Page 63 of Deviant Duchess
“There is Nigel,” he said, nodding toward the man. “I am going to speak to him and then we are going to go. The crowd is feral tonight; no one wants to converse. They’re too touch-starved for the women behind the curtain.”
Annoyance seeped into Deborah’s bloodstream. They were at the best place possible for answers, yet they were only going to talk to one man? She turned her head back to the crowd they’d just come through, ready to tear from his grip and find answers- and that was when she realized Cedric was right.
There was a rumble among the crowd, but they were not voices of conversations, but curses of lust and desire. She watched as several men smoothed their palms over their crotch, or wrapped their hands around their own throats, or some even reached toward the men they were standing beside. Her eyes widened behind her mask at the sight. She had worked as the auction’s barmaid, yes, but she’d been too busy pouring drinks and keeping an eye out for Sylvester to notice how the crowd behaved. Now, though, with neither to focus on, she saw just how desperate the men who came there were for erotic attention.
A quiver of disgust moved through her body at all she saw, and as Cedric pulled her toward the bar, she made no attempt to stop him.
“Nigel, sir! How are you?” Cedric said boisterously as they approached the bar.
The man Deborah had gotten to know as the auction’s handler turned in his stool and stared curiously at Cedric as he fisted his pint of ale. He spared a glance at Deborah, at how Cedric held her wrist, then looked back at Cedric.
“Mute and deaf,” Cedric answered, pointing to Deborah before Nigel could ask, “Poor fellow. Thought bringing him here would guarantee a good mistress.”
Nigel chortled and, for a moment, looked as if he were about to relax.
“Well, you have come to the right place then, Lord,” Nigel replied. “I thought that red mask looked familiar. You bought that red bird from us about a month ago, yes?”
Behind her mask, Deborah sneered with disgust, hating that she was being talked about as if she were nothing more than a pet for Cedric’s amusement.
“I did indeed,” Cedric answered cockily, leaning his elbow casually on the bar.
Nigel grunted, then turned to look at Deborah again. This time, though, his gaze lingered- a bit too long.
“And how did she work out for you?” Nigel asked, his eyes still roaming over Deborah.
“Fierce and supple. Precisely how I like them,” Cedric replied.
Nigel huffed out a laugh, then slowly drew his gaze back to Cedric.
“She seemed the sort,” Nigel said. “Lots of angry customers that night. All disappointed that you outbid them all.”
“I am keen on taking what everyone else wants,” Cedric replied in a dry, arrogant tone.
“Well, if your friend here is looking to acquire the type of rare bird you did, he is out of luck tonight. We got no sorts even close to her,” Nigel answered, then turned to Deborah. She nearly startled when he then shouted, “Not that you should not bid! Still got some pretty things that will be happy to tickle your fancy!”
“He is deaf, not hard of hearing,” Cedric said testily as Nigel leaned a little closer to Deborah’s mask, as if trying to peer beyond it. “Neither yelling nor whispering will get through to him.”
Nigel grunted. “Right,” he muttered, still staring far too closely at Deborah’s mask.
He knows.The thought sent a tremor of worry up Deborah’s spine.
“Let us say my friend doesnotsee something he likes,” Cedric pushed on, “After all he may not talk or hear, but my man can see perfectly well. What if he is not pleased with the assortment?”
Nigel’s stare lingered on Deborah for another moment, then he turned to Cedric.
“Come back another night then,” Nigel said as he lifted his pint to his mouth, “Selection varies.”
“And what if we are…looking for something different?” Cedric asked, his tone dropping low.
Nigel swallowed his ale and set down his empty glass.
“Different how?” He asked.
Cedric rapped his knuckles twice on the bar, signaling the barmaid to refill Nigel’s glass.
“They beauties for the most part come here willingly,” Cedric explained, “What if we wanted a place where they were a little more…inhibited.”
Deborah watched as Nigel’s expression and body language immediately became more guarded.
