Her Grace's Stable: A Jane Austen Space Opera, Book 2 (18 page)

“I
could
…” As if deep in thought, Majel drummed her fingers on the arms of the chair. A smile flitted across her face that was almost playful, sending Violet’s alarms screaming with urgency. “Then he could provide heirs for your House as well as his own.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Arthur retorted. When both ladies arched a brow at him, he blushed and added, “Your Majesty, I beg your pardon, but surely you don’t intend for Her Grace to offer for my hand in marriage.”

It was all Violet could do not to climb out of bed and find her whip so she could drive him around the ring until he fell at her feet, exhausted, and begged her to marry him.
I must be feeling better.

Majel held up a hand to silence whatever protest Violet might voice. “Whyever not, young man? You’ve been compromised by none other than the Black Duchess herself. You’ve been in her House without supervision for weeks now. There’ll be
scandal
,” she whispered in a perfectly shocked and titillated voice that made Violet crack a smile. “Kitty Parkenham wouldn’t offer for you before. She certainly won’t marry goods tainted by Blackmyre.”

“Don’t you want to marry me, Arthur?”

He kept his shoulders squared, head high, and avoided looking at her. “I only just began speaking to you, Your Grace. You certainly haven’t courted me formally.”

“If you’re going into maidenly protests and declarations of love, then I’ll take my leave.” Queen Majel stood and retrieved the silver box from Violet’s chest. Violet had forgotten it was even there. “The programming should have taken effect. Your color’s already improved, although due in part, no doubt, to your impending nuptials. I expect to hear the formal announcements shortly from you and Wellington. Only then shall I give your young man his dukedom.”

Arthur vibrated with tension, his entire body aching to explode into action. “Don’t I have any say in this?”

“Of course you do, pet.” Violet stroked his hand soothingly. “
Yes, Mistress” is the appropriate response.
“And the Field Marshal promotion?”

“If the Duchess of Blackmyre takes House Wellington’s newly appointed heir as her husband, then the Field Marshal position shall belong to you both jointly. That’s the best I can do at the moment, though I fear I may need a new admiral in the months ahead. How do you feel about flying the latest and greatest starship, Blackmyre?”

“It will be an honor, Your Majesty.”

Although the Queen had left, silence still weighed heavily in Her Grace’s bedchamber. Arthur held himself stiff and aloof, waiting to see what she would say.

Would she order him as the mistress to accept her hand in marriage?

Would she punish him if he refused?

Could they possibly continue to play pony games if they were married? Why would she even want to?

“I do believe I’m feeling better, though perhaps it’s psychological.” She stroked her fingers in circles on the back of his hand. “I hope you can forgive me, Arthur.”

His heartbeat quickened uneasily. “For what, Your Grace?”

“I knew who you were but said nothing. If Wellington has truly been trying to find you, then I’ve caused her upset by withholding information about your whereabouts. I was too selfish. I wanted to keep you as long as I could.”

His ears thundered with the frantic beating of his heart. “So that means you’ll let me go?”

“If that’s your wish, absolutely.”

“It would probably be for the best.”
Then why does my stomach feel like a horse kicked me with both rear hooves?

“Why would you say that, pet?”

He pushed to his feet, unable to sit beside her any longer. “For many reasons.”

“I am known as the Black Duchess after all. Your grandmother will probably put a price on my head as soon as she finds out I’ve compromised you. I hope she can afford Lord Regret to assassinate me. Maybe then I’d be as famous as Lady Doctor Wyre.”

“That’s not what I was thinking at all.”

“No? Then surely you must be concerned about the Queen’s decision not only to name you co-commander of the army but also to make you an heir in your own right. That’s quite a heaping pile of responsibility and honor to be dumped on your head at once.”

“Of course I’m honored, Your Grace, but not at the expense of our freedom.”

“Oh, it’s freedom you want? I suppose you’re afraid I’d keep my husband locked in the stable.”

He forced out a shocked gasp of mock horror, but she had to know all too well that he wouldn’t mind getting locked in her stable on occasion.
Especially if she gives me that blasted tail.

She laughed softly. “I suppose the servants would think me rather eccentric. Of course, the Queen’s cure might fail and you’ll find yourself a widower with my huge fortune at your disposal. That would be rather inconvenient, I suppose. You’d be swarmed by greedy titled ladies desperate to fill their Houses’ coffers.”

The thought of her death made his knees tremble enough that he knelt beside her bed and allowed her to take his hands in hers once more.

“Dearest Arthur, surely you know that I’ve come to love you during these days of training and play. That I would see to your every need and ensure your happiness with my utmost ability.”

He closed his eyes and bowed over her hands, pressing his forehead to her knuckles. “Why would you wish such a crippled, violent man for a husband, Your Grace?”

“You challenge me. You’ve pushed me to become a better mistress, which makes me a better person. You’ve grown too. You’ve faced the darker side of yourself and embraced it. Only then can you be complete and whole. You were crippled before you came to me, Arthur. Now you’re on the verge of galloping in all your fierce glory. I only have one lingering concern.”

He brought his head up to meet her gaze. “Cole.”

“Yes. I love him too. If I survive this illness, I won’t give him up for any reason.”

“I’d never ask you to do so.”

She held his gaze. “But he wants you too, Arthur. He brought you to me because he wants us to share him. How do you feel about that?”

He avoided the question by asking one of his own. “You would do that?”

Her eyes widened. “Of course. I’d do anything to make him—and you—happy.”

“But…” He felt his ears charring again but the open candor in her eyes gave him the courage to continue. “What would make
you
happy? How could you find any enjoyment in knowing your husband might be dallying with another man?”

Heat darkened her eyes and softened her lips, inviting him closer so she could whisper in his ear. “When you took Cole before, did you enjoy it?”

Unable to speak around his heart that had somehow lodged in his throat, Arthur merely nodded.

“Were you sweaty and hot with need, Arthur? Did you grunt and groan with ecstasy as you rutted on him? Did he scream out his release when you climaxed in him?”

He squeezed his eyes shut, his face flaming at the memory. “God, yes. I was afraid I’d hurt him, but I couldn’t stop.”

“Then I’ll enjoy it a great deal, pet.” She laughed softly and combed her fingers through his hair. “As long as you allow me to watch, I will be very happy indeed. This is why it was so important that you begin to talk to me. I couldn’t ensure our mutual happiness without it. Is there anything else you’d like to ask me?”

He buried his face against her chest. “I want that bloody tail. I want it so badly I can’t stop thinking about it. I can’t sleep. I keep dreaming the most scandalous horrible things but I can’t seem to help myself.”

She stroked his face, not trying to make him look at her, but reassuring him with her calm, steady touch. “I know you want it, pet. That’s why I denied it until you finally broke. What scandalous horrible things do you keep dreaming?”

When he hesitated, she wrapped her arms around him and held him closer. “Please, Arthur. I must know. I’m positively titillated, as Dottie would say.”

Now is my chance to test her. If I say the filthiest thing I can think of, I might be able to warn her before she’s trapped in marriage to someone she’ll despise.
Forcing the words from his throat, he ground out, “I want to fuck you like a wild, vicious animal. I don’t care about anything but being inside you, taking you as hard as I can, as many times as I can. In all these dreams, I’m the stallion taking you, not a man, because I have my tail.”

She continued stroking him, holding him, but she didn’t say anything. Her heart pounded beneath his ear, but she’d been ill.
If the Queen’s cure doesn’t kill her, then my shocking secrets will likely finish the job MIGS began.

“Is that wrong?” He finally asked, hating his tremulous voice. “Does it break the mistress-pony rule?”

“I’ve never let Cole take me when he’s wearing his tail.”

His heart sank and his eyes burned as hotly as his ears. For a moment, he was sincerely afraid he might very well cry like he’d done with Cole that first night in the stable.

“When Cole’s in the ring, he’s wholly pony. He doesn’t want to be a man or think of me as a woman until later. If he’d asked me as you’ve done, I would consider it honestly and thoroughly, and then I would agree or not depending on how I felt.”

Her fingers tugged on his hair, encouraging him to look up but giving him the choice. When he finally complied, she smiled and leaned up to kiss his nose.

“You need to stop worrying so much about what’s right or wrong and simply concentrate on what you feel in your heart. I don’t care what Society will think about me running my men around the ring like the ponies they are. I don’t care if Queen Majel would faint dead away at the thought of my big brute of a stallion taking me when he’s wearing a tail. I couldn’t care less about what anyone says or thinks about the Black Duchess, as long as you and Cole are happy and satisfied. My question to you, Arthur, is do you trust me? Honestly, pet. You have to be willing to put yourself completely into my care.”

He nodded and gave her the formality of words, his most solemn oath. “I trust you to be my mistress.”

“I’m strong enough to push you until you break, until your darker urges are unleashed and you’re wild with violent lust. I’m strong enough to retain enough control over you so that we can all enjoy that lust without fear or injury. I’m certainly strong enough to admit to you when I have concerns or to give my full consent when I’m eager to try something with you.”

She rubbed her lips against his, sharing her breath with him while staring deeply into his eyes. “I’m eager to let my stallion fuck me like the wild animal he is. I just ask that you also consider doing the same to Cole while he’s inside me, so I can have the pleasure of watching you both climax with me.”

His pulse skyrocketed so high and fast that he swayed, dizzy and unable to draw breath. She lay her head back down on the pillows and laughed.

“Now that is a look I dearly love to see on your face, Arthur. So, does the
First Duke of Wellington in his own right consent to marry the Duchess of Blackmyre?”

“Posthaste.” He nodded, his voice thick. “Your Grace?”

“Yes, Your Grace?”

“How quickly do you think we can act out what you just described?”

She chuckled and patted the mattress beside her. “If these bloody nanobots fail to kill me, then I’ll endeavor to allow you and Cole to do as you will as soon as possible. But first I must pay a call on Wellington. With my luck, I’ll survive MIGS’s assassination attempt only to die with your Grandmama’s bullet in my skull.”

Chapter Sixteen

“Your Grace, thank God!” Garrett Wellesley threw open the door and dragged Violet inside House Wellington. “Grandmama, she’s here!”

Braced for shouted accusations and vile names, Violet allowed herself to be bustled into the sitting room and seated before a cozy fireplace. Garrett practically fell over himself taking her gloves and shouting for tea. The entire house was in an uproar.

Bemused, Violet simply sat and sipped the fine brew, waiting to see what Wellington would have to say.

Finally the grand old dame of House Wellington strode into the room. Nearly as big as her strapping grandson, Wellington had crammed herself into a low-cut gown more appropriate for court than a simple daytime call from an old enemy.

Calmly, Violet set the cup aside and stood, lifting her chin and preparing to stoically endure whatever insults the woman threw at her.
We already have Queen Majel’s consent. In fact, she practically ordered us to marry, regardless of what the old battleaxe has to say.

Wellington threw her arms around Violet and burst into tears.

Awkwardly, she patted Wellington on the back and met Garrett’s gaze with a silent yet urgent plea for help.

“There, there, Grandmama,” Garrett soothed, sparing a wink for Violet. He drew his grandmother away and seated her in a chair opposite. “Don’t scare Lady Blackmyre away with your hysterics.”

“Forgive me, Your Grace.” Wellington blew her nose briskly into a handkerchief and mopped her tears away. “I’ve been beside myself worrying about poor Arthur. Her Majesty said he was safe and that you’d be by as soon as possible, but I couldn’t allow myself to hope until you finally arrived. Is the dear boy unharmed?”

“He’s unharmed and safe at Blackmyre,” Violet replied carefully. “What else did the Queen tell you?”