An Affair of Honor (Rebel Hearts Book 2) (23 page)

He unhooked her gown at the back and had her step out of it, all without saying a word to soothe her or seduce her. He brushed his fingers over the chain about her neck but left it hanging there as he took her hair down, tossing away the pins carelessly.

She had never been undressed in this room, so close to the bed they shared at night. She shifted her weight from foot to foot, anticipating William’s touch eagerly. He gathered and straightened her hair, plaited some of it into a rope, then swept it forward to lie over one shoulder.

A small smile twisted his lips as she faced him again. “Lovely.”

He drew back holding one of her hands and took a good look at her body. She was still wearing her corset and chemise but felt as bare as she was when he dressed her each day. The more she came to know him, touch him, the more she craved to see where his passions would lead her next.

He pulled her close suddenly, slamming her against his hard body. A gasp escaped her at the contact, and she instinctively put her arms about his neck as he embraced her. She held on to him, which she soon concluded had been his plan all along judging by his devilish grin.

He brushed his good cheek against hers, and she shuddered as his evening whiskers abraded her skin. He turned his lips against her cheek and kissed from her jaw to her ear and then proceeded down her throat, only stopping when he reached her pulse. He dragged his tongue slowly across her skin.

She tightened her grip around his shoulders and brushed her fingers up into his hair. A low growl left William, his hands squeezing tighter around her waist.

When he lifted his head, his eyes were two black orbs of unguarded emotion, the same look he’d regarded her with when she’d been holding him down on his sickbed. Desire for her and determination not to lose control.

She grinned at the realization. At last she understood what he wanted—her absolute trust.

She knew him. She was growing to appreciate him. She most definitely trusted him not to hurt her body more than she needed it done.

With that understanding, Matilda accepted him and closed her eyes before she leaned into him.

William kissed her—deep, drugging kisses that made her pant and moan. His hands roamed her back, squeezing and sliding over her skin as if he couldn’t get enough. He avoided touching her bottom, deliberately tracing around the tender flesh, which she appreciated for now.

But she was learning that what would not please others aroused her. Matilda tightened her grip on his hair and kissed him back, flicking her tongue across his until he growled against her mouth. He lifted her and staggered the few steps toward the bed.

He tossed her high, and she landed on her knees on the thick mattress. William followed, crawled across the counterpane, and sat on his haunches. He pulled her close enough that her legs straddled his thigh. And in that upright position, he kissed her witless once more, guiding her ever closer to his lap and his hidden erection.

When his thigh brushed high between her legs, touching that secret place that clenched when he stroked her during a spanking, she let out a soft moan and blushed scarlet.

He set his hand to her hips, nudging her closer until she was pressed tight against his hot body. Matilda braced her hands on his wide shoulders as he lifted her chemise at the back and tucked it beneath the material of her corset. She glanced over her shoulder as his hands covered each globe of her tender bottom.

She felt a twinge of apprehension and met his gaze. “You’re going to punish me like this?”

“Most definitely, but you’ll also feel pleasure too. I promise.”

His hand landed hard on her right cheek, and she jerked forward with a gasp into the hard mass of William’s silk-covered thigh. Matilda clutched his shirt as he struck her again, and once more she rubbed against his unyielding flesh.

The twin sensations were a thrilling combination that stirred her arousal to life beyond what she thought she could feel.

William’s fingers dug into her bottom, and then he ground her against his leg. Matilda gasped as her senses rioted and he continued to spank and brush her sex against his thigh in a steady rhythm. She was burning up with embarrassment and equal parts lust. How could she like pain so much that she found it pleasurable?

How could William have known what to do with her so well?

He stopped suddenly, panting hard against her throat.

The pause gave Matilda time to think about William. Should she touch him, or was the experience of spanking her all he wished for himself?

Risking rejection or further punishment, Matilda slipped her hands across his shoulders and down. He was tense beneath his shirt, hot enough to sweat. She teased her fingers over the skin of his chest, across the part exposed by the open neckline of his soft white shirt. William drew back, ripped his shirt off over his head, and placed her hands directly over his skin.

“Oh my,” she whispered. His skin was so pale, so pliant beneath her touch.

“Beautiful, sweet Mattie,” he said and then brushed his lips over her temple. “I think that might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said about me.”

He caught her wrist and shifted her hand slowly down his body. She skimmed over his hard muscled chest, past his taut belly, and lower. There was a long, hard shape beneath his tight breeches, and touching him did strange things to her own body. He was aroused, and Matilda caught her breath, uncertain what to do next.

“Touch me. Please,” he whispered.

He struck her bottom, and her hand bumped against his length. A strangled growl left his throat. “Again.”

He spanked her once more as she traced the shape of him beneath his garment. He was very different from her beneath his clothes, something she’d known but never fully comprehended. He flexed his hips as she traveled the length of him, and when she reached the top she could see the tip wedged between his belly and the tight waistband of his breeches.

William spanked her and grasped her breast while she stared, fascinated by a mere peek at his manhood. Her body quivered at another strike of his hand and hard rub against his thigh. Pleasure was new to her, but not to William. Emboldened by his patience with her fumbling, Matilda ran her knuckle up his length, and when she reached the top she brushed her fingertips over the head.

While William cursed out loud and struck her bottom sharply, she reveled in the softness of his skin. She skimmed the tip of him, finding moisture had beaded at the tip, but after a moment regretted her limited view. She wanted to please him. She wanted to see and know his desires.

William paused, breathing hard against her shoulder. Impulsively Matilda unbuttoned the fall of his breeches, exposing him. His long length jutted proudly from a thatch of dark hair and curved all the way to his belly. His skin appeared so pale beside her hand that she was fascinated. She wrapped her fingers over his length without considering if he’d like it.

A rough moan left his lips before he claimed her mouth in a deep kiss that left her in no doubt that he desired more of such caresses.

She brushed her fingers up and down his length until he covered her hand and had her squeeze him harder. It was not unlike the way he held her wrist sometimes, and she gripped him tightly in her hand, lost in the wonder of the moment. He shifted his hips and thrust between her curled fingers.

Matilda glanced at his face as he began to move the two of them against each other. His eyes were hot on hers, focused but wild. The pressure on her sex was exquisite and arousing, her hand pleasuring him even more so. They were completely tangled together, each exciting the other. His teeth nipped at her throat. “Is this what you want from me, Mattie?”

She squeezed his length tightly and moved her hand in opposition to the thrust of his hips. A dark moan left his lips.

“Is this what you need, Billy?”

He struck her so hard she cried out.

“Yes.” He took her mouth again and sped their movements.

Matilda held on to him with one arm and with the other squeezed and stroked him firmly.

He pushed her down on his thigh and rocked her against him. Matilda closed her eyes as her breath caught. She was beyond excited and lost, with no idea how to continue without his help.

William pinched her nipple suddenly, twisting it until it hurt. The sensation surprised her, the pleasure increasing. Her body tightened and she shuddered, crying out the next moment as wave after wave of sensation swamped her. She clung to William.

William groaned darkly as hot moisture coated her hand where it was wrapped tightly around his length. They shuddered together, climaxing in unison, and then Matilda collapsed into William’s strong arms, utterly spent.

She complained when he parted their limbs. The loss of his thigh against her sex proved her very sensitive.

He eased her to her side, keeping her throbbing bottom off the sheets, her sensitive quim pinched between her thighs. He returned quickly with a washcloth. “Just lie there. Let me take care of you.”

“I am capable of nothing else.”

“Good. That is very good for me.”

William fussed and then moved off the bed, occasionally brushing against her tingling bum with his fingertips as he moved around, removing their clothes from the room.

She pushed her hand under her cheek after he’d removed her corset and chemise, lying in a contented daze. “Do you like to view your handiwork?”

“Yes.” His lips grazed the back of her neck in a soft kiss. “All of you too, but especially after touching you intimately.”

And yet he covered her with a nightgown, then the bedsheet, even tucking the counterpane tightly around her so she would be warm and cocooned.

If he hadn’t just spanked her silly, she’d think him the most doting and gentle man in the world. She was growing to appreciate the differences in him. He acted in keeping with their situation.

He doused the light, climbed into bed, and when he was lying down he took her hand in his. “Good night, wife.”

Matilda smiled in the dark. William wasn’t so complicated. He thrived on routine and orders. Pleasure. Pain and a firm set of rules to guide them on their journey was all they needed. “Sleep well, husband.”

He kissed the back of her hand like the most ardent of suitors. “Until tomorrow, my Matilda.”

“I hope you know my bottom will hurt like the very devil every time I sit down tomorrow.” She sighed. “That will make you content, I suppose.”

“Indeed it will,” he whispered with an amusement to his voice that she thought very sincere. “Until the next time you call me by that name again. The next time I might not be so lenient.”

Matilda groaned as her body quaked with anticipation for their next painful interlude. “It won’t be soon. I need time to recover from that spanking.”

“I’ll wait.”

Eighteen

“I
tell you he is out there.”

William carefully folded the newspaper he had been reading and moved to stand at the window beside Dawson. It was a gloomy day outside, but he could make out a solitary shape leaning against a wrought iron fence across the street. “The height is about right, but I cannot make out his features.”

“It’s him,” Dawson insisted. “What are you going to do?”

“Nothing.”

“She’ll find out you lied to her.”

“That was always in the cards.” He stared at his valet. “Dawson, you continue to worry about my wife unnecessarily.”

“Begging your pardon, my lord, but your lady is worth worrying about. I have always thought she was far too trusting. The other servants did not treat her very well while we were away.” Dawson’s expression grew grim. “Speaking of the servants, when will you do something about how the house is run?”

He moved away from the window. “Those responsibilities belong to my wife.”

Dawson’s expression grew troubled. “She’s not changed anything so far.”

William considered her inaction. They had not spoken much about their expectations, but their marriage was based on an arrangement—wed for a while, then separate. A separation that was growing less and less appealing every day.

He was still elated by last night’s tryst. Making love to Matilda had been worth the wait. He wanted nothing to upset the ease growing between them. Last night had felt like a first great step forward. The first of many, he hoped.

But had his desire to dominate Matilda convinced her she could not impose her will on anything else around them? He hadn’t meant for that to happen. It was not even what he wanted. He would have to discuss what he really wanted from marriage and hope she might understand the difference. “She will soon.”

“Good. The younger servants are suffering, being bullied into doing more chores than they should whenever my back is turned. The boot boy fell asleep at table this morning and was slapped severely for it afterward. I intervened, but I cannot always be belowstairs. I don’t have the authority if the butler turns a blind eye.”

William cursed. His discussion with Matilda had to be handled carefully.

Dawson bowed. “I’ll do my best to keep him out of the house, but I’m not the one answering the doors. You’ll need to alert Carter not to admit him.”