The Servant Duchess of Whitcomb

by Vicktor Alexander

  “I will never make the same profession that His Grace of Pompinshire just did. Though we will be told that we are one, I believe we will be of one soul, one purpose, one journey and one destination, one heart. I will never fully know your entire mind, Chester, this I can tell you with the utmost certainty, nor do I want to. I long to spend the rest of eternity learning about you. You will be my greatest challenge and my most complicated riddle. I welcome it with anticipation.”

  “Your Grace, what an incredibly endearing thing for you to say,” Chester said, his melodic voice settling over Orley like morning dew.

  “Have any of you knowledge of how long it will take us to get to the Green?” Quincy asked.

  Orley hummed, thinking of the distance from Southerby to the border of Gretna Green. “With the tolls and stops we will have to make,

  I should think about a week.”

  Yarborough sighed and slouched down in his corner of the coach. Chester chuckled and Orley turned to look at him.

  “It does take a bit of the spontaneity out of the elopement, does it not, Your Grace?” Chester said with a shrug.

  “I see your point, Lady Chester. It does. Though it does afford the eloping couple the opportunity to turn back should they choose to do so,” he pointed out.

  “That it does,” Chester agreed. He nibbled on his bottom lip.

  Orley leaned over to Chester and whispered in his ear. “Though there is naught that will make me turn from making you my husband as soon as humanly possible, I assure you, my lady. Were that we had a man of the cloth within our party, I would say our vows now, then whisk you away to Tparis and spend weeks with you in my arms as my new duchess.”

  Chester’s cheeks turned a pretty shade of rosy red, and Orley grinned, delighted that he had made the young woman blush. He sat back, pleased with himself, and placed his hands over his groin, which had plumped slightly with arousal at his own words. He wished he had the power to cause the horses pulling the coach to fly so they could hurry to Gretna Green for he grew impatient, but he knew that patience was a virtue.

  But it was one he was sorely lacking. Especially in regards to his wedding and then bedding Chester, once again.

  They pulled up to the Bear & Otter Inn hours later for their first stop. It was the only inn that could adequately accommodate a party of their size. Chester covered his mouth as he yawned, then stared up at the building where they would be staying. The coaches and carriages had been taken around to the back of the building and the horses to the stables, where they would be groomed and cared for. Chester had clutched Orley’s hand fiercely as Orley’s beloved stallion, a Tarabian that Orley had tried and failed to introduce Chester to, had neighed loudly when one of the stableboys had attempted to grab hold of Gideon’s reins.

  “He is head shy,” Orley had explained to Chester.

  “I have no clue what that means,” Chester told Orley as they stepped inside the inn.

  “He doesn’t like to be tied by lead ropes and has issue with anyone but me or my lead groom gripping his reins by his head. If one just takes his reins but does not get near his ears, he is fine. His breeder was a horrid man. One that my uncle took horsewhip to for his treatment of his livestock.”

  Chester’s eyes widened. He did not care much for animals—they were large and scary and he could swear they wanted to eat him—but he would not see them come to harm. “I am glad your uncle did such a thing to him.” He nodded. “I am not one for violence, my lord. I find it detestable. But I must admit, to hurt innocent creatures is disgusting and warrants punishment.”

  They came to a stop within the building, listening as the Duke of Pompinshire concluded speaking with the proprietor of the inn. The duke walked over with a smile after shaking hands with the owner, who looked a bit stunned, his hand holding a large purse, no doubt filled with bank notes.

  “I have secured rooms for us and, with the help of His Grace, have figured out a way to separate us in a manner that will satisfactorily see us all in rooms with spouses as we need to be or chaperoned as we should be.” Heathcliff nodded toward Chester.

  “Lady Chester, unfortunately, we did not think to bring what society dictates is a suitable chaperone on this trip, with your parents being… servants and sleeping with the other maids and footmen, and we have nothing but married couples and bachelors on this trip, as well as your fiancé. However, the owner has stated that his sister, Madeline, is a spinster and would act as chaperone for you and your sisters while you are here.” Heathcliff gestured to an older woman who stepped from the back room. Though she didn’t look too much older than Heathcliff, her red hair had wisps of gray at the temples, and her green eyes held a hint of mischief in them.

  Chester smiled shyly at her and was startled when she winked back at him. “Aye. Come, lass. I be takin’ you and your sisters up to yer rooms now to freshen up before suppertime. Bid farewell to His Grace. You shall see him in an age.”

  Chester turned to Orley whose lips were twitching in amusement. He curtsied. “Good eve, Your Grace. I shall see you for supper?” Orley took Chester’s hand and placed a light kiss upon his fingers. “I await it anxiously.”

  Madeline removed Chester’s fingers from Orley’s grip. “That be enough of that, you cheeky devil. Come now, Lady Boland. Let us be away so that ye may return after ye have washed up.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Chester turned away with a final smile at Orley and followed Madeline to the room he would be sharing with his sisters.

  Later that evening, Chester eased the door closed softly behind him and walked on bare feet down the hall toward Orley’s room following the instruction given to him by Madeline.

  His Grace the Duke of Whitcomb has been placed four doors down on the right from your own, separated by three married couples so as to protect your virtue. I am quite the heavy sleeper. I always have been. His room is his own, due to my brother’s honor at his and the Duke of Norfolk’s patronage of our inn. If you were to go to him, why, I’m not sure that I would even be aware of it.

  It had taken Chester’s sister, Maribelle, to explain what Madeline was trying to tell him, and it was Bena’s insistence that he go. And now Chester was stealthily making his way past his parents’ room, who had finally been convinced to sleep upstairs with the rest of them, the Duke and Duchess of Norfolk’s room, and the Duke and Duchess of Pompinshire’s room. Standing in front of Orley’s room, his heart thundering, palms sweating, and a lump forming largely in his throat, Chester felt ill.

  Raising a hand he lightly knocked on the door. He gasped when it was wrenched open and he was pulled inside. A hand was placed over his mouth, and he was pressed against the now closed portal. He stared with a wide gaze at his fiancé, who grinned at him.

  “Lady Madeline warned me of your plight. You are a foolish girl, Lady Chester, but I am thrilled by your bravery and find myself growing warm and hardening at your stealth to sneak into my room this night.” He removed his hand and pressed his lips down upon Chester’s own.

  Chester moaned as the taste of Orley filled his mouth. He moved his arms around his fiancé’s neck, getting as close to Orley as he could. As Orley’s hands moved down to his bottom and squeezed the globes through his clothes, Chester gave a slight squeak. Orley chuckled, though he did not separate from their kiss. He pressed Chester harder against the door, pulling up the delicate linen of his night rail.

  “I love this garment on you, my dear. It makes you appear as one so pure and radiant. An untouched angel, sent by God himself to bless me with a miracle,” Orley said when he lifted his lips to place small kisses down Chester’s neck.

  “Is it not more like a fallen angel, Your Grace? Sent by Lucifer to tempt you with pleasures of the flesh into a life of debauchery and lust?” Chester gasped as Orley nibbled on his throat.

  He trembled as Orley nuzzled his skin, clenching his fists in Orley’s hair, forgetting for a moment what it was they had been discussing. Something about angels and demons
and… good Lord, was that the duke’s tongue sucking on his nipples through the fabric of his nightgown? The dual sensation of wet heat and the abrasion of the linen caused pleasure to spike within him, and Chester’s prick stiffened further, wetting the front of his night rail. Chester yearned to feel Orley deep within him, and his hands scrambled along his fiancé’s back seeking purchase, reaching farther up Orley’s body to bury themselves in the man’s hair as he gasped and moaned.

  “I am afraid, Lady Chester, that if I do not remove this blasted garment from your delectable body this minute, that I will tear it asunder and you will be forced to return to your room sans clothing. Which means that I will be required to rip to shreds any man who will dare to look unto your body with anything other than brotherly affection,” Orley growled.

  Chester chuckled. “Then perhaps, Your Grace, it might be best that we remove my night rail and move onto the bed?”

  Orley shook his head. “I said naught about moving our position, my dear. I find myself wanting you against the door. Unless that displeases you?”

  Chester blushed furiously as the image of himself pressed against the wood at his back as Orley thrust deep inside of him sent heat flooding through him. “N-no. It does not.”

  Orley grinned. “Splendid. Shall we disrobe you, then?” Without anything further spoken between them, Orley’s hands moved quickly as he divested Chester of his linen attire until Chester stood bare before the duke. Chester lowered his hands, feeling shy all of a sudden, but stopped when Orley grabbed them and kissed the backs of them.

  “Your body is gorgeous and should never be covered. Would that we lived in the Garden of Eden, so that I could see your flesh among the trees and flowers, surrounded day and night by beauty, with light shining upon your delectable skin like chocolate. That would truly be paradise,” Orley said softly.

  Chester lifted his lips for the kiss that Orley placed on his mouth, relishing the taste of the other man, luxuriating in his flavor, as Orley’s hands smoothed up over his arms to his shoulders to pull them flush together. Chester shivered at the feeling of Orley’s shirt against his naked flesh, and he ran his fingers down to the buttons and slowly began to free them one by one until Orley’s chest was bared to him. He tilted his head back as Orley kissed down his neck and moaned as the duke nipped at the flesh there.

  “You taste so succulent. Like a strawberry. Were you aware of this, Chester?”

  “No,” Chester panted. “I have not been given cause to taste myself, Orley.”

  Orley chuckled. “I guess that would be right. Well. When you have a chance, you really must take the opportunity. You are quite the tasty morsel, my dear.”

  Chester shook his head. “I shall have to take your word for it, Your Grace.”

  Chester looked down when he heard the rustle of fabric and saw Orley removing his trousers. He grew breathless with anticipation. It made no sense to him, but he felt empty. He needed to be filled and knew that only Orley’s thick shaft would do the job properly. They had not been given many opportunities to lie with each other while at Southerby Manor, but even the few chances that had been offered to them were enough to leave a permanent impression upon Chester’s mind. He was thoroughly marked. Drawn forever to the flame of the duke’s passion and power. He yearned for the man. He ached to be joined with Orley once again.

  “You are whimpering, love. Are you in distress?” Orley’s voice sounded concerned as he rose to his full height, having removed his clothing. He lifted a hand and placed it against the side of Chester’s face, rubbing his thumb alongside Chester’s cheek.

  “No.” Chester shook his head. He licked his lips as he stared at Orley’s tanned form.

  “Ah.” Orley grinned. He ran one hand down his chest and grabbed his erection. He stroked his engorged cock from root to tip, collecting the pearlescent liquid that gathered at the head on his thumb. He lifted it up to Chester’s lips.

  Chester gasped and covered his mouth. “Oh heavens above. What are you asking me to do, Orley? I have never done such a thing.”

  “If you do not like it, you do not have to do it again, but there are many ladies who enjoy the taste of a man’s seed upon their tongue, my dear.”

  Chester stared at the fluid on Orley’s finger and back to Orley’s face. Leaning forward, he stuck out his tongue and hesitantly licked at the offered digit. The taste was not wholly unpleasant, though it was not ambrosia either. However, it was the low groan coming from Orley’s throat that was most exciting. Chester glanced up and, feeling bold, opened his mouth and sucked Orley’s thumb between his lips.

  Chester let out a moue of protest when Orley jerked his finger free, which was quickly silenced by his mouth being taken by a fierce kiss. He threw his arms around Orley’s neck and wrapped his legs around Orley’s waist as he was hoisted up in Orley’s embrace. Chester knew they had to be silent, for any sounds of loud passion and lovemaking coming from Orley’s room were sure to cause suspicion, but, when Orley reached out for the bottle of oil on the dresser and poured some on his fingers without releasing Chester’s lips, their dicks rubbing against one another, Chester could not stop his harsh moan.

  Orley’s slick fingers probed at Chester’s rear entrance, momentarily diverting Chester’s attention from their kiss, and his focus turned to the sensation of the pressure against his pucker. He relaxed his muscles, remembering Orley’s instruction from previous encounters, and hummed with pleasure as those thick fingers entered his channel. He turned his mind back to the kiss, burying his hands in Orley’s hair, pulling his fiancé’s head tight to his own as he pressed down onto the fingers in his rectum.

  He was aware of Orley’s desire to be assured that he was adequately stretched and prepared, but Chester’s body was thrumming with lust, and it needed to be sated at that very moment or he would explode. Yanking Orley’s head back, Chester looked down into the man’s face. “Take me now, Orley,” he demanded.

  Orley shook his head. “You are not yet ready, Chester.”

  “I care not one whit for preparation, Orley. I desire only quenching the fire that burns within me. It roars like a beast, and only you can put it out. I need you now, Orley, before I give in to madness from wanting you.”

  Orley stared at Chester and gave him a half smile. “Far be it for me to cause such a malady, my lady.” He slid his fingers free, and Chester breathed a sigh of relief when he felt the blunt tip of Orley’s erection at his entrance only moments later. He stared into Orley’s eyes, captured by the passion he saw burning in their blue depths. “Deep breaths, gorgeous.”

  Chester nodded and did as instructed, hissing as he was impaled on Orley’s thickness. The burn was almost overwhelming, but he would not complain. He had asked for this, almost begged for it, and knew that pleasure waited for him on the other side. As Orley continued sliding deeper inside his body, Chester ran his hands over his beloved’s frame, biting his lower lip. When Orley’s groin finally rested against the curve of his bottom, Chester sighed in relief and squirmed.

  “Don’t. Move,” Orley cautioned him. Chester stopped moving and stared at Orley in confusion.

  “Our earlier interrupted liaison left me in a bit of a state, my lady, and being inside you now leaves me in the precarious position of being dangerously close to spilling my seed quickly. I would not have you unsatisfied.”

  Chester smiled, thrilled to know that Orley was so affected by him. His grin left him in a rush when Orley lifted a hand to pinch one of his nipples. His head fell back to knock against the wood of the door behind him. He knew he would feel its effects later, but could give no thought to the pain at that moment. As Orley began to thrust in and out of him slowly, Chester moaned, his hands moving in frantic motions over Orley’s back, into Orley’s hair, and up into his own.

  Before long Orley’s plunges into Chester’s body quickened, and Chester’s body responded. The spot inside him that brought him so much pleasure was constantly being pegged by Orley’s possession of his body. C
hester covered his mouth as his toes curled, desire raced throughout his body, and his orgasm swept over him. Wet heat splattered his chest as he moaned Orley’s name into the palm of his hand and trembled. No sooner had his own begun to wane than Orley crested over the edge of desire and buried his face in the side of Chester’s neck, his seed filling Chester’s bottom.

  Chester shivered at the sensation, a brief thought flashing across his mind of getting pregnant with Orley’s child, before he shoved the thought away. It was much too soon to entertain such notions. He gasped for breath, his arms still wrapped tightly around Orley’s neck, as he shivered at the wet kisses being placed along his collarbone by the duke.

  “You are more beautiful than King Solomon’s beloved. More enchanting than Cleopatra. More alluring than Juliet. More intoxicating than Nefertiti, and more hypnotizing than Helen of Troy,” Orley murmured.

  “You are naming women who led men to their deaths,” Chester said with a pout.

  Orley chuckled. “I am naming women who men laid down their lives for.” He lowered Chester to his feet, captured Chester’s face in his hands, and placed a gentle kiss on the tip of his nose. “It is the misogyny of men to claim it is the fault of these women that led the men to their deaths. This is not true. Love requires a sacrifice from those who dare to claim its power. Beauty sometimes makes fools of men, but when you throw love into the mix it demands proof of the sentiment. The men who loved these women simply had to give their lives as payment.”

  Chester lifted his hand and brushed back Orley’s hair. “Why, Your

  Grace, I do believe that Lady Lucien was right about you.” Orley tilted his head to the side. “In regards to what?” “You are a romantic.” Chester grinned.

  Orley laughed. “Only with you, my lady. Only with you.”

  Chester accepted the kiss Orley placed on his lips and looked around for his clothing. “I best return to my room before my absence is noted.”