me up against a bookshelf and held me there until I was desperate for breath. He pulled away slowly, nipping and returning for more, before finally leaning back enough for me to see his eyes, all black.
"Ask me again in a year, mon coeur," Auguste rasped, face sharp and hungry.
My eyes widened, chest heaving to catch my breath. I'd been teasing mostly. Was that something Auguste wanted? Was that something I wanted? Auguste pulled me away from the bookshelf, his chin lifted high, the eyes of the room tracking us as he hurried me to the doorway leading to the next room.
This one was smoky, the lighting dim in the wall lamps. There was a card table at the far end of the room where a few couples were gathered, but my eyes immediately focused on the shadowy figures on the couches, bodies embracing, soft catches of breath.
"What did you think went on here at night?" Auguste asked me.
"This," I said nodding and staring at the beastly figure hunched over a woman in a pale gown. It was hard to see, they had chosen the darkest corner of all, but I could've sworn he was covered in fur and I could hear the wet sounds of licking accompanying her whimpers.
"Mm, just this?" Auguste asked.
My eyes widened and I stopped in the middle of the room, turning to stare at everyone in turn. One woman blushed and twisted away as our eyes accidentally met, but her gentleman just swatted her on the ass and draped her over his lap, grinning at me as she went back to kissing his neck.
"Is it like the theater?" I whispered. No one was undressed, and they seemed mostly to be kissing or were at least trying to hide their more illicit activities.
"Come," Auguste said, tugging on my hand.
I followed him eagerly, drinking more of my potent wine. It ran richly through me, warming my blood and making my steps bounce. That heat sank directly down into my core as we slid through the partly open door of the next room.
Bodies slid together in union, the salt and musk of sex muddling with an aromatic smoke trailing out of small metal containers, creating a soft haze in the air. The lamps were shaded in colors, painting flesh in pretty rainbows. Suddenly, the waving liquid structure of the couches made sense, women draped over rolling seats, barely having to shift into the hips of the men seated across the chaise, stroking into them.
"There are more rooms downstairs, but they're more to Mr. Tanner's taste. What do you think, ma petite?"
Auguste was watching me, as if he found it no struggle at all to tear his eyes off the horned, bull-faced man who held the hips of a woman, fucking slowly and steadily into her, stretching and exposing her to my gaze. He huffed, picking up his pace, black eyes lifting proudly to mine as his partner began to whine with pleasure.
"Esther," Auguste murmured, fingertips taking my chin in a gentle grip, his smile teasing as he turned my face to blink back at him.
"Yes. I want to watch," I breathed out, seeing a woman fitted between two men over Auguste's shoulder, my body clenching on the memory of Booker toying with my ass as his tongue lapped and fucked my cunt.
"Watch, mon coeur?"
"I think we can do better than watch, puisín," Ezra hissed, his breath hot on the back of my neck, Auguste's grin stretching wide as I gasped.