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becoming my mistress. One month of your ser vice for each sister I will sponsor. Those are the terms.”
    “So you want me for the entire summer?” she whispered, staring with unseeing eyes at the floor.
    “Yes. Your days and nights will belong to me.” His voice had gotten husky again and Miranda shot him a side glance. He waslooking at her just like she’d seen him look at all those other women he’d taken. A look of wanting. Waiting.
    So this was what being desired felt like. Like a thousand hot prickles up and down her spine that made her body weep with need. She squirmed a little under his scrutiny, but her shifting only worsened the throbbing ache between her legs.
    What he was asking for was madness and she would be a fool to agree. Giving up her virginity and then becoming her neighbor’s mistress would utterly ruin her for any other respectable man. If their bargain were discovered, it would probably also destroy her sisters’ chances at marrying well. They would certainly never be accepted into good society again.
    And yet, she found herself thrilling at the prospect. Ever since the first afternoon she watched Ethan make love to one of his mistresses, she had secretly longed for that kind of passion. For desire that overflowed until it could no longer be contained. She wanted a man who would take her, force her pleasure, teach her to give him his own.
    Those dark, dangerous wants were the biggest part of why she had turned down any proposal made for her hand, despite all the other theories about her refusals. She wasn’t cold, she wasn’t snobbish or even mercenary. In truth, she had simply looked at each man who offered for her and saw that they would want a proper wife. They would be a proper husband. They would be gentle and detached and not press their suit too often or too vigorously. If she said no, they would let it be. And if she dared to ask for more, they would be shocked.
    Those men would make love to her not…not fuck her, as shehad heard Ethan call it so many times from her hiding place. She would never experience danger or daring at their hands.
    With Ethan, she would. If she took his offer, if she gave herself over to him, he would teach her every sinful thing she had ever wanted to learn and more. He would make her shiver with release. He would never make her feel ashamed of her natural curiosities and desires. He would give her what she wanted.
    And he would take whatever he desired in return. He would push her to her boundaries and far beyond.
    That was the dangerous part of the offer. More dangerous, even, than having their agreement found out or being ruined.
    “Do you have an answer, Miss Albright?” he asked softly.
    “I have questions and stipulations of my own,” she replied. Her legs shook, so she crossed to the nearest chair and sat down, praying she looked calm and cool, not frightened and painfully aroused.
    He chuckled. “Do you? So this is to be a negotiation?”
    Nodding once, she said, “It must be. I have a great deal to lose.”
    His taunting smile fell. “I suppose you do. So ask me your questions and we shall see if we can come to terms.”
    She thrust her shoulders back and willed her hands not to tremble. He couldn’t see how much he moved her or else he would take more than she could give.
    “Will you make our arrangement public?”
    “No, of course not.” He took his own chair across from hers and sprawled out with lazy elegance. “I want you in my bed, not my opera box. No one need know of our arrangement.”
    “Even your closest friends?”
    He leaned forward and locked eyes with her. “No one, Miranda.”
    She jumped. That was the first time he’d ever said her given name. It seemed to roll off his tongue like a caress, stroking over her body in a strange, powerful wave.
    She forced herself to remain focused. “What of your servants?”
    “They are judgmental, but completely trustworthy. I’ve been certain of that. There have been other women