by Matilda Hart
Daniel smiled down at her, and her relief was enormously heartfelt.
“Oh thank you, Daniel!” she said, reaction setting in and bringing tears to her eyes. “I do not know what I would have done if you had not come by when you did.”
“Ah, Beauty, but you do know. You would have screamed and brought the entire village down on his unlucky head,” he said admiringly. “Who was that sorry specimen, anyway?”
“That is Clancy, the butcher’s son,” she said.
“I shall have a word with Clancy tomorrow, and with his father,” he promised. “Now tell me Beauty, why are you so late abroad?”
She explained about the storm and having to wait it out at the inn. “My house is just there, at the end of the lane,” she said when she had got to the end of her story.
Daniel slowed his horse to a walk, and then helped her to dismount once he had stopped. Dismounting himself, he walked her to her front door, and when she looked up to tell him thanks again, he bent his head and kissed her. Anna did not know what to do, or how to kiss a man whom she had been secretly thinking about since she had first met him. His lips were warm, and the things he was doing to her mouth with his teeth and tongue and lips made her body catch fire. She whimpered when he raised his head, unhappy that he had stopped.
“I must let you go in to your parents, my pretty, else I might end up being just as bad as Clancy,” he said, smiling gently down at her. “Take care of yourself until we meet again.”
“Will we? Meet again, I mean?” Her tone was bemused.
“Yes, we will, my Beauty. By the river, next Saturday?”
“If there is fabric to be washed, yes.”
“I will wait for you,” he said. “Now go in. And goodnight.”
He brushed a hand across her cheek as he spoke and turned away before she could answer him. She went indoors in a haze, but her parent’s anxious inquiries pulled her out of it enough that she could tell them of the reason for her lateness, and of the misadventure with Clancy from which she had been saved by a stranger. She was reluctant to tell them that she knew Daniel. She kept that and the secret of his kiss hidden in her heart, and as she readied herself for bed, she pulled the memory out again so she could relive the precious moment. Just like a knight in shining armor, Daniel had swept in to the rescue and kissed the grateful maiden.
Her sleep that night was disturbed by dreams of Daniel kissing her, and pulling down her dress so he fondles her breasts, and touching her in that place that no one had ever touched her. The images woke her before dawn, and her aching breasts and heavy pussy made her wonder if someone had come in during the night and done the naughty things she had been dreaming about. When she had surprised Lavender, she had heard what she now knew were the sounds of their pleasure. Daniel was so handsome, and broad, and he was clearly quality. He would be perfect in the role of husband. And that kiss at her door said he was interested, too. She would find a way to meet him again, because she wanted more of his kisses.
Her father went into the village to complain to the butcher about his son’s behavior, and came back with quite a story. She was holding a piece of muslin while her mother cut it in the pattern that she wanted, when Henry came barging in.
“Do you know who your rescuer was last night, my girl?” he demanded, excited as she had never seen him before.
“No, Papa, I do not indeed,” she said.
“His Lordship, the Marquess of Aberling,” he said, as though Anna would know who that was. “He is the Duke’s son. That very Duke who wants me to assist in his hunt!”
“How do you know this Papa?” she asked, willing her heart not to beat so loudly that is deafened her to his answer.
“He was there when I arrived to lodge my complaint with the butcher,” he said. “I thanked him profusely, of course, for preserving my daughter’s honor. What a gracious and pleasant young fellow he is!”
“Shall I invite him to dinner as a thank you?” her mother piped in, and Anna panicked.
“Mama, I do not think it necessary! I thanked him last night when he brought me home. And I’m sure Papa did again today.”
The last thing Anna wanted was to meet Daniel in her home. She was flabbergasted enough that he was the Duke’s son. To have him in her home would likely be a disaster, as she would not be able to hide her interest in him from her shrewd mother, who would no doubt immediately begin to scheme and plot for ways to get him for Anna’s husband. But Anna knew that Daniel had been right that first time, when he had said she ought to set her sights lower than a prince. She needed to set her sights lower than a Duke, it seemed, or the son of a Duke, because once he discovered who she was, he would pull away from her. She was too poor to attract any serious advances from a man such as he was, though he was all she could want.
She stayed quiet all day, and had decided that she would not go down to the river on Saturday to meet him after all. She would spare herself the broken heart. And then her mother told her she needed her to wash some more newly dyed cloth. Anna sighed...the gods hated her, she was sure. Dutifully, she took the basket of freshly dyed cloth and made her way to the river. She chose a different spot, more secluded, away from prying eyes, and though it was harder to do the job there, and there was fewer rock for drying, she hoped that when he did not see her in the usual spot, that he would go away and forget her.
She had just laid out the last piece on a rock, and was resting against a boulder that hid her completely from view when she heard footsteps. She turned to see who was coming, and there he stood, a smile on his face and a knapsack over his shoulder.
“How did you find me?” she asked. “And why did you not tell me who you were?” She threw accusation into her voice.
“You cannot hide from me, my beautiful Anna,” he replied, “and I did tell you who I was.”
“You forgot to mention that you are the Duke’s son!” she hissed, drawing on anger to disguise her desire for him to kiss her again. “When you told me to set my sights lower, you were telling me that men such as yourself would never stoop to someone of my station! So, if I am not good enough for the likes of you, why did you kiss me two nights ago at my door?”
She could not keep the hurt from sounding in her voice, and wished the ground would swallow her up so he would not know how much she wanted him, and how ashamed she was that she should need him so despite how he had used her.
Daniel dropped his knapsack and reached for her, pulling her into his arms. “Because I wished to taste your lips, my beauty. As I do now, again.”
Before she could speak or resist, he pulled her face up to his and kissed her again. As before, the way he nipped her lips and sucked them into his mouth made her melt, and when he begged her to open her mouth for him, she could no more refuse than she could stop from breathing. His kisses were her air. Not knowing what else to do, she mimicked him; when she stroked his tongue with hers, he moaned, and when she sucked him in, his groan made her breasts ache.
“Oh sir,” she whispered, dragging her mouth away to catch a breath, “you will undo me!”
“Only as I am myself undone by you, my beauty!” he whispered back, and pulled her with him to the ground, and across his lap, where he kissed her until she knew she needed more than just his kisses.
“Anna,” he said at last, resting his chin atop her head and breathing as hard as she was, “we can go no further. You are a maid, and I...I cannot take your innocence from you.”
Anna hid her face in his broad chest. She was growing more attached to him with every passing meeting, and now that she knew something of what desire was, she wanted him to take whatever he desired. She told him so, but he demurred.
“I must be a man of honor, my beautiful Anna, and that means that I cannot take advantage of your innocent desires.”
Anna would not beg, but she understood instinctively that a woman can do much with a man who is attracted to her. She wanted to be with him, to spend time in his company, to have him to herself alone.
“Do you like my kisses, my beauty?” he asked.
“Oh sir, you must know I do,” she whispered, her face aflame.
“Then I will come as you request, and fill your mouth with kisses,” he said, taking her lips once more before he drew her to her feet and helped her pack up her basket.
“Tomorrow, my beauty,” he said, and walked away before she could speak more.
Chapter 4
Daniel strode along with a spring in his step. He would see his beautiful Anna again today. Before her, he had known nothing of the power of love, not had he wanted to, but now, he wanted nothing more than to spend his days in her company, and his nights in her arms. Daily his love for her grew, and daily his heart ached at the knowledge that until he made a decision about Isabel, he was not doing right by Anna. How could he, a man of honor, break faith with a woman who had every reason to expect that he would propose marriage to her, even if she did not really wish it? To spurn her now would be a serious breach of etiquette, almost as bad as what her former suitor did to her. And then there was Anna, whom he was coming to love, and whom he wanted to have in every way. To break her heart if he chose Isabel would break his. The heavy thoughts had weighed on him all night, but now, as he got closer to where his beloved waited for him, even they could not overwhelm his happiness.
He saw her before she saw him. She had chosen a quiet nook, hidden from all eyes by a bower of hedges, where only those who came from his direction might perhaps catch a glimpse. And when he got to her side, he saw that she had brought with her a picnic...some crusty bread, some cheese, and two shiny apples. He thought of the wine he carried in his bag, and the grapes and chocolates that he had brought with him from Paris when he was last there. They would have a lovely lovers’ feast today. She smiled when she saw him, and as soon as he sat next to her, she reached for his face to kiss him. He loved how eager she was to taste him again, as eager, it seemed, as he was to taste her. Setting his bag aside, he drew her into his arms and kissed her thoroughly.
She was ignorant of the ways of love, he could tell, but she was a quick study, and now she kissed as well as any woman he had known before, and better than all, because she kissed him with the passion of affection divorced from greed for his wealth and title. He kissed her neck and shoulders, and she did the same, pushing aside his shirt to lick his collarbones. He slid his hands down her chest to her full breasts, squeezing them gently and caressing them. She followed suit, rubbing his nipples through his shirt and sliding her hands along his muscled chest, exploring every bump and hollow. He groaned as she followed his example, and because he couldn’t wait to feel her hands upon him, he took them and placed them on his hardness.
“Anna, my darling beauty,” he said, “can you feel how much I want to have you?”
She looked him him the eye shyly, and nodded. “I know in general terms where this should go,” she said, making him smile, “and how it is applied. But I have never had it used upon me.”
She made her confession softly, and he raised her now lowered face and kissed her deeply. “I know that you are yet a virgin, my beauty, and I would not take that from you.”
“You do not want me, then, as much as you say you do!” she declared, seducing him with her persistence and her words.
For answer, he pushed his hand beneath her simple muslin dress and pushed a finger up the leg of her drawers, finding her hot and wet for him. He stroked her there a while, pushing into her core, raising her temperature and drawing more of her juices from her body. And when he pinched her heavy nub of pleasure, she shuddered in his arms and clung to him, kissing him deeply as she came.
“This is how much I want you, my love,” he said when she opened her eyes to look at him.
“Is that what you would use this tool to do to me?” she asked, reaching down to stroke him where he lay stiff against her bottom.
He chuckled, his body hurting with the need for her, his heart bruised by his conflicting desires. H could so easily take her here, and make her eyes roll back in her head as she came for him again. And he could take his pleasure of her body as he did, ensuring that she knew that what he felt for her was real. But what would happen after that? He could not take the chance. Still, he answered her question honestly.
“Yes, that is exactly what this tool is for” he told her. “And as you can tell, it is ready to do its job. So never worry that I do not want you.”
She considered his face for a long moment before she said, “I want to feel you there, where you have touched me, Daniel. If only this one time.”
“Anna…” he began to object, and then his breath froze in his lungs when she shifted her body away so she could untie his stays and free him from his pantaloons.
“This is also one of my dreams,” she told him as she slid her hand over him. “My knight in shining armor will pierce me to the core and tell me he loves only me.” She pulled him out as far as she could and wrapped her small fist around his length, pumping him gently, making him groan.
“Anna…” he breathed. “You will undo me! You must stop, my beauty!”
“I will only stop if you will fill me here,” she said, and touched herself through her frock. “I don’t know how I am supposed to feel,” she added, “but it feels like a fire is raging here, and I needs you to cool it!”
She raised herself onto her knees so she could pull her drawers away from her body, and then she said,
“What now, my knight? Show me!” She stroked him as she made her demands, squeezing his length in her fist.
Daniel lost what little control he had left, and dragged her to her knees over onto his straining cock. “Sit on me, my beauty,” he said, his voice ragged. “Hold me and take me in. Go slowly, love...it will hurt if you do not, and I have no wish to hurt you.”
She did as he bid her, going excruciatingly slowly, pulling groans from his belly as he fought not to spill his seed before he was fully inside her. He gritted his teeth, and groaned again as she settled over him, until her bottom touched his thighs. She took a deep breath and then said,
“Will you move now, please, Daniel? I want to feel you move.”
He growled like a wild thing, and put his hands on her hips so he could help her ride him. Then he found a rhythm that had her pushing down as he pushed up. The pleasure was teeth-achingly powerful, his loins were on fire, his heart thundered loudly in his chest, and he knew he would not last for much longer. But he wanted her to come for him again, with him inside her, so he reached around her to find her pleasure button and he stroked it as he pushed up. She began to whimper as fresh pleasure overwhelmed her, and when he felt the muscles of her cunt begin to contract around his aching shaft, he let himself go, shooting into her over and over, ramming her as she rode him, muffling her cries in a kiss as he pulled her face back to his. They rode out the orgasm together, and then, spent and breathless, they broke apart.
“My love,” he whispered in her ear, “I have deflowered you.”
She turned her head again and kissed him. “And I would not have it any other way,” she said. “Mmmmmm!” she added, when his cock twitched inside her. “I feel no regret, Daniel. You did not take what I was not willing to give you.”
Daniel helped her off his lap and did his best to clean her up with the napkins he had brought with him. His conscience had begun to stab him hard, and he watched her as she righted her clothing and sat again on the rock facing him. He knew he had to tell her the whole truth about his situation, and he knew she would not be happy. But he would wait until they had eaten. He wanted to give her the gift he had brought for her before he broke her heart.
&nbs
p; “I have brought you a sweet treat,” he said, and handed her the chocolates in the little can. “They are for you, to remember me by.”
She looked at him quizzically, but he did not explain, only helped her make their sandwiches and poured the wine.
“I would have brought crystal glasses, my love, but I feared that they would break, and my mother would notice that they were missing,” he said, explaining the pewter cup he was handing her.
