No Greater Pleasure Read Online Free PDF

passed without my knowing.”
    “Then I will be here to make certain you do not faint over your cauldron from lack of food.”
    In his eyes Quilla thought she might have glimpsed a hint of humor, but it fled so fast she might have imagined it.
    “And I’m quite uncontrollably rude and demanding. I don’t have time to be anything else.”
    “Really?” Quilla replied calmly, keeping her eyes on his and allowing the faintest of tilts to turn her lips upward. “I’d never have guessed that about you.”
    Another flash, this time brighter, of something that almost managed to be amusement before his eyes darkened again. “Take care with your tongue, Handmaiden, else it put you into trouble.”
    She knew better than to push. Quilla ducked her head. “Your mercy, my lord.” But with her eyes fixed upon his unpolished boots, she had to struggle to keep from grinning.
    “My personal chambers are through that door.” He pointed as she looked up. “I will not require you to serve me there. I didn’t bring you here to warm my bed.”
    “I am here to please you. If you don’t wish me in your bed, I won’t go into it.”
    Delessan made a low, disgruntled noise. “Do you never take offense to anything?”
    At that, she did return her gaze to his. “I assure you, my lord, ’tis possible to offend me. Perhaps you need to work harder at it.”
    “Perhaps I shall.”
    And then he turned and left her to her work.

Chapter 2
     
     
     
     
     
    H er tasks had been laid out before her, easy to perform. Quilla oiled the door so it no longer squeaked. She polished the battered teakettle until it looked a bit more presentable and threw away all but the least chipped cups. Just a few things, here and there, that would make his space seem a bit less . . . unbearable.
    By the time the sun tinged the sky pink through the large windows, she’d done all she could. There was no purpose to re-creating the room all at once, aside from the fact she didn’t have the means to do it. She’d run out of time to do any sort of cleaning, really, so when she heard stirring in the master’s bedchamber, she smoothed back her hair and Waited.
    When he came out of the bedroom, she knew better than to expect a sleepy-eyed, tousled, and yawning man. Gabriel Delessan, despite the early morning hour, was impeccably groomed, perfectly dressed, and looked as though he’d been awake for hours. He entered the room without looking at her and puttered with some bubbling beakers before turning to face the fireplace where she knelt.
    When he turned, Quilla got to her feet and poured the just-boiled water into the teapot to steep. She set the teacup on the tray, added sugar and the steaming liquid. She had it held out to him before he even made it to the fireplace.
    “Less sugar,” was all he said after sipping.
    “I brought you some breakfast.” Quilla indicated the round table next to the chair. She’d set it with a white cloth. “I’m sure you’re hungry.”
    “I never eat in the morning.”
    True patience is its own reward.
    She had to repeat the principle three times in her head, even as she smiled and replied, “I’ll have it taken away, then.”
    He gave an aggrieved sigh. “Never mind. I’ll eat it. It would be wrong to waste it.”
    He sat and lifted the lid from the covered plate. “Scrambled? I prefer poached.”
    “I’ll remember that for tomorrow, my lord.”
    He gave her a suspicious glance. “I already told you—”
    “You don’t eat in the mornings. I know.” Quilla tilted her head to smile at him. “But you might change your mind tomorrow morning, as well, and as it is my place to make sure all your needs are met, I will be sure to have food here should you require it. It’s easy enough to send back if you don’t eat it.”
    He stared at her for a long moment, then turned in his seat to face the table. “I don’t know what they teach you in the Order of Solace, Handmaiden, or in the other houses to which you’ve