Any Way You Want It (Brand Clan #2)(69)

Zandra smiled demurely. “When does it ever hurt to be an expert on anything?”

One side of his mouth lifted in a smile. “Well played.”

Grinning, Zandra glanced toward the entrance to the hall. She could see people milling around, but so far no one had ventured into the exhibit.

Deciding she and Remy had better leave before she was mistaken for a real tour guide again, she took Remy’s hand and ushered him from the hall.

“I need to use the ladies’ room,” she told him as they headed up to the second floor of the building, which was far less populated than the first level.

Remembering what had happened the last time they were at a museum together, Zandra gave him a warning look. “Don’t follow me.”

He chuckled, snapping his fingers. “Damn. I was just about to do that, too.”

“I know you were.” She shook her head at him. “Wait for me by the Kama Sutra exhibit.”

He wiggled his brows suggestively. “Is that code for—”

Zandra laughed, pointing him in the direction she wanted him to go.

Inside the clean restroom, she found the bag she’d secretly stowed earlier and quickly changed into the costume she’d bought at an adult store in Chicago.

When she emerged wearing a belted trench coat and red stiletto boots, Remy ran a slow, speculative gaze over her. Just as slowly, he smiled.

“What’re you wearing under there?”

Zandra smiled mysteriously. “You’ll see soon enough. Follow me.”

She took his hand and guided him to a rear stairwell that led up to the third level, which the museum’s owner had agreed to close to the public for the night.

Zandra’s spiky heels clicked seductively against the floor as she escorted Remy down a shadowy corridor to a glass-fronted chamber, where an antique Victorian bed was on display. It was decadently draped in red silk and featured ornate medallions on the head and footboard.

“What’s this room?” Remy murmured as they entered the chamber.

“This,” Zandra proudly explained, “is the museum’s showpiece exhibit. This bed belonged to one of the last great courtesans of Victorian London.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Her name was Millicent, but everyone called her Millie. She was rumored to be the illegitimate daughter of King Edward the Seventh, but he never acknowledged her birth. She grew up to become a fashion trendsetter and one of the most beautiful women in England. Men couldn’t resist her and, well, she couldn’t resist them.”

Remy grinned wickedly. “Sounds like my kind of woman.”

Zandra smiled, sauntering over to the bed. “Some of Millie’s benefactors included political leaders, intellectuals, aristocrats, even members of the British royal family.”

“Yeah?”

“Mmm-hmm.” Zandra seductively trailed her fingertips over the silk spread. “She embraced her sexuality and enjoyed many pleasurable liaisons in this very bed.”

Remy cast an appreciative glance over the antique showpiece. “Many, huh?”

Zandra nodded, lips twitching with humor. “But she was known to be something of a control freak in bed.”

“Really?” Remy looked both amused and fascinated. “How so?”

“Well—” Zandra sighed dramatically “—Millie’s biggest lament in life was that she would never become queen. She was a courtesan who wanted more than anything to ascend to the throne someday. But it wasn’t possible, especially since her father refused to even acknowledge her existence. It saddened and angered her. So whenever she was in bed with her lovers, she made them call her ‘my queen’ or ‘Your Highness.’ And if they didn’t, she punished them in ways you can’t imagine.”

Remy’s eyes gleamed with lascivious interest. “What kind of ways?”

Zandra smiled enigmatically. “Let’s just say it kept them coming back for more.”

“Damn. That good, huh?” Remy grinned, shaking his head at Zandra. “Are you making this all up?”

“Of course not. Why would you think that?”

“Beautiful woman with lousy father. Fashion trendsetter. Unconventional occupation. Lusted after by hordes of men.” His mouth twitched. “Sounds like someone we both know.”

Zandra gave him a blank look. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Uh-huh.” He chuckled, pointing to the bed. “Are those the original sheets?”

“No.” The museum’s owner had replaced the linens for Zandra’s purposes. “Anyway, what made Millie so desirable to men was that she was different from the well-bred English girls who came to London for the Season. Millie wasn’t at all repressed. She was exciting, adventurous. Naughty.”

“Mmm,” Remy murmured. “I’m liking her more and more.”

Zandra grinned. “Oh, but I don’t think you could have handled a woman like her.”

He arched a brow. “And why not?”

“Because you’re too domineering, Remy. Too much of a control freak. You could never be...submissive in bed.”

“Submissive?” he repeated.

Zandra laughed. “It even sounds foreign coming out of your mouth.”

“That’s not true. I can be—” he paused over the word “—submissive.”