Page 61 of A Cinderella to Redeem the Earl

She wrinkled her nose. ‘The women like to be whipped?’

‘Some find it exciting, yes. And believe me, it is not always the man using the whip. More often than not it is the woman who has the upper hand, so to speak.’

English school boys and their birch canes. They loved to hate them.

She swallowed audibly. ‘I see.’

He spun around at the huskiness in her voice. If his body had responded before, now he was rock hard when he saw the heat in her gaze.

She wasn’t just curious or slightly intrigued. She was highly aroused.

In two strides he was at her side, gazing down into her eyes, gently cupping her face between his hands, feeling the flex of her jaw. ‘My dear Pamela,’ he murmured. ‘Have you had some thoughts of a similar nature? Daydreams, perhaps, that leave you hot and bothered?’

She blushed and looked down, as if ashamed.

‘It is all perfectly natural,’ he said. ‘These are adult games that hurt no one.’

‘Have you played such games?’ she asked, peeping up at him, her eyes wide.

He chuckled. ‘I have. Does that shock you?’

She shook her head. ‘I had no idea such things were considered so...commonplace.’

Something was troubling her. ‘Then you have heard of such things before?’ It seemed odd that a girl brought up in such a sheltered household would have come across such knowledge.

She glanced around the room and gave a little shiver. ‘Not really.’

She was no longer aroused, rather she was uncomfortable. The shadows in her grey eyes gave him pause.

Had something about this room brought back unhappy memories?

‘Come. This is a great deal for you to take in. Let me escort you to your chamber. We can discuss it again another time, if you wish.’

She seemed to relax a little.

Puzzled by her reactions, so very at odds with each other, he took her hand and led her from the room, locking it behind him.

He placed her hand on his arm and felt it tremble. He wished he could understand what was going on in her mind.

The further they walked from the chamber, the more relaxed she seemed.

Was it possible that somebody in her past had whipped her and taken pleasure in it? He tensed. Only with effort was he able to calm his rising ire.

When they reached her new suite of rooms, a few doors down from his own, she stood back as he opened the door for her and gestured her to enter. ‘Would you care for a brandy?’ she asked. ‘I took the liberty of filling a decanter for myself, I hope you don’t mind.’

Not one decanter, he noted, but three with differing contents and some glasses neatly set about them on the silver tray on the desk.

‘I am glad you did. It is no more than Pip or I would do.’

She poured him a glass of brandy and indicated he should sit beside her on the sofa near the fire. ‘Thank you for showing me that room, this evening.’

‘Well, now you know the last of my secrets.’

She gave him a sideways glance. ‘I think perhaps not.’

He stilled. ‘What do you mean?’

She smiled slightly. ‘I suspect there is much about you that I do not know. Just as there is much about me that you do not know.’