He galloped into the yard of the Coach House at Sawtry in a flurry of sparks as her hooves clattered on the cobbles. The horse stood blowing as Charles carefully slid off her back.
‘Lord Charles!’ he was greeted enthusiastically by the Innkeeper. ‘How nice to see you today!’
‘Mr. Higgins.’ Charles responded as he limped away from the tired mare. ‘Your fastest horse. I’m in a hurry!’
The keeper shouted orders with alacrity. ‘A pot of ale for his Lordship!’ he shouted at a small boy, who turned and ran into the Coach House. ‘Boy! Get his Lordship’s saddle off that bay mare and bring out Hercules!’
Charles rested his buttocks against a low wall and crossed his arms. ‘He’s going to be ridden hard. I hope Mrs. Green at Buckden won’t be cross.’
‘I take it you are trying to overtake your brother?’ Mr. Higgins enquired carefully.
‘I am.’ Charles stated without adding anymore.
‘He told me that he’s the new Duke. I’m sorry for the loss of your father.’ Higgins continued. ‘Was it a long illness?’
‘My father wasn’t ill, he was murdered.’ Charles said flatly. ‘And that bastard of a brother did it!’
‘Then be of cheer, he said he was stopping for food and a rest at Mrs. Green’s.’ Higgins said softly.
‘And knowing my brother as well as I do, that means that Alicia Green will be on her back by the time I get there.’ Charles smiled for the first time that day. It was a lascivious curve of his lips that Mr. Higgins felt made him look like a young devil, but it didn’t reach his cold eyes. Charles had never availed himself of Mrs. Green’s services, preferring not to catch the pox from some wayward traveller.
The pot boy offered up a tankard of ale and Charles thanked him, before gulping the contents down his throat.
A large black stallion was led out of a stable block. It was jerking on the lead and as the lad tried to control it, the stallion reared up on his back feet, dragging the poor boy off the ground.
‘Spirited.’ Charles muttered as the hooves crashed back onto the cobbles. ‘But is he quick?’
‘He could run at Ascot, My Lord.’ Mr. Higgins confirmed as the stallion stamped his feet and snorted out his contempt for the humans around him.
‘Then get my saddle on him and I’ll be away.’ Charles said and finished the last dregs of ale in the tankard. He handed the blackened pewter mug back to the pot boy and limped over to the horse. He gently stroked his palm over the horse’s muzzle, allowing the stallion to sample his smell. ‘Good boy,’ Charles murmured and blew in the horse’s nostrils, making him snort again. ‘Will you fly for me?’ he asked. The stallion looked Charles in the eye, nodded his head and snorted again.
‘My Lord? He’s ready.’ The young stable boy said and Charles sorted the reins out before he heaved his aching body into the saddle. He could feel the strength and restlessness of the stallion even as his buttocks connected with the saddle. He gathered the reins in his hands, smiled down at the boy and said ‘Thank you, Mr. Higgins. You might find my sister along later in a coach.’ Charles kicked the horse’s flanks and the stallion burst forward in a surge of speed and power.
‘How’s your stamina, boy?’ he murmured in the horse’s ear as he laid his face alongside his neck and urged him to a break-neck pace. The blood roared in his veins in exhilaration as he felt the raw power of the horse after he’d turned onto the main road and let Hercules have his head. ‘Fly, my boy! Fly!’ Charles urged as his hat was blown off his head to bounce on his shoulders by the strap.
Almost as good as sex!He exulted as he felt the wind in his hair.But not quite.His thoughts turned to Louise in the study.Why wasn’t she afraid?He asked himself.I would have expected her to be at least nervous, but she wasn’t.A part of him wondered whether she was a virgin and then he shook his head and chastised his own idiocy. You broke her maidenhead, you idiot! Of course she was a virgin.He tried to put thoughts of her naked body, carnally available for his pleasure aside and concentrate on his murderous brother.
The thunder of his hooves made travellers look up in astonishment as he flew past them, leaving raised fists and squealing women in his wake. Hercules seemed to eat the road and in no time at all he could see the smoke from the chimneys of Buckden.
On the outskirts of the village he slowed Hercules down to a canter and the stallion tossed his head. Charles could tell the horse had enormous stamina and could probably do the next ten miles without flagging, but he wouldn’t want to break this horse’s spirit. He turned sedately into the coach house yard and slid gracefully from the saddle.
A stable boy ran forward to grasp the reins and soothe the stallion. ‘Hello Hercules, did you enjoy your run?’ he asked softly and Charles was amazed to see the horse put his head down beside the young lad and rub his face on his hip.
‘Where is Mrs. Green?’ Charles enquired politely.
‘I don’t rightly know, Milord, shall I ask Betsy?’ the young lad replied earnestly.
‘Is Betsy inside?’ Charles asked and the boy nodded. ‘Good, saddle a fresh horse for me and make sure its quick. Like Hercules if you can.’ He said and limped over to the coach house door.
As he got in the doorway a young girl appeared drying her hands on her apron. She was quite pretty, with cornflower blue eyes and flaxen hair. ‘Can I help you, Milord?’ she asked in a lilting voice.
‘Where is Mrs. Green?’ Charles asked again politely.
‘Mrs. Green is in her room, indisposed, Milord.’ She said firmly.
‘Is Robin Stafford keeping her company?’ he demanded harshly and Betsy suddenly looked flustered and evasive.
‘I...I don’t know, Milord.’ She stuttered.
‘Where is your mistress’s room?’ he demanded and strode purposefully down the hall to the back of the house. He stood at the bottom of the stairs.
‘I can’t tell you that, Sir!’ Betsy said in outrage. She thought it funny that the fancy lord didn’t know.
‘Betsy.’ He said and looked down coldly at the girl. ‘You either tell me which room is hers or I will kick down every door in the building!’
Betsy looked at the frigid expression in this tall aristocrats face and decided she didn’t need this job; she could just as easily be a field hand at the local farm, where Lords and Ladies didn’t treat her like a chattel. ‘Top of the second flight, right in front of you.’ she said and span on her heel in indignation.
Charles tried to hide the smirk of respect he felt for the small girl, she had to have been intimidated by his size, but she had still tried to stand her ground. He took the stairs quietly until he was stood outside the door.Should I knock?He asked himself.Or kick it in!
He decided to kick it in and lifted his foot. The door was fairly flimsy and as the heel of his boot crashed into the wood just above the lock, the door flew open and crashed against the wall making the woman in the bed squeal loudly.
Chapter 16
‘Jesus, Charles! You gave me a fright then!’ Alicia Green shouted as she elevated her naked torso off the mattress. The cotton top sheet was rumpled and gathered at the end of the bed.
Charles stepped into the room, carefully pushed the door closed and then walked slowly to the bed, never taking his eyes off the woman so delectably displayed.
Alicia Green was only twenty eight. She was blond haired and blue eyed, with the face of a whore and a body to die for. She had been widowed for five years or more. It was well known she was barren and all the gentry that passed through Buckden on the way north sampled her goods. She and Robin fornicated regularly, but Charles hadn’t seen her since his return from Spain, as his journey north had been along a different road.
‘Where is Robin Stafford?’ he asked in the sibilant whisper that she had never heard before. She lay back on the bed, lifted her arms above her head in a thoroughly wanton fashion and lifted one eyebrow at him.
‘Since when do you call your brother just Robin Stafford? He’s the Duke now.’ She pushed
her elbows out to make her breasts stand proud and smiled lasciviously, the desire burning in her eyes. He knew she was insatiable and even though she had probably been with Robin, she would still be able to accommodate him if he so wished.
Charles knew a distraction when he saw one, but that didn’t stop him from walking to the bed. ‘Is he?’ He murmured, looked down on her body and gently stroked a finger over one of her tight, puckered nipples. ‘You haven’t answered my question.’ He whispered as his finger traced the outside edge of her aureole.
‘He was so good today.’ She whimpered as she arched her back, trying to thrust her breast into his hand.
‘Did you enjoy fucking a Duke?’
‘Yes, I did.’ She murmured and opened her legs for him. ‘But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t enjoy fucking a Lord.’
‘You wouldn’t be fucking a Lord.’ He said as he moved his finger across to her other breast.
‘I wouldn’t?’ she asked coquettishly.
‘No, because this Lord is actually the Duke and if I chose to join you on the bed, this Duke would fuck you!’
‘That sounds lovely.’ She murmured as his hand traced a line down the centre of her stomach. He circled his fingers over her bald pudenda and she moaned, lifting her pelvis in supplication. ‘Whenever you want to join me, I’m ready.’
He stroked his fingers over her cleft as she gasped and opened her legs wider. ‘Do you want this?’ he asked provocatively, as his stomach turned at the sperm still on her thighs from his brother. He found it quite unsettling as it wouldn’t be the first time he’d followed another man, but to see his brother’s sperm coating her thighs actually made him feel sick, while he knew that if it was Richard, he would just wipe it away and fuck her anyway!
‘Yes,’ she gasped and writhed to try and bring some pressure against his fingers.
‘Tell me what I want to know and I’ll let you have it.’ He whispered and removed his hand. He looked about the room and spied the washstand. He went over and checked the jug to find it full of hot water. ‘Have you decided yet?’ he asked as he turned to find her pleasuring herself. He strode quickly across the room, grabbed both of her hands and pinned them to the bed. ‘Not yet, my sweet.’ He said dangerously, ‘not until you tell me about Robin.’
She writhed and gasped. ‘Please?’ she begged and he lifted a questioning eyebrow. ‘Yes, he was here.’ She gabbled suddenly, her eyes betraying the desperation of her body. ‘He wanted a quick fuck before he gets home.’ She writhed more violently, ‘he was moaning about the new duchess and how demanding she is both in bed and out of it.’ She looked at him imploringly. ‘Please? I’ve said he was here?’
‘What new Duchess?’ he asked and looked down at the apex of her thighs deliberately.
‘He didn’t tell me her name only that she was waiting in Mayfair for him.’ She gasped again. ‘Please?’
‘When did he leave?’
‘Not long before you arrived. Maybe fifteen minutes.’ She gasped out as her back arched. ‘Oh! God! Charles, please fuck me!?’ she begged again.
‘No.’ Charles spoke firmly. ‘No, I’m not going to fuck you.’ He said coldly as he straightened up and released her hands. ‘But you can do that for yourself anyway!’ He turned to the washstand and splashed some water in the bowl and soaped his hands. As he dried them on a towel, he turned to look one last time at the insatiable whore on the bed to find her inserting a huge ivory penis inside her vagina as she tormented her own clitoris.
He was tempted to stay and watch, but in the end he shook his head and left. Downstairs a horse was already stamping its feet as Charles threw himself up into the saddle. He smiled at Betsy and said. ‘You were right! You’re mistress is definitely indisposed.’ He kicked his heels into the horse’s flanks and trotted out of the yard.
When the coach pulled up at Buckden Kitty had to use the retiring room and she ran across the yard. Betsy appeared and Kitty said brusquely ‘Do you have a retiring room?’
‘Yes, Milady. Second door on the right.’ And she pointed down the corridor. After using the facilities, Kitty went back out into the yard, to see Alicia Green fawning all over Richard. She was dressed in an emerald green silk dress that was so low cut Kitty could see her nipples through the lace edging. She was quite annoyed to see Richard’s gaze fastened on that very spot.
‘Good afternoon, Mrs. Green.’ She greeted the host amicably as she donned her gloves and Richard walked slowly back to the coach. ‘I would imagine my brothers have already been serviced here today?’
‘They have indeed, Lady Amelia.’ Alicia Green replied incautiously, keeping her lustful gaze on Richard. ‘Pray, who is the young man in your carriage?’
‘He’s my fiancée, Mrs. Green and if you want to remain pretty, you’ll take your lascivious gaze off his person.’ Kitty replied harshly. ‘He’s mine!’
‘I’m sorry, Lady Amelia, it’s just that a handsome man always turns my head.’ Alicia murmured, still her gaze rested on Richard and Kitty couldn’t stop the jealousy rising in her blood at the heated light in Alicia Green’s eyes.
‘Then you should be careful it doesn’t give you a crick in the neck!’ Kitty said vitriolically and Alicia Green snapped her attention back to Kitty with a frown. ‘What time did Charles come through here?’
An unfortunate choice of words! Alicia thought, but instead she answered carefully. ‘Your brothers have both been here this morning. Robin stayed for half an hour, but Charles was only here for a few minutes, more’s the pity.’
‘No wonder you’re watching Richard.’ Kitty murmured. ‘Well, Mrs. Green, I’ll say goodbye for this trip. I might see you on our way back.’ She started to stroll away. ‘That’ll give you some time to get a bodice for your dress!’
George was supervising the harnessing of the new horses and Kitty watched for a few minutes before she went to the carriage.
‘Who is that woman?’ Richard asked thoughtfully as Kitty climbed back in the coach.
‘That is Mrs. Green. She’s a whore of the first order.’ She looked at him keenly. ‘Never be alone with her and never let her talk you into her bed, for once there, she will never let you out and probably break your back.’
‘It sounds divine.’ Richard murmured as the coach moved and he looked at Mrs. Green. He could see the invitation in her eyes and she smiled in such a way that he actually felt a spike of arousal in his groin.
Kitty saw it bulge in his tight britches. It was almost impossible to hide and she felt a pang of disappointment.He’s the same as every other man.She thought sadly.Show him some breast or thigh and he’ll forget his own name. It’s pointless to remark upon it, so forget it, Kitty.She told herself harshly, trying to clamp down on her own jealousy. Kitty carefully arranged the skirt over her legs and folded her hands demurely in her lap as she stared out of the opposite window.He’ll probably have a mistress by the end of the year.She continued in her mind.So you should get used to it now, then when it happens it won’t be such a shock. After all, husbands don’t stay faithful for long and he’ll probably let me have affairs of my own once I’ve produced an heir for his estate.
Kitty was totally unaware that Richard could see her face and the expressions that she couldn’t hide. Damn!He thought as he saw the first tear roll down her cheek.
‘What’s the matter, my love?’ he asked softly and watched her jump and dash the tear from her cheek with her gloved fingers.
‘Nothing.’ She replied calmly. ‘I was just jolted back to reality, that’s all.’
‘Reality?’ he asked confused.
‘Yes. Reality.’ She said firmly and looked pointedly at his groin. ‘I was reminded that there is no such thing as fidelity in our world and my childish dreams of my husband being solely mine were unrealistic.’ She sighed. ‘I’m sure your first mistress will be beautiful, but please don’t get caught by somebody like Alicia Green, she’s almost as big a whore as Constance Beresford and if you want an heir, I need to remain free of the p
ox!’
Richard sighed deeply. ‘Didn’t Millicent explain about arousal?’ he asked calmly. When he got no response he carried on. ‘When a man sees a pretty woman like Mrs. Green, displaying her charms so vividly, he cannot help the reaction of his body. It just gets hard of its own accord.’ He smiled wanly.
‘You said it was all for me.’ She whispered hoarsely as she was a hair’s breadth away from sobbing her heart out.
Richard reached across the coach and pulled her onto his lap, folding her into his arms and gently pressing his lips to her temple. ‘It is all for you, my love.’ He sighed again. ‘I might like looking at her charms, especially when they’re so delectably displayed, but I wouldn’t sample her charms. Not now.’ He kissed her temple again. ‘She’s too late.’ He looked down and lifted Kitty’s chin. As her head rested against his upper arm, he gently stroked his gloved fingers over her cheek, removing the last trace of a tear. ‘No more tears. I shall not be having a mistress. Quite frankly I doubt I will ever need one, let alone want one.’ He skilfully brushed his lips over hers, making her gasp and as her lips opened he plundered her mouth mercilessly, investigating every silky fraction. Desire streaked down her body and turned the embers of the previous evening’s passion into an inferno. Suddenly Richard found his future bride to be alive in his arms again and smiled inside at the thought of a lifetime of her passion as her tongue forced its way into his mouth. He quickly divested his gloves, expertly flicked open the buttons on her britches and his arousal spiked as her body convulsed when his fingers touched her intimately. Her response was immediate and his fingers were coated with her arousal as she parted her legs for him.
Kitty’s arms snaked up around his neck and Richard removed his hand when she manoeuvred herself about until she was sat astride his lap, without taking her lips from his or her tongue from his mouth. He let out a small groan as he felt her groin settle over his throbbing manhood. He placed his hands on her face and gently pushed her away from his lips. Hers were rosy, from the roughness of his stubble. ‘What a pity you aren’t wearing a dress.’ He murmured as he looked at her glistening lips.
The Theft of a Dukedom Page 20