Anna didn’t look, but she knew that everyone was watching them openly.
Elisa sat back in her chair like she was lounging at home. She seemed completely comfortable and relaxed. “Lady Diana,” she said, as if the lady was sitting right next to her, “how do your children fair with this early heat?”
Lady Diana was a heavy-set matron whom Anna knew spent a great deal of time in the company of Lady Nellie Caxton, the gossip. Lady Diana put her cup of tea back on its saucer with a rattle of bone china and got to her feet. “I find the company in this room far below one’s station, suddenly. I think a turn about the park will clear the air.” She took two steps toward the door, beyond which Anna could hear Natasha’s aunt greeting more guests, then looked back at the three women that had been sitting at the table with her. “Come along,” she said sharply.
The three got hastily to their feet, rattling cups and dropping napkins. They hurried after Lady Diana. The last one paused beside the sofa and glanced at Anna. She was very young, with a clear gaze. “My congratulations, Your Highness, on your marriage. I hope it is a happy—”
“Louisa!” Lady Diana said sharply from the doorway.
Louisa jumped, startled. With a glance that seemed to hold some apology in it, she hurried after Diana.
“Thank you!” Anna called after her.
That was the last person to speak to Anna the entire afternoon, except for Natasha, Elisa and Natasha’s aunt Beatrix. If Elisa and Natasha had not stayed resolutely by her side, Anna would have excused herself long before the requisite two hours had passed and fled to the safety and silence of the little house on Rosebery Avenue.
As it was, when they finally climbed into Natasha’s carriage and drove home, Anna could do nothing more than lean back in the corner and close her eyes. She felt sick.
“It really is quite as bad as we thought it would be,” Elisa said.
“It seems Lady Caxton and her cronies have set the tone before we could,” Natasha said thoughtfully. “But she doesn’t get invited everywhere….”
“Mmm. A good thought, ‘tasha. What about the Duke’s ball, tomorrow night? I know he doesn’t like her.”
“A ball?” Anna was horrified. She sat up with a jolt, staring at them. “I can’t attend a ball. I don’t have anything to wear. My father will be there, for certain. And neither Rhys nor I was invited, anyway.”
“Your invitation arrived at my house,” Elisa said calmly. “Not everyone knows of your new address yet. So you are invited.”
“And you know I have a dress that will fit you,” Natasha added.
“My father…” Anna began, feeling a helpless sense of growing doom.
“That is perhaps the best reason in the world to attend,” Natasha said. There was no lightness in her voice now.
The two conspirators leaned forward with their heads almost together and drew their plans while Anna clutched at her sides and wished she was home.
* * * * *
Neither Rhys nor Anna knew how to cook, so Anna asked Jilly to show her how to make a simple meal of the eggs and bread and jam that were in the kitchen. Jilly’s cooking skills were only marginally better than Anna’s, but between the two of them, they managed to poach some eggs and not burn the toast too badly.
Anna made a big pot of tea and insisted that Jilly sit at the table with them, as she had contributed to the meal as much as Anna had.
Rhys thanked them both gravely and sat down as if he was before a feast. He ate with gusto, but even he could not hide his distaste for the worst of the burnt toast. “Perhaps we should think about getting some help in the kitchen,” he said thoughtfully, turning the blackened slice over and over in his fingers.
“Can we afford the help?” Anna asked. “I don’t know how much attorneys make, Rhys, even good ones like you. I have no need to know. But you are already paying Jilly.”
“My sister is a cook at a big ‘ouse in Mayfair,” Jilly said. “I could ask ‘er to teach me a thing or two.”
Anna shook her head. “You are a lady’s maid,” she said firmly.
“No offence, Your ‘ighness, but you’re a princess and you just cooked dinner. I can ‘elp in the kitchen. There’s naught else to do around ‘ere once you’re set up for the day, anyway. Besides, I’d much rather keep my job than get turned out because you ‘ad to pick between someone who can make dinner and someone who can do your ‘air.” She got to her feet. “I’ll take care of the dishes and get more tea.” She swept the dishes onto the big tray and moved off into the kitchen, her back straight.
Anna pressed her lips together and looked at Rhys. “I think I upset her.” She sighed. “That makes it a full set and match. Everyone is upset with me, today.”
Rhys picked up her hand and drew her around the table to the chair closest to his. “Tell me what happened,” he coaxed.
“Only if you tell me what happened with your day. You were looking very grim when you came in the door but you hid it when you thought you would be seen.” Anna tilted her head at him.
He kissed the back of her hand. “It was a good day, Anna. I still have my position.”
Anna pressed her hand to her chest. “They…they could dismiss you because you married me?” She had not thought of this possibility at all. “How could you risk—”
He gave her hand a little shake. “I didn’t risk nearly as much as you did. So tell me what happened at Lady Beatrix’ place this afternoon.”
Anna looked down at the tea in her cup. The cup was a simple one, with a big handle and not nearly as fine as bone china. But the tea was hot and ample. She looked up at the flowers that were on the shelf beside the window. They were fresh and cheerful and a bright spot in the room.
With a sigh, she told Rhys what had happened and Natasha and Elisa’s plans to retaliate.
Rhys smiled. “Do not try to defy my sister,” he told her. “She is passionate about defending the rights of those who are being persecuted by the ton and she has taken you under her wing. Natasha is a good ally to have, right now.”
“Then you think I should go to the ball?”
“I think we should go to the ball,” he amended, “where we will look your father in the eye before dancing the night away.”
“I don’t dance,” Anna said automatically.
“Neither do I,” Rhys said, “so we’ll sit and critique the dancing of everyone else.”
Anna was not sure where the humor came from, but suddenly, she found herself laughing.
Rhys smiled at her. “Did I say something amusing?”
She shook her head. “Well, yes, you did, but it wasn’t what you said. It’s just the idea of going to a ball, just to sit. It doesn’t make sense, but yet it makes perfect sense, for us. We can sit longer than all of them.”
His smile grew. “You mean, become more stubborn?”
“Yes, exactly. It’s none of their business if the man I married is not of my station. It should be of no concern to them why you married a princess. But still, they will try to make us unhappy because…because…I don’t know why. Because they are not happy?”
“Because we scare them, Anna. Because we have deliberately chosen to move outside the mores and tenets of the society that they live within. They can’t imagine doing it themselves. The idea makes them uncomfortable. So they hit out the only way they know how, by trying to eject us from the society they couldn’t imagine living without themselves. If we are gone, they don’t have to be reminded of what they don’t dare take for themselves.”
Anna pressed her lips together for a moment, holding back another smile. “That sounds perilously close to saying they envy us. Which is quite ridiculous.”
“I doubt they envy us for the eggs and burnt toast that was our supper,” Rhys said gently. “But I’ve moved among these people for many years and I know that many of them would envy us for choosing what we want to do, rather than what we ought to do.”
“Did you really marry me because you wanted to?” Anna asked curio
usly.
Rhys’ gaze was steady. “I married you to keep you safe and I did it of my own free will, despite what everyone insisted I should do.”
“What should you have done?”
“I should have found you a duke to marry,” he said flatly.
“A stuffy duke would not let me read the books that you let me read.”
“He wouldn’t ruin your life, Anna. I have changed your life in ways you are only just starting to understand.”
“I don’t find being ignored by a few catty women a difference to bewail.” She picked up Rhys’ hand where it rested on the table and got to her feet. “I was worse off without you.”
Rhys looked up at her, a smile lifting one corner of his mouth. “And why are you tugging on my hand like that?”
Anna gave up trying to move him from his chair. He was simply too big and too heavy. She glanced over her shoulder to check that the door into the kitchen was still firmly shut, then sat in his lap, instead.
His hands settled around her waist and Anna accustomed herself to the feel of his thighs against her bottom through the layers of dress and petticoats. Right by her hip was the juncture of his thighs and the soft flesh of his…
She made herself say the words, just in her own mind, as he had taught them to her. His cock and his balls.
A little thrill ran through her at the wickedness of her thoughts.
“You’re being rather daring, my lady,” Rhys said, but he was smiling.
“I am,” she agreed. “Rhys, I don’t understand why ladies are so reticent about these matters. Would you be shocked if I said that I….” She hesitated and glanced at the ceiling overhead.
Rhys laughed briefly. “You would only be repeating what is in my mind, so pretending to be shocked would be hypocritical of me.” His hands tightened about her waist. “But why are you suddenly coy about speaking of such matters? You had no trouble discussing sexual compatibility before we were married.”
“I didn’t fully understand what that meant,” Anna said. “I feel quite foolish on reflection. The books, even the most explicit ones I could find, only explained a little of what it is really like. “
“Perhaps you should write your own,” Rhys said.
“I would have to use a nom de plume,” Anna replied. “Or the ton would not simply leave the room when I enter. They would eject me forcibly and throw my book after me.”
Rhys kissed her and thoughts about books and potential subject matter evaporated. Her body grew alert and sensitive between one breath and the next and all she could think about was his hands and what they were doing. He was sliding them very slowly upward over her torso, moving closer to her breasts, which tingled in expectation.
Rhys pressed his fingers against her breasts, over the top of the corset, but there were too many layers of lace and ribbon there for her to feel much more than a gentle pressure.
She sighed. “Ladies’ wear is far too cumbersome and inconvenient for such activities. No wonder whores spend their days in underclothes.”
Rhys threw his head back and laughed, hard and loudly. Then he scooped her up and got to his feet. “Let’s amend the situation.”
* * * * *
Anna wanted nothing more than to tear off every layer of clothing she wore, to reach the delicious stage of being completely naked in front of him. She felt daring and wicked when she wore nothing and it let her mind consider all sorts of interesting possibilities.
But Rhys would not hurry. Without Jilly, she needed his help to loosen her dress and petticoats and corset at the very least. He moved with a slowness that seemed designed purely to drive her to complete distraction. It did not help matters that each time he loosened a button or unfastened an opening, he would trail his hands over whatever flesh the newly opened section of the garment exposed.
Anna tried to reach the awkwardly-placed buttons and ties herself, but couldn’t and hissed with frustration, which earned her Rhys’ chuckle. He stood behind her and tugged on the strings of her petticoats, without properly untying them, making her wriggle with frustration.
“Such impatience is not at all lady-like,” he murmured.
“You and I have both agreed that I am not like other ladies and therefore have scant need to behave like one. Will you please hurry? We are wasting time.”
If anything, his progress became even slower. By the time she stood in just her stockings and pantalets and camisole, she was shuddering with anticipation. Rhys tossed the corset onto the rocking chair and stood back. “You should leave the stockings on,” he said, pulling pins from her hair.
She shook her hair out and put her hands on her hips. “It seems I have little to say regarding what layer is removed and what remains.”
“Oh, the underclothes can most definitely go,” Rhys assured her and tugged the ribbon on the top of her camisole undone. He pushed his hands up underneath the cotton, making her gasp with shock at the touch of his hands on her bare flesh, so close to her breasts, the ends of which were taut with excitement and rubbing softly against the fabric.
Rhys seemed to swallow her gasp, his lips catching hers and his kiss wiping away all her impatience. She moaned into his mouth as his hands swept upward to cup her breasts. His fingers caught her nipples between them and tugged and she thought she might faint at the delicious feelings that developed between her legs in response.
She unfastened her pantalets and let them flutter to the carpet, as Rhys pulled the camisole over her head. Finally, she was naked, except for her stockings.
Anna knew that he would tease her even more with the slow removal of his own clothing and she couldn’t bear the idea. She reached for the buttons on his waistcoat and fumbled them undone with her trembling fingers even as he was kissing her.
He pulled his mouth away and looked down at her hands. “Taking time by the forelock,” he observed.
“I’ll not stand here with embers dying while you leisurely remove your clothes.”
“I don’t think your embers are capable of dying.”
It was the approving note in his voice that pleased her the most. Truly, they were a most compatible couple. If she had been free to choose a husband in her own time, she would have wished for a man who thought as she did and was in agreement with her on so many things and who pleased her as much as Rhys did in the bedroom.
As Rhys removed his clothing, moving somewhat faster than he had when removing hers, Anna clutched the post on the bed, her breath coming faster. “Truly, we are most compatible and like-minded.”
“Very,” Rhys said shortly and turned her around to face the end of the bed. “Hold the frame,” he added.
A thrill ran through her as she realized what he intended to do with her. She gripped the iron frame as he separated her legs. He stood behind her and bent her forward, to lean over the chest-high frame. She felt very exposed and that provided a delicious feeling of its own. She held on, suddenly glad of the support of the bed.
Rhys’ cock pushed into her. Her body was more than ready to receive him and she could feel her channel part as he thrust inside her. Her breath stilled. She didn’t think she would ever get tired of this sensation. It was delightful. Satisfying.
Rhys let out an unsteady breath. “Lord…!” he muttered and his big hand curled around the frame next to hers. The heat of his body bathed her back and hips and she sighed.
He began to move, his cock slipping in and out of her. Anna concentrated on experiencing every little sensation he produced, from the friction of the head of his cock against her, to the touch of his hips against her bottom when he thrust deeply. Her breath came more quickly as the pleasure built.
Then his spare hand slid down her belly to between her legs, to rest against her clitoris. She was already shuddering, her body making little jerks each time he pushed back inside her, so he barely had to move his hand at all. Her excitement leapt, stealing her breath and making her eyes close.
She climaxed with a scream that she muffled against he
r arm, clutching at the bedframe to keep herself on her feet.
Rhys choked back a cry of his own as he gave hard little thrusts and grew taut and still as he reached the same peak. The erotic sound made her heart leap even harder.
“Again,” she urged him, her voice hoarse, as he slipped out of her.
Rhys kissed the side of her neck, his lips hot and moist. “Yes, by God.” His arm pulled up against her waist, lifting her off her feet. He carried her around to the side of the bed.
“Like normal people do it,” she said approvingly.
“Not at all.” He rested on the counterpane on his back and she noted with a warm sense of approval that his cock was still upright. She had learned quite thoroughly the various states in which a man’s cock could be found and this erect position was the best of them all.
Rhys tugged her over him, positioning her with his hands, then pulled her down on top of him. She was startled by the odd positioning, but delight touched her as she realized what he intended. “Oh, indeed!” she said in agreement and shifted her hips so that his cock speared her in just the right place, sliding inside with little effort, then even deeper than usual. “Oh!” she repeated, adjusting to the sensation of him being so deep.
“I’m led to understand that this position is pleasurable for the lady, too,” he said gravely, but there was a twinkle in his dark eyes that said he was teasing.
“It is!” Anna agreed breathlessly, too excited to tease back. “But who led you to understand this? There are experts about such matters?”
He gripped her hips. “If you were to ask, you would find that every single man considers himself an expert in such matters. I borrowed your strategy, Anna. I read a book.”
“There is a book about these things?” She shifted her hips again, enjoying the way it made his cock move inside her and the press of her clitoris against his flesh.
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