Free What A Rogue Wants by Julie Johnstone

for
pleasure, but for once he wasn’t filled with the rush of desire a
beautiful woman usually caused. The woman pulled on her dark,
threadbare gown and turned her back to Grey and Gravenhurst, who
now stood fully clothed by Grey. “Lace me up?”
    Gravenhurst quickly obliged. When he
finished, the woman swiveled around, planted a kiss on his mouth,
and then reached behind her and twined her long hair into a knot at
the nape of her neck. “You were exactly what I needed last night,
my lord.”
    “ Likewise.” Gravenhurst
handed the woman a gleaming, gold coin.
    She tucked the coin between her
breasts, and then locked her gaze on Grey. “You’ve a reputation,
you know.”
    “ So I’ve been told. Am I
to believe I’m so notorious now that I’m the talk of
the―?”
    “ Ladies-in-waiting.”
    He instantly pictured Lady Madelaine.
“If you’re trying to intrigue me, miss, you’ve succeeded. Do
tell.”
    “ I accidentally overheard
them placing wagers on who would win your heart.”
    That could be a boon or a curse,
depending on which side of the wager Lady Madelaine placed her
blunt. “You accidentally overheard them?” He raised a questioning
eyebrow. “As in you eavesdropped?”
    “ Nay. I was tidying the
queen’s drawing room when they came in. I had to hide because we
chambermaids aren’t supposed to be seen.”
    A sarcastic comment burned to be said,
but he had no wish to give her anymore reason to despise the
queen’s ladies as her derisive tone indicated she already did.
Instead he asked, “Did all the ladies place a wager?”
    The woman’s smirk turned to downright
amusement. “Don’t tell me a particular lady has caught your
fancy?”
    The question made Grey grind his
teeth. Lady Madelaine had bewitched him a bit, but it was nothing a
good romp wouldn’t cure. He wasn’t his father. He didn’t want to
get married and have children so he could ignore all but one of
them. He sure as hell wasn’t going to go falling in love with Lady
Madelaine and pledge his life to her. That would be just like his
father, and he was done trying to please the old bastard. “Not
really.”
    “ All wagered but
one.”
    “ Which lady?”
    “ You’re quite certain one
of them hasn’t stirred your appetite?”
    Madelaine had done more than stir his
appetite. With one encounter she’d unleashed it, and it seemed his
need to know her was only growing. “Quite certain.” The words
barely escaped his clenched teeth.
    “ If you say so. Goodbye,
milords.” The woman was out the door without waiting for a
reply.
    Grey grabbed his coat off the chair,
shoved his arms in and glared at Gravenhurst. “I’ll not have time
for breakfast thanks to you allowing your guest to sleep over.” He
was being unaccountably surly toward Gravenhurst, but he couldn’t
seem to stop his growing irritable mood.
    “ Don’t try to tell me we
kept you up. We were long finished by the time you crept
in.”
    “ Yes, but she detained me
just now.”
    Gravenhurst chuckled. “Aye. For five
whole minutes. How tedious for you. What’s really the
matter?”
    Grey shrugged. He wished he
knew.
    Gravenhurst grinned. “Is it because a
certain lady is here at Court? Is Miss Prattle still under your
skin? Have you tried to meet her again and she didn’t bother
showing?”
    “ Shut up,” Grey
snapped.
    Gravenhurst frowned. “Kidding aside.
Did things not go well with the king?”
    “ He was indisposed all day
and night, but he refused to excuse me. I don’t comprehend why the
king wants to speak with me― a mere equerry to a lesser land
holder. I’m of no importance.”
    Gravenhurst splashed water on his face
before toweling it off and replying. “He honors you because of your
father.”
    Grey nodded, his irritation deepening.
Never mind that he had wanted a commission. He was to be an equerry
as his father commanded. The irony of his situation set his teeth
on edge. His father had never taken any interest in him until Grey
had told