“Merde,” he whispered. “What has gotten into you?”
She drew her hand away, looking chagrined. He caught it and put it back. “I like it.”
“Do you?” Her gaze flew to his in wonderment.
“I do. A lot. Please. Continue.”
Gently she touched him, feeling him through his breeches experimentally, then boldly, while he laid his head back against the chair, closed his eyes, and let her do what she wanted with him.
When she pressed down on his hard cock, he moaned and his hips bucked. She experimented with different pressures and holds until he thought he was going to explode and was gasping at the pleasure.
He unbuttoned his breeches and lifted his arse so he could slide them off, exposing himself to her.
In wonder, she looked down at him and touched him delicately, making his member jerk. She felt along the slit at the top, causing him to gasp, then ran a light finger down the length of him.
“It’s hard and soft,” she said in a tone of wonderment.
He laughed and she grinned at him.
“Sit on me,” he said in a strangled voice.
She seemed uncertain, so he moved her until her sapphire skirts were bunched up and she was straddling him. He reached beneath the voluminous material and found her center. She was wet and her nub was erect. He flicked his finger across it and she cried out, arching her back.
“Ride me,” he said.
“I don’t know how.”
Taking her hips between his hands, he lifted her up so that he was poised at her entrance, then lowered her slowly.
“Oh,” she said in surprise, her eyes flying open as she carefully settled onto him. “Oh,” she moaned.
He gripped the chair’s arms and looked up at her, never having seen a more erotic sight before. They were both almost fully clothed, and yet it was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen a man and woman do.
“Ride me,” he said again.
Slowly she lifted herself up, held herself still while he was just barely inside her, and then slowly, ever so slowly, lowered herself again.
With a sly grin, she did that over and over, so slowly that he thought he was going to lose his mind. His fingers dug into the arms of the chair and he gritted his teeth, small moans escaping him each time she lowered herself onto him and he slid up inside her.
Her eyes glazed over, and he could see that she was enjoying this as well. She moved faster, small gasps escaping as she ground down on him, gripping his shoulders tightly. He did not touch her. Although it took every bit of willpower, he refused to control her motions, letting her take charge and feel the power she could have with him.
She pumped faster now, her breasts bouncing, and even though he thought he would die if he didn’t touch them, he kept his hands on the arms of the chair. “God, Aimee,” he moaned. “I’m so close.”
She looked down on him, and he saw such a change in her. She felt the control. She felt the power she had over him in that moment. She could have done anything, demanded anything, and he would have given it to her freely just so she didn’t stop.
Her hair had fallen from its intricate design and tumbled over her shoulders. She looked wild and free and at the same time in control.
“I can’t. Hold. On.”
He gnashed his teeth together as he came inside her, straining against the hold he had on the chair, sitting forward as he felt the most intense completion he’d ever felt. It seemed endless, and he wished it would never stop.
Aimee ground down on him and let loose a guttural cry as her inner muscles clenched and she grabbed his shoulders, her fingers digging into him.
—
Simon lazily ran his fingers in circles on Aimee’s arm and yawned.
“We missed the evening meal,” he said. Eventually they’d made it to the bed, divested themselves of their clothes, and made love again. And then again. They’d spent the rest of the day in bed, and Simon had to admit it was the most pleasurable day he’d ever had. “And I promised Judith I would see her again after supper.”
“Then you’d best go,” Aimee said drowsily.
Simon looked down at her and smiled. His wife. He kissed the top of her head. “Do you want to go with me?”
“I don’t think I should. Judith is not fond of me at the moment, and I think it best that the two of you spend some time together.”
“That will change.”
“I hope you weren’t too hard on her. She wasn’t at all prepared for you to bring a wife home.”
“I don’t want to leave,” he said. “If it were anyone else but Judith, I would stay and make love to you again.”
She smiled up at him. “Go to her. She needs you right now.”
Reluctantly he slid out of bed and began to dress. “When we get home, I would like you to find her someone more suitable to be her companion and maid. She’ll need a tutor, too. I have no idea where she is in her learning, although she did impress me by knowing who Queen Mary was and that she was the leader of Scotland.”
When Aimee didn’t respond, he looked over his shoulder at her. She had sat up and was leaning against the headboard, adorably mussed, her face still flushed from their most recent lovemaking. But she didn’t look as radiant as she might have. She looked sad.
“What is it, Magpie?”
“Simon, you heard Elizabeth today. She does not want me around Judith. She as much as told you that you had to choose between the two of us.”
“I heard her,” he said flatly.
“She won’t release Judith from court if I am going to your estate with you.”
“She will.”
Aimee sighed. “She won’t, Simon. She was serious.”
Fully dressed, he leaned over the bed and kissed her on the lips, lingering long enough to want to rip his clothes off and crawl beneath the covers and make love to her again.
“Trust me,” he said. “Everything will be fine.” He straightened before he truly did tumble her back into the bed. “I will be back shortly.”
Judith was waiting for him when he arrived in one of the main formal rooms of the palace. She was dressed as a proper young lady, her hair brushed to a sheen. She jumped up as soon as she saw him, and he held his arm out to her so they could take a stroll around the palace.
She chattered on about Lucy and a girl named Margaret who, from what Simon could tell, was a year older than Judith and Lucy and more worldly-wise. Judith seemed to be much in awe of Margaret. Simon half listened as they walked, Judith’s gait more sedate than the skipping of that afternoon.
He was thinking of Aimee and their afternoon spent together. While he’d enjoyed it immensely, he’d felt there was something off about Aimee, a desperation and sadness about her that hadn’t been there before. Surely she didn’t believe that he would allow Elizabeth to keep him away from his wife and sister, did she? She had more faith in him than that.
Nevertheless, he was worried. Was she second-guessing her choice to come to England with him? Would she prefer to be on that French ship, sailing back to Pierre?
The thought angered him, and he brushed it aside. Her lovemaking clearly showed that she had no regrets about choosing him over the Frenchman.
He and Judith had completed a circuit of the gallery when Judith said. “So you agree, Simon?”
His attention snapped back to his sister. “Agree to what?”
She sighed in exasperation. “That I will need a new wardrobe if I am to find a husband. Maud says so.”
Damnation, but he really needed to sack this Maud.
“Judith, we will be living at Danfield. There is no need for an entirely new wardrobe, but maybe we can get you fitted for two new gowns. How is that?”
“Are we truly leaving court?”
He couldn’t tell by her tone if she was happy about that. “Don’t you want to?”
“I guess. I mean, I would like to live with you, and I would like it if you stayed for a long time, but I will miss Lucy and Margaret, a
nd I will miss court life. Well, some of court life.”
“We can always visit occasionally.”
Judith seemed to think about that, her brows drawn down in thought. “I would like that,” she finally said.
“I will talk to Aimee about bringing a dressmaker in to get you fitted. That can be something the two of you can do together.”
Her frown deepened as she weighed the possibilities of new gowns versus time spent with Aimee. “I suppose that would be all right,” she finally said.
He left her with Maud because it was her bedtime, his only consolation being that soon the stern-faced, dour Maud would be gone and they would be living in the fresh air of Danfield.
When he returned, Aimee was still in bed, fast asleep. It seemed he’d worn her out. While he desperately wanted to make love to her again, he suspected she needed her sleep; yawning, he admitted that he needed his as well.
Chapter 33
The next morning Simon woke to find Aimee already up and a bath being prepared in the next room.
Simon rolled over and stretched, disappointed that the day had started without lovemaking. That would have been an excellent way to wake up.
“I’m starving,” he said.
“That’s what happens when we miss supper,” she said, her back to him as she plaited her hair.
He watched her, reveling in the simple act of watching her work her hair into a long braid. Her fingers moved quickly and expertly, smoothing the long strands until they cooperated with her. She tied a red ribbon at the end.
“Come here,” he said, holding his hand out to her. She hesitated, and a feeling of dread washed through him. “What is wrong, Magpie? Why the distance between us?”
She went to the open door, where the servants were filling a tub on the other side, and closed it. But she didn’t come to him, as he had beckoned her to. Instead she stood at the door and looked at him sadly, twisting her fingers in front of her.
“We need to talk,” she said.
“Those are never good words.” He slid out of bed and reached for his breeches, suddenly feeling vulnerable without clothes. When he was done, he stood before her. “Tell me.”
She took a breath and straightened her shoulders. “Yesterday Elizabeth told you that I wasn’t good enough to be around Judith.”
“That’s not what she said.”
Aimee held her hand up to stop him. “Please let me finish before I lose my courage.”
His stomach was churning, and the hunger he’d felt moments before was a sickening lump.
“Elizabeth has every right to not trust me. I was a spy in Mary’s court.”
“That was not your choosing. You were blackmailed into doing it.”
“Please, Simon. Please let me finish.”
He clamped his back teeth together and nodded.
“You must look at this from Elizabeth’s point of view. Her best spy returns, wed to another spy.” She held her hand up when he opened his mouth. “I was not a good spy, but nonetheless that is why I was in Mary’s court. What else should Elizabeth think but that I am now a spy in her court? Of course she is wary.”
“This is nonsense. Elizabeth is jumping to conclusions because she’s too cautious.”
“I don’t think any monarch can be too cautious.” She paused. “I will not be going to Danfield with you and Judith.”
“Yes, you will.”
“I spoke to Elizabeth yesterday and told her that I would stay here, under her eye, if she allowed you and Judith to leave.”
Simon felt as if he’d been punched in the gut. He was breathless for a moment. “You did what?” he asked.
“I told her that I would stay if she released Judith to you and allowed the two of you to leave.”
“The hell you say.” There was barely any inflection in his voice. He was too shocked to be feeling anything yet.
“And she agreed.”
He wanted to stagger back at the blows that kept coming. “So you don’t want to live with Judith and me?”
“No!” She stepped forward and reached out to him but dropped her arm to her side before she touched him. Tears filled her eyes. “I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my days with you and Judith at Danfield, but it can’t be, Simon. Elizabeth will not allow it, and I want you and Judith to be together. Judith is your priority. Getting her out of court is more important than anything I want.”
“You are my priority as well as Judith, and I am not leaving you here.”
The tears had spilled over and were rolling down her cheeks. “You must,” she whispered. “Because it is already done.”
“The hell it is.” He grabbed the rest of his clothes from the floor and threw them on. They were beyond wrinkled, but he didn’t care. He marched toward the door that she was still standing in front of.
Aimee grabbed his sleeve to try to drag him to a stop. “Simon, no! Please don’t do this.”
“You have no idea what I’m going to do.”
“Don’t go to her. Don’t make this worse than it is. She has agreed to give me a position in her court and to let you and Judith go. That’s more important than anything else.”
He stopped to look at her. “More important than our marriage? I thought you loved me, Aimee.”
“I do love you.” Her cheeks were wet with tears, and more were falling. “I love you more than my life, and that is why I did this. I refuse to make you choose between Judith and me.”
“So you chose for me?”
“Judith is more important. Your family is more important.”
“Don’t you see, Aimee? You are my family. You and Judith. You’re my everything.”
She buried her face in her hands and sobbed. “I love you,” she said. “But I won’t make you choose. I refuse to make you choose.”
“I’ve already chosen.” He opened the door and stalked out, so furious, so irate, that he could barely think. He was both heartbroken that Aimee had so easily given up on their marriage and angry that she hadn’t trusted him to make this right.
He marched through the palace as people rushed to get out of his way, whispering to each other and staring after him. He did not care. He had one mission in mind, and nothing was going to stop him.
He reached the Privy Chamber doors. The guards stepped in front, blocking his way. “Halt.”
“Get out of my way,” he said between clenched teeth.
“I don’t think so, Sir Simon.”
“Oh, I think so.”
“You must have an appointment with the queen.”
“I have a standing appointment.” That much was true. As one of Elizabeth’s spies, he was always allowed admittance whenever he asked. Granted, that was for national security issues, but he was invoking it right now and had no qualms about it.
The guard hesitated, glancing at his counterpart, who shrugged as if he meant to say that he had no idea what was happening.
Finally the two of them stepped away, and Simon entered the Privy Chamber. It was early in the morning, and there were fewer people here than there would be in the afternoon. Elizabeth was listening to some lord drone on about a land grant.
All heads turned toward him, even Elizabeth’s, as he stalked toward her.
Cecil stepped in front of the queen. “Now see here,” he sputtered.
Simon looked over Cecil’s shoulder at Elizabeth. “I need to speak to you immediately,” he said.
Elizabeth hesitated, then nodded. Reluctantly Cecil stepped back, glaring at Simon.
“Clear the room,” Simon said.
“This is highly irregular,” Elizabeth said with a calm that didn’t surprise Simon. Rarely did she get ruffled.
“Unless you would like everyone present to hear what I have to say?”
She waved her hand, and the guards began clearing the room. Cecil stayed firmly at her shoulder; Simon had expected nothing less. No one could extricate Cecil from Elizabeth’s presence.
“I hear you had a nice visit with m
y wife yesterday.”
“She came to me.” Elizabeth was calm, as if she were enjoying the interaction, and Simon didn’t doubt that she was.
“And I hear that the two of you came to an agreement.”
“It was her proposition, Simon. I don’t know why you are angry with me.”
“Because you agreed to it.”
“I don’t trust her. She is a spy.”
“And so am I.”
“Yes, but you are my spy, and she is Catherine’s spy. For all I know, she is Mary’s spy as well.”
“Mary wants her dead.”
Elizabeth shrugged as if it were of no consequence to her.
“Aimee, Judith, and I will be leaving tonight for Danfield, and there is nothing you can do about it.”
Cecil seemed to choke, and his eyes bulged at Simon’s audacity.
Elizabeth grinned. “You will be very fortunate if I don’t have you thrown in the Tower.”
“You won’t.”
She arched a red brow. “You are so certain?”
“Yes.”
She folded her hands in her lap and contemplated him. “Pray, tell me what causes this certainty.”
“I am well trained in what I do, thanks to you. I have been a loyal servant for the majority of my life. I have laid my life down for you too many times to count. I know a lot of secrets. Those things alone should grant me the leave to retire with all of my family to Danfield and live the rest of my life in peace.”
“I will not allow my best spy to live with another spy.”
He rolled his eyes. “She is not a spy. She is a young girl who was forced to go to Scotland and report back to Catherine. Aimee had no idea how to be a spy and obviously was not very good, for Mary found her out right away.”
“Nevertheless—”
“Nevertheless, you will not allow me to live in peace and happiness after all I have done for you.”
Her eyes flashed ire at being interrupted. “You have been well compensated for all you have done for me and for England.”
“I have never asked for any of it. In fact, I have asked little of you except to take care of my sister and now this.”
“I am growing weary of this argument, Simon, and I have a long day ahead of me.”
Wed to a Spy Page 25