by Jaye Peaches
Alice felt the rush of hot blood to her features. “I… would find it difficult to speak those words if you were not expecting them.”
“Now, Alice, take heart. You see I am also of the same ilk as yourself. Or have you not realised that? I am sure you can ask in your own particular way without risking my ire.”
Suppressing a cry, she pricked her trembling finger on her needle. It wasn’t the only part of her anatomy that quivered upon hearing his words.
“You may, of course, invite Miss Parris to visit,” said Edmund affably. “She can stay the night too, if you wish.”
Licking her finger, Alice thanked her husband profusely. He returned to his reading and she to her needlepoint.
* * *
Alice sat in the window seat at the front of the house waiting. The gig had been gone for some time. A week after the invitation had been sent, Edmund had sent the gig over to Macclesfield to collect Ann. With the weather being fine and pleasant, the open carriage had been favoured for the journey across the Peaks. However, with the noon sun fast approaching, Alice’s patience wore thin.
Finally, when she thought something was amiss, the gig appeared, trundling down the driveway.
Springing up, Alice called to her husband, so that they might greet Ann together.
The formalities of welcome completed as the driver of the gig fetched down her luggage, Alice enquired as to the nature of the delay.
“Ann, dearest friend, we expected you an hour ago,” said Alice holding Ann’s hands in her own.
“The road was dreadful, quite rough in places,” explained Ann.
Edmund shook his head. “The turnpike has not been maintained by the trustees. The tolls collected should be sufficient to pay for repairs. I will write again to them.”
Having greeted his guest, Edmund disappeared leaving the two friends to converse over a light luncheon.
Ann gazed in awe at Westfell Hall. Alice contained her natural desire to boast as she showed her friend about the main rooms.
“Alice, you are mistress of a great house. I had no idea the colonel had such lands and property,” said Ann visibly impressed by her findings.
“His family, the Seymour’s, are of a great pedigree, even though the colonel is descended from a lesser lineage of that family,” explained Alice. “The titles went to other ancestors.”
After a turn about the gardens, high tea in the drawing room, and a spell at the pianoforte singing and playing duets, the friends settled into their old manner of gossiping.
“Philippa has taken to writing love poems,” informed Ann. “Quite atrocious ones, I might add.”
“Has she given them to anyone?” Alice perched on the edge of her chair, expectantly hoping for something slightly scandalous.
“No. Lucy ridiculed them so much that Philippa burnt them on the fire. I’m glad I don’t have a sister.”
The inconsequential chatter continued over dinner. Edmund, emerging from his self-imposed confinement in his study, seated himself at the head of the table and contributed little to the discourse.
The footman poured another glass of elder wine into Alice’s glass. Her manners had become increasingly jovial and speech laced with nuances her friend found amusing, at first. However, upon finishing the second glass, her tongue began to slip into coarser language. She disengaged any censorship of her words and drifted into topics a sober mind would never have countenanced. If it led to consequences, she felt sure she could handle them. However, she knew she mustn’t go too far with her foolishness. No more wine, she pushed the glass away.
“Since living here, Ann, I have had my eyes opened to the ways of nature. With such a large estate, I do see many things.”
“Ways of nature?” queried Ann, her fork hovering by her mouth.
“Yes, only the other day, during a walk about the park, I did encounter two of the colonel’s hounds,” Alice lowered her voice, “conjoined.” She sniggered, while her friend turned slightly pink. Oh, how easy it was to make Ann blush with embarrassment. Alice didn’t wish to be cruel, but the necessity of her idea required her friend’s cooperation.
She couldn’t stop her mouth from rambling on. “A very vigorous joining, I might add and they did struggle to—”
Ann cleared her throat as if to cough.
“Enough, Alice,” barked Edmund hastily. “This line of conversation is to cease. You have embarrassed your friend with your vulgar tale. Please keep to subjects of taste or else you will face the consequences.”
Consequences! The word echoed about the room. She glanced at Ann, but her friend seemed unaware of the connotations and continued to pick at her food. Only Alice had understood Edmund’s subtext. She quickly returned her attention to her plate.
Had she been vulgar? A few months back, she had no comprehension of the true nature of sex, now she saw it about her everywhere. Not the act itself, but the seductive flirtations between man and woman that led to it. The sly looks of the footmen as their eyes wandered about the maids and the whispering voices in the corridors, things that Alice had once been oblivious to, were now obvious. They awakened her sexual fantasies. She picked up her fan and shook it vigorously in front of her heated cheeks.
“I have heard a very good pianoforte piece, recently.” Ann’s good manners rescued Alice from slipping further into disgrace.
Alice, however, could not let go of her meandering thoughts. With her thighs pressed tight together and her arousal hidden, she wondered if she had given Edmund sufficient excuse to enact his consequences or did she need to poke him again?
* * *
Knowing his young wife well, even after only two months of marriage, Edmund saw through his Alice’s ruse. He blamed himself for making the suggestion and he hadn’t thought she would try to alert his attention to her needs in the presence of another. He decided, once alone in their chamber, he would spank her for not only her tasteless choice of conversation but also the manner in which she had provoked his annoyance.
He didn’t mind. As a couple, they were like soldiers drilling. Sometimes they were perfect in their exercises. Other times, the discipline of thought and deportment would be lacking on Alice’s part. Eventually, he presumed a mere glance or signal would be sufficient to indicate their mutual desires. In the meantime, he was content to drill her in his own peculiar style.
Did he think of punishing her still? In his experience, a punishment could not be undertaken lightly. As the commander of a regiment, Edmund had many a time given the order for a poor soldier to be stripped, tied to a grill and flogged. Some officers delighted in having those powers, but Edmund never had. If he could discipline a man through other means, he tried to find an alternative. However, it became apparent early on in his career that his fellow officers deemed the harsh tradition necessary and he could do little to change the custom. Witnessing many a flogging, he had lost his reservation.
He did have it in his powers to refuse to punish his wife. After seeing her weep during her first spanking, Edmund had wondered if it was an appropriate method of discipline. The next time she had erred, and greatly to his surprise, her resistance had been short lived. If she deemed his punishments worthy and necessary then he had her agreement, regardless of his rights as her husband.
Now they had introduced another factor—a need for spanking for no other reason than it fulfilled an indulgence, a form of intimacy Edmund had never experience before in his encounters with women. He could be rough in his sexual endeavours, but never cruel or aggressive. Alice, in her carnal awakening, had discovered something within herself and in doing so, had given Edmund a different perspective on administrating his preferred punishment.
He watched the two friends play cards in the drawing room while he settled down with a glass of port. With no gentlemen to share his nightcap, he had to be content with the company of women. Edmund didn’t mind.
Ann, the lanky girl with a pretty face, wasn’t a match for his Alice. With her dark hair curled about her face, her
high cheekbones and delicate neck, Alice exemplified beauty. It took all his willpower not to march his wife out of the room to the bedroom. His cock, hidden in his breeches, tormented him.
Finally, the candles began to run out of wax and the oil lamps dimmed. Alice escorted her friend to her bedroom, and then she joined Edmund in their bedroom.
The moment she entered, he grabbed her and planted a harsh kiss on her open mouth. Her lips melted onto his and for a while they were content to taste and pet each other with kisses.
Releasing his grip on her, he returned to the matter that had begun at dinner. His threat of consequences needed to be addressed and brought to a satisfactory conclusion. He stared down into her eyes and rested his hands on her generous hips.
“You embarrassed your friend with your silliness,” said Edmund sternly.
“You wish to spank me, I presume?” she asked with a glint in her eye.
He squeezed her hips. “Mrs Seymour, do you ridicule me with your presumptions?”
“I believe your discipline is justified. Sir.”
He suppressed a smile. Her admirable incisiveness kept him placated. “You haven’t answered my question.”
“I think, sir, that you know you can do as you wish,” said Alice carefully.
He let go of his grip. “Then please remove your clothing.”
The exchange, rather like a fencing bout, ended swiftly with neither conceding defeat. Alice slipped out of her gown, lifted up her petticoat, and Edmund assisted with the removal of her corset. As she lifted up her chemise, he caught sight of an extra item of clothing.
“What is that?” he pointed at the garb.
“Pantalettes. They are considered to be fashionable.” Alice twirled around.
The white undergarment consisted of two leg pieces, joined at the waist by a drawstring. As she turned, Edmund saw a flash of alabaster flesh. The cotton fabric had parted about her cheeks, showing her neat cleft. Edmund growled at his discovery.
From the edge of the room, he retrieved an upright oak chair and placed it in the middle near to the dresser.
“Keep those on and bend over with your hands on the seat. You will be spanked and you are right, I do it because I choose to.”
Alice moved slowly, as if to tease him with her new item of clothing. As she bent over, her bottom poked out of the drawers. With his fingertips, he separated the covering farther, as if he was parting drapes, until her bottom was fully exposed. With a hand on each lobe, he squeezed hard. Then he stepped back and positioned himself to one side. One hand on the small of her back, he raised the other one high. Alice visibly braced herself.
“You are an impudent hussy,” said Edmund, landing a hand on her upturned bottom, immediately the milky white complexion showed the outline of a pink handprint.
“Uh,” grunted Alice, her knees bending and then straightening. “I know not what you mean.”
Another outline appeared on the other cheek accompanied by a squawk. “You know perfectly well what I refer to.”
“Oh, sir, It—” her speech interrupted by another well-placed smack of his hand. “It was the wine speaking,” she said tremulously.
“I think you seek a pitiful excuse,” scoffed Edmund, slapping her quivering cheek again.
“Unfair,” said Alice, attempting to whisper. “I didn’t intend to offend my friend.”
“What of me?” He punctuated his question with a swing of his flat hand. Her bottom, no longer creamy and pale, had turned a fiery red, yet it remained raised and her feet firmly planted on the floor.
“You are accustomed to such talk!” she shrilled and he greeted her answer with a rapid sequence of smacks, alternating between her cheeks.
“I am, but not in the presence of ladies.” Halting his blows, he touched her between the legs. Her folds, full and obvious, shimmered. Running a finger down between, he parted and probed her inner sanctuary. Alice thumped her hand on the seat of the chair. Her humiliation was complete and her innate response to it, undeniable.
Edmund smeared her juices over her heated rump and kept her in place with his other hand. “You are a lady, are you not?”
Alice giggled softly. “In your company, I do wonder.” She wriggled her bottom from side to side.
Edmund chortled. “See? Vulgar. Most disappointing.” He bent, licking her nectar off the warmed buttocks. She moaned and writhed, as his tongue tickled her pussy, pushing its tip inside her, tasting her.
“Please, sir… I… I was distracted over dinner. I did think of us. How I would like you in me. Always there,” Her timorous voice aroused him further. With breathlessness, she rushed out her words. “I did become wet at the thought of us.”
Impressed by her self-awareness, the knowledge that she could be aroused, merely by thinking of him in a sexual context, ended the spanking. Standing up, Edmund could not contain himself. His flap unbuttoned, he sought out his rigid cock, its shaft a seeming rod of iron and he pressed the bulbous head against her slit.
Holding her waist tightly, Edmund yanked Alice backwards on to his cock, impaling her on the entire length.
Alice yelped loudly.
“Shh,” he said quickly, aware of Ann lying on her own bed farther down the hallway.
Alice seemed unable to comply with his request as he thrust hard into her again, she squawked. His hand found her mouth and smothered it.
The chair began to rock on its legs with the force of his driving hips. Alice’s fingers clawed at the back of the chair, her head pushed against the struts. The drawers, unable to stay up, sank down to her ankles.
He hammered into her tender bottom, adding volume to the muffled noises coming from their mouths. Wetness oozed from her secret place, aiding his passage and stretching her about him. He struggled to hold back his need to reach completion. He sought out her clitoris, reaching around to nip it with his finger. With a brisk rub of his finger, Alice came. Her tight channel pulsated about him as he pumped hot liquid deep inside her pussy.
“Shh!” He hushed her shrieks with little success and to add to the commotion, the chair legs, having tilted back, landed back on the wooden boards with a bang.
Edmund wrapped his arms about her waist and supported her weight as she came close to collapsing beneath him.
Lying her on the bed, he stripped quickly and lay alongside his wife. His cock twitched. The sensation of his wife’s warm body cushioned against his own made his returning erection impatient to resume its mission.
“I have taken you vigorously, dearest,” said Edmund kissing a nipple. “Now let me make love with leisure.” He added another tender kiss, trailing his fingers down her side.
“How is your bottom?” he asked, resting his head on her shoulder.
“Throbbing!” she guffawed.
“You bring out a beast in me, Alice,” said Edmund moving down past her belly, lowering his head. “I do not know if I can tame it.” His lips reached her upper legs and separating them, he kissed an inner thigh; the soft flesh smelt of musky juices.
“I don’t know if I want you to, my love. It is a gentle beast. I just hope it can contain me.”
* * *
“I must say, your house has about it some very strange noises,” announced Ann at breakfast. “Last night, I am sure I heard something odd.”
Alice’s fork hovered between plate and mouth. She desperately tried to mask her embarrassment. Looking down, she dare not cast her eyes at Edmund.
She tried to add incredulity to the tone of her voice. “You did?”
“Did you have other guests sequestered out of sight?” asked Ann. “Perhaps your servants are up to mischief. I’m sure I heard a cry, almost a scream. Then such noises like banging or clapping. Most peculiar.”
Much to Alice’s relief, Ann finally ceased her rambling guesses. Alice turned to look at Edmund. He had his lips firmly shut and she willed him to find an answer to Ann’s curiosity. Scrambling through possible explanations, she fell upon an idea.
“Oh
, Ann, did we not warn you?” said Alice with feinted shock.
“Warn me?” said Ann nervously, glancing over her shoulder at the footman.
“How foolish of me,” said Ann, formulating her idea into words. “I must confess I didn’t believe Edmund when he told me, did I?” She directed her remark to her ignorant husband, who merely shrugged as if to agree.
“Believe what?” said Ann dropping her spoon on the plate with a clatter. She leant across the table.
“There is supposedly a spirit about Westfell Hall,” said Alice in hushed tones. “A phantom.”
“A ghost!” said Ann alarmed, springing back in her seat and staring about the room as if it would leap out of the walls at her.
“As I say I haven’t heard her myself. You were most unfortunate to have your sleep disturbed by her. The servants tell me it is rare. We heard nothing, did we, Colonel? Fast taken by exhaustion.”
“Indeed,” said Edmund non-committedly.
Ann regained her composure and once again eagerly perched on edge of her seat. “What manner of ghost? Do tell.”
“Why, some mad woman who does scream, so I am told, and bang most noisily, as if she is trying to escape or perhaps move furniture. Perhaps you could give us an idea, since you heard her so clearly?” risked Alice.
Edmund’s eyebrows raised at her last sentence.
“Oh, I am not sure. The sounds were at a distance and muffled.” Ann pursed her lips and broke out into a beaming grin. “Wait until I tell Lucy and Philippa that you reside in a haunted house.”
“We would rather you did not,” interjected Edmund quickly. “We do not want callers expecting a tour. The house is restful and a pleasant abode. There is no proof to the conjecture this place is haunted. Perhaps it was the servants you heard?”
“Maybe,” said Ann, fingering her plate. “Naturally, I shall keep quiet. It is of no great consequence. What an exciting place you do live in, Alice.”