Rough Erotica

by Lexi Lovelost

  “The mansion is huge, my lady?” Kate had a look of confusion on her plain face “This cottage is no larger than the water closets there.”

  “I don’t mean the space, you silly girl.” Lenore laughed. “I meant the freedom of this life, surrounded by the nature and living off the land.”

  “It may look good for the first time, my lady.” The maid replied with her face reddening. “But life is hard and sometimes very demanding out here in the woodlands.”

  “I suppose that is so.” Lenore caressed the hand-polished wood on the bed she was seated on. “But I do find this very invigorating. Why, I’d wager even the Duke would feel more alive here.”

  “The D-duke? Here?” Kate suddenly began to shake with fear.

  “Yes, here.” Lenore raised an eyebrow at the stricken girl. “What is it, you silly child?”

  “Nothing, my lady.” Kate nodded and looked at the floor. “I… I’m being silly.”

  “Well, I suppose you are right in a way.” She had to admit. “The duke would never dream of living like this, even for a moment.”

  The horses suddenly began to whinny outside, making the two women stiffen and rise.

  “Someone is out there.” Lenore whispered. “Who can it be?”

  The cottage door pushed inward and a large shadow stepped inside. In the pale glow of the fireplace, Lenore found herself staring at something out of a nightmare. It was a man, the largest man she had ever seen. Tall and broad of shoulder, weather-beaten and rugged of face, with long unkempt hair and a fierce beard, a large woodsman’s axe in hand, he wore a cloak made from bearskin. A strong musky odor assailed her senses, and she felt like she would faint as the man crouched low toward them.

  “Father!” Kate called out and the man’s intense grey eyes narrowed as he let the axe drop from his hand.

  “Katie!” He said softly. “Oh, Katie. I missed you so.”

  The girl made a whimpering sound and disappeared into his bearlike embrace. He hugged her close and kissed her forehead. Lenore swallowed hard and felt a strange series of tingles and tremors course all though her young body. This bear of a man was the willowy Kate’s father? She had never seen a man like this in her life and she didn’t understand why the fear she felt was mingled with other feelings she had never had before.

  “And who is this?” The man was asking his daughter.

  “Oh…” Kate looked completely out of sorts. “Oh, forgive me, my lady. This is my father, Hagar. And father, this is her ladyship, the Duchess of Balmy Town.”

  “The Duchess?” The bearlike Hagar’s eyes went wide. “The Duchess… in my little hovel?”

  “I… I am pleased to meet you, Hagar the woodsman.” Lenore managed to say. “Kate is a fine employee and I wished to see where she lived.”

  “We are simple folk, my lady.” Hagar told her as he undid his bearskin cloak. “I live off the land, and sell the wood that I cut down.”

  “This is a wonderful place to live.” Lenore replied, her heart now beating faster at the sight of the man’s thick muscular arms and deep chest. “As I was telling Kate before your arrival.”

  “It is indeed, and also a hard living.” The man nodded as he rummaged into a sack by the fire. “Had I known I would have company…?”

  “No fear on that account, Hagar.” She smiled at him. “I will be well pleased with whatever repast you may serve.”

  “Some rabbit meat that will stew nicely, and a few carrots and turnips.” Kate said with a smile as she looked much relaxed than she had been so far.

  What was she afraid of, Lenore wondered. Her father, though a most imposing man, didn’t seem like one who would instill the fear that Kate was harboring. “A good honest meal.” She told the girl.

  “Aye, my lady.” Hagar smiled through his thick beard. “A meal for honest folk.”

  About an hour after their meal, Lenore sat on one of the beds as Kate settled into the other. Hagar offered to sleep outside next to the horses. That was a strange for her. Their host had given up his bed for a guest. He had given up his shelter for them. It made her feel sort of special. Something that was in very short supply back in the mansion and her life as the Duchess.

  Kate was soon sound asleep on the bed beside her and Lenore tried hard to follow the maid girl’s example. But sleep had other places to be and Lenore found herself staring into the low embers of the fireplace. She kept thinking of Hagar. That there were men like him, she could not even fathom. All the men she had known in her life were earls, dukes, counts and their bevy of foppish underlings. Yes, there were many strapping young fellows among the peasantry and the help, but it was beneath the station of an Earl’s daughter and now Duke’s wife to even consider looking at any of those men.

  But now here she was, free of all that pageantry and pretentiousness. She didn’t need to hide behind the false arrogance of her high birth. Lenore could do as she pleased, at least for this one night. She would think of this most uncouth man and she would shamelessly touch herself as she did it. She let memories of Hagar’s rugged face fill her mind. His intense eyes and bristling beard. Those broad shoulders and muscular arms. And his hands, oh, how she wanted those rough strong hands to roam all over her body, ravaging her delicate tenderness. She sighed loudly, letting her hands ease that yearning between her legs. Something strange was happening down there. Something she had felt for a brief spell on her first night with her husband and never since. Lenore controlled herself and looked over at Kate, hoping she hadn’t roused the girl from her sleep.

  “I shall go mad.” She said to herself. “Sleep may never give me respite this night.”

  With that she lightly slipped out of the bed and stepped outside the cabin. The moon was low on the western sky, threatening to dip behind the tall trees. She looked around the woodland. The horses were where Kate had tethered them, but of Hagar she saw no sign. Lenore wondered where the man was as she walked toward the horses, her hands hugging her shoulders to keep the chill away. A sense of wicked excitement coursed through her as she stepped over the dying embers of a small fire lit nearby the horses. That had to be Hagar’s, she mused.

  She turned to the left and bumped into something hard. She thought she had walked into a tree in the darkness, but a strong arm slipped around her, stopping her from falling to the ground. That musky scent she had got before filled her senses and she looked up at the bearded man holding her in his muscular arm. That warm sensation between her thighs made her knees weak and she leaned against his hard, rugged masculinity.

  “My lady?” He said in a gruff whisper. “Are you ill?”

  “Huh?” She stared at him blankly.

  “Why are you outside in the cold?” He made as if to take her back inside the cabin.

  “No. I am fine.” She told him as he released his hold. “I couldn’t sleep and thought to get some fresh air outside.”

  “I have fresh wood for the fire.” He said as he knelt over the dying embers and fed in twigs to get the flames rising again.

  “May I sit here outside, by your fire?” Lenore asked, shivering a little from the cold and a little from being so close to the man.

  “These are your husband’s lands, my lady.” He told her plainly. “You may sit wherever you wish.”

  “I… I hadn’t thought of it that way.” She was slightly surprised. Hagar sounded resentful making the Duke’s reference.

  “Forgive me, my lady.” Hagar said softly. “But seeing my Katie again brought back some memories that would best remain forgotten.”

  “I could sense her fear when coming here.” Lenore said to the man. “Is there something I should know?”

  “None that should trouble you, my lady.”

  “And yet you must tell me, Hagar.” She peered into his dark eyes. “As the Duchess, I demand to know.”

  “You will not like what you will hear.” He said as he looked away.

  “Then all the more reason that I must know, woodsman.” Lenore put on her most authoritative v
oice.

  “Tis about the Duke.” The woodsman exhaled deeply.

  “The Duke? My husband?” She was surprised.

  “Aye, my lady.” He told her as he poked at the rising fire. “Long before you were wed to him.”

  “What happened?”

  “Katie was just a little girl then, when the Duke came riding by our cottage one day.” The woodsman said sorrowfully. “He desired my wife and I refused. He gave chase and I hurled my axe at his horse, killing the beast, but it fell on my beloved Liana, killing her too. The Duke took my Katie away to punish me… and keeps her in his mansion as a maid.”

  “I didn’t know of this.” Lenore could feel her heart beating hard. “So Katie is bound to a life of servitude at the mansion.”

  “Aye, for no crime of hers or mine.” Hagar leaned his dark maned head against the tree. “I lost everything that day… the loves of my life, Liana and Katie, were taken from me.”

  “I am the Duke’s wife.” She said, suddenly feeling very threatened. “And yet you offered me refuge…”

  “You have nothing to fear from me, my lady.” He gave her a small smile and she instantly felt a hot rush all over her body. “I harbor no ill will against you.”

  “You are a good man, Hagar.” She said with genuine admiration. “A decent man.”

  “You’d best be riding back home, my lady.” The large man stood up and walked toward the horses. “It will be dawn soon.”

  She watched the man unfetter the horses and bring them over to her. “I will rouse Katie and then take you to the edge of the woodland.” He said. “You must not tell the Duke of this, my lady.”

  Of course she would not. She was out in the woods in secret and even if some of the other maids had seen her leave with Kate, they would not tell the Duke about a little riding lesson she was out for. Hagar left them at the edge of the woodland, just before the little stream, and the two young women made their way back to the mansion from there just as the first streaks of the new dawn began to lighten the starry skies.

  She intended to take more rides like this, Lenore told herself as they gates of the mansion loomed up before them. The gardener was up and he waved at her, as did the dairy farmer. All the maids would be up by now, going about their duties.

  “Come, Kate.” She told the slender girl riding the black stallion. “We must return the horses to the stables and take a much needed warm bath before breakfast.”

  A warm bath and a hearty breakfast later, Lenore couldn’t keep her eyes open. She hadn’t slept all night and the soft warm bed in her chamber didn’t need much to do to seduce her to fall into it. She slept soundly with vivid dreams of large, bearded men and several other things that would surprise her if she would recall what she had been dreaming. She woke up with the sound of chiming bells that announced the arrival of the Duke.

  Duke Mortimer Ferdinand Mosel walked into her bedchamber with a silly smile on his round face. His nose and cheeks were reddened and she could get a whiff of the wine he had been drinking. He was there no doubt to take his pleasure of her. A strange sense of loathing overcame her, taking the place of the passive indifference she felt at his advances.

  “My lovely wife. My dear devoted Duchess.” The Duke slurred as he flopped on the bed beside her. “Tonight is the night that I will sire a son. A learned soothsayer at the Count’s estate foretold so by looking at my palm. Would you fancy that… now come, remove your cumbersome garments and let me bestow upon you my gift.”

  Lenore stared at him blankly for a while; pondering on the preposterous notion that she should be ready to please her husband no matter what her situation was. It never mattered if she was asleep, tired, in a bath or otherwise indisposed, when her husband wanted to conjugate it was her sacred duty to spread her legs and give herself to him.

  Well, so it was. She sighed and pulled up her sleeping gown to spread her legs just as she had been doing for about month now. The Duke didn’t bother to remove his wine spattered shirt or vest. He just undid the front lacing of his breeches, pulled out his stiff little organ and shuffled over her like he always did. Several awkward bumps and grinds later, she felt him releasing his gift into her, what little he could. And then he just rolled over and fell into a deep slumber, his flaccid member exposed and wet.

  As it was customary, Lenore reached for the bell rope to summon Kate with her wooden tub and scrubber. But her hand stopped inches away from the rope. The Duke lay there snoring deeply, sleeping off all the wine he had been drinking over at the Count De Wolvers’. Lenore was sure he would not awaken for at least twelve hours. Disgust filled her heart for him, and then it was replaced by anger. Anger which then gave birth to white hot rage. She was the Duchess of Balmy Town and not just some common doxy to spread herself wide for the Duke’s pleasure. Husband or not, she deserved better treatment from him. And if he would not oblige her, Lenore would get it for herself.

  She quickly rose off the bed and pulled a dark cloak over her sleeping gown. Madness and courage fuelled by her emotions led her to do what she did next. She left the Duke where he was and rushed out to the stables. Old Charley was brushing down her mare, and the black stallion was already saddled. The aged master of horse said nothing as she leapt up on the saddle and kicked the stallion into a gallop.

  The horse was a thoroughbred, an animal groomed for racing and hunting. She made good use of it as she raced down the pathway and into the country trail. The little stream meandered up and she had the stallion leap right over it. Her heart soared as the animal thundered into the woodlands.

  Not before long, the little cottage came into sight and she slid off the saddle. Letting the lathered creature graze on the fresh grass, she strode toward the cottage, her cloak flaring in the wind. She pushed open the door and stepped inside. Hagar looked up at her from the fireplace. His dark eyes reflected the fire and sent several shivers down her spine.

  “Woodsman.” She told him most commandingly. “You have been wronged by my husband, so it is only fitting that I must right that wrong.”

  “What are you proposing, my lady.” The tall man stood up and turned toward her.

  “I want you to despoil me, woodsman.” She replied most brazenly, surprising even herself. “Ever since I saw you last night, I have not been myself. You are unlike any man I have known.”

  “But the Duke…”

  “The Duke will never know.” She said, throwing off her cloak. “I am here unknown to him. Let me give you what he took away so many years ago.”

  Hagar stood there in silence. She could see him struggling with himself. He was a man of honor and pride, she could tell. But all that did not matter. He was a man and he had the needs of all men. And despite the Duke’s apathy to her beauty and comely body, Lenore was aware that most men desired her. She had seen that desire in Hagar’s eyes as well when he held her in his arms the night before. She looked at him intently and bit her full lower lip in anticipation.

  The man was making her feel things she never knew she could ever feel. All over her body, a yearning for him made her hair rise. His immense muscular body and the musky scent of manliness from him drove her close to being insane. She had never known lust, but she was sure that was what she felt for this large man reeking of sweat, grime and wood dust.

  “Take me, woodsman.” She said throatily. “Before I collapse from sheer want and desire.”

  “My lady.” He whispered and came toward her.

  Lenore tore of her flimsy gown and stood naked before the second man in her young lifetime. She could see the lust and admiration in his eyes. Something the Duke never had for her.

  A strange fluttering, like butterflies erupting in her belly, made her excitement hit the roof. Warm and sticky juices flowed down her thighs, something that never happened when the Duke shuffled about over her. She threw back her head and walked right into the woodsman’s arms.

  His large hands, rough and coarse from years of hard labor, bruised her tender skin, but she loved it, longe
d for it and even demanded it. He lowered his mouth over hers and she felt a man’s hot kiss for the first time. She savored it. His breath tasted of berries and nuts. She felt his coarse tongue enter her mouth and wriggle against her own. Lenore had never experienced this, and somehow she knew this was natural. She wanted it more than anything right then. All those lessons about sex being a man’s pleasure and woman’s duty were nothing more than utter nonsense, she realized. A man like Hagar was born to pleasure women.

  Lenore took his large hands in hers and placed it over her aching breasts. Her nipples were hard and painful, yearning to be soothed. He seemed to know what to do as his hand closed over her soft breast, squeezing ever so tenderly. His iron-hard fingers felt so good on her heightened flesh. She moaned and arched her back when he lowered his mouth over her swollen nipple and sucked on it. Oh, the pleasure she felt from her curled up toes to the bristling hair on the back of her neck was indescribable. She wanted more. Her nails dug into his thick maned scalp as he sucked on her breasts one at a time. A warm sensation spread out from between her legs and a yearning to explore him filled her delirious mind.