Wicked And Wild: Spencers in Love Book Two (12 page)

            "Dear, God!" He knew exactly what had
happened to that particular book. "I'm surprised you need me to teach you
anything." He mumbled as he swung his legs over the bed. Lucien heard
Mirabelle laugh as he strode into his room to get his robe. He walked back into
her room and tugged on the bell pull.

            "I understand how it's done in theory...
Though I suppose I understand how many things are done in theory." She sat
up as Lucien picked up her robe and handed it to her.

            "I need to have a talk with Gilles about
that library if he has any daughters." He shook his head as he poured two
glasses of wine and handed one to Mirabelle.

            "And I assume there's more to it than
simply putting it in your mouth." She mused as she sipped from her glass.
Lucien's eyes grew round and the most unmanly sound came from his throat. He
was rescued by a knock at the door. Mirabelle's maid entered and discreetly
looked about the room.

            "I think we'll dine in here tonight,
Mary." Lucien hoped that he wasn't blushing.

            "We did assume that, Your Grace. I should
have dinner up shortly. Will you be needing anything else?" The woman
didn't even try to hide her smile. Lucien was only mildly surprised that
Mirabelle didn't seem bothered by her maid's forwardness. 

            "More wine, please." Just as Mary was
about to shut the door he had a thought. "And an extra serving of pudding,
Her Grace will be earning it tonight." Mary laughed and this time
Mirabelle blushed.

            "Yes, Your Grace!" She shut the door
and Lucien chuckled.

            "I see why you have her; the two of you are
well suited." He padded back the bed and reclined next to Mirabelle.

            "You know I don't do well with timid
people. I had a timid maid once. She lasted a week before she cried and begged
maman to find someone else." She sipped her wine and smiled. Lucien
frowned.

            "It's not like you to abuse servants. What
did you do?" He made a tassel of her hair and brushed it back and forth
across his lips. Mirabelle clapped a hand over her mouth and giggled.

            "I caught a rat and hid it in a hat box.
She found it."

            "Mirabelle! Why?" Lucien shivered and
sat up, he hated rats and mice.

            "I think it's better that you don't
know." She rose on her knees and wrapped her arms around his neck. His
free hand pressed against her back but his expression was horrified.

            "That's cruel and unusual!" He gasped.
Mirabelle rolled her eyes.

            "It would have served you right; you filled
my bed with fish!" She argued.

            "That was all Gilles' idea, I assure
you." Lucien kissed her nose and looked up when he heard a knock at the
door. "Enter." Mary and another maid brought their dinner in. He got
up to refill the wine.

            "Funny... Gilles said it was your idea and
you caught most of the fish." She crossed her arms accusatively and
stared.

            "He's got it all wrong. Alastair caught
most of the fish." Lucien extended his hand and pulled Mirabelle from the
bed. "Come and eat, madam. You have a lesson after dinner and you'll need
your energy."

            Hours and a few demolished trifles later, Lucien
ran his fingers through Mirabelle's hair and stroked her back. She was draped
across his chest sleeping soundly. So much had changed in one day. He'd gone
from being sexually frustrated and afraid to be alone with his wife to almost
losing her only to experience some of the most soul shattering sex he'd ever
had. With the exception of the fruitless and tiring afternoon Lucien had spent
missing Mirabelle, it had been one of the best days of his life. And if her
performance after dinner was any indication, it could only get better. She
applied herself to her "lesson" with the same determination she did
all things. Mirabelle had licked, sucked and kissed Lucien so avidly and
thoroughly that he'd nearly lost control and let himself go in her mouth. He'd
had to pry his finger between her lips to force her to let go so he could
settle her on her knees in front of him. Lucien took her from behind and
pounded into her with such force, he'd been sure she would beg him to be
gentler. Instead, she'd begged for more and bit a pillow so hard it ripped,
causing a cloud of feathers to rain down on them when they climaxed.

            As incredible as their first day of true sexual
intimacy had been, the openness and the renewed connection between them was
even better. Mirabelle was no longer quiet and guarded. She laughed, teased and
flirted as she used to before things had become strained after Gilles' and
Elise's wedding. Lucien felt the unique calmness that he only found with
Mirabelle and realized that he hadn't felt it since the night they'd married.
He would never hold back again, he decided. It had nearly cost him his sanity
and Mirabelle. Lucien decided he would give her everything and let her tell him
when he crossed the line. He grinned as he tried to imagine where the line
would be. Wherever it was, he knew she'd speak her mind and give him everything
in return.

Chapter 22

Mirabelle cringed. Her mind had
drifted and she'd inserted one song into the middle of another song. She did
that a lot lately. She'd sit at the piano and as soon as she'd start playing, “poof!”,
there went her brain. Lucien had turned her into a cat. If she wasn't napping,
she was mindlessly darting about the house or staring off at nothing. Mirabelle
couldn't stop the smile that pulled at her lips. The last few weeks of their
marriage had been so much better than the first. In fact, Mirabelle decided
that the first three weeks didn't count and so far her marriage was perfect.
Since the confrontation in the study, all the boundaries and barriers between
them had disappeared. The physical and emotional intimacy between them was more
beautiful than Mirabelle had ever imagined. Also, her friendship with Lucien
had intensified and become the foundation of their marriage. She secretly and
smugly believed that he now considered her his very best friend over her
brothers. When they were with the family, they were more of a single entity
among them. Mirabelle and Lucien would trade conspiratorial looks, share jokes
that only they understood and would join forces in teasing Gilles or Alastair. 

             Mirabelle heard swift strides approaching the
music room and looked up. It was Lucien. A moment later he was in the doorway,
he looked tense, taut. He slammed the door causing Mirabelle to jump, his eyes
were wild and his was face rigid.

            "What?" Her eyebrow rose as Lucien
advanced towards her.

            "Up, now." The words were hard and
brisk, like the cracking of a whip.

            Mirabelle shrugged and rose from the bench. She
rounded it just as he reached for her. Lucien turned her and pushed her against
the piano. Before she could ask what he was doing she felt cool air against the
backs of her thighs and his fingers parting her. Her eyes went wide and she
felt Lucien's erection slide into her in one swift, hard stroke. Mirabelle
gasped as he slid out and then seated himself again fully. His arms wrapped
around her and he began driving into her with such force that her feet came off
the floor. With the relentless pace and the feel of Lucien behind her, like a
solid wall of muscle and heat, it only took Mirabelle a few minutes before she
screamed and flew apart in his arms. Aside from the fury of his breath in her
ear, Lucien continued thrusting silently and ruthlessly into her core until he
pulled her tight against him, froze and then made three more powerful thrusts
into her. Mirabelle felt the tension drain from him as heat exploded within
her. Lucien relaxed his arms around her and stood. She felt her skirts fall and
his hands working at his trousers behind her. Cool lips pressed against her
shoulder before he turned and left the room.   

            "Well..." Mirabelle said under her
breath as she shook her skirts and blinked at the empty room. "Perhaps
I'll have a bath and a nap before dinner." In a daze, she climbed the
stairs.

            Lucien was definitely living up to his
reputation, she decided. He was insatiable and unapologetic, not that Mirabelle
minded. They still met in her room at night but the mood was usually more
affectionate and comforting when they came together. As if they needed soothing
after a demanding and tumultuous day. In the morning, Lucien was urgent and
possessive when he took Mirabelle as she woke, worshiping everything he kissed
and stroked. At some point, later in the morning or early afternoon, one of
them would seek the other out, frantic and hungry. They would kiss wildly and
tear at each other, Mirabelle's clothes usually suffered. Now and then, Lucien
would seek Mirabelle out later in the afternoon. His moods were so
unpredictable by then.

            He could be as he was in the music room,
impatient and forceful. Or, he would flirt and tease until Mirabelle was impatient
and forceful. Sometimes, he was tender, whispering loving phrases and caressing
her gently as he took her. She loved it all, everything Lucien did aroused her.
She loved that he could surprise and overwhelm her.

            Eventually, the family grew tired of their
seclusion and started making calls at Clerendon House. It started with
Alastair. Mirabelle sensed that he missed her and was worried that she wasn't
happy. Because she knew that he would find it hard to simply ask her and
wouldn't enjoy the conversation, Mirabelle met him over the chess board. She
let him see her content and enamored with her husband and trounced him so that
he knew that her mental faculties were still sound. The Mothers began taking
tea at Clerendon House most days, politely prodding and teasing. Madeline had
chosen to stay at Spencer Place to give the newlyweds privacy and Mirabelle got
the feeling she was discreetly inspecting various rooms during her visits.
Gilles would bring Elise and they would sit at the piano while the husbands
relaxed in the library or study.

            Given Lucien's mercurial demands and appetite,
the family's visits to Clerendon House made Mirabelle's life easier. She never
knew if they would actually make it to appointments. They would be just out the
door before Lucien was dragging her back up the stairs, or he would kiss her a
little too long in the carriage and they would have to turn around or one of
them would stare at the other a little too intently across a room and they
would have to leave. Mirabelle had left for fittings or to go shopping and when
she returned, Lucien all but attacked her at the door, starving and acting the
victim as he pulled her into the front parlor.

            Not that she was without demands; she would
often greet Lucien at the door or beckon him into the study when he returned.
Mirabelle particularly liked kneeling between his legs while he was at his desk
and taking him in her mouth. She felt powerful and primitive rendering him
helpless in the place where he elegantly ran his dukedom. And the excuses she'd
used to interrupt him while he was bathing... Poor Hugo! Mirabelle loved seeing
Lucien wet and naked, like a marble god that had come to life. The occasions
where she had dared to "help" bathe him had ended up with her fully
clothed and soaked and half a tub's worth of water on the floor.

            Mirabelle loved when she could predict Lucien's
moods and intentions. He had an unintentional code he used when others were
around. "There's something I wish to discuss with you." meant that he
wanted to taste her and love her with his mouth. "There is a matter that
requires your attention." was Lucien's way of telling her that he wanted
her to take him in her mouth. Mirabelle's favorite was "If you would excuse
us..." so that they could attack each other like animals in the next room.
Every time Lucien cleared his throat to speak, she felt her nipples tighten in anticipation.

            It didn't take long for the family to suspect.
One afternoon, while Mirabelle and Elise were at the piano and the men were across
the room, Elise leaned in close and whispered. 

            "It seems that things between you and
Lucien are better." Her head angled towards Mirabelle and a playful smile
tugged at her lips. Mirabelle couldn't help but sigh.

            "Better doesn't begin to describe it!"
She continued to recount the first few weeks and the confrontation that changed
everything. Elise couldn't believe Lucien's misapprehension or Mirabelle's
response.

            "Did you truly say that he'd had plenty of
wives?" Elise gasped.

            "Who had plenty of wives, sweetheart?"
Lucien asked as he and Gilles swaggered across the room. Mirabelle cast about
frantically.

            "King Henry, my love." She kept her
voice casual. Elise bit her lip as she tried not to laugh.

            "Poor fellow, with all those wives."
Lucien mumbled as he leaned in and brushed his lips against Mirabelle's cheeks.
She swatted his shoulder.

            "Poor fellow? What of his poor wives?"
She argued. Lucien chuckled as he claimed her lips.

            "They were probably all mouthy." He
mumbled. Mirabelle narrowed her eyes.

            "I thought you liked that I was
mouthy." She grumbled against his lips.

            "As I'll only have the one wife, I have to
make the best of it." Lucien's voice had gone deep and Mirabelle expected
that he would make an excuse soon.

            "I think I'm going to be sick.” Gilles
pulled Lucien away from Mirabelle and led him to the sideboard. She sighed and
rolled her eyes.

            "Are you feeling well?" Elsie
whispered.

            "Of course. I've been a bit tired but
Lucien is quite demanding." Mirabelle shuffled through the music to
determine their next piece. "Why do you ask?"

            "You seem different. I can feel that you're
tired but there's a sort of... humming about you and you're warmer." Elise
bit her lip. "Is it possible that you're expecting?"

            Mirabelle tried not to react. She was almost
certain she was but she was waiting until she was sure before she told Lucien.
She was over a month late for her courses but had no other signs. She didn't
want to even say the words with anyone before him.

            "I suppose it's possible but it would be
too soon to be certain." Mirabelle hoped she sounded nonchalant. She hated
lying to Elise, not just because it was almost impossible to do successfully.
Perhaps, sensing that Mirabelle was avoiding the discussion, Elise shrugged and
smiled softly.

            "I think you might be. Now, what are were
going to play?"