So yes, he suspected she knew exactly how much he ached for her.But for all her understanding of that, he was almost certain the sweet, innocent little chit had no idea how seductive her body might be.
She returned with a full glass, and he couldn’t help but note the way she seemed to hold her breath when she was this close to him.Her eyes were round and she caught her lower lip and bit it while she approached with the drink.
She was bracing herself before approaching a feral beast.He stifled a humorless laugh.She wasn’t far off.
Her hands trembled when she set it on the end table beside him and turned quickly to run away once more.
That’s right, run.Sweet, sweet little lass.
His hands gripped the book to keep from reaching for that slim little waist and pulling her into his lap.He could practically feel the weight of that bottom as it pressed against his erection, the way she’d gasp and moan when he slipped a hand into that low-cut bodice and tugged until her breasts spilled out for him to lick and suckle.
She’d let him.He knew she would—and willingly, no less.She’d drop on her hands and knees right here and now if he told her to.Hell, with one grunt of command he could have her bent over the arm of that settee, with her skirts flung up and her ass cheeks parted.He could ram his cock right into that sweet, tight cunny and she wouldn’t so much as whimper.
She’d take it, and she’d take it with a smile because he was King and to be chosen by him was an honor.
Not to mention the money.
Everyone knew he was generous with his women.
King shut his eyes.But he would never do that, no matter how sweet the temptation.No matter how certain he was that she’d take him willingly.Even an innocent wouldn’t turn away a man of his means and power.
But with all that power came rules.Or rather, his rules were how he’d acquired the power.
He didn’t have many, but he stayed true to the ones he had.
One of those rules was never tup the servants.Or any employee.That went for the women who worked at his gaming hells and the wives of the men who fought for him.But most especially young, unmarried women in his care.
He’d never repeat his father’s mistakes.Bedding a woman too weak and frail to survive on her own.Leaving her with a babe in her belly and no way to feed it.The memory of his mother and all she’d been through was enough to loosen lust’s hold on him.
Well, that wasn’t entirely true.His loins still howled for release, but his mind was more set than ever on the fact that this woman was out of the question.
He took a swig of his drink.Where were the other servants?Where were the men who ran his streets to report on their night?Where were the business owners begging for favors or the wives begging on their useless husbands’ behalf?
He’d take any of those now as he suffered through this chit’s graceful movements as she tidied the room.A seemingly endless task.A task that apparently required her to step up on a footstool to reach the highest bookshelf.
He shut his eyes against the sight of her bodice stretching tight over pearled nipples.He swallowed thickly.It wasn’t her fault, he reminded himself.She wasn’t trying to torture him.
He knew very well that his housekeeper Mrs.Maddox gave strict instructions to the maids who looked after his private quarters.
He’d seen Pearl do the same sweeping move countless times, and never once had it made him want to hump the bloody book in his lap just to find some relief.Hell and damnation, he needed a new woman.That was the real problem here.It had been weeks since he’d sent his mistress packing.She’d overstayed her welcome.They all did.
She’d started to get airs, ordering around the staff with haughty commands, picking fights with any lady who cast a glance in his direction.When gossip came back to him that she had plans to get with child to trap him, he knew it was time.
Why did it always have to come to that?It was a damn shame because finding a woman who fit his criteria—one who wasn’t on his payroll or connected to anyone who owed him money or linked to a rival…
It was tedious.
And choosing the woman was just the start.Then there were the negotiations and the contracts to be signed.Truly, it was an exhausting affair.Nearly difficult to remember why he wanted to fuck them in the first place by the time they came to his rooms.
And then when they did, it was almost always a disappointment.Oh, the actual act was good.Sometimes better than good, but it was missing something.
It was missing this.
He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, ordering his eyes to avoid the temptation before him.
His rendezvous with mistresses always lacked this level of desire.
Perhaps it was the contracts or the rules he set in place, but that initial lust he felt when he approached them was flattened to the barest degree of attraction after seeing the greed in their eyes as they spread their legs.