Chapter Thirteen

She awoke as the bed dipped under his weight. “Christoph?” she asked, still in a haze.

“Alex,” he corrected in a gentle voice. “You did not wait for me.”

A yawn overtook her as she struggled to gather wits scattered by a deep sleep. “I was tired.”

He chuckled. “You sound annoyed, Rebecca.”

“What are you doing?” She suddenly realized he was in bed beside her. “What time is it?”

“After midnight. I found myself unable to focus on business matters for thoughts of you.” He pulled her against his bare chest. “There is no reason to deny myself.”

“But—”

“You are my wife.” His expression turned from anticipation to concern. “Are you indisposed?”

She bit her lip, tempted to lie, but knowing she couldn’t avoid his touch indefinitely. Nor did she want to. She ached for him and couldn’t resist, regardless of what that indicated about her moral fiber. “No. Just sleepy.”

His head lowered, and he brushed his lips against hers. “I believe I can keep you awake.”

She snuggled closer as his mouth took possession of hers. Her eyes widened when she felt his bare leg with her foot. She explored his hip, finding him free of clothing. She wanted to feel her bare flesh against his.

He seemed to read her thoughts as he pushed the gown up to her hips, pulled her into a sitting position, and removed it. Without looking, he tossed the lace confection over his shoulder, uncaring of where it landed. His mouth moved to her neck as he cupped her breasts.

Rebecca bit back a moan as his fingers toyed with her nipples. She arched her back.

“Shall I kiss them?” His voice was low and hoarse.

She nodded, throwing her head back as he trailed his mouth from her neck to her right breast. She winced as he clamped his lips over it.

He lifted his head. “Are you alright?”

“They are sensitive.”

Alex nodded as he returned his mouth to her breast, this time caressing so gently her stomach quivered. She closed her eyes and gripped his shoulders as he laved one nipple before switching his attention to the other. He showed no favoritism and alternated frequently.

“Your breasts are perfect,” he said, lifting his head. “They fit in my hands as if they were made to nestle there. The nipples are firm and round.” He took time to run his tongue across her left nipple, and it beaded into a hard knot. Alex looked at her again, licking his lips. “I am hard-pressed to choose which is more perfect—your breasts or your sweet pussy.”

A blush threatened to stain her cheeks, and she tried to hide her embarrassment with his scandalous—but pleasing—praise. He seemed intent on teaching her everything her proper upbringing had failed to. She moaned and tangled her hands in his hair as he dipped his head once more and rolled her nipple around his tongue. One of his hands settled on her thigh, near her pussy.

Pussy, she thought to herself. The thought of uttering the word brought the scarlet flush she had tried to fight down to her cheeks, sweeping up from her neck. She tried whispering it, but her tongue refused to obey.

His mouth at her breast soon distracted her, as did his hand stroking up and down her thigh, flirting with her pussy but not actually touching it. By the time he lifted his head again, she was whimpering and desperate for release. “Please.”

“What do you want?”

Her cheeks burned bright red, and her voice shook when she said, “You.”

He rested his forehead against hers as he pulled her onto his lap. “I want something too, Rebecca.”

She was willing to agree to anything—if only he would take her. “What?”

“Touch me.”

She moved a hand from his shoulder to his waist. She squeezed gently, eying him uncertainly. “You want me to touch you without a barrier?”

Alex laughed as he lifted her hand and placed it against his chest. He took one of her fingers and rubbed it across his nipple before he dropped his hand. “Just your skin against mine, love.”

She focused completely on the hard nub, first exploring with a light touch, then increasing the pressure. She froze when he gasped. “Have I hurt you?”

“Nay. You are doing well.” He sounded strained.

Rebecca bit her lip, wondering what else she could do. Inspiration struck as she remembered how wonderful it felt to have his lips around her nipples. She bent her head and ran her tongue across his other nipple, this time smiling when she heard him gasp again. She nipped him before she slid her tongue across his chest, through the light hair, to suckle the neglected nub.

“Rebecca.”

She lifted her head reluctantly. “Yes?”

He took her hand from his rib and slid it down his body. “Stroke my cock.”

She had resisted touching his cock directly when she bathed him weeks ago and relieved him later that day, but now she relished the opportunity to explore the length of him. Rebecca slid her fingers across his smooth skin, carefully tracing each throbbing vein. She paused at the tip, cupping her hand around his cock and sliding the skin down, then back up. He moaned, making her giggle.

Her giggle cut off abruptly as he lifted her higher onto his lap. “M’lord?”’

“You know what you do to me, despite that air of innocence.”

A melancholy expression crossed her face. “We both know I am no innocent, Alex.”

He shook his head. “You are. One day of loving does not make you any less so.”

She buried her face in his shoulder. “It made me a wanton. I am no lady.”

Alex laughed, pushing up her head. “What makes you say that?”

“Elizabeth said I was not supposed to enjoy our first time together.”

He lifted a brow. “You told her about our…liaison?”

“No, of course not. After the wedding, she imparted her knowledge so I would be prepared for tonight.”

He shook his head. “There is no shame in enjoying sex. You are lucky you find pleasure in the act, for many women do not.”

“Oh.” She frowned at him. “How can they not?”

Alex shrugged. “I suppose they have incompetent partners, or they were taught to believe a lady does not enjoy bedroom games.”

“Oh,” she said again. Maybe they felt no love for their husbands. She left the thought unvoiced. Her gaze moved downward, settling on his cock. “I am no true lady, despite your words, Alex.” She spoke with deep conviction. How could she be, when she had so eagerly embraced such wicked pleasures of the flesh?

He frowned again. “I thought the matter settled to your satisfaction.”

“I am depraved.” She shook her head, dropping her voice to a whisper. “My body tingles when you say those words.”

He sounded amused. “Which words, precisely, love?”

She shook her head once more, unable to utter them.

Alex stroked his finger across her swollen pussy lips. “Come on, love. Nothing should be forbidden as long as it brings us both pleasure.”

She looked up at him, fighting her blush and drawing reassurance from his tender gaze. “P-p-pussy,” she managed to stutter out before a fit of giggles threatened to overwhelm her. She grew giddy as she fought to suppress them.

He nodded, looking satisfied. “Do you like my cock in your pussy, Rebecca?”

She nodded.

“Ask me for my cock, and it will be yours.”

Her light-headedness increased. “Oh, but—” She frowned and absently trailed her hand down his chest. She had moved her other hand to his hip, and she shyly brought it back to his cock. “May I…will you please—?”

He laughed. “Aye, love, I will.”

She smiled at him as she tentatively touched the head of his cock. “Thank you, m’lord.” It seemed ridiculous to be so polite, but she didn’t know what else to say.

He appeared to be biting back a laugh when he asked, “Now, shall we partake of each other?”

Rebecca nodded. Her eyes widened as he pushed her onto her stomach and raised her hips. He knelt behind her, slowly easing the full length of his cock into her pussy. Her body clenched around him, and she felt the familiar tingling. When she could catch her breath, she asked, “Can we do this?”

He frowned at her. “We are doing it, are we not?”

“Yes, but is it proper? I thought there was only one way between a man and woman.”

Alex laughed so hard his chest rumbled against her back. “There are many ways, and I look forward to teaching each one to you, love.”

“I have learned all I care to know for today,” she managed to say primly as he grasped her hips and leaned back on the bed, with her lying on top of him. He lifted her hips and withdrew from her. When his cock was almost completely out of her, he pushed into her again.

Alex cupped her breasts as he settled against the headboard. “Lie back with me.”

She pressed her back against his chest, not allowing him to slip from her body. She groaned as the new position pushed his cock against the nub that brought her such pleasure.

“How I enjoy fucking you, Rebecca.” Alex caressed her nipples in slow circles, squeezing gently.

The blush returned with a vengeance. As naïve as she was, Rebecca knew what “fuck” meant. She remembered seeing a stallion mount a filly once back home in England. She had been hidden from sight near the fence, and she heard one of the grooms say to the stable master, “‘e’s gettin’ a fine fuckin’.”

It hadn’t taken her long to realize what fucking meant, though she had not heard the word again until it passed Alex’s lips. She nodded, unable to find her tongue to speak as his cock pushed deep inside her, causing her to moan as she spasmed around him. He pushed down firmly on her clit as he buried himself deep inside her.

It popped into her mind without her thinking about it: She liked fucking her husband too. The thought made her want to giggle again, and she bit down hard on her lip until her thoughts were swept away by the orgasm overtaking her.

* * * * *

She awoke in the middle of the night, half-buried under Alex’s body. He had rolled on top of her, and she was having difficulty breathing. Her arm had gone numb, pinned under his chest, and she extricated it carefully.

Rebecca rolled away from him and out of the bed. She padded to the window, noticing a delicious ache inside her pussy. Alex’s ejaculation had dried on her thighs, but she was unconcerned about the reminder of their joining. She was still basking in the glow of their lovemaking, even hours later.

She pushed aside the drapes and stared out. The street was silent, and the night sky was velvety black, with only a quarter-moon suspended in the sky. Surely, everyone in the world was asleep—except her.

And Alex, she discovered, when he came to stand behind her. He wound his arms around her waist and pulled her against him. She laid her head against his chest.

“Could you not sleep, love?”

“Nay. I woke to the pleasant sensation of lying under my husband.” She shifted impatiently as his hand stroked across her stomach, moving toward her breasts. “I needed to stretch.”

His voice was throaty against her ear. “I can accommodate m’lady.”

Her eyes widened when he moved his arm from around her waist to her bottom. He squeezed the flesh a couple of times before he began to trail his fingers across her smooth cheeks.

She gasped when he ran his finger down the cleft of her cheeks and continued on, finding her pussy with ease. Her legs independently parted to allow him better access, and she bit her lip when he circled her clit with his thumb. Instantly, she was wet.

As he rubbed her clitoris, Alex grasped one of her breasts and repeated the motion on her nipple. The simultaneous pleasure caused her entire body to turn into a trembling mass. She had difficulty standing, and she didn’t resist when he moved his hand from her pussy to her lower back. He pushed her forward until her forehead rested against the cold glass of the windowpane.

“Do you want me?” he asked, sounding hoarse.

“Oh, yes,” she moaned. “Please, Alex.”

“Shall I fuck you, Rebecca?”

An image of the stallion mounting the filly flashed through her mind, causing her already wet pussy to flood with proof of her arousal. Until this moment, she hadn’t found the memory at all sexual, but she realized she was in the same position as the horse, waiting for her stallion to mount her. She ached for Alex to fill her.

“I want your cock.” To her surprise, she felt little more than a twinge of embarrassment at uttering the word.

He caressed her bottom as his hand moved from her breast to her hips. He leaned her forward a bit more and then nudged her thighs apart. She stood bent at the waist with her legs bowed so he had room to slide between them.

Rebecca buried her hands in the drapes as Alex used a hand to hold open her pussy lips as he guided his cock inside her. She pushed back against him, ignoring the stretching, burning sensation between her thighs. It didn’t matter that she was sore. Nothing mattered but Alex’s possession.

He lifted her slightly, bearing the brunt of her weight as he thrust into her. He was making low grunting sounds as he thrust inside her and went still.

She moaned at the torment of having his cock inside her without moving. Rebecca squirmed impatiently, wanting all of him. When he withdrew to thrust, her teeth sank into her lower lip, and she bit back a protest at the brief separation. Then he was inside her again, and they were one, not two.

It felt more right than she wanted to admit. She wondered if Alex felt the same way. Did he care for her even a little, or was she just an inconvenience he was using at his convenience, as he had said he would?

The thought chased away her arousal, and tears burned behind her eyes. She kept her hands buried in the cloth of the curtains, drawing the strength to stand and endure his lovemaking, knowing he felt no love.

She was surprised when she suddenly climaxed. She had been so consumed with thoughts of Alex’s emotions that she hadn’t paid attention to the signals her body had sent her. Her knees weakened, and she collapsed forward, allowing Alex to hold her up as he spent himself inside her.

She let him carry her back to the bed and tuck her in. Rebecca turned away when he settled in beside her. She felt his hand on her back, and she held her breath, waiting for him to say something, anything at all, to break the silent tension.

She wanted to scream as the seconds lengthened. Finally, she heard him sigh as he rolled away from her. She turned her face into the pillow and let the tears flow. She was a lady and knew all about silent sobs. She doubted he was aware of her torment.

When she heard him snoring a few minutes later, she knew he had remained oblivious. If only she could be so oblivious to the way she felt, she could endure their loveless marriage.