Rather than leave Sophia alone to tend the bride and her two sisters, they dressed Louise in simple, rough clothes as another maid. Nicole let her in-laws know that her youngest sister was staying behind with their dying father. Sophia had the dubious honor of tending to the bride.
The carriage ride was just as harrowing as the one before, but the distance proved long enough that the sun set before they arrived, to Sophia’s relief. As soon as they were washed from the travel, Nicole and Claudette hurried to join dinner.
“How can you stand it?” Sophia asked Louise once they left to eat with the family. The maids made their way to the basement kitchen for their own meal.
Louise shrugged. “It’s not so bad. I know I’m more comfortable with this than prancing around in a gown and bowing to all the wrong people.” She giggled at herself. “Nicole was so angry with me!”
“Nicole can hang herself.” Sophia muttered the curse rather than put any heat behind it. She hadn’t forgiven the woman and wouldn’t any time soon. “I’m sure you flattered everyone.”
Their conversation ended when they entered the earshot of other servants, switching to mundane things like cosmetics and mending clothing. Louise went into detail on the gown that Charles’ family were making for Nicole.
One of the men in the kitchen bumped up against Sophia and smiled as his gaze slipped down the front of her dress. “Pardon.”
“Of course. Henri, yes?” The same man had tripped over her at the previous gathering, distracted while examining her figure.
“Y-yes. I hope I didn’t offend.”
Sophia chuckled. “Not at all. Perhaps we’ll run into one another again. After my lady goes to bed?” Without her trusty dairy farmer, she was limited to drinking from Louise, a dangerous proposition. She’d been hoping someone would take an interest.
“Y-yes. T-thank you.” He hurried off and Louise couldn’t help but make a joke at his expense.
“I hope he doesn’t trip over his pants as he does his words.”
Sophia laughed and was echoed by a few of the women in the room.
“You don’t need me, do you?” Sophia asked Louise.
Between bites, she mumbled, “No.”
“I’m going to follow him.” She flashed her friend a bright smile that made Louise chuckle and then cough.
“Enjoy!” she managed to cough out.
“Thanks! I’ll see you later.” She headed in the direction Henri had gone. Before she found him, another maid crossed her path. Her stiff stance made her seem poised for a fight.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m looking for Henri. Is he this way?”
The maid relaxed and smiled. “Yes. He will be in the master’s chamber, preparing it for tonight.”
The idea of being in Charles’ room almost put her off the encounter entirely. Fortunately, by the time she reached that door, Henri opened it and stepped out.
“Oh, h-hello.”
“Hello.” She reached up and brushed his hair behind his ear. “Is there somewhere we can go?”
His nervousness evaporated. “Yes.” He took her hand and turned back to the stairs that had brought her here. Climbing another floor, he led her to what she presumed to be his room.
Opening the door, he held it for her to enter. She made a point of brushing up against him as she passed. His firm arms, hidden in a loose-fitted shirt, became clear. As did his tight behind. She almost palmed one cheek but hesitated until he followed her into the room and closed the door.
“M-m-may I?” He lifted a hand to her cheek, but Sophia had already stepped between his arms and set both palms against his buttocks.
“You may. In fact, you should. No, you will.” Her mind whirled through some of her more enjoyable sexual encounters. One man had taken charge of her, instructing her explicitly on what to do. It allowed her to give him exactly the pleasure he sought, which, in its way, gave her pleasure, too. Would Henri obey her commands? She would know very soon.
He tipped his head to hers, holding her cheek while he kissed her. His lips were nearly as firm as the rest of him, hard against her plump ones. She parted them to touch her tongue to his mouth.
Gasping, his jaw cracked for her, taking in her tongue and her saliva. If he’d been at all ambivalent before, the rush of pleasure from that would put any doubts to rest.
He murmured so softly even her extraordinary hearing couldn’t decipher the words. They weren’t stuttered, though. The longer he whispered, the more obvious it became that he’d left his speech impediment back with his modesty.
“Yes, Henri. That and more. Remove your clothes.” She stepped back and sat on the edge of his bed. While she rolled down her stockings, she watched him.
The shirt fluttered to the ground in seconds, but he stopped with his hands on the knot holding his pants up. His gaze locked onto the inside of her thigh, exposed by the stockings.
“Come. Kiss it,” she commanded, spreading her legs farther.
He sank to his knees and sealed his lips to her skin. With gentle suction, he teased to life every nerve running from her knee to her sex.
“Yes, Henri. Very good. Now here.” She pointed to the other thigh, her bare leg. Although distracted by his tongue and suction, she managed to pull the other stocking free.
Her breathing came in heavy pants when she pushed back on his shoulders. “Stop, stand.”
To her delight, he surged up. “Yes, Mademoiselle.” The honor made her heart flutter, too. She was certainly not a young lady, but he would obey her as though she were.
Taking hold of the cord holding his pants up and together, she pulled until they pooled on the floor. Pointing right at her nose, his cock dripped a single bead of moisture.
“Oh, yes.” She wrapped her hand around the base of his phallus and licked the wetness up, running her tongue over the head. She stroked him twice before closing her lips around him and sucking.
His quiet whispering began again, and she let him continue until she was happy with his firmness and length. He looked down at her and she noticed her bodice was still tied.
“Touch me,” she ordered, pulling at the lace to expose her breasts.
“Yes, thank you.” He knelt again, one hand on each breast. “May...”
Rather than let him ask, Sophia gripped his hair and pulled him to her left breast.
He dropped his hand and latched onto her nipple. Sucking on it, he also flicked his tongue in a way that made her toes curl.
Lost in the pleasure of his kiss and touch, Sophia forgot the free hand he had lowered. Henri shifted until his thumb was running up her inner thigh and brushing the curly hair covering her sex.
When she grabbed his wrist, he stopped, his lips breaking from her nipple.
“Kiss me here.” She shifted back, planting her feet on the edge of the bed and spreading her knees wide.
Dropping down to all fours, he used the same suction against her inner labia, tongue flicking and licking at her swollen bud.
“Yes, yes.” She touched her fingertip to her clit, pulling up on it and making her clench.
His finger covered hers and she pulled her hand back, holding her shaking thighs to keep them open.
He rubbed her for a few moments, until she had a better idea. “Suck here.” She tapped his finger. “Fingers here.” She touched his chin.
Without pause, he sealed his lips on her throbbing nub and plunged two fingers into her. As soon as he did, she started grinding on them, grinding against his face as her orgasm built.
He didn’t stop when she cried out, didn’t stop when she squirmed. His persistent fingers kept her coming until she had to push his head back.
“Stop, please. Stop. Oh, God, so good.” She cupped her hands over herself, rolling to her side.
He pushed up her skirt and laid a kiss on each of her round globes.
“Henri, take me, this way.” She planted on hands and knees, waiting for him to grasp her hips.
He did as instru
cted and thrust into her, sending her cheek to the sheet. It felt like her arms had just folded under the weight. Weight wasn’t the problem. Her impulses were all focused on the cock spreading her wide, fucking her slowly and deeply. Balling her fists full of rough cloth, she arched her back and leaned into him.
“More. Faster.”
Ever compliant, Henri picked up the pace, his cock rubbing her already stimulated pussy until she clenched around him. Another orgasm tore through her, making her buck and grind even while he fucked.
Following her release, she relaxed back against the sheets, but he still held onto her hips. After a brief pause, he began a slow and steady rhythm again.
“Oh, fuck me. Fuck, yes.” She swayed on her knees, pleasure building again. “Come in me, Henri. Come with me.”
He didn’t, not then, but a few minutes later, when she thought she might start tearing up the sheet in her hands, he groaned, and leaned over her back. “Cherie,” he whispered into her ear as his cock pulsed. “Thank you.”
“Thank you!” she argued.
He slid face down on the bed beside her, his knees hanging from the edge to the floor. “Now, a little rest, then back to work.”
Sophia wrinkled her nose. The last things she wanted to do right then was prepare Claudette for the night.
“We have a few moments still,” he assured her. “They will be having drinks.”
She relaxed and leaned to the side, into Henri. “Let’s enjoy the little while we have.”
“Agreed.”
***
A few days later, the morning of the wedding, Claudette surprised Sophia with a request. “Sophia, I need your help.” Claudette gazed into the mirror, her creased forehead reflected.
“I am your maid, Claudette. I think that’s my job.” She continued to brush the woman’s fine, fair hair.
“I fear you might change your mind when you hear what I need.” She took a deep breath, breasts rising and falling in her fine gown. “I have been trying to gain Lord Jean-Pierre’s attention since he arrived. He seemed interested at first but hasn’t approached me since then. He’s not too high in status and seems a good man. I don’t know what to do and was hoping I could use you to...lure him?” She shook her head, hair falling out of Sophia’s hands. “Lure him, like you’re bait in a trap. Forget I said anything.”
Sophia grinned and picked her hair and pins up, setting about arranging it. “I think I understand, Claudette. Is there a reason you waited until now to ask me?”
“I hoped, in all the festivities, we might have a better chance of doing something that wouldn’t be immediately noticed.” Nicole had given Claudette one of their mother’s necklaces to wear for the wedding and she toyed with the pendant, twisting it between her fingers. Sophia tried to remember ever seeing her fidget before.
“The wedding feast is a good time. Now I have an idea that you might not like. Stay by his side and make sure he drinks heavily. As the night progresses, I will try to lure him away from the party. Once I have him alone, I will indulge his fantasies and drink enough from him to leave him in a stupor, or even better unconscious. Then I bring him here, you lie with him, and we have Nicole or Louise bring one of his female relatives by looking for you.”
Claudette’s eyes widened in alarm at the mention of drinking his blood, but she nodded as more and more of the plan came together. “Yes. That is exactly what I was hoping for. Why do you need me to stay close through the feast?”
“So he won’t be surprised when he wakes with you. If we get him drunk, he might forget me entirely. You know, it would be simpler if you invited him to your bed.”
She gasped and her hand flew from the necklace to her mouth. “I couldn’t! I wouldn’t know what to do, and he could hurt me, couldn’t he?”
Sophia put the last pin in place and leaned on the vanity to regard her lady. “You are so different from your sisters, both. Nicole has no shame, no fear, and Louise is adventurous, but you just want a simple quiet life.
The other woman nodded. “Yes, and since Father died, that hasn’t seemed further away. Do you think he will honor our marriage if he wakes to it in surprise?”
Sophia huffed. “I haven’t met many of the male guests, so I don’t know your Baron at all, but I think his mother or sister will hold him to it.” Standing straighter, she picked up the white powder from the vanity. “Now, let’s get you ready. Nicole will be likely to kill us both if you are late.”
As soon as Claudette was on her way to the church, Louise rushed in wearing one of Nicole’s gowns. “Sophia, help me. I want to go to the feast when they come back. Daniel’s here!”
Chuckling, she circled Louise, pulling the dress in places, finding threads she could use to tighten the skirt at her waist, shifting down the kirtle slightly to show off more of her cleavage. “Sit.” She pointed to the chair Claudette had used and the youngest sister plopped into it. “You are quite infatuated with him, aren’t you?” The brush flew in Sophia’s hands, rushing to get Louise ready in half the time she’d spent on Claudette. “Doesn’t he know who you are, that you should be at home?”
“I never told him.” Her eyes danced and her grin warmed Sophia’s heart. “That’s part of the fun!”
Sophia laughed and reached for the extra pins. “What will you tell those who wonder where you came from?”
Louise shrugged. “I don’t plan to stop dancing long enough to answer them.”
“Between you and Claudette, I think I’d best try to attend the feast. I hope the kitchen has a use for me. I want to see this.”
“Claudette? What about her?”
“She’s trying to snag a man as well. We are going to work together to bring him back here. In the morning, Nicole will bring his mother or sister to meet Claudette.”
“And he will have to marry her. Clever. I hope I don’t have to be so canny.”
Sophia smiled as she painted Louise’s lips. In minutes, she wouldn’t look anything like the maid that tended Nicole. “I expect you won’t. Your Lord seems quite taken with you.”
“Perhaps, but Claudette and I have little to offer. Nicole got the dowry.”
Sophia shook her head. It wasn’t the French words that confused her. “I never understood any of that property nonsense. You will be a good wife, that should be all they need.” Dusting off her hands she moved out of the way so Louise could see her reflection. “Go find Daniel, Louise. And be happy.”
Louise squeezed Sophia tightly, kissing her cheek and leaving a bright red mark. “And you. Please, find someone or something for yourself?”
She snickered. “I have no trouble finding men to make me happy. It’s much easier when you don’t worry about sullying yourself. I’m past the point of shame.”
“I don’t believe that. You’re just too strong to let others tell you who and what you are.”
Sophia remained standing there, staring at the place Louise had stood for several minutes after she descended to the feast and festivities. She had never thought about her strength, about being anything other than a vampire. In the last months, she had been something else, but a maid was hardly a position of strength either.
Claudette had come to her for help. Nicole had blackmailed her, but obviously trusted Sophia to keep her secrets. Could she be a lady like the others? No. She would never be able to sit and embroider or weave in a sunny sitting room. Where did a woman who worked at night go?
She gasped in epiphany. She could work as a prostitute. How had that never occurred to her before? They only worked nights and she could disguise her small bites as part of the sex. There was no place for such a profession here, in the country, in a duke’s home, but in a city? She could hide among many people, less noticed by each.
Giving herself a shake, she headed down the servants’ stairs to the kitchen. She could pursue that idea later. Right now, she needed to be aiding one sister, and keeping an eye on the other.
Finding Claudette and Jean-Pierre, Sophia moved closer with every
intention of keeping his mug full. She could also catch his eye, in the event Claudette couldn’t lead him away.
“Pardon me.” Wine slopped over the side of her pitcher when a man collided with her. “Ah! More please!” He held out his cup and Sophia poured.
When he returned to his friends, Claudette had vanished. Searching the room, Sophia spied Nicole and despite being the bride and the center of this feast, the crowd around her had definitely thinned.
Elbowing around people, Sophia drew closer until her pitcher hovered over Nicole’s cup. “Claudette is planning to take Baron Jean-Pierre to her room tonight. If you could bring his mother or sister around in the morning—”
“They’ll be discovered. I will see it done. Never thought she’d take the initiative.”
“He made an impression on her, as has Louise’s beau.”
Nicole frowned. “Where is Louise?”
“Hidden.” Sophia stopped short of adding among the guests. Judging Nicole, that may have been for the best.
“Good. See that she stays there until I need her tonight.”
Sophia added tending Nicole to her list of chores for the night. “Where? Charles’ room?”
“No, he plans to come to my room.” She frowned into her mug. “The peace I’ve had the last few nights has been golden.”
“Reap what you sow,” Sophia muttered, expecting the words lost in the noise.
“Is that Sophia? Please tell me you’ll be in my wife’s room tonight.”
Sophia bristled, back straight at Charles’ voice. She held herself as any of these well-bred women would. “I will not.”
“Pity. Perhaps we should retire with you now.” Charles reached for her and she caught his hand in her free one.
“You will never touch me again.”
He smirked. “Is that so? I think I’ll be twice as rough to beat that notion out of you.” He tried to pull his hand back and she shifted her grip to his two largest fingers, snapping them like twigs.
“You fucking cunt!” he yelled, screaming in pain. “I’ll kill you.”
The Beginning Page 6