by Sahara Kelly
She shook her head to clear her thoughts.
Betsy’s rough hand reached across the table and brushed a tear from Freddie’s cheek, threatening to completely overset her.
“Lass, loving someone is about taking a chance. Finding enough courage to dare to feel that way, no matter what lies ahead. It’s about knowing that the joys of loving will always be with ye even if yer alone. It’s about being brave enough to say, well, mebbe I’ll not have him forever, but I’ll settle for the time we have.”
Freddie sniffled. “But…but…I don’t know…what if…”
“Lovey, life is full of ‘what if’s’. It’d be a sad world if we never said ‘bugger what if’, I’m goin’ to do it anyway. ‘T’is a special man ye’ve found fer yerself. Yer sharing one of life’s greatest adventures. Think twice before you turn yer back on it, is all I’m askin’ here.”
Betsy swigged back the rest of her tea and rose, leaving Freddie staring at her half-eaten food and wondering why a simple country woman had made more sense in five minutes than all the governesses and tutors she’d had her entire life.
But Betsy’s advice notwithstanding, the barriers that existed between her and Peter were still too large for them to overcome. She still had to leave.
*~~*~~*
Peter stood silently in the hallway of the old inn, shamelessly eavesdropping on the conversation between the two women in the kitchen.
He’d awoken the minute Freddie had slipped from his arms, but curious to find out what she’d been up to at that hour of the morning, had feigned sleep and watched. It had taken only a few moments to realize that she planned on leaving him.
He called down blessings on Betsy’s head for delaying Freddie’s departure. It had given him time to dress, creep down the stairs with his boots in his hand, and hear Freddie say she loved him.
He knew in his heart that she didno woman could have given herself the way Freddie had last night unless her heart was involved, but it still sent a shot of joy through him to hear her admit it.
He moved away from the door and silently pulled on his boots. Freddie would head for the stables and he planned on being there first. She was his. And it was time he made her aware of that fact in no uncertain terms. No stupid conventions or societal restrictions were going to keep them apart.
He didn’t have long to wait.
Hidden in the grey shadows of the barn he heard her approach the horses, talking softly to them, and opening the stall door to the one she’d ridden behind him just a few short days before.
He held a length of leather rein idly in his hand and looked at the woman who was his future.
She was beautiful.
The daylight pulled the fire from her hair, and sparkled from the tears that still moistened her eyes. Her nose was a bit red, her clothing disreputable, she was sniffling, and Peter knew he didn’t want to spend another day of his life without her.
She struggled to reach the saddle straps. It was time.
“Need a hand?”
Freddie jumped a foot into the air. “Peter? What the devil are you doing here?”
Peter grinned. For a smart woman she could be remarkably stupid on occasion. “Apparently you’re planning on a morning ride. I knew you’d like some company.”
Freddie frowned. “No thank you.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Really. Peter…no games. You know I have to leave.”
“Well in that case you probably need some help with the tack.” He moved towards her, rein in his hands, and she stepped back expecting him to lift the saddle from the rail of the stall.
She was not expecting him to grab her wrists and loop the leather around them in one swift move. She gasped.
“Now, Freddie. I think it’s time you and I had a little chat.”
Peter pulled her away from the horse and into the shadows at the rear of the barn. He could hear her swallow noisily in the silence, the nickering of the horses and the sounds of the hens outside a soft accompaniment to their movements.
Her bonds were secure, and although she tugged, she could not free herself and was helpless to do anything but follow where he was taking her. She stumbled behind him and he slowed, but refused to let go of her bound wrists.
“Peter…what are you doing? Peter…damn you, let me go.” Her voice was harsh, no begging or pleading, just a firm demand for her freedom. The one thing he had no intention of ever giving her.
He reached the back wall and with a quick twist he turned her, raised her arms above her head and hooked the leather over a protruding nail.
She was secured tight, back against the rough planks, almost on tiptoe and ready to spit fire at him.
“This is…this is outrageous. Untie me this instant.”
Her green eyes flashed temper, her words came out on a hiss, and her breasts rose and fell as she struggled to contain her anger.
“No.”
Her mouth snapped shut and she blinked.
“I’m not untying you until we’ve had a small chat about things like our future together, and how it is that you’re leaving me even though you’re in love with me.”
Freddie’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t know where you got that idea from, but you’re quite wrong.”
Peter leaned down and avoided a kick, tugging her worn leather shoes from her feet.
“Oh really?” He drawled the word as he slipped the other shoe off. Such delicate toes, and he could see them twitch as she fought her bonds.
“Yes really.”
He heard her gasp as she squirmed away from his searching hands. He’d freed her breeches and her wriggles sent them into a pile around her feet.
He stepped back and looked at her, a writhing mass of temper and passion, naked legs gleaming. Her shirt barely hid her nipples and he smiled as they grew hard beneath his gaze.
“Freddie? You’re a terrible liar.”
Chapter Six
What the blazes was he doing?
Freddie’s mind spun out of control leaving her in her shirt and her temper as Peter slid her garments away from her. The…bastard. How dare he expose her like this? It wasn’t her body she was worried about, either. It was her heart.
She narrowed her eyes, trying to read his expression. His face gave nothing away but his eyes were heated as they traveled up her naked limbs and over her breasts to her face.
Freddie raised her chin. “This is futile, Peter. Face reality. I’m just about as close to a whore as a woman can get without actually being one. I’ve worked as a field hand. I’ve been another man’s mistress. I’ve shared your bed, also without benefit of marriage. I’m completely unsuitable as any man’s wife. You know it, and I know it. Now let me go, damn you…”
She tugged again on her arms, vainly trying to free herself.
Peter sighed and stripped off his own clothes. Freddie’s eyes widened as he revealed himself, cock erect and reddened, and casually tossed his breeches onto the growing pile of garments at his side.
“Peter?”
“It seems that you and I need to reach an understanding, Freddie.” He stepped close to her, and his heat flowed across the space between them.
His hands slid under her shirt and cupped her breasts.
“You love me.”
She shook her head in denial, but words of contradiction caught in her throat as his fingers found her nipples and toyed with them. Damnation. Her body was betraying her as hot moisture gathered between her thighs.
“Yes you do. You may be saying ‘no’ with your lips…” He brushed his own against hers, holding her chin with one hand when she tried to duck aside. “But your body and your heart know the truth.”
He grabbed her shirt and ripped it apart, glancing down at her breasts and then crushing them with his flesh. She was neatly sandwiched between the hard wall of the barn and the even harder wall of Peter’s chest.
“We fit, Freddie. Our bodies, our souls. You are mine.”
His cock rammed into her soft
belly, searing it with heat and desire.
“Peter,” she moaned.
His hands slid behind her, cupping her buttocks and raising her so that he could rub himself across her mound and find her clit.
“Open your legs.”
She shook her head and pinched her eyes tight shut. She wouldn’tshe couldn’tlet this happen. She had to fight it, and him.
But he refused to allow her to avoid him.
He licked her lips and without conscious thought she parted them. He was inside before she could breathe.
They were sealed together, fused by some mutual desire that went beyond the physical into realms of need that stunned Freddie to her toes.
She struggled against her bonds, longing to hold him even closer, to touch him and pull him inside her heart. But he ignored her silent pleas.
He rubbed his chest roughly against her nipples, bringing a growl of pleasure and arousal to her throat. His fingers clamped onto her buttocks, pulling them slightly apart and adding to the tension that was making her shudder.
“Open your legs.” It was a command she could no longer refuse, since she was fast losing control over her mind and surrendering to Peter’s seduction.
As soon as she slid her thighs apart, Peter was there. Lifting her even more, his hips pushed into her warmth and his cock sought entrance.
Without even thinking twice, Freddie raised her leg, twining it around the back of his and opening herself to him. She wanted him, desired him, loved him and needed him inside her so badly she would surely die if it didn’t happen within the next two seconds.
The rough wood at her back chafed at the shirt that still covered her, but all she could feel was her hot honey flowing, her body aching and empty and her body screaming for its mate.
“Jesus God,” she sobbed, as Peter’s cock brushed her clit.
“Look at me Freddie. I want to see your eyes as I take you.”
Peter’s voice was rough, his hands hard on her soft flesh. Reluctantly, she obeyed him.
In the soft morning light, his eyes blazed at her. Passion, heat, desire…all mingled in the whiskey-brown depths that met her gaze.
He took her weight fully with his hands and raised her even more.
The expression in his eyes changed as his cock slid into her welcoming fire. The passion mixed with warmth, the heat flared and the desire bloomed into something…something more.
At that moment she knew the truth.
He loved her!
*~~*~~*
Peter slipped into Freddie’s body and knew he was home. This was where his cock and his heart belonged. There would be no more gallivanting across continents, no more quick seductions, and no more lighthearted conquests.
This woman encompassed his cock with a grip of iron, and she probably didn’t realize she was encompassing his heart as well.
He began to move. “Yesss, Freddie,” he groaned.
She sobbed out his name on a breath and let him hold her as she slid her other leg around his back. Having her at his mercy like this was intensely arousing, and Peter knew he couldn’t hold back for long, not while she clamped down on his cock with a slick grip that blazed hotter than the sun.
He did his best to cushion her from the wall, but his hips pressed hard against her as his rhythm increased and his arousal grew intense, almost to the point of pain.
He slammed into her, trying to drive his soul into her. To make her understand what they had together. And how he would never want anyone else. Ever.
Their gasps mingled as he took her, harshly, roughly and with every ounce of desire he’d ever possessed.
His skin abraded hers, her nipples dug into his chest, and he did his best to make sure he hit her clit with every single thrust of his hips. He wanted her to come with him, but damned if he could hold back.
His technique was raw, and he felt more naked and vulnerable than he’d ever been with a woman in his life. The sounds of their loving echoed through the quiet barn, and the scent of Freddie’s body mingled with those of fresh hay and horses.
Peter’s heart soared as his spine tightened and his balls knotted at the entrance to Freddie’s body.
She was sobbing in time with his thrusting, locking her ankles behind his back and pulling him so far inside her that he wondered if he’d drown inside her. He didn’t mind. He wanted to.
Her thighs began to tremble and her breath to come in whimpers. Fuck it, she was as close as he was to that special moment.
Peter let go. He rammed his cock deeply into her, deeper than he’d ever gone before, and heard her cry of joy as her spasms began.
She came apart around him and he felt himself erupt into her sweet body. Again and again he thrust, spurting deep inside her, drawn on by the inner massage her muscles gave his cock.
She trembled and cried out his name, a sweet sound of longing and passion, and together they rode out the orgasm they shared like a tandem team of high-stepping horses. Each move was timed to give the other maximum pleasure, and Peter found himself sobbing for air as his balls emptied, his skin turned to fire and lights danced in front of his eyes.
He blinked, trying to watch Freddie as she came. The green eyes were glazed and unfocused and she shuddered and shivered in his arms.
Finally, their bodies eased.
Peter let her legs slide down his thighs, holding her tight to him still, and willing his cock to stay inside her. He didn’t want to leave her. Ever.
He rested his forehead against hers.
“I love you, Freddie.”
She closed her eyes and fought for breath. “I love you too.”
*~~*~~*
Two weeks later, London
The dark head looked up at the butler’s entrance.
“Your pardon, my Lord.”
Viktor put down his pen and leaned back in his chair. “What is it, Matthews?”
“You have guests, my Lord.”
“At this hour?” Viktor raised an eyebrow. It was past midnight, and the quiet Mayfair neighborhood wouldn’t see the influx of carriages returning from the evening’s entertainment until several hours later.
Viktor and Madelyne had chosen to remain at home this evening. The Count and Countess Karoly had taken the Ton by storm, but were not eager to parade themselves before prying eyes, much preferring their privacy instead.
Viktor knew they were but a nine-day wonder, and hoped the nine days would be up very soon.
“Lord and Lady Chalmers to see you, my Lord.”
Viktor frowned. He couldn’t place the name at all.
Suddenly, an unmistakable sound filled the house. Wild violin music echoed over the marble foyer and filtered into Viktor’s study.
“Damn. Pyotr…”
Viktor nearly tipped over his chair in his rush to get to the door.
“Pyotr…Pyotr…”
There in the hallway with a wicked grin on his face, was Pyotr, a violin in his hand and a woman by his side. “May we come in, Viktor?”
Viktor strode to Pyotr and enfolded him in a strong embrace. “Szervusz, Pyotr. As if you need ask, my friend.”
With a huge grin, Viktor led Pyotr into the study, noting that the woman followed. There was certainly a story here.
“You are well?”
Pyotr smiled back. “I am indeed. And you?”
A knock on the door drew their attention.
“I heard the music. I couldn’t resist.” A blonde head with an impish grin peeked around at them.
“Madelyne, kedves, come in…come…it’s Pyotr and…?” Viktor raised a polite eyebrow at Peter’s companion.
Peter cleared his throat and colored slightly. “Well, actually…” He leaned over and grasped the woman’s hand. “This is my wife.”
Viktor’s grin grew even larger and he threw an arm around Madelyne’s shoulders. “Well now, it would seem we’ve been of like minds, friend Pyotr. This is my wife.”
There was a moment of silence followed by the rich laughter of t
he two men.
It took no time at all for formalities to be discarded, and for all four to find themselves seated around the fire exchanging stories.
Freddie and Madelyne had found kindred spirits, and were soon chatting away as if they’d known each other all their lives.
Viktor leaned back with a contented grin and glanced over at Pyotr.
“So, Pyotr. Or I should say, Peter. Will you now shed your music for your duties?”
Peter grimaced. “I have no choice, unfortunately. I must claim the title, but I have no wish to remove Mark and his family from the country. I’m of a mind to take the Chalmers town house. My wife and I…”
Viktor stifled a smile at the pride in those words. The delightful redhead had certainly captured Peter’s heart.
“My wife and I have a few ideas for some things we’d like to do.”
Viktor raised an eyebrow in question.
“There’s a need for places where those who seek refuge can be safe.”
Freddie broke off her conversation with Madelyne to slip her hand into Peter’s. “I want to make a sanctuary, Viktor. Somewhere where anyone, but women especially, can find food and shelter while they sort out their lives.”
Peter nodded. “Here in London, there is a great need for it too. Can you imagine how many women find themselves at a loss, released from their positions and penniless? There are few alternatives but to take to the streets in order to survive. That is wrong, Viktor.”
Madelyne nodded her agreement. “Truly, such a place would have helped me. There were many times I would have fled my father’s brutality, but having no money and nowhere to go prevented me. As he well knew.”
Her mouth curved in distaste at the memory, but softened as Viktor dropped a kiss on her hand.
“It’s not unlike what we did on the Continent, Viktor. Helping those too poor or too fragile to help themselves.”
“And we have so much…” said Freddie quietly. “We’re the lucky ones.”