The Rake's Unveiling of Lady Belle (26 page)

‘Not yet, but you will be.' Good Lord had she really said that? It seemed so, for he chuckled and swallowed deeply, his Adam's apple bobbing rapidly as he did so.

‘I do hope you're right.' Phillip let his arms hang loosely at his sides, and splayed his hands, palms uppermost. ‘All yours to do as you want.'

Belinda studied his long lean body. It seemed oh so simple in her mind, but now with him here in front of her, she faltered.

‘I don't know what to do first,' Belinda blurted out rapidly. ‘I mean do I take off your shirt or try to remove your boots or…'

‘Ask me. Tell me.'

‘Then, boots?'

He nodded. ‘A good idea, for with those on my trousers go nowhere.' His eyes twinkled. ‘I think that would be truly tragic if I were to be hobbled.'

‘Definitely, that would never do, your…er, well you know, damn it.' She took a deep breath, why had she come over all coy and miss-ish? It was not like her and Phillip knew it. ‘Your pego looks most uncomfortable. I'm sure it needs fresh air.'

Fool. What a stupid thing to say.

‘Oh I agree. It's starved where it is. Of oxygen… May I sit for a moment?'

‘Of course. Why?' It seemed a strange thing to ask. She was still standing.

‘So I can get these damned boots off.' He looked around before he bent his knees and sat elegantly on the hay. In a much less elegant manner Belinda followed suit, careful to sit on the sheet and not the hay. The stalks looked damned prickly.

‘I hid a boot jack somewhere,' Phillip said cheerfully. ‘But for the life of me I have no idea… Ah…' He moved the champagne container. ‘Here it is. This should help.' Within minutes he was on his feet, bootless, coatless and clad only in his trousers and shirt. Somehow he'd managed to divest himself of his waistcoat and stockings as well.

‘And now?' He nudged her knees with his toes.

‘Sit beside me and…and take your clothes off,' Belinda finished in a rush. ‘Then show me what I ache to discover.'

Rapid, uncoordinated movement wasn't something she'd often seen in a rake before. Or she wondered was that now an ex-rake? Without taking his gaze away from her, he pulled his trousers down, and kicked them away to arc in the air and land half in and half out of the edge of the hay door. His shirt followed and he stretched his arms high, to lengthen his body. As he dropped his hands lower she followed the movement, only to be arrested by the sight of his staff as it stood out from its nest of dark curls. How could something that size fit into her as she had heard it did?

Phillip bent down, stretched out next to her and rolled her onto his side. Now they were face to face but not quite chest to chest and sadly definitely not quim to cock.

‘I wish I were six inches taller,' Belinda said as Phillip stroked her skin in that teasing, exciting way he had. ‘Your chest hair is ticking my belly button and your staff my knees.'

‘Oh dear.' He shook his head in mock sorrow. ‘I'd better do something about it. Don't move.' He pressed on her shoulder.

Instead of falling sideways as she so easily could, Belinda opened her eyes wide. ‘You said don't move.'

‘Minx. Unless I show you or tell you how. Now let me move you onto your back. Yes just so.' The pressure increased and Belinda let herself be lowered until the soft linen of the sheet was beneath her back.

‘Now let me see.' Phillip moved over her, spread her legs with his knees, and knelt between them. ‘How beautiful.'

Should she feel shame? Be scared at the way he looked her up and down, and stared longingly at her muff? Was it
that
interesting? Perhaps she should be embarrassed at the manner in which she now sprawled? Not if the admiration and desire she saw in his eyes was anything to go by. He stretched out his arm and circled one of her hard nipples with the tip of his index finger. Belinda gasped at the erotic feelings he created and writhed on the sheet. Dare she roll over so her quim ground against the sheet? She ached to relieve the tension inside her, and that was a sure-fire way. However…

Phillip pinched the tip of her nipple, and all thoughts of self-help departed her mind. Sweet pain zinged from her nipple to her nub and back again.

‘My chest hair tickled your waist, and my cock your knees. Is this better?'

‘Ah…er… Oh do it again,' she said in a rush. ‘More and more and ohh ahhh…' Phillip had blown on her muff and nether lips. The chill of his breath against her heated skin was almost too much to bear.

He shook with laughter as he put first one of her ankles on his shoulder and then the other. ‘Lost for words, ma belle?'

Belinda lifted one arm up and stretched her fingers towards his staff, which waved its approval. She bit back another nervous giggle. She didn't want Phillip to think her scared or stupid. She was neither. Apprehensive? Yes, who wouldn't be? Excited? Definitely. But not at all worried, unless she didn't live up to his expectations.

‘Second thoughts?'

Oh Lord. ‘Not at all, just no time to bandy words. Surely action is preferable?'

‘Oh I so agree.' Phillip took hold of her hand and wrapped it around his pego. ‘It aches for you to be wrapped around it.'

Me or my hands?
Belinda gripped his staff lightly, and marvelled at the silky soft skin with all its ridges and how it covered a rock-hard core. She tentatively moved her fingers, sliding it between them, tightening and then slackening her hold.
Good grief, it gets bigger by the second. Will it burst?

‘Enough.' Phillip groaned the words. ‘Or sweet Lord my seed will fertilise the hay and not you.'

Seed? Oh my.

Before she had time to voice her thoughts, he removed her hands and put them onto his waist. Belinda looked up at his face, and saw the fierce concentration there. Then she forgot everything except the way he guided his pego to nudge at her channel and inched inside her, very carefully.

The intrusion was strange. Not unpleasant, but certainly didn't fill her with the ecstasy she had expected. Didn't the pamphlets say that a person with any interest in pleasing both herself and her man would experience extra sensations? That would be good and exciting? This was neither, just…strange. Belinda looked up into Phillip's face and his strained features and felt a cold lump of fear in her tummy. Was he as disappointed as she?

‘Ah, Phillip?' She wriggled a little as she wondered if she wasn't quite in the correct position.

‘For the love of God, ma belle, stop that or it will be over before it starts.' His tone of voice was something alien to her. He sounded in agony. ‘I'm sorry, but I might well be about to hurt you.' He rasped the words. ‘It will be but a brief pain.'

Hurt?
She opened her mouth to question Phillip just as he surged forward.

She screamed. In pain, in terror and…in sweet glorious arousal, just as she been told to expect.

Phillip stayed his movements, as his pego remained buried deep inside her. The corded muscles in his arms stood out with the effort, as he looked down on her, concern uppermost in his expression.

‘I had to; it's over now. Now you are truly mine.'

‘Not unless you…you… Oh dammit, Phillip, fill me, make me shiver and shake and let me see…feel…know…oh Lord… Show me damn you, that you get the same from this as I know I will.'

He laughed. Triumphant, all-conquering male. Withdrew almost to the point of no return and thrust deep into her again. And again. Somehow Belinda discovered she could match him. Tighten and relax her muscles to welcome him.

Phillip began to shudder just as the tingles and goosebumps across her skin and deep inside her began to escalate. Belinda thrashed her head from side to side as her breath hitched, her pulse jumped, and her breathing sped up. Were those mewls and moans really her? Her skin was dewy with perspiration, the pulse between the top of her legs throbbed, and her nub ached.

Somehow he knew.

Phillip reached between them, and pinched that tiny sensitive nubbin that pulsed so hard.

It was enough.

She screamed once more and splintered into tiny pieces as her world shattered and stars spun and danced in front of her eyes. Belinda was only dimly aware of Phillip's shout of exultation, of his last, almost frenzied thrusts and the warmth of his seed as he filled her.

Chapter Thirteen

‘If you think I can walk, let alone climb down a ladder I fear you have another think coming,' Belinda said, as she lazily played with the whorls of dark hair that arrowed down Phillip's chest. After several more interesting variations with regards to making love she was spent and sated. Who knew a woman could ride atop a man in such a manner and reduce him to quivering exhaustion? ‘I'm all over unable to move. Maybe we'll have to stay here for ever? Away from all the nasties and horribleness that we'll surely find when life hits us again.'

He laughed, and kissed the top of her head. Spread out as they were, this time her head was tucked under his chin, as she sprawled over him. ‘No, life will not hit us with all of the nasties as you so elegantly call them. I—no let me rephrase that—we, will deal with them together, and they will be the ones felled. Stop it, we need to move.'

Belinda sniggered, happier than she'd ever been, and lifted her hand an inch above his pego, which she had begun to tease with her finger ends. ‘You are moving. Look.' Indeed his cock was strengthening and as it got harder and longer, it moved from one side to another.

‘And I'll be moving in a different way if you're not careful. With my hand on your bottom.'

Belinda opened her eyes wide. Now what exactly did he mean by that? The wicked glint in his eyes made her decide she didn't want to know.

‘Ma belle, we need to go back, be polite over dinner and decide our next moves. Hopefully we should find out what, if anything, happened with regards to your papa and Repellent Rosemary. To say nothing of Penfold.'

How to reintroduce the serpents to their Eden in one fell swoop? However, she acknowledged they needed to be addressed.

‘Yes, all right,' Belinda said, resigned. ‘I accept we have to return to the real world. But, you know? This was a magical time. Can we do it again?'

‘It was and I thank you. My wife, my lovely wife, I'll make a deal with you, shall I? We will endeavour to conceive all our children in a barn.'

She looked at her flat stomach. Could she be? ‘With child? How can you tell?'

‘I can't, not yet. However, I didn't withdraw, I spent my seed in you. More than once. Once can be all it takes.'

Oh my. Damn, I must stop saying that, even in my mind. I must sound like a bleating sheep.

‘Oh, well no doubt we'll see in…' She began to add up in her head.

‘In?'

‘A few weeks.'

Phillip nodded. ‘We will. In the meantime, I'll instruct my builders and carpenters to build a hay barn to our exact specifications, on each of our estates. You can help me design them.'

One word hit her and she chewed her lip. ‘Our?' She still hadn't told him about Honeysuckle Cottage.

He stood up and pulled her to her feet. ‘Of course our. I am not the sort of man to deny you your equality in our marriage. I want a partner not a cypher. As far as I'm concerned we work together, play together and…' He leaned closer and whispered in her ear.

‘Phillip.' Belinda put her hands to her hot cheeks and shook her head in amusement and embarrassment. ‘Did you really use that crude word?'

He bowed. ‘To f…ooft' She'd put her hand over his mouth.

‘Enough, I know what you mean. And well, yes, maybe.'

‘Maybe?'

‘Definitely.'

‘Exactly.' Phillip lifted her off her feet and swung her around in a circle until the walls and window merged into one kaleidoscopic blur. ‘But sadly not now.' He put her down and steadied her until she—and the loft—stopped swaying. ‘Are you able to follow me down the ladder now? I'll be below you to stop you slipping.'

‘Of course.' As much as she would like to say ‘no, I want to stay here longer', there was no point putting it off. All it would delay was dinner, and after all the unaccustomed exercise, she was hungry.

‘Good girl.' Phillip gave her a swift kiss, drew back before she could deepen it and patted her bottom. Wait until I'm far enough down for you not to stand on my head. He swung himself over the aperture and his feet then legs and torso disappeared.

‘Wait, the basket and such.'

‘Will be collected.'

‘By you I hope. I don't want the servants to know every last detail of our escapades.'

He sighed, and nodded. ‘As you wish, once we've eaten.'

‘Thank you, my lord. It…it matters. If I have to learn to be a lady again, I want to do it as smoothly and seamlessly as possible, with no gossip.'

‘There will be no need to learn, ma belle. You are a lady in everything you do. From the top of your head to the tips of your toes. My lady. Right, come on, feet first.'

Did he really think she'd descend head first?
And they say women have less sense? Not from where I'm looking.

Belinda followed him down to the ground floor. Once her feet were once more on terra firma she brushed down her less than pristine wedding gown, and laughed as she removed three stalks of hay from her cleavage. ‘Not the reminder we need. Here.' She brushed the back of his jacket down, even though he had done exactly the same thing just a few moments before. ‘That's better.' Several seeds and stalks fell to the otherwise spotless floor. ‘And now we've made a mess down here.'

‘I'll clear that as well,' he said resignedly.

‘Phillip,' Belinda said impulsively, ‘I love you.'

* * *

Three words. Three little words. ‘I love you'.

She loved him. He'd suspected it, heard her say it, but never before with such conviction. Phillip whistled as he walked back towards the hay barn after dinner.