by Selena Kitt
“We’ll have time to talk, to learn the secrets of each other, after we’re married.”
“You have know what we’ve already done has consequences.”
Samuel quieted her with his mouth once again as he pushed the fabric from her shoulders and her arms. Rising to his knees, he slipped her garments from her, leaving her bare to the night and to him. He flicked his tongue over her hardened nipples.
“You’re a whirlwind to my heart,” she told him as he bared his body before her. Reaching up, she ran her fingertips down his chest. There was not much hair over his firm smoothness. Boldness overcoming her, she sat up and ran her palms over the nubs before licking them.
He cradled her head as she felt lips brushing her hair. “Oh, sweet, sweet Annie. You’ll cause my seed to spill if you keep doing this.”
She looked up at him. “Is that wrong?”
“No, oh, no,” he breathed. He leaned over and whispered in her ear, “I’m going to take you to heaven.” She trembled, but he continued. “I’m going to lave your pussy with my tongue and make you beg for my cock.”
Lillian fell into him while her heart fluttered, her belly jumped and sudden wetness came from her pussy. She reached for his cock, surprised at his heat. It moved and she looked down at it, feeling her face warm. She’d never ever thought about touching a man such a manner. It jerked and she let it go. He chuckled and she looked at him. “Teach me. Take me where you have before.”
He laid his hands along her cheeks. “It will be better.”
His lips brushed along her jaw as he leaned her back and lay alongside. Her hands moved over his damp, warm skin, kneading and filling with wonder at how right they seemed. Teeth grazed the flesh of her pale breasts and latched onto the pointed tip near him.
“Mmm.” She sighed as her body floated upward and back down.
He skimmed across her belly and her skin tingled, but she had no time to ponder the feeling for he slipped his fingers into her pussy, deep inside her.
“Oh, feels good,” she mumbled as she could no longer separate what he did from herself. Like leaf floating with the current, she let go and went with it.
Samuel kissed a trail lower to his fingers and she lifted her hips, her body seeming to know what to do, despite its lack of experience. His tongue entered her wetness and he moved between her legs. Her raspy breath vibrated on the air as he pushed her knees up and she could no longer see his face. She sought a solid hold with her hands and found the ground with her fingers, digging into the lush grass not yet browned for fall. Her body trembled and her legs wrapped around him.
“Samuel, Samuel,” she breathed. He pressed more into her and she felt him circling her folds and pulling on them. “God, oh, please.” Please what, she didn’t know. Her body coiled as if it was a spring getting ready to fling into the air. His tongue came up and over a place so sensitive, she felt her lungs stop working. He sucked and pulled, as he’d done her breasts. Tangling her fingers in his hair, she stiffened and air whooshed from her chest.
“So wonderfully beyond…” she mumbled as her body quaked.
He rose over her and entered her with his cock. “Oh, yes.” she muttered. The tips of her fingers dug into his arms as her body wildly convulsed. He didn’t stop moving in and out of her even when it seemed her body finished.
Samuel nuzzled her neck, his breathing coming out in gasps. “Annie, my sweet Annie.”
His body stilled but for a moment then he pounded her so hard and fast, new sensations rose and feeling of desire renewed.
“Oh, oh, never in the heavens,” she panted.
Samuel grunted. “Oh, my love, I shall not wait any longer,” he managed before his body shuddered and jerked with hers.
His breath coming out in harsh gasps, he lay beside her. “Wonderful,” he managed and brought her hand to his lips.
Lillian closed her eyes and pressed his hand with hers over her belly. She inhaled, held it and let it out.
“Now, we talk.” She patted his hand. “There’s a baby beneath your hand.” He remained quiet for so long, she looked at him to be sure he didn’t sleep. Hesitant to say more, she bit her lip, then added, “The consequence of our previous act.”
“A baby?”
It wasn’t so much the question, but his harsh tone which had her edging from him. “Doctor Victor, in Littleton, told me this morning.”
“Is that why you came tonight? To have me propose marriage—”
She sat up, looking down at him. “You do not know me,” she retorted, his meaning quite clear.
“It’s your word. You keep secrets. How—”
“That’s a vile thing to accuse!” Lillian spouted and rose from the ground to pull her dress on and gather her undergarments. “Love accepts, it doesn’t accuse,” she said, running off before tears came.
Rounding the far side of the house to get to her buggy, she slammed into someone lurking in the darkness. “Excuse me, sir. I did not see you.”
He grasped her arms, holding her away from him. She looked up into eyes the same as hers. Her father stared at her, but she could not tell if he knew her. Movement drew her attention to another man.
“My son is foolish. Take your leave. I will see he does not follow.”
Shaken by the collision with her father and her need to go, Lillian didn’t ponder the words until she was well away from the place. Samuel’s father, her father, too, saw and heard them. They’d given no thought to the sounds they made. Her breath hitched. If they only knew what hadn’t been loud enough for others to hear. There’d be no worry his son would come after her.
Chapter Six
Weeks passed and the weather turned dreary with chilling cold rains. The talk of Samuel’s indiscretion with the woman had been crude, but dwindled as days went. Still, the occasional word caught as she served the dining room informed her Samuel pined and searched for his Annie. It would have set heavy on her heart, if she hadn’t decided it’d the be ring he wanted back.
“Lil, come with me,” Mable said when she reentered the kitchen, coming from a summons to Mr. Hammond.
“Yes, ma’am,” she said, wiping her hands down her dress. She followed the woman through the house to a room. Inside, behind a large mahogany desk, sat Master Hammond.
“Sir, this is the young servant spoken of.”
“That’ll be all, Mable.”
He studied her. “My wife says you know when a position came open elsewhere, you’d be placed there. The Wadkins’ household is in need of help.”
“Yes, sir.” Turmoil began to rumble about her belly. Once in the house of the Wadkins, the game would be up the moment Samuel saw her. He’d know she was both Annie and Lil. Would he then listen to what she had to say?
Mr. Hammond set coins on the edge of the desk. “Your pay.”
“Sir, I work for no pay. Only food and shelter.” She took leave and saw Mable waiting in the hall. Without a word, she followed her out to their quarters.
“I will not tell Emma until you’ve left.”
“I will miss her…all of you.”
“Mr. Waldkins is harsh, but he’s fair.”
“I’ll change and take leave round the house so as not to be seen.”
“You will need the dress. Emma would want you to take it.”
“Thank you.”
When left alone, Lillian took her hidden bundle from under the cot and pulled on her cloak. Hurrying around the house, she met the stare of a thin, elderly man whose gray hair looked as if it hadn’t been combed in weeks.
“Come on, girl. The mister has need of the carriage.”
Lillian climbed up, but before she settled in the leather seat, he sent the horse down the road, toppling her forward before she righted herself.
Once they arrived at the Wadkins home, he let her out near the backside. “Alice waits you in the kitchen,” he told her and went on his way.
Walking up to the door, she knocked.
“Get on in here, girl.”
/> She stepped inside a room, larger than the Hammond’s.
“What’s you wearing?”
Dark eyes under a scowl looked her over, making her feel like bark on a tree.
“What’d you wearin’ rushes for, girl? Are you without senses?”
“No ma’am.”
“Get it off and leave your things outside the door.”
Lillian left a pile near the step and returned.
“Wash up and get the meat cut!” the woman ordered.
“First, I want her to come with me.”
Chills spiraled down her spine. Mr. Waldkins’ voice was no friendlier today than it’d been the last night she saw Samuel.
“Don’t keep her long. With the young’un taken to his bed, I can’t tend his needs and get dinner on too,” the woman spoke, rather forthright.
He did not respond but turned back into the hall and Lil followed as expected. Lillian assumed she’d meet the misses of the house and hear her duties. Instead, she found herself in his study, much like her father’s, with mahogany furniture and shelves of books.
She stopped before his desk while he sat behind it. “My wife bid for your service in hopes it will raise our son from his bed. He insists you have knowledge to help with his search.”
Lillian couldn’t believe Samuel would take ill over a ring. Unless it was a family heirloom—did he gave it to her without the knowledge of his parents?
“I do not want to him to find her,” he told her.
She looked across the desk into blue-gray eyes, wondering why then she’d been brought over.
“Return to the kitchen!” he ordered.
She scurried off. Alice put her to work making gruel, all the while mumbling about the extra work of trudging up and down the stairs with food the young’un wouldn’t touch. This settled like a pit in Lillian’s stomach—concern both for his state and what was to come fought.
When Samuel’s offering was ready, she ladled it into a cup and set it on a tray ready on the table. “Shall I take it up?” she asked.
“No.”
While the back of the woman was to her, Lillian reached into her dress, yanked the ring from its nesting place, and dropped it into the cup. With her eyes closed, she prayed it would bring him from his bed and he’d not search out the servant hired to help—but not help.
Alice came to take the tray. “Get the meat on. The guests will be arriving. Mr. Whitzer likes his near raw, Mr. Basford has his not quite done, but five others are cooked through.”
Lillian froze at the mention of her father as a guest. Could things become more uprooting? Seeing the beef slab set out, she cut seven thick pieces and laid them out for seasoning.
As she worked, her thoughts were on her father and the night she’d been banished. Her sister’s responses to his question of how much they loved him were, to her, shallow and selfish, while hers had been both selfless and truer than she could have expressed. Why did he toss her out over it? The question had come to her many times, yet never with any clear answer.
As she waited for the time to put on her father’s beef, a thought occurred to her. She cut the curing from the edges and did not add salt to it as she had the others. It was a risk to serve it this way, but she hoped it’d be worth it.
Alice returned without the tray, but she said nothing. It seemed a good sign to her.
When it came time to serve the meal, Alice had her help serve. With much care to avoid direct vision or eye contact, Lillian took comfort in her father’s attention toward those more worthy than those who worked for the house. This gave her courage to serve him herself.
She didn’t breathe until she reentered the kitchen, where she waited with her ears perked. It wasn’t long when she heard his, “Oh, surely this isn’t the wares intended to be served. There is no salt on the meat to…” He stopped and she stiffened her back.
“Certainly not,” she heard Mrs. Wadkins tell him.
She rushed across the room and started on the pots and pans. The door opened and she listened while Alice made apologies for the error and set to fix the meat straight away. Once the misses left, Alice came up to her.
“Go to your quarters!”
Lillian stepped back from the sink, wiping her hands on her apron. “Yes, ma’am. If you’ll show me where they are?”
Alice pulled her by the arm and shoved her out the door. “To the left of the barn!”
She saw it, gathered her belongings and started to go, but then she heard her father’s voice. He sounded sad and it pulled her closer to the window. Sneaking nearer, she heard him.
“Such an intelligent child, my Lillian,” he said.
“I’m sorry, Louis, we’re not understanding your mumblings,” the misses told him.
“I did not understand her words, the meaning of them until now. The unsalted meat is unbearable, but salt gives it flavor. The way she loves me…”
She heard a scraping of a wooden chair across wooden floor.
“I must make my leave. I wronged a daughter whom I thought did not love me. I pray she’s not met harm in her wanderings.”
Lillian didn’t know what to do. If she revealed herself now, what would happen? His daughter, a servant who served him in front of his friends, would bring undue shame.
Her heart heavy with uncertainty, she ran toward the barn and into the servant quarters. An unmade cot sat in the far corner. She laid her things on it and sat with her hands in her lap. Her mind went this way and that, trying to decide what would be best. She hadn’t perished in the elements of outdoors, but was a servant, and with child. Would his relief and love allow him to accept what she’d become?
The door banged against the wall, startling her. Alice’s face was scrunched with fierce anger while her black eyes pierced her like a sword. Never before had such fear filled her. Lillian scooted back to the wall, drawing her knees up and buried her head into them.
Something hit her back again and again. She realized the woman used a whip.
“No one messes my kitchen!”
Another lash came across the searing pain of those before. Lillian’s body shook with sobs and pain she never dreamed possible.
“No one gives my kitchen a bad name!”
“Stop!” a male voice ordered.
The whip came again.
“I ordered you to cease!”
“It’s not your concern, Master Samuel. I handle those who work the kitchen,” Alice talked back.
Lillian dared a peek at her savior. Samuel stood wearing only a robe and stockings, his face unshaved and rough. He’d taken the whip from Alice and stood glaring at her.
“It’s no wonder we can’t keep staff on. If I hear of this happening again, I shall use the whip on you. Do you hear me?”
“Yes, sir,” she replied through gritted teeth.
“Get back to kitchen while you have work!”
Alice gave her a threatening look that sent ice through the burning sensations covering her back.
Samuel kneeled and cupped her face. “Annie, my Annie.”
Lillian flinched as he looked at the welts on her back. Wiping her face on the skirt of her dress, she then rested her forehead on her knees. The shaking of her body would not cease.
“Come, let me tend you.” He scooped her up and muffled her whimpers in his shoulder.
“The ring is where it belongs. You mustn’t acknowledge me,” she managed.
Samuel took her into the main house, up the stairs to the second level and set her down on the bed of a room not far down the hall. A glance around at the rose and white colors told her it wasn’t his room.
He disappeared and reappeared with a handful of supplies and dropped them on the bed. “I’m afraid your garments have been ruined.”
She nodded. With no hesitation, she began to unbutton the front. He reached out and helped her when her fingers fumbled.
“It was smart to put the ring in the gruel, but what if I hadn’t found it?”
“I didn’t think
of that. I wanted you to have it so you’d you stop searching to regain it.”
In silence, they bared her to his eyes. She watched him look her over through tear-blurred vision as the pain from having the fabric pulled from the wounds intensified. He reached out and touched her belly, which was no longer flat.
“My son grows within you,” he whispered.
Lillian met his eyes when they rose. She could not tell if it pained or worried him. He was going to have to start the talk this time.
He wiped a tear from her lip. “I wasn’t after the ring. I had to find you to make apologies and beg you to forgive me for my ignorance.”
Afraid to trust the sincerity in his voice, she waited for more.
He brought her hands to his lips, brushing them with a kiss. “I see love even through the pain of your beating. How can you love me when I was horrid to you?”
“My news was a shock, but had you known me…” Stinging pain shot down her back, causing her to stiffen her back.
“I’m so sorry,” he said, reaching for a cloth. “I will try not to add to the pain, but I’m afraid the attempt will be unsuccessful.”
She nodded and turned to angle her body, giving him access to whip marks.
“You might want to grip the post.”
The sudden thickness of his voice gave her an idea of how ugly her back must be. Scarred for life, she imagined. She turned toward the foot post of the bed and wrapped her fingers around it. When the cloth touched the raw flesh, she bit down on her lip to hold in the scream, but a moan escaped.
“Try to be brave, my love. This one broke through the skin.”
Lillian nodded, holding her breath. He pressed in with the cloth. “Samuel, stop for a moment.” Warm, gentle lips brushed over her back. It helped ease the pain.
“Why would she beat you like this?”
His voice sounded sullen as if he, too, was close to tears. “I served unsalted meat to a guest—my father.”
“Your father?” he urged when she stopped.
“It was not for meanness. I set to clear up a misunderstanding.” She winced as he resumed the tending. “I once told him I loved him as much as food loves salt. He now knows what my words meant and regrets banishing me. I cannot let him find me now. His daughter, Lillian Ann, a servant and with child, would bring scandal and shame.”
