Free Lord Savage by Mia Gabriel

brothel?” Lady Carleigh clucked with dismay. “Oh, my dear, it seems we do have
     a misunderstanding. When I met you, I believed you were an adventurous lady, full
     of spirit, and one who would contribute to my gathering.”
    I raised my chin. “I am spirited, yes, but that does not mean that I am a—a slattern.”
    “So what exactly does it mean?” The viscountess tipped her head to one side. “That
     you are a spirited prig? That you are too cowardly to explore the more interesting
     aspects of pleasure? That you are unable to trust another? That you are too fearful
     to give yourself over to delights so rich that you cannot even imagine them?”
    I didn’t answer, my head spinning with doubts. Explained this way, I did sound like
     a prude, and worse, a coward. Hadn’t I left New York behind for exactly this kind
     of experimentation? Hadn’t I wished to discover experiences that were far beyond my
     narrow past?
    “Especially when that pleasure would be in the arms of Lord Savage,” Lady Carleigh
     continued. “He has taken a great liking to you, you know. He is most particular in
     his choices of companionship, and I assure you that he was immediately drawn to you.”
    “He was?” I asked, pleased. “I was drawn to him as well. Though he has been somewhat—somewhat
     challenging.”
    “What man isn’t?” said the viscountess, sweeping her arm through the air to encompass
     challenging men everywhere. “But Lord Savage is worth that challenge, Mrs. Hart. Entirely.”
    I sighed, thinking of him. If ever a man was worth a challenge—any challenge—it would
     be Lord Savage.
    “Nor will our delightful little game be such a terrible ordeal,” Lady Carleigh continued.
     “It’s all in sport, you see, and great fun. You newcomers will now be called Innocents,
     because you are. Those of us who’ve visited here before become the Protectors, protecting
     and educating the Innocents in our ways. Surely you can find no threat in that?”
    I said nothing. I didn’t agree, but then, I no longer quite disagreed, either. After
     all, I truly was an innocent, in more ways than someone like Lady Carleigh could ever understand.
    “As soon as all the Innocents return to join us downstairs, the next stage of our
     entertainment will begin,” the viscountess continued. “Even now the Protectors are
     choosing the Innocents they wish to have under their, ah, tutelage, by submitting
     their selection by way of cards in a hat. It’s my role to announce the pairings, and
     then the true amusement begins.”
    “I see,” I said, reassured. With Lady Carleigh making the final decisions, there would
     be no question of my ending up with anyone other than Lord Savage. “What occurs after
     that?”
    “Why, I cannot say,” Lady Carleigh said, chuckling. “Each Protector will have a different
     method of instruction, just as each Innocent will have different inadequacies or failings
     that will need correction. All in sport, of course.”
    “Of course,” I murmured faintly. “But the pleasure that you promise—”
    “Oh, it will be there, I’m certain of that,” Lady Carleigh said blithely. “For the
     remainder of the week, the Innocent must do exactly as the Protector bids. Having
     played the part of an Innocent myself—for I would never ask my guests to do anything
     without having experienced it firsthand—I can assure you that you will enjoy yourself.”
    “If you have done it yourself,” I said slowly, “then I suppose it must not be so very
     bad.”
    “Not at all!” exclaimed the viscountess. “While the experience of being an Innocent
     may at first seem distressing, it is in fact quite, quite thrilling, and pleasurable.
     Especially if you draw a Protector like Lord Savage.”
    Slowly I retrieved the costume and smoothed it in my hands. It was not just the revealing
     nature of the costume that concerned me; it was also how it symbolized my lack of
     choice, and how I would be required