Raph rubbed a hand over his chiseled jaw. “Listen to me, little flower,” he said slowly. “Courtesans don’t earn the kind of coin you’re chasing. Not in a single night, not in a month, and not even in a lifetime. Whatever trouble you’re in, this isn’t the way to solve it.”
“Thank you for your wise words, Your Grace,” Lady Camelia replied dryly.
Raph ignored her scorn. “Tell me the real reason that made a woman of your standing put herself in such a situation?”
Her eyes flashed with offense. “You’ve no intention of helping me, so why press me for answers?”
Raph leaned towards her, and the air between them thickened with the heady scent of her jasmine perfume. He traced the delicate curve of her lips and watched with a growing desire as she licked them nervously.
“If you want me to ruin your virtue, I’ll be happy to oblige.” He looked around before meeting her eyes again. “Right here, in the hushed shadows of this velvet-lined haven, I can offer you ecstasy, though not without its exquisite sting.” His words dripped with raw desire
She swallowed hard, and the sound echoed in the charged silence.
But Raph sat back as his tone shifted. “Fortunately for you, I’m not the sort to stand idly by while a lady sacrifices her virtue or her family’s honor to a fleeting lapse in judgment.” His voice hardened with conviction.
“You know nothing about my circumstances, yet you presume to judge me!”
“And you’re stubborn as a mule,” he retorted. “I’m trying to keep you from ruin, but you’re making it damn difficult. Why are you so desperate for money?”
She glared at him, her breath hitching, but said nothing. The silence stretched, thick with tension, until Raph pressed again.
“What is it? An unwanted marriage? A scandal? Speak, woman.”
“My family is ruined!” she blurted, her voice breaking.
She clapped a hand over her mouth, as if regretting the confession. Her eyes widened with panic, but Raph feigned indifference.
She is selfless and braver than most men I know.
He felt a sudden softness towards her, though a storm of conflicting emotions churned beneath his composed exterior.
Lady Camelia’s raw outburst stirred something primal within him. Her vulnerability sent a jolt of heat through his veins. Her bravery and her selfless sacrifice for her family anchored his admiration, tethering his lust to a fierce need to shield her and make her his.
“Ruined how? And by whom?” he growled.
Lady Camelia shook her head, her voice barely audible. “I have said enough, and it will make matters worse if word gets around. It doesn’t matter, anyhow. I needed the money to save them, but I failed.”
“You’re naïve if you believe that selling your body was the best solution.”
If I hadn’t met her in that alley, if another man?—
The thought made his fists clench.
“Naïve? Don’t presume to lecture me,” Lady Camelia scoffed despite her quivering voice. “I’ve weighed every consequence, every path. This”—she gestured vaguely with a trembling hand—“this was the only way to save them. Do you honestly believe that Iwantedto be in that filthy alley, pretending to be… to bethat?”
“There’s always a choice,” Raph said, his voice firm but not unkind. “And you chose the worst one. Who did this to you and your family?”
I need to know.
His mind spiraled with dark thoughts.
“Why should I tell you? You’ll only mock me further, and you’re a stranger.”
“A stranger you were willing to give your virtue to?” he countered.
He caught the subtle shift in her demeanor, the way her lips parted slightly, a silent betrayal of the heat stirring within her. He imagined those lips yielding under his, soft and pliant, her body arching instinctively towards his touch, desperate with duty and desire.
The sight of her arousal, so thinly veiled, sent a pulse of desire through him, though he held it in check. His jaw tightened with the effort, and so did the material of his breeches.
