Portrait of a Scandal (13 page)

* * * *

Thomas had watched his wife throughout dinner, not at all surprised by her being well received by his friends.

Lady Elizabeth was an oddity in the noble world, but she was as honest and uncaring of society standards and options as a woman could be. He applauded her for her ability to be herself without being the butt of others’ jokes, or being shunned by society.

“Your wife is charming, Sterling,” Lord Butterworth said, as they smoked their cigars and drank port in the dining hall after the women excused themselves to the parlour.

Thomas inhaled the smoke of his own cigar and puffed it out of his mouth to form circles in the air. “I think so.”

Lord Butterworth laughed. “She had no issues about quarrelling with me on my ideals of disciplining a servant.” He chuckled again. “She even went on to say that if I was displeased with the lad, I should send him over to your house. She thought she might have a role for the boy.”

Headline raised an eyebrow. “Why were you disciplining him?”

“He took a half day off and returned late.”

“Do you know why the boy was late?” Thomas asked.

“Apparently his mother died, but still, that is no reason to be tardy.”

Thomas and Headline shared a frown, as did several of the other men around the table. “Indeed, send him over to my house. I am sure Nellie would find him work,” Thomas said, determining Butterworth was acting the arse so many of the
ton
thought him to be.

“Indeed I might,” the lord said, after a sip of his port.

“It would likely be to the boy’s benefit,” Headline said under his breath, as he lifted the cigar to his mouth.

Thomas inclined his head in acknowledgement. “I noticed you too seem taken with my wife, Headline. Should I feel threatened?” he asked jovially.

Headline shook his head with his lips lifted high in amusement. “If you were simply courting her perhaps, but I do not chase after married women.” Thomas raised an eyebrow as many of the men laughed. “Well, I do not
chase
them, at least.”

Thomas snorted into his liquor then took a sip. Headline was a rogue, but the man had boundaries and Thomas did not doubt him for a moment. He knew Headline would never pursue Nellie simply because of their friendship. They had never gone after the same skirt, but he could see his friend’s attraction to her and if he had not had so much faith in his wife, he would indeed be worried.

It was odd, in many ways, how he could have so much faith in Nellie, especially given how they had first met. Often he allowed himself to forget their first meeting, and he tried not to dwell on it. He had surprised himself by putting it in the past, where it belonged.

“Shall we join the ladies?” Headline asked.

Thomas could not keep the amusement from his features and his friend rolled his eyes as they rose. But then again, how much different had Thomas been, seeking a different woman’s companionship from night to night, merely a few months ago? Not much, in truth. What Headline needed was a wife, a woman to light his fire as Nellie did his.

The night could not end soon enough for Thomas.

* * * *

Nellie rubbed her gloved hands together in an attempt to ward off the chill from the night air. She gave an appreciative sigh moments later, when Thomas took her hands in his and placed them through his arm, keeping them warm with the body heat that radiated through his coat. It was nice to be touched by her husband, even in such a simple way.

“Thomas, I must admit, I had a good time this evening, but I fear…” She paused when she noted Headline chuckle as he stood by her husband’s side, waiting for his carriage also.

“Did our host pay you extra attention tonight, my dear?” Thomas asked with amusement.

She flicked her eyes back to him. “Indeed. She is very affectionate.”

Headline snorted openly. “To you, perhaps.”

She frowned at him in confusion and looked back to Thomas.

He sighed. “She is…” He paused, as if thinking of the best turn of phrase. “She prefers the company of women to men.” Nellie thought nothing unusual with this, until he added, “In her bed.”

She felt herself blink several times. “In her bed?” At both men’s nods, she shook her head. “But she has a son?”

“Indeed. She married her husband knowing, as he did, that his life would be short and that he still required an heir. Once the boy was born, she lived life as she saw fit. I believe she and her late husband were friends up until the end. He knew of her desires and accepted them.”

“Likely because he had some of his own. His valet was his real mistress,” Headline said with a suggestive wink.

Nellie blinked again, but understood. While she had heard of men taking other men as lovers, she had never thought the same of women. However, why that was, she could not fathom.

“But… How does a woman find pleasure from another woman? They lack a certain body part that I find most favourable.”

Headline choked on the smoke of his cigar as Thomas smiled down at her. “I will show you later tonight, my dear.”

Her body awakened, her nipples hardening, and it had nothing to do with the cold. Nellie could not help but lean into Thomas’ warm, alluring body.

“On that note…” Headline said, and walked down the steps towards his waiting carriage. “As always, a pleasure, Lady Sterling,” he said with a tip of his hat as he settled into the carriage.

She watched the carriage depart and sighed. “I shocked him.”

“Hardly,” Thomas said.

Their own carriage appeared and a footman opened the door for them.

It was warmer in the carriage, and Nellie lifted the blanket which lay over the heated stone in the floor, snuggling into it before Thomas settled in beside her.

“Truly, husband, how does one woman pleasure another? I find it hard to imagine. There is nothing better than having you on me, your cock deep inside me,” she said, with a shiver of both anticipation and longing.

Thomas growled slightly and she looked up at him. “You are such a temptation, wife.”

She frowned. “Is that a compliment?”

“Indeed,” he said, before his lips crushed down on hers.

Chapter Eight

Nellie melted into her husband as he pulled her into his lap, causing the blanket to drop to the floor. Their tongues danced in the most intimate way. She loved his touch, loved how he sought contact with her skin, pushing aside the many layers of fabric between them. She, in turn threaded her arms around his neck, burying her hands in his hair.

Moving his fingers urgently, he finally found purpose on her calf, gliding them up her leg as the fabric of her dress pooled around them. Thomas pulled that leg to the side, causing her to straddle him. Without thought, she ground herself against him. Groans emerged from both her and Thomas.

Nellie loved the heat of his body, loved how he could ignite her passions at any moment, as he did now, in the back of their carriage! She knew it was improper and broke her mouth away from his, but then arched her back as he finally found the moistness of her cunny. She didn’t care in the least for what was proper and what wasn’t. She wanted the pleasure only he could bring her.

“Do you recall last eve, wife?” Thomas whispered along the curve of her neck.

He was asking her to think while his fingers worked such magic? She could think of nothing other than the pleasure his slow, firm fingers now invoked as he skimmed them through the silkiness of her cunt. She couldn’t help but moan into the dimly lit carriage.

“Do you remember how your sweet pussy settled over my face? Remember how I licked you from clitoris to arse and how I drank all your honey? That is how women make love to each other.”

Nellie moaned again, her mind recalling the feel of him last eve, the pleasure he had brought her now mixed with the sure movements of his fingers.
How divine!

“Would you be happy for me to only love you like that? Never again feeling the hardness of my cock as it thrusts into you?” he asked. She groaned as he suddenly stopped his fingers’ wondrous torture “Could you live without it, Nel?”

“No,” she said, and clutched his shoulders, her nails biting into his skin.

Thomas gave a growl and moved within her again, delving deep into her core. She winced slightly and he paused, growling again, then slipped his fingers from her.

“Please,” she moaned.

“You are not yet healed,” he said, his voice filled with regret.

“I want you,” Nellie insisted. She could deal with a slight discomfort—she couldn’t live without his pleasure now she knew it existed.

He groaned and nuzzled into her neck. “As do I, but fear not, my dear. There is more than one way for a man to make love to his wife.”

Before she had time to process this, the carriage stopped and Thomas reached for the door, not bothering to wait for a footman to open it. As soon as Nellie’s feet had touched the ground, she gave a squeak of both delight and shock, as she found herself swung over his shoulder like a sack of flour as he jogged for the house.

People could see!

“Thomas, I can walk!”

He gave her a playful slap on the rear, and her mouth dropped open in shock for a moment before she quickly snapped it closed, worried she might bite off her tongue at the jarring of his body.

She could see nothing but the floor, but heard him dismiss the footman as they reached the lobby of the house. He ran up the stairs as if she weighed nothing, taking two steps at a time. Soon she found herself set on her feet and in her own room. A single candle and the simmering fireplace lit the space.

Thomas’ eyes blazed with a fire of their own. A fire for her. She couldn’t help but shiver. Her husband wanted her.

“Turn around,” he said.

Another shiver raked her body. She hated being told what to do, but in this room, the way he commanded her while they made love… She liked it, relished it. He allowed her freedom in every other way, but in this room, he was in command. Another shiver ran through her in anticipation.

“Turn around,” he repeated, firmer than before.

Heat flowed to her cunt as she obeyed, turning her back to him. He was upon her within an instant, pulling at the ribbons of her dress. Soon it pooled around her feet, but still he had to remove the undergarments.

Air suddenly flowed into her lungs as her corset loosened and dropped from her waist. In no time at all she was naked before him. He settled his warm hands upon her neck and slid them down her body, shaping her curves. Nellie leaned into him. She loved how his touch always seemed to move along her with passion and confidence. Never once did it falter.

“Go to the bed.”

Some heat left her body as he released her, but then his words registered. She stepped forward, doing as instructed, turning down the covers and sliding beneath the coolness of the sheets. It was only as she settled against the plush pillows that she sought his gaze.

Thomas stood at the end of the bed, his attention wandering over her with a hunger she had yet to see from him. He made quick work of his own clothing and soon stood before her wearing nothing, his stiff cock pointing straight at her. Her internal muscles clenched at the thought of it inside her. But he would not enter her, she knew it.

He had said there were other ways he could make love to her. Her breathing increased and her eyes became heavy at the thought. Would he permit her to taste him again? Nellie allowed her tongue to slide out of her mouth and move over her suddenly parched lips. It was only last night that she had tasted the tart flavour of him, yet she longed to do it again.

I have married a vixen!

Thomas watched Nellie’s tongue slide out of her mouth as she gazed at his hard cock. The heated flesh twitched, as if begging him to walk forward and let her take it into that warm mouth. But he knew that if he did so, he would finish in moments. No, he had other plans for his wife tonight. He would show her that sex could be so much more, if she allowed him the freedom to teach her.

“Hold on to the headboard,” he demanded.

Her face became confused and she looked over her shoulder to the ornately carved bedhead.

“Lift your hands over your head and grasp the wood in your fingers. Do not let go until I tell you to,” he amended.

The puzzled look did not completely vanish from her features as she did what he had asked, threading her fingers through the patterns in the wood. The position lifted her breasts higher, her pointed nipples now exposed to him and no longer hidden under the fabric of the sheets.

“Lift your knees and part your legs.”

Thomas saw her eyelids grow heavy and a quiver rake her body. Nellie was as hungry for his touch as he was to give it to her. It seemed they would both be tortured tonight.

Slowly she did as she was asked, raising her legs little by little, her feet remaining in contact with the mattress. Bit by bit, she slid her legs apart, the sheet making a tent. He needed to see her. Leaning forward, he reached out and inched the fabric off her body, exposing her one delicate morsel at a time. Her breasts rose and fell heavily in time with her harsh breathing. Finally, she lay exposed to him, displayed as the most delectable meal. He would savour every mouthful.

He shifted slightly to the side and leaned against the post of the bed, never once taking his eyes off his wife. He could not touch her yet. He wanted her too much.

“You used to pleasure yourself?” he asked casually, letting his gaze drift over her lush curves.

“Yes.”

His sac tightened. The whispered word had his seed rising through his cock. He felt moisture leak from it, but he held his pleasure back. Nellie’s eyes wandered from his to the moisture at the tip of his cock.

Her pussy was open to him. The swollen flesh glistened with juices from her arousal. He could smell it, taste it in the air. And it was all for him—there was little better than that knowledge.

His normally determined wife was jelly in his hands. She allowed him freedom and total control in bed, but would she grant him this wish? He was about to find out.