Lady Mistaken (Le Débauché Club) by Aubrey Beck Page A

had seemed the neighborly thing to do, inviting the young buck to the club’s first meeting of the season. “Losing your nerve?” he asked.
    Garwood shook his head and shrugged at the same time. “No, well…I hadn’t really imagined there’d be so many people. I…Well, I only require one female, you see.”
    Simon bit back a grin. One of Longfiel d’s ballroom orgies probably would seem a little intimidating to one who’d never engaged in carnal activities before. However, he did have the perfect solution to Garwood’s problem and his own, now that he thought about it. Simon gestured towards the staircase behind him. “Up those stairs, last door on the left is my set of rooms. You’ll find one girl in my bed, tell her I said for her to accommodate you.”
    The young lord’s mouth fell open again. “Is she your…”
    “Mistress?” Simon supplied. Then he shook his head. “No. She’s not mine no matter what her plans are. And, truthfully, I’m not even sure of her name.”
    Garwood’s eyes rounded in surprise.
    “I’m fairly certain it starts with an A,” Simon continued as though he’d been censured. “Though it’s probably just safer not to mention anything about names at all.”
    “Not even mine?”
    “Especially not yours,” he said. Though the sound of the girl in Haswell’s room, calling out the earl’s Christian name echoed anew in Simon’s ears. He still couldn’t imagine what, or rather who, had dragged that bit of information out of the tight-lipped Haswell. Very strange, that. He shook the errant thought from his mind. “Anyway, go in there. Tell her she’s to fuck you, and then get about doing it.”
    “That’s all?” Garwood asked.
    What else was there? “Do you need me to watch and call out instructions?”
    “Umm—no.” A blush stained the green lad’s face.
    Thank God. Simon wasn’t anxious to be that neighborly.
    “But,” Garwood continued. “That’s all I have t o say and…And she’ll just do it?”
    Simon chuckled. He couldn’t help it. “That is why she’s here. Already bought and paid for, courtesy of my brother.” He pointed to the stairs. “So get on with it. Go become a man.”
    Garwood nodded eagerly, just as he had when Simon had firs t suggested the fellow attend the night’s festivities.
    “ You’ll find her accommodating. But do me a favor, will you?”
    “Anything.”
    “When the two of you are done, make sure you take her with you when you leave. I’d rather she not stay the whole night in my chambers. Makes a woman start to expect things that are best not expected.”
    Garwood once again. “Of course, and thank you.”
    “You can thank me later.”
    Garwood took a deep breath and then started for the staircase, a bit of a bounce in his step.
    Simon ca lled after him, “And put on a damned domino. There are rules here, you know?”
    “Sorry,” he apologized. “My sister stole it from me.” Then t he young lord bounded up the steps and disappeared from view, before Simon could respond to that. Probably a blessing as he had no idea what he could possibly say.
    He heaved a sigh and then slid his own domino over his face. There were, after all, rules.
    Simon stepped into the ballroom and figured he’d find his brother standing sentry near the entrance. Julian was and always had been more voyeuristic than exhibitionist. But at first glance, he couldn’t spot the “Licentious Lord Longfield” near the entrance or any of the corners. Not on his second or third glances either. Strange, that.
    Had Julian joined the melee in the middle of the ballroom, th e mass of naked revelers all fucking, sucking and licking each other to a high crescendo? Hardly seemed like him. Multiple lovers were generally more to Simon’s liking than Julian’s. But perhaps…
    A flash of color across the room caught Simon’s eye, mainly because there were so few people actually clothed. But when his gaze landed on her , adorned in a deep blue cloak, her