“I’m wonderful. Heartfield returned from the country yesterday, and we spent an intimate evening at home. The man is insatiable when he goes away.” Marie laughed softly. “I do love him so.”
Lizzy sighed wistfully as she imagined Carlisle returning home from traveling to spend just such an evening alone with her.
“Oh, Lizzy!” Marie looked stricken. “How thoughtless of me. I am so sorry.”
Lizzy shook her head. “No. Please, do not apologize for your happiness.”
A knock at the door sounded, and then the maid wheeled in a tea cart that all but groaned under the weight of the treats it carried. Lizzy dismissed the girl so they could be alone and served tea. Once they each had a cup of tea and a plate of treats, sweet and savory alike, she turned to Marie.
“I need your guidance. As I stated in my note, I feel certain you are the only woman of my acquaintance who could possibly help me solve my problem. You see, my husband is rather large.” Lizzy paused, trying to figure out how to explain the challenge.
Marie waited and then asked, “Do you mean his cock is large? As in abnormally large?”
Lizzy couldn’t keep the heat from singeing her cheeks as she choked on her tea. “No! I mean, yes, he is well endowed in that…” —Lizzy flapped her hand about— “area. But I mean that he is a large man. He is six foot, three inches tall, and here I am nearly a foot shorter. He towers over me and outweighs me by four stone easily!”
“My, he sounds like a strapping man.” Marie grinned.
Lizzy giggled. “Oh, he is, and terribly handsome, to boot. I never understood why he picked me, but I refuse to give him back. He’s mine, and I mean to fight for him, even if I have to fight him.”
Her friend’s eyebrows rose at her declaration. “Well, that is a good start. But how is his size an issue?”
“I’m not exactly sure. This is what I need your help with. He’s always been so gentle with me, never given me cause to fear him. So I am not sure why he would think he might hurt me, but he does. I’m sure of it. The morning after our wedding night, he came to me and apologized for what he’d done and promised it would not happen again. I admit, I was caught off guard by what occurred, but I did not think then, and I still do not think he did anything for which he should have been sorry.” Lizzy sat her teacup down with a clatter. “I’ve tried to speak to him, but he refuses to discuss that night with me.”
Marie’s brows drew together in confusion. “What happened on your wedding night?”
Lizzy’s gut churned at sharing such intimate details, but she was determined to figure this out. If she did not tell someone who might have greater experience to draw upon, she would never solve the mystery. “Well, he was a bit rough with me. He became…” Her face heated as though she’d leaned too close to the fire for too long. “He became excited, and he tore my nightgown—it was a delicate affair—and then when we were having sex, he did things with his mouth, and then at one point he flipped me onto my hands and knees and took me from behind.”
Marie’s mouth pursed and twitched to the side as she mulled over this bit of information. “Well, it’s not common for typical husbands to be so amorous, but I’m still not sure I understand.”
Wishing she didn’t have to share, Lizzy took a deep breath and blurted out the final detail. “He spanked me during sex… and I think.” She sighed. “No, I know I liked it.”
A peal of laughter was Marie’s immediate response. Confused, Lizzy stared at the woman.
“Oh, Lizzy, you are delightful! I’ve forgotten what it was like to be so naïve.” She reined in her amusement and reached over to pat Lizzy’s hand. “I shouldn’t laugh, but you must remember I am an old, jaded madame. I was expecting something far more shocking to have occurred. Please, forgive my amusement.”
Lizzy hesitated. “Well, it does seem shocking to me, and I guess to Carlisle. Though I am not sure he knows that last bit about my liking it. I wasn’t even sure until I thought about it more.”
“Oh? And what did you think about?” Marie sipped her tea.
“The spanking. I’ve thought of it fairly frequently.” She hesitated. “Sometimes, when I touch myself, I remember what it felt like.” Dear heavens, it seemed her face might never return to its normal pallor. She felt certain it would be permanently red after this conversation.
“Excellent! Then all is not lost!” Marie declared. “Now, let me be clear about events. He lustily ripped your nightgown from your body, orally stimulated you, penetrated you, and then flipped you over to enter you from behind. Then he slapped you on the bottom. Is that all correct?”
She nodded. “That about covers it.”
“Then the good news is that it sounds as if your proclivities are aligned, which is a lucky thing. Had you not enjoyed the spanking, this would be a very different conversation. So, after all of that, he came to you and apologized and promised never to do that to you again?”
“Precisely. And when I have tried to raise the issue, he refuses to discuss it. He leaves, or sends me away, or infuriates me in some manner resulting in my storming off. And then there was last week.” She sighed.
“What happened last week?” Marie tilted her head.
“Well, I tried to seduce him, and I failed miserably.” Lizzy couldn’t look the other woman in the eye. “I am no wanton woman. I couldn’t even tempt him to touch me.”
“Tell me what happened.” Marie encouraged with no sign of laughter.
Lizzy poured them both more tea and explained. “I was determined to break past this barrier he has placed between us. He either comes to me in the dark of night to have sex with all of our clothes on and then leaves. Or, he has dinner with me. But never both activities on the same night. It’s as if he has allotted himself a certain amount of time he can spend with me, and he must choose between dinner or sex. So last week after I met you, I decided to seduce him. I got dressed up for dinner, just in case he appeared. I wore one of my more revealing gowns, fixed my hair, and even wore a bit of make-up. He came for dinner, which I knew meant he would not come to my room that night. So, I took matters into my own hands. I found an old chemise from when I was a girl. It is so old it is basically see-through and rather short. I had recalled how the nightgown on our wedding night seemed to provoke him. So I wore this tiny thin chemise and crept down to the study later that night. I found him pouring a drink, and I approached him. I told him I was there to perform my wifely duties, that I wanted to.” She huffed. “The bloody bastard told me to leave. He wouldn’t even look at me after the first glimpse.”
Lizzy looked over at Marie and found her grinning from ear to ear. “Oh dear, that poor boy has a great deal of willpower and an overdeveloped sense of honor. He must love you very much.”
“He does?” Lizzy wasn’t following her logic.
“Of course. He’s trying to protect you from himself. He clearly believes he has crossed a line with you. I’m guessing the part where he flipped you over, fucked you from behind, and spanked you. Now he’s trying to follow the straight and narrow path defined by our strong Victorian moral fiber or some such nonsense. All because he loves you.”
Lizzy absorbed that knowledge. Marie seemed so sure, despite the fact many Ton marriages were merely business arrangements. And if she was honest, she knew theirs was a marriage based on strong affection. Love on her part for sure, but it was never something they’d spoken of. “So how do I show him what I want when I am an utter failure at seduction?”
“Were you an utter failure?” Marie didn’t appear convinced.
“I nearly murdered a shepherdess, stumbled walking across the room—thank goodness his back was turned—and he ultimately made me leave. How does that not make me a failure?” Doubt and disappointment weighed her down. She couldn’t do this. Her marriage was doomed.
“Take another look at the situation. He had his back turned, but that was after he’d seen you in your chemise?”
“Yes, I was standing in front of the fire beca
use I was so cold, so he definitely saw me.”
“I’m sure he did. He saw all of you if you stood in front of a fire. That was one trick my girls used to stir a man. With the fire behind you, your white chemise was transparent. If he refused to look at you again, it was likely because he was so aroused he didn’t trust himself not to react.”
“Oh my, he was holding on to the bar. I thought perhaps he was foxed.”
Marie chuckled. “No, I would think he was holding on to that table to keep his hands off you. You were quite close to pushing him over the edge. The question is, what might help break through that self-control of his?”
They discussed it until the tea was cold and the delicate sweets and savories were all consumed. By the end, she had a plan, assuming she had the nerve to act on it.
~
It had been nearly a week since her tea with Marie. She’d needed that time to acquire a new nightgown and to convince herself she could do this. Her stomach flip-flopped as she prepared for her evening. Earlier that afternoon, she’d told their housekeeper to let all the staff off for the night so it would be just the two of them in the house. She was sitting at her vanity, brushing her hair to a sheen, when a short knock sounded just before her husband stepped inside. In the mirror, she could see him pull up short at the sight of her hair unbound and shimmering in the firelight. Thank goodness she was wearing her robe, or her plans would have been abruptly accelerated.
The silence stretched out between them as their gazes locked in the mirror. The snap and crackle of the fire was the only sound for long moments. He finally seemed to remember himself and his purpose for being there.
“Where the devil are all the servants?” he finally managed to ask.
She smiled a small, self-satisfied smile. “I gave them all the night off.” She stroked the brush through her hair. “Did you require something?”
Clearly flummoxed, he sputtered a moment. “W-what? Whyever did you do that?”
She continued brushing her hair repeatedly at the same calm pace, despite the racing of her heart. “Because they haven’t had a night off in over a year based on your records. They were long overdue for such a luxury.”
His brows drew together. “Well, the next time you intend to do such a thing, I insist you discuss it with me first.”
“Of course. My apologies for failing to mention it at dinner.” She finally set her brush down and turned slightly to look at him directly. “Was there anything else you needed? I could play valet for you.”
He breathed in sharply through his nose at her suggestion, making him sound rather like a dragon that was about to breathe fire. “I’m quite capable of undressing myself without assistance.”
“Very well then.” She turned back to her dressing table and leaned into the mirror as though examining something on her face. His dismissal was obvious, and the poor man didn’t know what to do for a moment. He stood there for two, maybe three, heartbeats, and then he turned on his heel and left.
It was all she could do to hold in her laughter once the door closed between their rooms. Quietly, she shook with her amusement at his confusion. A few minutes later, she heard his bedroom door open and then close before heavy steps thudded down the hallway. As he turned at the stairs and descended, she swept out of her room to watch him from the shadows. If he went to his club, he would derail all her plans.
To her great relief, he turned to the left at the bottom of the stairs and went toward his study.
Perfect.
She’d give him time to settle in before she invaded his sanctuary and shattered his well-ordered peace.
A quarter of an hour later, she slipped her robe off and checked herself in the mirror one last time. Sheer nightgown, check. Gleaming tresses, check. Pink lips and cheeks, check. Oh! She nearly forgot. Perfume. She picked up her bottle and dabbed a bit of perfume at her neck and wrists and then a small bit between her breasts. Now she was ready. Or as ready as she could be.
She drew a deep breath and padded barefoot along the hall and then downstairs. Quietly, she approached his study and then slipped inside the room without knocking. She found him sitting on the chair he seemed to favor. The fire crackled merrily, and she took a moment to absorb the warmth. Meanwhile, he sat staring at her, his glass of whisky arrested halfway to his mouth.
“Good evening.” The husky tone managed was partly due to the chill from her trek to his study and partly due to her nerves. She ventured a step forward as he lowered his glass.
“Good evening.”
His gaze was riveted to her and shimmered with wariness in the glow of the flames.
She licked her lips, a slow sensual movement that Marie had told her few men could resist. “I wanted to apologize again for not telling you I gave the staff the night off and to see if you needed anything—anything at all—before I retired.”
He said nothing as his gaze continued to roam over her body from head to toe.
She took another step forward, drawing his attention to her breasts as the sheer fabric of her nightgown shifted. A soft, deep growl emanated from where he sat, his hand gripping the glass he still held until his knuckles were white. “Very well, then I suppose I shall just go to bed.” She turned and took a step back toward the door and then stopped. Turning, she made sure her leg peeked out of the slit in the fabric that ran the entire length of her side. “Oh, I should warn you that the staff will not return until late morning. It will be just the two of us” —she paused— “all night.”
“You should go to bed, Lizzy.” His lips barely moved as he spoke; his entire body appeared rigid with tension.
She turned again and took another step toward the door, her hair sweeping across her back. And then she whipped around once more. “One last thing—”
“If you don’t leave this moment, you will be forced to suffer a repeat of our wedding night,” he ground out from between clenched teeth.
“What do you mean?” she asked innocently, relishing that she had provoked him enough to even reference an event he had not mentioned since his apology the morning after.
He stood up and tossed the whisky back before setting his glass down. “I mean, if you do not exit this room in the next thirty seconds, I cannot be held responsible for what might occur.”
Her breath caught in her chest as her nipples puckered and hardened at the lusty promise she heard in his voice. He was so close to being pushed over the edge; she need only give him a little nudge. “And if I want a repeat of our wedding night?” She reached up and stroked her fingertips gently down her throat, then her chest, and finally the valley of her breasts.
“Woman, you are testing me, and I do not care for it,” he growled.
“Husband, I am asking you to fuck me,” she countered as she caught his gaze with her own. “The question is, can you do so properly once you catch me?” She let one brow arch as though she truly questioned such a thing.
His body tensed, and he seemed to balance on the balls of his feet even as he fought with himself. “Once I catch you?”
“Yes, husband. If you wish to fuck me, then first you will have to catch me.” She flashed him a grin and then turned and threw the study door wide as she darted down the hall to the right.
For a moment, she couldn’t hear anything but her own heart thudding in time to her breathing. But then a dull thud sounded behind her, and she knew the chase was on. As a thrill shot through her at successfully baiting her husband, she wondered how long it would take him to catch her. And once he did, what precisely would he do with her?
Chapter Seven
Carlisle watched the hem of the sheer nightgown float around a corner and then disappear. It was bloody difficult to run with a full-on cockstand, but by God, he’d teach his wife not to tease him in such a manner. When he caught her, he would do unspeakable things to her. He would undoubtedly spank her lush backside, and then he would do as she had requested. He would fuck her. Thoroughly.
His feet slapped the parquet floor as
he closed in on his quarry. She tore through the music room and then into the conservatory. He was nipping at her heels by the time she reached the ballroom. But she found a new well of energy and pushed out of his reach. As she slipped around a corner and into the dining room, he cursed. She’d led him a merry chase through the downstairs areas of the house, but she seemed to be making her way back toward the stairs. Then she broke into the foyer from the dining room, and he extended his stride, closing the distance between them. He’d enjoyed the chase, but now he wanted to end it. He wanted her. She was about to reach the stairs when he caught the hem of her pitiful excuse for a nightgown and gripped it in his hand. He then drew her back, fist over fist of cotton, reeling her in like a fish he’d once caught on a hook out of the lake at Carlisle Manor.
“Got you!” he exclaimed with great satisfaction and then pulled her into his arms. She wiggled against him in the most enticing manner, half-heartedly trying to escape. Already fractionally out of his mind with lust, he couldn’t take more of her gyrations, so he threw her over his shoulder and started up the stairs. With his big hand resting on her bottom while her head hung over his back and her feet dangled in front of him, she lay compliant for now.
In a few long strides, he was up the stairs and marching toward his bedroom. He needed room to maneuver her. His bed would afford him sufficient space. Inside, he closed the door and then strode over to the bed and set her down. Her hair fluffed out in a cloud around her, making her look like an angel draped in gossamer. A very naughty angel.
“Carlisle, I—”
“Do not make excuses for what has transpired here tonight. You came downstairs wearing that nightgown with every intention of luring me into your clutches. Well, my dear, you have achieved your desire. What remains to be seen is if you got all that you bargained for. I suppose we shall see.” He growled as he yanked his cravat free of his shirt. Then he stripped off his coat and waistcoat.
All the while, his wife watched him with desire-glazed, storm-grey eyes and flushed cheeks. When he jerked his shirt over his head, she licked her lips again. The sultry move had tested his willpower downstairs and now was no different. It made him want to push his cock between those full pouting lips and watch it disappear. He sat down next to her on the bed. “Stand up, Lizzy.”
His Wanton Marchioness Page 4
