by Jade Lee
The girl was in quite a state. Both anxious and nervous and excited. Her handwriting climbed all over the page in crooked lines and even the sentences weren’t complete. The crux of the letter was that she begged Helaine to come to her wedding on the morrow. She wasn’t at all sure she could be in her best looks without help, and even if her maid was a magician with hair, she was only average with dresses. Besides, Gwen hoped that she could call Helaine her friend. And if so, Gwen would be pleased to have her attend the ceremony and breakfast afterward.
Helaine was stunned to see that her eyes were welling up with tears. Gwen was so much more to her than a client. That the other woman felt the same was like a gift from God. No matter what happened—or didn’t happen—with Robert, at least Helaine had a friend in Gwen.
She told the footman her answer: that she would indeed be there bright and early to assist Lady Gwen however she was needed. Then she paused, hoping that there was something else, like a message from Robert. But the man simply bowed and turned around while Helaine’s heart plummeted.
Had he tired of her already? And if so, she told herself, then lucky for him. Because she was so angry at that moment that if he showed up at her door she would slam it in his face. Hard.
But he didn’t show up. Not until she had drawn his face and started putting spot marks all over it to make him look ugly. It was childish of her and really didn’t make her feel any better, especially since she erased the spots, added shading, and drew him as handsome as she remembered him. Only then did the horrid man show up, knocking at the workroom door and pleading with her to open up.
“Helaine! Are you in there? Oh, God, please, it’s Robert. Helaine?”
She meant to be reserved, perhaps even icy to him. But all her intentions flew away at the desperation in his tone. She flung open the back door and was immediately engulfed in his arms. It felt as marvelous as she remembered, wrapped in his full embrace, the scent of him filling her lungs.
“Robert,” she breathed, “I’m very cross with you.”
“And well you should be,” he answered as he pressed tiny kisses into her hair. “But first let me kiss you. I have been dying—”
She didn’t wait. She stretched up to his mouth and soon he was doing all the things to her that she’d longed for these last two weeks. He plundered her mouth, and she all but wrapped herself around him so that he could do more. He was the one to break it off so that they could both breathe. And while they stood there, their foreheads touching and their ragged breath heating the air between them, he stroked her arms and entwined their fingers.
“Where is everyone?” he asked as he backhanded the door closed.
“Bed. Upstairs asleep. Wendy’s at her home. She’s exhaust—”
He kissed her again and this time when she stretched up to meet him, his hands were in the way. He was stroking her breasts, lifting them and rubbing his thumbs across her nipples. The movement was quick and a little rough, but, oh, she liked it. How she had dreamed of having his hands on her.
She arched her back, thrusting her breasts deeper into his hands. And while he pleasured her, she reached behind her and undid what buttons she could on her gown. She hadn’t realized how desperate she was for his touch until his kisses set her aflame. Never had she responded so quickly, so completely to a man.
“I have been trying to get here all damn day,” he said as he began pressing kisses down her neck. “But you cannot imagine everything that had to be done to set up a single damn school! And then to come home only to be besieged by relatives. They were everywhere! I tried to hand them off on Jack, but the boy can’t be everywhere. And that’s where those people are—everywhere!”
She paused, abandoning her buttons to lift her eyes to his. “School? You are setting up a school?”
He nodded as he reached behind her to finish undoing her buttons. “For Edward’s mother and aunt to run. Even the little sister can help them until she’s of age. It’ll give them all something to do—”
“And a place to live far away from Gwen.”
He grinned. “Exactly.”
“Oh, Robert, that is a marvelous idea.”
“Edward thought so, too. Wonderful boy. Levelheaded and practical. Thank God Gwen’s marrying him, because we need him in the family. If she cries off, I think I’d have to blood bond with him or something.”
Helaine laughed. “Blood bond?”
He shook his head. “Never mind. It is something I read as a boy.”
“Oh. But she’s not changing her mind at this late date, is she?”
“Better not!” he said in a mock growl as he stroked the skin of her neck and shoulders. Her gown was drooping, but it hadn’t fallen yet.
“Take me,” she said against his lips. “Right here. Right now.”
He paused, but she saw the wicked gleam in his eye. “In the workroom?”
“No one is here.”
His eyes seemed to glitter in the lamplight as he scanned the room. Then he angled his chin toward the full mirror. “Ever wanted to watch, Helaine? I swear you are the most beautiful sight when you peak.”
Her eyebrows shot up. It had never occurred to her to look in a mirror as they…when they…“Will I be able to see your bum, then?” she asked as she boldly leaned down to grip him.
“You can see whatever you want, my lady.” Then he scooped her up and carried her the six steps to the bench set before the mirror. He set her down carefully on her feet, then slipped behind her, pushing the gown off her shoulders as he moved. The dress and inset shift fell easily, needing only the slightest shimmy to have it pool at her feet. He took in a deep breath as he looked at her reflection. He stood behind her, fully clothed, a stark contrast to her.
“You are even more beautiful than I remember. All pink skin and full body. Your lips alone could drive me insane.”
“You promised I would see all of you,” she said as she turned around and began tugging at his cravat. He helped her, stripping off everything in record time. And when his organ was at last set free, she was able to stroke it and listen to his breath hiss in pleasure.
“Now—,” she began, but he pressed a finger to her mouth. Then, while she watched, he sat down on the bench facing the mirror.
“Come here,” he said.
She moved forward, but he stopped her, slowly turning her around. A moment later, he had set her on his lap, slowly coaxing her legs apart such that they draped over his knees.
Her face flamed in embarrassment, but also with excitement. She had never looked at herself all plump and open. It was scandalous for sure, but she was a mistress now. Scandalous was supposed to be her stock-in-trade.
“It’s not very pretty,” she said.
He chuckled. “No, it’s gorgeous. Now watch what happens when I do this.” So saying, he cupped her breasts, lifting them in the mirror and tweaking her nipples. She gasped at the sensation and her bottom tightened. His organ was thick and tall between them, and she realized that with a slight shift of her hips, her movements would torture him as well.
“Minx,” he whispered, but he didn’t stop her.
Her head was resting on his shoulder as he began to slide down on the bench. He didn’t go far, just enough to lift her center higher, into better view, and one of his hands abandoned her breast to slide between her legs.
Her skin was afire with flashes of heat, but it didn’t stop her from watching the slow progress of his hand down her belly. Large tan fingers against her white skin, slipping down until he slid into her curls. It was the most incredible sight, and to feel it as it was happening was beyond erotic.
“This is where I want to be,” he said as he thrust a finger deep inside her. She gasped in reaction as he filled her, instinctively tightening around him. “But this is what you like,” he said as he pulled his hand back and began to stroke her higher up.
Her thighs tightened, but she was draped across the outside of his knees. He was so much stronger than her, so he kept her open fo
r view. And he continued to stroke her while she writhed on his lap.
She was close, so close. But this was not what she wanted. Not his fingers. And so she gripped his hand and pulled it away.
“I want to watch you enter me.”
He looked at her. “Are you sure?”
She nodded. “I want to see it. Slowly.”
He grinned. “As you wish.”
She directed things this time, adjusting the bench for the best angle. She sat down, making sure to position them in the mirror. And then she leaned back, trying as coy a look as she could manage.
“What are you waiting for?” she asked.
His eyes darkened in hunger as he grabbed her legs and placed them on his shoulders. “You wanted to watch? How is this?”
He placed himself at her entrance and she looked in awe at his large mushroom head and thick stalk. It amazed her that he could fit in her, and indeed as he slowly pressed inside, she felt her whole body stretch around him.
Inch by slow inch he entered her and she had the dual view in front of her and of his backside in the mirror. And then he was fully seated, and she completely impaled. Opened, pinned, and impaled. Never would she have thought it would excite her to feel this vulnerable, but she did. And looking in his eyes, she could see an answering hunger in him.
Then he withdrew slowly until he was fully out, his breath coming in shuddering gasps as he lowered her legs from his shoulders.
She frowned. “Robert?”
He bent down and pulled out a French letter from his pocket, opening it to show it to her. “I cannot do that again without risk,” he said. “Do you—”
“Oh, God!” She’d forgotten it. Again!
He looked at her face. “I have been worried about the last time. I didn’t remember then. I—”
“I know. But I had my courses last week, so we are fine. I mean, there is no baby.”
He exhaled a heavy breath in relief. “Thank goodness. I would have cared for the babe. Made sure everything was as you wanted it. But—”
“It’s better this way.” She touched his hand and the condom he held.
“Yes,” he agreed. Then he showed her how to put it on him. It was an amazing thing, really, and it warmed her to know that he had thought of this. And that warmth translated to desire. And love. Such love she felt for him.
This time when he entered her, there was no holding back. Though she thought he intended to go slow, her patience had already run out. She wanted him inside her. She wanted to grip him inside and out. And she wanted to feel him thrusting deep.
He gave her what she wanted. He rammed into her while she cried out at every impact. And she watched in the mirror as his buttocks tightened and his back bowed.
Her belly was tightening, her thighs were adding to his rhythm. Again and again.
Bliss!
She came back to herself in his arms. How he had managed to twist them around such that she now sat on his lap was beyond her. But he had, and now she rested full and still impaled in his arms.
“You are a marvel,” she said as she kissed his beard-rough jaw.
“Hmm,” he rumbled. “I was about to say the same to you.” Then he straightened, his eyes serious as he looked into hers. “Helaine, I have something to ask you. This is not quite the way I’d envisioned, but—”
Thump, thump!
Helaine slapped a hand over Robert’s mouth. He had heard it, too, so he kept himself very still. And there it was again. Thump, thump on the back stairs.
“Helaine?” came her mother’s voice from the doorway. “I heard a noise.”
Robert’s eyes widened and his lips curved in laughter. Helaine glared him into silence as she called out to her mother.
“Don’t come down!” she called. “I, uh, I dropped a glass and it broke. There are shards everywhere.”
“Oh, dear. I’ll get the broom—”
“No, no! I’ve got it!” Helaine pushed herself off Robert, silently mourning the loss of him inside her, but mortified by the idea of her mother finding her like this. She was hastily pulling on her gown as she tried to warn her mother away. “Pray go back to bed, Mama. I’m sorry I woke you.”
“But you should go to bed, dear. You have to be up and dressed for the wedding ever so early tomorrow.”
“I know, I know!” She had pulled on her gown, but was having trouble buttoning it. Robert helped her out, of course, his fingers much more sure. But the damned man did it while still sitting down. Naked!
“Were you drinking tea?” Her mother asked as she made it to the main floor, but not around the corner into the workroom. “Where is that mop?”
“Go upstairs, Mama!” Helaine cried in near panic. Then she had an inspiration. “Could you warm a pan for me? For my bed? And throw some more coal on the upstairs fire?”
The sounds from the closet stilled. “I suppose, though it’s not that cold a night.”
“I’m freezing, Mama,” Helaine countered. “Please, would you do that for me?”
She heard her mother sigh. “All right. But I think it’s a waste of coal. Come up soon.”
“Right away.”
Helaine waited a moment, listening to her mother’s steady tread back up the stairs. When she heard the coal rattle in the pan, she exhaled a sigh of relief. Then she turned to Robert, who was still sitting on the bench completely at ease. At least he’d pulled on his pants, but his upper torso was still completely nude. “Get dressed!”
“But—”
“Good God, Robert, my mother could come back down here any minute.”
He gave a worried glance up the stairs, then returned to look back at Helaine. “I would like to ask you something, my dear. As I said, it’s not exactly the time.”
“It’s not the time at all!” she said as she tossed him his shirt. “Whatever it is will wait until tomorrow.”
He grimaced as his shirt hit him in the face. But then he pulled it away and she was startled to see how very serious he had become. “That’s too late, my dear. Really it will only take a moment.”
“Which is all my mother needs to get worried and come back down here.”
“Helaine!”
“No! I shall be there first thing in the morning to help Gwen with her gown. She’s invited me to the wedding, you know. I hope that doesn’t upset you.”
“Upset me? I asked her if she’d like you to come. If—”
“Ssst!” she hissed as her mother continued to thump around upstairs. They both waited as still as statues to see where her mother would go. She thought for a moment that the woman would come back down the stairs, but after a bit, there was a different creak in a different place. Helaine exhaled. Her mother had gone into a bedroom. Probably Helaine’s to put the warming pan in. Which meant the woman would be back down in less than a minute to haul her daughter up to bed.
“My dear—,” Robert began again, but Helaine rushed to the door and pulled it open.
“It can wait until morning.”
Robert frowned, obviously hating that idea, but Helaine would have none of it.
“Go!” Then she grabbed his shoes, dropped them in his hands, and shoved him out the door. She felt bad seeing him stumble outside in bare feet and bare chested. But sure enough, she heard her mother’s tread on the stairs again.
“Helaine?”
“Coming, Mama!” Then she shut and locked the door tight.
Chapter 25
Helaine was in the middle of a yawn when Dribbs opened the door. Fortunately, she had enough warning to hide it behind her gloved hand. He nodded gravely to her and ushered her inside. Barely a minute later, she was upstairs in Gwen’s room, where the girl was seated before her mirror dabbing color onto her cheeks.
“Oh, no!” cried Helaine. “You don’t need that. You are perfect without—”
“You are here!” Gwen cried as she abandoned her paint pot to engulf Helaine in a fierce hug. “I am so glad.”
“And I am so glad you invited me.
But come now. What is this silliness? You don’t need paint.”
Gwen bit her lip, looking unsure. “I want to look perfect.”
“But you do! You are a stunning bride.” Helaine stepped back to inspect the young woman. She was dressed in her shift and hose, covered by a dressing gown. Her bridal dress lay across the bed, a vision in purest white. It wasn’t really common for brides to marry in white, but Helaine had thought the fabric the perfect accent to Gwen’s flushed pink skin. With pearl drops along the bodice and skirt, she would appear like Venus emerged from the frothy sea. And Penny had made slippers to match, adding a trace of gold to flash beneath the skirt as Gwen stepped down the aisle.
“Come, come, let us get you into your gown.”
Gwen agreed, her eyes shimmering with excitement as Helaine held out the dress. But before she could do more than put one foot inside the skirt, there was a knock at the door.
“Gwen? Did I hear Helaine come in?”
“Helaine?” Gwen mouthed. “I thought your name was Helen.”
Helaine flushed and shrugged. She could think of no answer, not with the memory of everything that had happened the night before flashing through her mind.
The knock came again. “Gwen? Is she there?”
“For heaven’s sake, Robert, I’m dressing!” Gwen said back through the door.
“But I should like—”
Helaine interrupted before he could finish. “Whatever it is, my lord, it can wait, can’t it? Your sister is about to get married!”
He groaned. “I know that, but—”
“Later!” both women cried together.
He had no choice but to agree, though he did so with an audible grumble. A moment later, they heard him clump down the stairs and away. The two women exchanged equal looks of bafflement at Robert’s bizarre behavior, then quickly descended into giggles. There was no fathoming the male brain at a time like this, so they addressed themselves to making Gwen beautiful.
They succeeded because Gwen was so very happy. She was lovely, of course, but with the happiness literally filling the air around her, she would have appeared gorgeous in sackcloth. And with her future in-laws now moving to that school in the mining town, Gwen had no reservations about her marriage at all. She was head over heels in love with Edward, and that was all that mattered.