The Virgin at Goodrich Hall

by Danielle Lisle

  “Well, it is my pleasure to meet you. I trust you are feeling relaxed after your fulfilment?”

  She blushed. How indecent. “You saw?”

  His lips lifted higher as his expression softened, his white teeth shining slightly in the candlelight. Not in a way that made him appear sinister—in truth, it made him appear kind and caring. Odd, because this man’s demeanour screamed of power. His mannerisms reeked of it.

  “It was I who provided it.”

  Her breath caught for a moment. “Oh?”

  He did not seem surprised by her shock.

  “Thank you,” she murmured, feeling the polite comment highly inappropriate, but she had been raised to be gracious, no matter what the situation.

  He chuckled. “You are most welcome.”

  Maggie pulled herself up into a sitting position, feeling somewhat vulnerable as she was, laid out for his perusal. It was silly, really, considering where this man had placed his hands on her only minutes ago. She felt a new wave of heat grace her skin.

  “Maggie, did you gain what you sought tonight in attending Goodrich Hall?” he asked, settling farther onto the mattress alongside her.

  She watched his movement. “I am not sure I understand your question, sir.”

  “Victor,” he reminded her and, at her nod, he continued. “A maiden must be brave to attend our little gathering. You are not wed?”

  She shook her head.

  “Betrothed?”

  “Not yet,” she whispered. “My father has not yet chosen for me, but he will.”

  “Is it imminent?” he asked, his eyes narrowing slightly.

  Maggie sighed. “I fear so.”

  He reached out, picking up the black beads that hung around her neck. “You want to save yourself for your husband?”

  Her eyes stayed glued to his hand, mere inches away from her face. “Yes.”

  Victor dropped the beads. “I am sure your future husband will appreciate your restraint.”

  She snorted, unable and unwilling to control herself. “He will not care for anything other than me becoming his brood mare and ensuring that I sire his heir.”

  His gaze held hers for a moment, his features carrying an odd look. Instantly she realised her error. “I am sorry. I did not mean… Well, you being, uh—”

  He hushed her simply by placing a finger to her lips. “It is all right, Maggie. I fear I agree with your assessment. Love matches are a rarity among noble houses.”

  She sighed. “Yes, they are.”

  Maggie looked into his dark eyes. They did not hold censure or ill respect for her. In fact, he seemed to appear on more of an equal footing to her than any of the other gentlemen she had ever met. He did not stand aloof on the sidelines like the others, congratulating himself on being such a stellar man, able to give orders. No—while he might do that, perhaps did do that at times, right now she felt a kinship with him, of sorts. Odd, really, because she knew nothing of this man, other than how wonderful he smelt and how much she enjoyed his touch.

  “You do not wear a mask, either?”

  “No.” He shook his head gently. “No, I do not feel the need. Those who come here would never speak of my attendance.”

  “Why?”

  “Because they, in turn, do not want me speaking of theirs.”

  She huffed out a forced laugh. “No, I suppose not.”

  “We have not met before, have we?” he asked as he studied her. Maggie suddenly felt self-conscious and touched the mask that covered her face. It remained fastened. “I would remember you if we had.”

  Colour, like the deep bloom of a burgundy rose, again rushed to her cheeks. “No. I do not believe we have met before.”

  This woman, Maggie, was indeed a contradiction. How charming. She had been wilting against him in the ballroom. Her screams as she had found her pleasure still lingered in his mind, but it was the smell upon the air that drove him to linger. The scent of arousal and desire was thick. This woman reeked of it. Yet here she sat, demure and frightened like a startled cat. How peculiar, yet strangely divine.

  “Do…” She paused and bit her lip before looking up at him. “Have you ever done what Sir Andrew and Anna did?” she asked.

  Ah, so she knew Sir Andrew. “How do you mean?”

  She blushed and ducked her head, attempting to hide her face. “For all to see.”

  He reached out and tipped her face to his with a gentle finger under her chin. He smiled gently as she met his gaze. “I have done, but I do not enjoy the attention as much as those you witnessed today.” He paused and tilted his head slightly. “You enjoyed watching them.”

  It wasn’t a question. It needn’t be one—he had held her in his arms and felt her shudders and moans as the scene had unfolded before them. Her flushed features only confirmed his notion. “There is nothing wrong with it.”

  Her lush lips lifted into a smile for the first time and he felt she meant it. His heart gave a small jolt as she looked into his eyes. “It did not feel wrong.”

  While her mask covered her upper face, her eyes were clearly visible through the cuts and her mouth was exposed to his gaze. He wanted her to remove the mask, but knew she would not. It was her security, as her presence here could hinder her marriage prospects. He knew it as well as any other. While no one would speak of it, it was not common for a virgin to enter the hall. One who did so would be hard for any man to control, and any attending friends of her betrothed might attempt to warn her future husband against a marriage—perhaps even claim her for himself. Victor found the thought not as foreign as he would have expected.

  “What do your beads mean?” she asked, reclaiming his attention.

  Victor looked down at the blue beads he wore around his own neck. “These display my reluctance towards anal penetration.” While he did not mind the company of men in a dalliance, he preferred to be the one sinking into the heated warmth of a woman. He did not desire to be a substitute for a woman in any way. He did not doubt for a moment, though, that it would be a grand pleasure to enter this woman’s arse.

  “Like what Sir Andrew did to Anna?”

  He nodded as she bit her lip, the lines on her forehead dipping in thought. “I would think it would hurt, but Anna seemed to enjoy it,” she murmured. He didn’t miss the small shudder that consumed her, or the gooseflesh that now covered her skin.

  Hmm, he mused. His little maiden liked the idea of anal sex, did she? Oh, life was cruel to tease him with her tempting flesh.

  “I believe women find it enjoyable, but I would think for your first time, you should request your partner be gentler than Andrew was with Anna. Her body is used to the intrusion. Yours would not be and you could tear.”

  She flamed red at his words and dropped her gaze.

  “I do not say it to be crude, simply to warn you to be careful. The pain could turn you from the act if your partner is not gentle,” he said, seeking her gaze.

  Taking a deep breath, she looked back to him. “I know. It is silly for me to feel embarrassment at your words. Please forgive my ignorance. I have only one friend I could converse with on so plain a level, but she has recently wed. All talk of the act is now filled with notions of love and tenderness. I find it all rather nauseating, to be truthful.”

  Amused, Victor leant back onto his elbows, crossing his legs at the ankles as he reclined on the bed. “You find the mention of love in a tryst nauseating?”

  She huffed out a laugh, relaxing enough to rest her chin in the palm of her hands. “I suppose I am simply jealous of my dear friend. She has found happiness with a lord who, before I came to know him better, scared all sense out of me. People may think him a brute, but Belfort is so in love with Claire it makes me weep.”

  “Belfort? I missed his wedding. A shame, I was too busy with estate matters to leave. I am glad to hear my good friend is happy. I, too, know what you mean about Damon. He might appear a bear with a thorn in his paw, but he is loyal to a fault.”

  She gasped and co
vered her mouth. “You know him? I…I—”

  Reaching out, he tenderly took the hand from her mouth. “Do not fret.”

  “You know my friend! I should never have come,” she murmured, and looked longingly towards the door.

  Victor cursed himself for speaking so frankly. He was not ready to have her leave. For a man who had come here for a night of debauchery, he was suddenly quite content to sit here with Maggie and simply talk. It was a fact that shocked him to the core, but, nonetheless, it was true.

  “I do not know your friend—simply her husband,” he soothed.

  She gaped openly at him. “I will visit her regularly. What will happen if you are there when I am in attendance?”

  “We can be friends as well?” he said.

  Maggie closed her eyes and murmured under her breath before she looked back at him. “I could be married by then. My husband would not appreciate my…you…” She paused and narrowed her eyes at him. “I simply do not think he would approve.”

  “You are going to inform your husband about your dealings at Goodrich Hall?” Victor asked in surprise.

  She gasped. “Of course not!”

  He smiled. “Then perhaps we could become very close friends during our stay with the Belforts?” he suggested.

  Her eyes widened before turning hard. “While I may not love the man I marry, I will be faithful to him.”

  Victor was struck by how different she was to the normal chits that graced society. Most were after wealth and power. Maggie had implied an interest in neither. She was refreshing.

  “Then I applaud you. I can only dream of finding a woman who would grace me with such loyalty.”

  She studied him with her beautiful eyes for a moment, until they grew glassy with moisture. Instantly he felt regret—not for his words, but simply for her situation. It was much similar to his own, although, as a man, he was granted more freedom with his life. It was a wonder she had been able to attend tonight. Victor thanked the stars for her father’s inattentive eye.

  He reached up and cupped her face in his palm, moving his thumb under her mask to catch the bead of moisture that had broken free. She closed her eyes for a moment, more tears escaping before she opened them to look at him again. He felt so powerful under her gaze. She wanted him. He knew it, and it humbled him. How odd a feeling it was. Of all the women to grace his pleasure, none had held his attention like she did.

  She leaned into his hand, before moving her own to his face, her fingers tracing his features. His body awakened, his cock growing within his breeches. His breathing changed, became deep, and it took all of his control not to rise and claim her lips—though it seemed he needn’t bother to restrain himself.

  Maggie leant forward, coming to lie over him, her soft breasts resting on his hard chest. She did not stop her descent. It was only as her warm lips touched his own that she settled the rest of the way onto his body.

  Pleading to himself to take it slow, Victor moved his hand from her face to her back, sliding it up and down, pulling her closer to him. He leant back then, coming off his elbows to lie on the softness of the mattress below, which did not compare to the softness of the woman above him.

  Victor’s lips felt warm and, as Maggie settled against him, she knew it was wrong. Anna had told her to listen to her body and, if this was to be her only opportunity, she was going to listen. No matter how wrong it was.

  He moved his hands down her body to rest upon her bottom as she came fully upon him. Victor pulled her down, lifting his hips slightly. She groaned into his mouth as the hardness of his cock rubbed against her clit. His mouth opened under hers and she could not help but sweep her tongue inside, searching for his. He did not leave her waiting, surging forth, his tongue wrapping around hers, pulling it deep back into his mouth, like an animal catching its prey. She was willing prey, willing indeed.

  But she needed to see something—her curiosity was too great. Would he think her too bold for asking? A shiver ran along her body as he started to part the fabric covering her core. She pulled back from him—not from lack of want, but she did not think she could handle that amount of pleasure from him again. She wanted it too much.

  “Victor,” she murmured, pressing her hips down in curiosity as she licked his taste from her bottom lip. She moaned as tingles travelled from her core to her breast upon the combined motion.

  “Yes?” he asked huskily.

  Looking into his eyes, she saw nothing but desire. Would he grant her request?

  “May I see your cock?”

  He closed his eyes as a shudder raked his body. “You may do anything you wish to my cock,” he said before he looked at her again.

  She smiled, leant down and captured his lips, only this time his kiss was not gentle. It was needy and filled her with a sense of urgency. She broke away, though, and slid down his body.

  Chapter Four

  This woman was going to kill him! How he could have become so aroused by a maiden was beyond him, but, as she fumbled with the first button of his breeches, he cursed silently. She would kill him from the wanting! As the warmth of her hand suddenly caressed his cock, Victor flinched.

  “Did I hurt you?” she asked, her tone concerned.

  “No,” he ground out and arched his back as she moved to stroke him, her hands moving around his shaft in almost a teasing manner. If she had not been a virgin, he would have guessed her to be doing that very thing. But her murmured comments to herself in wonder only seemed to heighten his desire.

  “You are much bigger than Sir Andrew and the other man Anna fucked.”

  “Dicky, her husband.”

  “What?” she asked, and paused.

  Victor gritted his teeth, cursing himself for breaking her concentration. He willed her to move her hand. She did not, and he inwardly sighed. Why did I have to comment? “Dicky, the man Anna was fucking. He is her husband.”

  When she did not move or answer, he looked down his body at her where she lay between his legs, his cock in her palm.

  “He is her husband and he let Sir Andrew take her as well?” she asked, clearly shocked.

  “As she allows him to finger other women while they fuck.”

  Her head tilted as she thought about this before she looked down at his cock. She moved her fingers along the skin from base to tip, her fingertips paying lingering attention to his bulbous head. He gritted his teeth as he watched, attempting to control his urge to spend upon the sight of the gentle but erotic action. Still, a drop formed on the head and she studied it intently. She lowered her head, flicking her gaze to his as she slid her tongue over the bead of moisture.

  Victor hissed out a breath and threw his head back, breaking the eye contact but unable to do anything else under the exquisite torture. She had not finished tasting him. She moved her tongue along his shaft in lapping motions until she drew him slightly into her mouth.

  He groaned loudly. He felt the tip of his cock hit the back of her throat and she had only taken him halfway in. He needed to put an end to this before he started fucking her mouth. That was no way to treat a maiden. He needed to give pleasure to her, not treat her as he would a common whore.

  One minute Maggie had been sucking his cock, the next she was on her back, a very aroused Victor looming over her. She should be scared, should fear this powerful man on top of her, yet she did not.

  “Did I do it incorrectly?”

  Victor growled. The sound was deep and she felt his chest rumble against hers. “No. Far from it,” he said, before his lips came down harshly on hers.

  It was not an unkind kiss, nothing of the sort. It was divine! Powerful, as if it stemmed from the same need she felt within her core. He wanted her. Maggie knew it. It pleased her greatly.

  Men had always looked favourably upon Maggie. Her dowry was grand and she knew her beauty was generally deemed with approval, but Victor could not see all of her and knew nothing of her dowry. He wanted her simply for her. A maiden who did not want to give up her vi
rginity. There had been many other women in that hall, yet he had chosen her. Pride filled her as he ground his body into hers.

  His kisses were hungry, his tongue duelling with hers, fighting for dominance. It seemed to be a fight to the death, a dance to the gates of pleasure, but he broke away. She was unable to hold in a whimper.

  He moved his lips to her neck, his hands gliding down to the edge of the silk covering her breasts. He pushed the fabric aside and lowered his lips to her heated flesh, flesh that felt ready to combust with desire.

  After kissing the mound of each breast, Victor focused on one with his mouth, moving a sure hand to the other. He squeezed her flesh, firm yet gentle. Just the right amount to encourage a moan from her parted lips. His mouth covered the flesh of the other, before he rasped his tongue over the tip. Maggie, unable to control herself, brought her hands to his head and pulled him down more firmly. Victor opened his mouth greedily and sucked her deep.

  A scream burst from her lips at the wonderful sensation. Wetness and heat pooled in her core and Maggie felt a need to touch herself. She needed release. Needed it now!

  She urgently bent her knees, pulling her feet close to her bottom. The motion caused him to rub against her core, his exposed cock grinding against her.

  Victor moaned and paused his mouth’s feast upon her breast. A shudder raked his body as she brushed his cock, while her other hand still held him to her breast. She pushed that hand down in seeming frustration when he stopped and he bit gently upon her nipple. She moaned. While he had thought she’d reach for his cock, she did not. He ignored her firm hand upon his head and pulled back, only to groan when he realised what she was doing.

  She fingered herself, with haste. Her head was thrown back and her fingers moved with purpose through the folds of her cunt.

  Oh, no, miss! Victor would not stand for this. He swooped down, quickly removing her hand and ignoring her protests as he did so. Lowering his head, he drew her swollen flesh into his mouth with a quick suck, before moving his tongue through her folds in a single, long stroke.