Read The Punishment of Ivy Leavold (Markham Hall Book 3) for Free Online Page A

cunt and made you come in front of them like a little slut.”
    She did gasp then, unconsciously moving to press her body to mine, her body no doubt remembering how I made good on all of my promises.
    But I wouldn’t let her grind against me to seek relief. If she wanted it, she’d have to come and get it.
    I bowed to her and then walked away.

    He left me in the middle of the dance floor, in the middle of a dance, and for a minute, all I could do was stare after him, conscious only of the way his lips had felt against my skin, of his dirty, filthy words.
    Like a little slut.
    I shivered. I was, wasn’t I? Because, despite everything, I wanted to be his little slut still. If he had ordered me to my knees to suck him off right there on the ballroom floor, I would have.
    But even though I could still see my Julian blazing in those green eyes and any fool could have sensed the naked desire sparking between us, he had never once actually slipped the bounds of propriety. His hands had never strayed and even his kiss had been chaste.
    What was he doing?
    And did I want him to stop?
    Eventually, I became aware that I was blocking the path of other dancers, so I moved off the dance floor and back to the patio. I put my hands on the railing, and I remembered I still had that envelope in my hand. The Baron’s party. A party I shouldn’t bring my aunt to.
    Curious, I started to open it.
    “I wouldn’t go flashing that around if I were you,” Silas said, appearing from nowhere. He had a cigarette in one hand and a full champagne glass in the other. “This is for you,” he said. “You were looking a little flushed dancing with Markham out there. I thought maybe you were thirsty.”
    I accepted the drink, although I didn’t tell him that the flush was from arousal and not exertion. He probably already knew.
    He leaned against the railing, still smoking. “If people see you with that envelope, mark my words: there will be gossip. Not that everyone isn’t gossiping about you right now anyway, but it’s all good gossip so far. With that envelope, you will create a reputation that will be hard to undo.”
    “Is the Baron that reviled?”
    Silas nearly choked on his cigarette smoke. “Reviled? Hardly. The Baron’s parties are the most exclusive parties in London. Everyone is dying to get in, and so of course those that don’t get invited are bitter beyond belief. But it’s the bitterness of the jealous. Those same people pander to the Baron and his friends constantly in order to be included in one of his fetes.”
    “Even though they know the parties he throws are not quite…proper?”
    “It’s because of that. It’s London, Ivy, in the most exciting century to be alive. Why wouldn’t people want to have a little fun? And the Baron guards his parties and his guests’ privacy very carefully, so you can be assured that you can sit before the rector on Sunday without sweating.”
    I tucked the envelope into my dress, still undecided about whether I would go or not. I wasn’t worried about my reputation so much as myself. If I went, would I find myself drawn to all the things I’d been trying to avoid? I knew I would.
    Such temptation.
    I turned to Silas. “What is Mr. Markham doing?”
    “I beg your pardon?”
    “Why is he being so…” I searched for the right word. “Well-behaved?”
    “Are you complaining?”
    My cunt still hummed with the need to be fucked, but my mind was mostly clear. Mr. Markham wanted me, but he was willing to do it on my terms. He was willing to keep himself apart from me. I could barely stand it, so I knew it had to be next to impossible for him. “I’m not complaining.”
    “He loves you.”
    “And I love him. But that doesn’t make us right for each other.”
    “What does that even mean?”
    I stared into the garden. “We don’t bring out the best in each other. And he has a lot of ‘not the best’ inside of him.”
    “I suggest you examine your definition of ‘best,’