Cooper sat brooding in his study. He’d been so angry with Emily when Flint had sent him word that she was at Lucifer’s. What must he do to earn her trust? How could he convince her that he only wanted to help her? He’d done his damnedest to protect her at every turn, but each time, he’d failed.

Frustrated by his inability to earn her trust, he slammed his fist on his desk with a low growl. Perhaps he fought a losing battle? Perhaps she would never trust a man? Never trust him. Pain seared through his chest, and he welcomed the hurt. Maybe he could dull some of the ache if he burned the emotion from his soul. After all, life had been much simpler before he’d met Emily. Women were lovely companions for an evening, and then he moved on. Rarely did he dally more than once or twice with the same woman, unless she understood that there would be no romance.

But Emily had ensnared him. Captured his interest with her dichotomy—one part wallflower and one part hellion. In his quest to reconcile the two halves of her person, he’d found himself head over heels in love with her. And now, his heart had seized up as he’d realized she would never love him. Never trust him with the truth—let alone her heart.

His only recourse was to distance himself from her emotionally. She would retain the safety of his name, as well as the cloak of marriage to protect her from her problems and the sharp edge of ton tongues. But it seemed as if they were destined to live separate lives under the same roof.

The door to his study opened, and Peters stepped inside, carrying a silver salver. When he presented the flat tray bearing a folded piece of cream paper with his wife’s familiar scrawl on the front, Cooper sighed. So, it had come to this, an exchange of notes to communicate. He picked it up and dismissed his servant as he opened the correspondence.

Perfunctory. His wife had slipped out to attend a ball and had not bothered to request his attendance. Well, he could also get on about his life. Why should he remain at home sulking? So, the woman he’d married had no interest in his heart. He could press on without her, as well. With a determined stride, he left his study behind and went in search of his valet. He needed to change his clothing if he was going out for the evening.

* * *

It was near midnight by the time he found himself meandering into The Market in search of his friends. He climbed the stairs and headed to their usual room. It glowed with an enchanting light, with all the gold fabrics and trims. Linc and Wolf were the only two there, each holding a hand of cards.

“Where is everyone?” he asked as he sat at the card table.

Linc shrugged. “Flint is up to his usual business, and I think he dragged Arthur along to see the fights. That leaves just me and Wolf.”

Wolf eyed him with concern. “And why are you here?”

Cooper sighed. “I have no reason to be anywhere else.” He glanced at the sideboard and saw that his preferred whisky was missing. “I’ll be right back. Deal me into the next hand.”

Stepping into the hallway, he went in search of one of the upstairs maids. Finding everyone gone, he took the back stairs to see if he could acquire what he needed.

Just off the kitchen, he found the liquor closet, and happily, it was unlocked. He stepped inside and skimmed over the various labels, looking for the bottle he sought. He had just wrapped his fingers around the neck of the bottle when he heard voices.

“Are you ready?” a husky feminine voice asked.

“Yes,” a second female answered. Her voice was familiar, but he couldn’t reconcile the face his brain paired with the voice with his location. Clearly, he was more upset than he wanted to admit if he was hearing his wife’s voice in the back kitchen of The Market.

“Very well, stay close to me, and please ask any questions you may have.”

The husky voice sounded even more familiar.

“Of course. Thank you again for helping me.”

The second female spoke, and to Cooper’s horror, there was no doubt this time. The voice definitely belonged to his wife.

Once more, he had turned his back for a moment, and here she was sneaking off and finding more trouble. He listened as the pair of footsteps went up the stairs together. Abandoning his bottle, he found a cloak and mask near the back door and quickly donned both. Quietly, he slipped upstairs in the wake of his wife. As he neared the first landing, he heard her speaking to the other woman.

“You called this the hall of mirrors?”

The other woman chuckled. “Yes. It is a series of our rooms where the occupants can choose to be seen through the mirrors or not. For many, the notion of being watched is exciting.”

Cooper wanted to growl as his fury rose once more.

“And my husband, does he enjoy being watched?”

Another growl strangled in his throat. She was asking about him?

“Oh, he was not so interested in being watched, though he did at times seem to enjoy it. He tended to be more focused on the woman he was with, ensuring she enjoyed her time with him.”

Emily made a choked sound. “I see.”

“Here now, come sit. This man is receiving extra-special attention tonight. Mistress Lash is here to see to his desires. See how he is strapped to the bench? His arse and bollocks are exposed to her tender mercies.”

Emily’s voice came out in a whisper. “Miranda, is she going to whip him with that crop?”

“Oh, quite so. And he is going to relish every moment of it. He loves the bite of the crop on his pink bits.”

Cooper peeked around the curtain that protected the sitting area near the glass. His wife sat staring in rapt attention as she watched the anonymous man’s backside being striped. The crop landed over and over again, and his wife’s breath seemed to grow more agitated with each blow.

“Oh my,” she breathed when the man on the bench had a dildo shoved into his backside as Mistress Lash stroked his cock until he came.

“Come along, we should move to the next window.” Miranda ushered his wife along the corridor as he slipped behind a curtain to hide.

Once they were seated at the next window, Cooper crept near so he could see and hear. What was his wife doing at The Market? It took great willpower to resist charging into the alcove to demand answers. Somehow, he managed. For the moment.

Peeking around the curtain, he caught a glimpse of three people entwined. A woman lay on her back with her legs spread as one man feasted on her pussy. Another man was sliding his cock in and out of the woman’s mouth as though he were fucking her.

Emily sat for a few moments, taking in the activity. “I find it difficult to believe my husband would welcome such an interaction where I am concerned. May we move on?”

His heart skipped a beat. Could she truly be there for them? For him?

“Very well.” Miranda rose, and they moved to the next alcove with Cooper shadowing them. Emily’s guide waved a hand toward the next window. “This may be more to your liking.”

In this next display, a woman was strapped to a spanking bench with her knees on either side. A man knelt near her bottom, where he proceeded to lick her quim. As they watched, he pushed two fingers into her pussy, swirling them about before he withdrew and lifted them to her anus. There, he impaled her on his fingers. She cried out, her hips bucking as he continued to lap at her clit. After stretching her a bit more, he pulled out and reached down to produce a dildo with a wide, flared base. He used a salve to lubricate it before pushing it into her channel. Then he used the same salve to prepare his cock. As Emily watched, her gaze fixated on the scene, he pushed deep in the woman’s arse until his balls rested against her flesh.

A low moan escaped from Emily as she whipped out her fan and put it to good use. Clearly, she was as affected as he was, with his cock standing at full staff as he imagined doing the same thing to his hellion.

The two women lingered over the scene until the man and woman both found their release. Once they moved on, Cooper took a moment to shift his aching shaft. At this rate, Emily would quite possibly be the death of him. How many more scenes did she need to view?

Miranda shuffled them along to the next window, while Cooper contemplated how much longer he would allow this education of his wife to continue. As it appeared she was there of her own volition, the question was: did the erotic scenes excite her? If her breathing was any indication, he would venture to guess she quite liked some of what she’d witnessed. Perhaps he would remain hidden while she viewed a few more scenes…purely in the interest of gauging her response.

Slipping once more into the main hall and then peeking into the next alcove, he found his wife witnessing a woman playing the role of slave to her master. While he enjoyed being in control, he was not so dominant as to need to make a woman crawl to him, though as he imagined Emily doing so, he could not deny the throb of excitement that pulsed within. Interesting.

As they watched, the man laid the woman down and showed her two small balls. He promptly inserted them into her cunny. Next, he leaned over her and sucked on one of her nipples until it grew more prominent. Then he attached a small clamp to the peak from which dangled a gemstone. He repeated the action on her other breast. Cooper quickly found himself imagining his wife with emeralds dangling from her beaded tips, and he damn near lost control.

His body trembling with need for her, he was about to reveal himself when Miranda leaned over and spoke to Emily. “Those balls are the most pleasurable torture I have ever experienced. Watch her carefully now as she serves him dinner.”

As the woman took a few steps across the room to the sideboard where a meal stood ready, she paused. Her whole body stilled, yet she quaked like a leaf in the wind. She resumed her path across the room only to stop as she reached the food. Her knees gave a little and she hung on to the furniture as her whole body flushed.

“What has he done to her?” his wife asked her companion.

“Those balls shift within her channel, rubbing against her walls and causing intense pleasure to the point of orgasm. Each time she stops, she is coming.” Miranda had turned slightly to answer Emily, giving Cooper a glimpse of the pleasure that she was remembering. Clearly an experience to be savored.

“And the jewels on her nipples? Does that not hurt?” Emily’s forehead scrunched up a bit.

“Only at first. Just as some people enjoy the bite of the crop, others enjoy the pinch provided by the small clamps attached to the jewels. These two are exploring the pleasure-pain dynamics written about by men such as the Marquis de Sade, though to a much lesser extreme.” Miranda hesitated. “Would you like to move on?”

Emily shook her head, seemingly unable to reply as she took in the woman in the room coming so hard that her juices had begun to paint her thighs. Cooper found the scene much more erotic than he would have imagined. and considering his wife’s reaction, filed it away for future reference.

As the woman delivered dinner to the table and then promptly knelt to suck the man’s cock while he dined, Emily shifted on the bench with another low moan.

After a few murmurs, the ladies rose and moved to the next alcove. Cooper trailed behind them; however, this time, Miranda glanced back and gave him a wink. Damn, she’d seen him. Of course, she would also be aware of who he was since they were well acquainted and the fact that his wife was her companion. He girded his loins for one more display and crept up to peek in. To Cooper’s great horror, he was looking into the gold room.

Bloody hell! If he had not gone in search of a drink and then been distracted, he might well have been in that room when his wife approached. Though, as he took a gander and realized his friends were deep into their activities, he also realized he likely would have left once they started having sex. It simply would have felt wrong even to be in the room. With a little sigh of relief, he took another look to assess the action. It appeared that Linc and Wolf each had a woman to occupy them, as did Flint, who had arrived after he had departed.

He looked again and was grateful to realize Emily’s brother was nowhere in sight. In the room, Wolf had a redheaded woman strung up on a coat hook by a cravat tied around her wrists. He was busy spanking her reddening arse. Linc was on the bed with a brunette who wore a dildo strapped to her pelvis as she plunged the stone phallus deep in his arse. And then there was Flint, who was occupied with another brunette and a blonde. The darker-haired girl was riding his cock as the fair-headed one sat on his face. Every so often, the brunette would slide off his cock and the blonde would bend over and suck his rod into her mouth.

Emily’s breathing grew more labored. And damn it, he couldn’t be sure which of the scenes excited her. He knew which was his favorite. Which he’d prefer to reenact with her, but did her desires align with his? There was only one way to discover the truth. He slipped into the alcove with his wife and Miranda. The woman rose and quickly departed the niche where his wife sat so enraptured by the small orgy before her that she did not notice when he joined her.

“If I had my choice of the three options, I’d string you up and spank your bottom.”