Dark Obsession

by Fredrica Alleyn

  Unnoticed by Annabel, Crispian and Tania had been watching her from the doorway for some time. In her crisp, striped multicoloured dress with its elbow-length sleeves and side slits she looked slim, cool and infinitely desirable.

  ‘Lunch!’ Crispian called softly when she next glanced up.

  Annabel jumped. ‘How long have you been there?’

  ‘Just arrived,’ he lied. ‘Tania and I are lunching alone today. We thought you might like to join us.’

  ‘Where are your parents?’ asked Annabel as the three of them sat down together.

  ‘Step-mama’s probably “choosing a puppy” for the sixth time. Pa’s gone out for a ride on – sorry, with – Sandra!’

  Annabel flushed and he looked at her in surprise. ‘Don’t tell me you didn’t know about my father and the stable girls?’

  ‘Yes, I knew,’ she muttered, seeing the morning scene again all too vividly.

  Crispian’s eyes gleamed. ‘You’ve been peeking, haven’t you? I can tell, you’re looking guilty.’

  ‘I have not been peeking. Your father sent for me and when I arrived he already had one of the girls with him.’

  ‘I thought he’d soon be after you,’ laughed Crispian. ‘Did he ask you to join in?’

  ‘Of course not!’

  Tania watched the other girl closely. ‘You mean you didn’t even stay and watch?’

  Annabel shifted uncomfortably on her chair. ‘The girl locked the door. I couldn’t get out straight away.’

  ‘How deliciously decadent!’ said Crispian. ‘Did it excite you?’

  ‘Not much. Do you think we could change the subject?’

  ‘It excites me,’ Tania said slowly. ‘I often watch him when he goes out for rides with one of his grooms. They always tie up at this copse and it’s easy to get there first and hide in the trees. Once he gets going he’s far too wrapped up in the sensations to worry about the odd bit of leaf rustling. By the end I’m usually frantic for them to go so that I can pleasure myself. The other day Matthew came along just as they were leaving. I nearly called for him to stay and help me out!’

  ‘Naughty!’ reproved her stepbrother. ‘You know Matthew’s for Annabel.’

  ‘All I know is that I need two jars of maraschino cherries and a large sheet for the party games next Saturday,’ said Tania. ‘I wonder what kind of explanation the housekeeper will need when I ask for them!’

  Crispian and Tania started to giggle, and Tania perched on her stepbrother’s knees with her arms round his neck at the exact moment that Susan brought in their lunch. She remained there being fed by him for the whole of the first course, and Annabel was left wondering exactly what the games were going to be.

  Chapter Nine

  THE DAY BEFORE a dinner party, Lady Corbett-Wynne would normally have been driving the staff at the Hall mad with incessant instructions and queries. To their astonishment, after spending forty-five minutes with her housekeeper checking arrangements and a brief half-hour with her social secretary, she left them all alone to get on with their work.

  The housekeeper watched from the kitchen window as her ladyship walked briskly towards the stables, dressed in very tight black jodhpurs and a smart, open-necked check shirt, riding hat dangling from her right hand. ‘She’s going for a ride!’ she exclaimed to Richard, the footman.

  He smiled. ‘Makes a change!’

  The housekeeper swung round to face him. ‘Mind what you say, Richard. At least her ladyship understands how things should be done, unlike her husband.’

  ‘If she doesn’t, she soon will,’ he muttered, tales of her riding lessons having come back to him via one of the lads who helped Jerry.

  Marina felt an unaccustomed spring in her step as she approached the cobbled yard. Since her last meeting with Matthew, which had consisted mainly of a lesson in the skills required to provide good oral sex, she’d stayed away from the Old Mill. It wasn’t that she didn’t find Matthew attractive any more; she did, but somehow it wasn’t working out the way she’d hoped. Technically everything was fine. She always came away physically satisfied, but she sensed that Matthew’s feelings for her weren’t the same as hers were for him. Sometimes he seemed to regard her as a fascinating experiment rather than a person, and she didn’t like that any better than being expected to dress up in leather harnesses for her husband. She wanted to be able to be herself and have a satisfying sexual relationship at the same time, but was starting to wonder if this was possible with any of the men in their social circle.

  She was keeping up with her riding lessons because, much to her surprise, she was enjoying them. Jerry had proved to be a very sensitive teacher, never attempting to hurry her but always willing to go at her pace. She wondered if he’d be the same where sex was concerned.

  At that moment he strolled over the cobblestones towards her, lifting a hand in lazy greeting. He was undeniably very handsome in an unkempt way and she’d grown used to his offhand manner and habitual silences. Whenever his hands touched her, adjusting her grip, moving her legs into position or helping her on and off her horse, she’d feel a frisson of pleasure and her heart had lately taken to pounding fiercely in her chest. Having despised James for years for his liaisons with the girls from the stables it was disquieting to discover that she herself was attracted to the man in charge of them.

  ‘Good morning,’ he said briskly. He never used her title, and she no longer wanted him to. It placed too much distance between them, a distance that she was now anxious to dispel.

  ‘Today’s my big day then,’ she exclaimed with a nervous laugh.

  ‘That’s right; we won’t be going far. There’s a nice little bridle path once you cross the road that runs past the south wall; we’ll take that. We won’t be gone more than an hour.’

  ‘You mean I’ve got to ride Betsy on a public road!’ Marina said in horror.

  ‘Betsy could cross on her own,’ he laughed. ‘Come on, time to mount.’

  Marina knew that she was now perfectly capable of getting into the saddle on her own, but she waited with one foot in the stirrup until Jerry came round and helped her on. His hands moved slightly from her waist and she felt them travel down over her hips where they lingered for a moment before he removed them.

  ‘Right, let’s go,’ he called, swinging himself onto his own horse, and with a click of his tongue he started them off on their ride.

  At first Marina was petrified. She wondered now why she’d ever worried about organising dinner parties and mixing at large social gatherings; this was far worse. Her hands gripped the reins tightly and she kept her thighs glued to the horse’s sides.

  ‘Just relax,’ said Jerry after they’d negotiated the road and were on the bridle path. ‘That’s not the way you’ve been riding her back on the estate. You’ve lost all your rhythm; the poor horse must feel as though she’s got a ton weight on her back. Rise and fall like we practised.’

  Marina tried; she tried very hard, but her legs had gone solid with fear and when she tried to rise and fall she ended up banging against the saddle like a sack of potatoes.

  As they approached a clearing – a clearing that, unknown to Marina, was more used to visits from her husband – Jerry called a halt. ‘I think you’d better get off for a moment, stretch your legs and try to relax,’ he said shortly. ‘I’ve never seen Betsy get in a state before, but you’ve managed to rattle her out of her habitual lethargy!’

  Marina half-fell out of the saddle and stood on the grass, her thighs trembling after gripping the horse so tightly. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said quietly. ‘I know I did everything wrong, but I’m still petrified of falling off.’

  He tied the horses to a tree and leant against the trunk. ‘Why should you? You’ve never fallen off yet with me.’

  ‘Betsy might bolt.’

  He laughed. ‘She couldn’t bolt, she hasn’t got the energy!’

  To Marina’s horror she felt tears welling in her eyes. ‘That’s right,’ she said haughtily. ‘Laugh whi
le you can. You seem to forget that I can always ask my husband to dismiss you for insolence.’

  Jerry moved closer and took her hands in his. When he spoke his voice was softer than she’d ever heard it. ‘Why would you want me dismissed?’ he said. His voice was gentle. ‘I wasn’t laughing at you, I was laughing at the thought of Betsy moving fast. I’d never laugh at you; I admire you too much.’

  ‘Admire me?’

  He nodded. ‘I know how hard this is for you, but you’ve stuck at it, and you were doing well until today. It’s my fault. I thought you were ready but you weren’t. We’ll go back a bit and then try again some time next week when you’ve had more practice.’

  ‘I don’t know why I’m learning,’ she murmured, staring into his blue eyes and very aware of the sharp tang of his aftershave.

  ‘I thought you wanted to be able to go out riding again. Didn’t your new neighbour suggest it?’

  ‘Yes, but he suggests a lot of things that I’m not certain I really want to do,’ she said softly.

  Jerry released his grip and put the palms of his hands on each side of her face. ‘I’d like to suggest something right now,’ he whispered. ‘How can I be sure you’ll want to do that?’

  Marina stared at him. She didn’t reply but her eyes told him all that he’d been hoping to hear and very slowly he lifted her right hand and tenderly kissed the inside of her wrist. Marina shivered and moved towards him. ‘Keep still,’ he whispered, his eyes bright with admiration and desire, ‘I want you to stay right there while I kiss you properly.’

  She closed her eyes and remained quite still, waiting for the touch of his hard mouth on hers, but instead he continued to kiss her wrist and inner arm until he reached the inside of her elbow. Here his tongue traced a lazy circle across the fine blue veins beneath the pale skin and Marina trembled even more.

  His other hand was stroking her left arm and shoulder. He gentled her as he would a horse, murmuring softly as he moved his mouth to her tender collarbone where his lips grazed against the slight bones while his hands opened her shirt a little wider to allow him easier access.

  She longed for him to unbutton her blouse and kiss her breasts, but it seemed that he was in no hurry, preferring to linger at her neck where his mouth roamed up and down the slim column, his teeth just skimming the surface of the flesh beneath her ear until her whole body was quivering with anticipation.

  She longed to move, to take his head between her hands and move his mouth against hers, but at the same time she didn’t want the delicious sensations to cease and so she stayed motionless while he continued to softly tease some of her most erogenous zones.

  Just when she thought that she couldn’t stand it any longer he stopped and she felt his mouth against her ear. ‘I want to cover your whole body with kisses,’ he said softly. ‘I want to kiss every inch of you, but not here, not out in the open where people might see us.’

  Marina’s eyes flew open, and she knew that he must be able to see the look of desire on her face. ‘I don’t want you to stop,’ she moaned, unable to disguise her need.

  ‘Nor do I. Don’t worry, I live in a cottage at the other end of the track. Do you think you can bear to get on Betsy’s back once more?’

  She’d have done anything to ensure that her tingling, swollen flesh was satisfied, and without another word she let Jerry help her back into the saddle and then they were moving slowly along the pathway until a few minutes later they arrived at his cottage.

  It was small and the brickwork was in need of repair, but Marina didn’t care. She wanted to feel his hands on her, wanted him so badly that she was already moist with excitement; she scarcely took in the disarray of the rooms as he led her up the narrow stairs and straight into his bathroom.

  Marina had been expecting the bedroom, and for a moment she drew herself up in a manner more fitting to the wife of Lord Corbett-Wynne than the would-be mistress of his riding manager. Jerry put his arms round her. ‘I thought it would be nice if we took a shower together after our ride.’

  Marina didn’t reply, but as he started to take off his clothes she slowly began to unbutton her check shirt. Her excitement increased when he kept his eyes on her all the time she stripped, and she saw nothing but admiration in his face.

  ‘You’re lovely,’ he whispered when she was finally naked. He ran a finger lightly round each of her breasts. ‘Don’t worry; if I do anything you don’t like just say and I’ll stop. I want to make you happy, that’s all.’

  She followed him into the shower, and as the warm spray beat down on them he got her to place her feet on the raised sides of the base, so that her legs were parted and her body lifted and their heights became equal.

  His arms went around her, reaching down for her buttocks which he squeezed softly, and then he reached for the shower gel, poured some into his hands and began to lather each of her breasts in turn. His hands moved slowly and sensuously around each areola before massaging the nipples themselves and Marina uttered soft cries of pleasure, as at long last the aching globes received the touch she’d been imagining ever since he’d first kissed her wrist.

  As he massaged, he bit softly at her earlobes, sending a sharp tugging sensation down through her body, and then he lightly inserted the tip of his tongue inside her left ear, flicking it rapidly until her hips began to shake with desire.

  Her breasts had never felt so hard and when he took each of her nipples in turn between his right thumb and index finger and rolled them gently she was certain she’d explode as all her muscles started to tense and her feet nearly slipped from the narrow edges of the shower.

  ‘You look wonderful,’ he murmured as he started to soap her across her ribs and stomach, and then he applied gentle pressure at the base of her belly just above her pubic hair, keeping his hand still until a warm glow began to spread down between her thighs and a sweet ache suffused her entire sex.

  Once she was covered in soap, Jerry moved closer and rubbed himself against her slippery flesh, stimulating them both until Marina was crying out with desire, thrusting her hips towards him in frantic movements as the sweetness of the ache became unbearable.

  Jerry’s hands returned to her buttocks and at last he pulled her firmly towards him, sliding into her swollen vagina with a slow steady movement. He then stayed motionless inside her while one of his hands began to fondle her between her parted thighs.

  He massaged the whole pubic area, pressing and releasing the flesh then rotating it in tiny circular movements followed by an up and down stroke that soon had her body on fire as her indirectly stimulated clitoris swelled and she felt her internal muscles growing taut and hard.

  ‘Tighten round me,’ he whispered. ‘Use your muscles on me so that I can feel you grip me.’

  She looked deep into his eyes and as she obeyed she pressed her mouth against his, her tongue thrusting between his lips and circling his gums, before flicking between his teeth and moving backwards and forwards as though she were a man performing oral sex on a woman.

  Her sudden taking of the initiative, together with the heat that he could feel from her damp body and the tightness of her vaginal walls as she gripped and released him in quick spasmodic movements, drove Jerry wild.

  Now he abandoned his slow tender approach and responded to her new needs. His hands tightened on her buttocks and he allowed one finger to ease its way between them. Marina was so caught up in the frantic excitement of the moment that she didn’t even notice, and it was only when her body was teetering on the brink of its climax that he allowed the finger to ease its way inside her rear entrance. With a loud cry of ecstasy, Marina gave herself over to her orgasm, an orgasm that went on and on as his fingers stimulated her from both sides until she was finally still.

  ‘Now it’s my turn,’ he murmured, and at last he began to move inside her.

  He moved in long, leisurely thrusts, allowing the full length of his erection to glide in and out, and at every outward movement Marina clutched desperatel
y at his shoulders, terrified that he was going to withdraw completely and leave her achingly empty. Jerry was too experienced for that, and enjoying himself far too much to break the carefully built-up rhythm; all he was doing was prolonging his moment of pleasure and, he hoped, enabling Marina to achieve another climax.

  Slowly she felt her body tightening once more and she writhed against him, pressing her erect nipples against his chest and her stomach hard against his to give herself the feeling of pressure that she’d enjoyed earlier.

  After a few minutes Jerry’s tempo quickened as his own climax grew closer. He felt his testicles pull upwards against his body and the tip of his penis was filled with light tingling sensations. He knew that he was about to come, and sensed that Marina was close too. Quickly he moved the heels of his hands until they were resting on her hip bones and then, just as the tingles spread lower down his shaft, he started to knead her pelvis with firm fingers.

  Marina’s whole belly rippled in a delirium of excitement and she kept her eyes locked onto Jerry’s as they were both shaken by a simultaneous climax of shattering intensity. By the time hers was over, Marina was almost collapsing against him, and she found that she was crying tears of joy while the soft caress of the shower continued to fall on her naked body.

  For a moment he held her against him, running his fingers through her wet hair and smoothing the damp strands off her forehead, but then he turned off the water and stepped slowly away. ‘We’ve got to get dried,’ he said reluctantly. ‘I don’t think we can make your first ride last too long or someone might get suspicious.’

  ‘I don’t care if they do,’ murmured Marina, letting him wrap her in a large, if somewhat coarse, towel and then rub her briskly all over. ‘I’ve never been so happy before.’

  ‘That’s what I like to hear,’ he said with a smile.

  Marina glanced at him, his jet black hair plastered to his head and his teeth gleaming white against his tanned skin. ‘I imagine all your women say the same,’ she teased.