Wickedly Wanton: A Ménage Regency Tale (8 page)

“He's here, my lord.”

Aiden looked up from the papers he scanned. He knew them by heart, knew exactly what Reddick owed, to whom, and when the payments were due. Knew when the next shipment of arms was to be delivered to the Crown and how much he paid his workers. There was nothing in Rupert Reddick's business that Aiden did not know.

And now he owned it.

“Show him in,” he told the butler and dismissed the footman who stood guard at the French doors.

Reddick entered, barged in more like it. “Do not think I can't smell the stench of the Marquess of Severn across my books.”

Smirking, Aiden rose and didn't bother to hide the papers scattered on his desk. “You were warned.”

Eyes flashing, he slammed his gloves across the palm of his hand. Fury colored his cheeks, all but vibrated off him. “My bankers are screaming bloody murder at your interference.”

“I've always found bankers a soft lot,” Aiden said, walking around the desk. “For the most part, they're mindless creatures who scurry away from the drowning man.”

Clutching the gloves in one hand, he circled Aiden, eyeing him speculatively. “Until the boat tilts the other way.”

Unfazed, Aiden laughed, a hard, mocking sound. He knew he'd won. ‘Twas only a matter of time before he collected his prize. His bride.

“You play a good game, Lord Severn,” Reddick continued, “dispatching your minions to do your work. But I've minions of my own and have come to inform you I understand your strategy.” He stopped, stepped forward. “And I will counter it.”

“You have no need to tax yourself,” Aiden said amiably enough, “if you simply inform Stanton you intend to relinquish your courtship of Sabine.”

“I shall not.” Reddick snapped. “And this effort between us is absurd. You intrude in my affairs. Do you really think that when this becomes town gossip, that either you or Miss Sabine will be looked upon favorably?”

Aiden noted the use of the word
affair
but chose not to comment. He wouldn't tip his hand to the other man, unsure of his temperament toward Sabine.

“This is between you and me,” he said, making sure Reddick understood. “Not Miss Sabine. Let us leave this as a gentleman's sport.”

“Very well.” Reddick nodded, bowing from the waist. “We shall see which one of us is bested.”

Aiden watched him stalk out of the room, confident in his ability to win.

* * * *

Sabine had managed to disrobe herself, per Reddick's orders. He'd been in a terse mood as they rode here this morning, barely answering her questions, but not ordering her silence either. She didn't understand him and soon gave up. Upon their arrival, he'd ordered her to her knees and she had instantly obeyed.

A part of her hoped their lessons this day went further than they had thus far. While Reddick himself still did not arouse her, kneeling before him and taking his cock into her mouth did. Unbearably so. However, she couldn't beg for release and had to wait an interminable time before she could have Faith bring her to orgasm.

Today, Reddick had stared at her for a long, long time. “I need to go out. Disrobe, lay on the floor, and don't,” he said, taking her chin and forcing her head to look up at him, “please yourself. If I find moisture between your thighs, any hint of arousal, you'll be very sorry you disobeyed, my dear Sabine.”

She had swallowed at that order. She was already wet, seemed to be in a constant state of arousal since her first meeting with Aiden, and hopped the act of disrobing herself would quell that. “Yes, Sir.”

His expression hadn't changed, but he had nodded, ran a hand lightly across her head. “Good.” With that, he'd left.

It had been difficult to disrobe without the aid of her lady's maid. More than once Sabine had wanted to tear the gown from her body and be done with it. But she had a feeling Reddick wouldn't approve and would force her to return to the house dressed in those shreds. Instead, she resolved to have new dresses made so none could tell the difference, yet she could easily dress and undress at his command.

Lying on the floor, and despite Reddick's threat, she felt wanton, with naught on and where anyone could walk in. One hand cupped her breast, one nail scraping lightly across the nipple. It was already hard, and the movement sent a spear of desire through her.

She wished Faith was here now, Aiden…but no. Purposely pushing him from her mind, she put that part of her life, those two days, into the past. How many times must she remind herself she couldn't have him? That Reddick was to be her husband?

Removing her hand, she forced her body to relax. The more her mind drifted to them, any of them, the more moisture coated her. She didn't know what Reddick planned should he be displeased with the state of her, but Sabine knew it would not be pleasurable.

The front door slammed open, thundering shut almost immediately. Turning her head, she didn't raise it though her heart pounded in fear of discovery. What if it wasn't Reddick? But it was. He stared at her, looked along her body. Nodding once, he went to the sideboard and poured himself a drink.

Stunned, Sabine almost sat up in protest. Almost. This was a new lesson, but to what purpose? He sat on the chair opposite her, his look confusing. He looked like he wanted to undress her, yet she was already undressed. Devour her. Digging the tips of her fingers into the rug, she waited.

The drink clinked on the wood table and he slapped the back of his hand to the palm of the other. Watching him, eyes never moving from his, Sabine gracefully shifted until she knelt before him. Naked, exposed, vulnerable.

Aroused.

Without a word, the silence beginning to unnerve her, he pointed to the rug before him. Walking on her knees, a feat she'd practiced for hours during previous lessons, she stopped within arm's length and waited.

Reddick's hands were rough on her breasts, her nipples enjoying the attention, begging for more. She kept silent, knowing he'd become angry if she uttered a sound when he did not wish it. But then his fingers slid between her thighs and found her moistness.

“This does not please me. You have no control over your body, Sabine.” His hand tightened on her breast, hurting her. “And for my pleasure, you will have to control every aspect of yourself. Including your mind.”

Standing, he ordered, “Don't move.”

Sabine didn't see where he went, and tried not to speculate on this too much. Swallowing, fear warring with arousal, she waited. The silk dangled from his fingers as he tied it roughly about her wrists. It wouldn't leave a mark, she didn't think. He yanked her arms over her head.

“Don't move. Don't drop your arms until
I
say so.”

“Yes, Sir,” she whispered, arms already trembling.

“You've been bad, Sabine,” he said from behind her. She wanted to turn her head but resolutely stared forward. The chair offered no answers, no consolation. “I gave you a simple order and you disobeyed me.”

The sting on her derrière made her yelp. Biting her lips, she instantly regretted the sound.

“This is your punishment for disobeying my command.”

The wood swung again, stinging her. Tears sprung to her eyes, but she blinked hard so they wouldn't fall.

“This is about
my
pleasure, not
yours
.”

Again, the wood came down in the exact spot as the previous two. Her bottom was on fire, but she didn't move. Her arms ached and she wanted to curl into a ball and weep, but she was too afraid of what he'd do to her should she so much as flinch. Clenching her teeth, she breathed through another smack and promptly forgot how to breathe.

“Do you understand?”

Unable to make a sound, even if he approved it, Sabine nodded. She couldn't stop the tears, shuddered with the pain. He rounded her, and she forced herself to look up. His cock stood hard and thick before her, but Sabine felt no arousal.

It was all clear now. The fundamental difference between Reddick and Aiden. Reddick was aroused by this, by
her
pain, her deprivation. He had no interest in her satisfaction, her completion. Aiden wanted to share in the arousal, in the pleasure, force her body to feel things she hadn't imagined until she thought the pleasure too much to bear.

“Suck my cock,” he ordered.

Arms shaking, fingers fumbling around the silken band, Sabine nonetheless did as he commanded. The ties came undone easily; he'd forced her to practice undoing his breeches, retying them, pleasing him through the fine cloth without leaving a single wrinkle.

Taking his cock into her mouth, Sabine wanted this to be over quickly. Her backside burned fiercely, and she knew this wouldn't be the last time he hit her there.

She wanted the solace of Faith; wanted to feel pleasure at someone's hands, feel the completion from her friend's fingers and mouth. Taking Reddick further down her throat, another move she'd practiced these last days, she hoped she could convince Reddick to allow Faith to live with them.

Faced with a life of sexual deprivation, and of Reddick's mercurial temper, her future looked more desolate than she previously thought.

* * * *

How she returned to the house, Sabine didn't remember. She rode the horse—Reddick insisted on it, the smug bastard. Dismounting the instant she could, pain consuming the lower half of her, her arms still weak from their own abuse, she pleaded a headache. No one questioned her, and indeed the downstairs maid solicitously helped her to her rooms.

Her own lady's maid appeared and helped her disrobe, leaving the chemise on thankfully. Sabine hadn't the presence of mind to protest until she lay in bed. Curling onto her side, she tried not to sob.

“I'll fetch Miss Faith,” the girl promised, “and a tea tray.”

Barely nodding, she waited.

The tea tray arrived but no Faith. The maid poured some tea, promised to send word again for Faith, placed a cool cloth on her head, and left. Sabine cried.

Alone, in pain, faced with a life not of sexual desire but sexual deprivation, she sobbed. It would've been better had he been as her friend Sylvia's husband—dismissive and cold, using the marital bed to produce an heir. Not this.

“Sabine!” She felt Faith's fingers on her face, cool against her hot skin. Opening her eyes, she stared at her, never so happy to see anyone in her life. “What's happened?”

“I now know what awaits me in this marriage.”

Struggling to remove her chemise without sitting on her backside, she turned. Heard Faith gasp, but her friend mercifully didn't touch her tender flesh.

“He hurt me,” she said, lying on her belly and turning her head to see Faith's reaction. “He punished me for the mere sin of my arousal.”

Faith shook her head, puzzled.

“He wants me to be his obedient wife, to serve him and all his varied needs,” she said, the tears finally stopped. Anger replaced self-pity. “But he wants naught to do with my own pleasure. I believe he intends to deprive me, probably,” she added bitterly, “for our entire marriage.”

The bed dipped as Faith lay next to her, helpless fingers brushing the dried tears from her cheeks. “I don't want this,” Sabine said, angry now. “I don't want this!”

She wanted to feel again, not this heat of pain, but the heat of arousal. Cupping Faith's breast through her work smock, she said, “We've just discovered the sweetness of our bodies. And he intends to force me to cloister it.”

Faith's kiss was hungry, desperate, fingers gentle on her shoulders. “I won't leave you,” she promised, the desperation in the kiss clear in the words. “I'll always be here for you. Keep me with you,” she begged, her own tears on her cheeks.

Her mouth moved down Sabine's throat, quick kisses, her fingers tugged her nipples. “I'll always be here to kiss you. To taste you, suckle your breasts, drink in your pleasure. Control me, don't leave me, control me,” she said, supplicate as she knelt before Sabine's spread thighs. “Control me as he wishes to you. I love you. Don't leave me.”

The fire from the paddling spread as her bottom rubbed the sheets, but Sabine squeezed Faith's hand. The admission was sweet, true, and all she'd ever have.

“I love you, too,” she whispered, but knew it wasn't in the way her friend meant. But she did love Faith, and the joy that shone on her face warmed Sabine's heart.

“Undress,” she said, even as Faith's nails raked across her breasts. “I want you.”

Eager to do so, she turned so Sabine could help her. She hadn't forgotten the pain, but it lessened, and her core clenched in unsatisfied need. She needed Faith, wanted her in a way that consumed her entirely.

Pulling Faith to her Sabine kissed her, grinding their lips together, pinching her nipples until she squirmed, begged. Sabine ignored her words, kissed down Faith's throat, took one nipple into her mouth, and sucked hard, swirling her tongue over the peak.

Surprising herself, she moved away slightly, took Faith's head, and physically urged her between her own thighs. The instant Faith's tongue found her opening, pleasure swamped her. Teeth scraped her nub, tongue lapping it.

Sabine threw her head back, hips thrusting against Faith's face when her friend surprised her and inserted two fingers, then three. She moved them as deep as she could, hard and fast as if she knew that was exactly what Sabine wanted.

She moved her hips harder, the climax rushing through her but Faith didn't stop, continued to flick her nub, move her fingers in and out. Another orgasm. Sabine gasped for breath, pressing harder against Faith. Hips arched into Faith, she felt a delightful rush of moisture between her thighs.

Falling onto the bed, Sabine panted, unable to move. Felt Faith's final kiss on her nub, up her belly, breasts, to her neck. Winding her legs around Faith's hips, she forced open her eyes.

Instinctually, Faith pressed her sex down on Sabine. Rocking, she set the pace, feeling Faith's hard nub rub against hers. The action was so erotic she couldn't help but shudder again. Faith continued to move, harder now, faster, and Sabine felt her climax, heard her gasp; then she collapsed atop her.

Holding her close, Sabine stroked her hair from her face. Leaning up, she touched her lips to Faith's, tasted herself on her lips, and licked them.