He closed the gap between us in a matter of steps and grabbed my chin. His golden eyes narrowed, glinting with an alluring light. “And that,” he said with a chuckle, “is why I’m going to spend the night with you.”
You definitely shouldn’t use your authority to buy a prostitute! I retorted in my mind, but if he’d already paid for me then I had no choice but to do my job.
No matter how much I screamed or cried he was the son of a duke—no one was going to come to my rescue. In fact, there was no way he’d come here by himself, so his attendants were no doubt waiting on the other side of the door. Even if I tried to escape, I’d struggle to even get it open.
That meant I just had to face the facts and do my job. And I would!
This was a high-class brothel, so “doing my job” meant delivering the usual “Would you like a meal? Or a bath? Or…me?” But it didn’t seem like he’d stopped by on the way home from work, so he might’ve already had a meal and a bath.
I still didn’t want to accept that he’d bought an entire night with me, but whether I did or not he was going to be here until the sun came up. It was seven in the evening now, and the brothel closed at seven in the morning, so…
What? Twelve whole hours?!
I was born into a noble family, the picture of beauty and grace, carefully groomed to be the future queen! How could my delicate feminine body possibly withstand the appetite of this hulking rogue for an entire night?! Wouldn’t that be…death by intercourse?!
Nooo! I’ve already had my engagement broken off and been forced into prostitution, but that’s too dishonorable to bear! There’s absolutely no way I’m dying in the saddle!
There had to be some way for me to stall him.
“Excuse me, but would you like something to eat? If you’re hungry perhaps I could fetch you something…”
Yes, that’s perfect. Feed him just a little bit, then order a bunch of alcohol to get him so drunk he passes out.
“Thank you for the offer, but I already ate at home. We only have one night together, so I’d like to make the most of it.”
Smile.
He gave me that too-beautiful smile and caressed my cheek with his callused palm.
I’m sure every other girl in the world would blush and return his gaze with hearts in their eyes, but I was pretty sure I’d gone pale as a ghost with the eyes of a dead fish. The only thing I might have had in common with those girls was the way my hands were clasped before me, as if in prayer…though I doubt their hands would be trembling.
We only have one night, he said.
But what did he mean only one night? In my previous life, going at it for an entire night would have been absurd, but was that a regular thing in this world? Maybe the real reason brothels charged in hourly timeslots was to make more profit out of each night?
I wondered if I’d get a straight answer if I just asked someone. When the owner called me for my first job, she’d given me this pitying look before saying, “This is your first time, huh…” I need her to come in here right now and explain!
“Cecilia. Oh—is it all right if I call you Cecilia?”
“Y-yes…”
He exhaled audibly against my ear, snapping me back to reality.
Ahh, but how I wish I could stay in la-la land!
His low, deep voice seemed to vibrate through my eardrum all the way to my brain. Shivers like I’d never felt before raced up my spine and my shoulders began to tremble. I managed to answer with a scratchy whisper. “Call me whatever you like.”
He chuckled lightly in my ear. “Cecilia, don’t worry. You can relax. I promise to be gentle with you. I won’t be rough…until you get used to it.”
How is that supposed to make me relax? What happens after I get used to it?! Are things going to get really bad once I get used to it?!
Lucas smiled, almost as if he could hear my internal screaming, and said, “I promise I won’t hurt you. …Well, aside from the first time, that is.”
I’d heard your first time hurts, and apparently it was true. And when a man said that, it was almost like he was trying to scare you. If it was the first time, shouldn’t he say he’d do anything he could to not hurt you?
“…So the first time does hurt…” It was my fault for sounding so resigned when I said it.
“Hmm… I’ve heard that it does, generally. We could use some medicine so it doesn’t hurt as much, though.” As he spoke, he gently slipped an arm around my shoulders and smiled as he led me over to the bed. As beautiful as he was, I couldn’t help but regard him anxiously.
Medicine? Is he talking about an aphrodisiac? Well, if it makes it so it doesn’t hurt, maybe I should ask for some?
While I was lost in my thoughts, Lucas guided me to the bedside. He slowly lifted up my left hand. My fear must have been transparent in the desperate gaze I fixed on him. “But,” he said, with a mirthless chuckle, “since I’m taking your virginity, I want to make my mark on you, so I’m going to make it hurt.”