"More wine, please." Just as Mary was about to shut the door he had a thought. "And an extra serving of pudding, Her Grace will be earning it tonight." Mary laughed and this time Mirabelle blushed.
"Yes, Your Grace!" She shut the door and Lucien chuckled.
"I see why you have her; the two of you are well suited." He padded back the bed and reclined next to Mirabelle.
"You know I don't do well with timid people. I had a timid maid once. She lasted a week before she cried and begged maman to find someone else." She sipped her wine and smiled. Lucien frowned.
"It's not like you to abuse servants. What did you do?" He made a tassel of her hair and brushed it back and forth across his lips. Mirabelle clapped a hand over her mouth and giggled.
"I caught a rat and hid it in a hat box. She found it."
"Mirabelle! Why?" Lucien shivered and sat up, he hated rats and mice.
"I think it's better that you don't know." She rose on her knees and wrapped her arms around his neck. His free hand pressed against her back but his expression was horrified.
"That's cruel and unusual!" He gasped. Mirabelle rolled her eyes.
"It would have served you right; you filled my bed with fish!" She argued.
"That was all Gilles' idea, I assure you." Lucien kissed her nose and looked up when he heard a knock at the door. "Enter." Mary and another maid brought their dinner in. He got up to refill the wine.
"Funny... Gilles said it was your idea and you caught most of the fish." She crossed her arms accusatively and stared.
"He's got it all wrong. Alastair caught most of the fish." Lucien extended his hand and pulled Mirabelle from the bed. "Come and eat, madam. You have a lesson after dinner and you'll need your energy."
Hours and a few demolished trifles later, Lucien ran his fingers through Mirabelle's hair and stroked her back. She was draped across his chest sleeping soundly. So much had changed in one day. He'd gone from being sexually frustrated and afraid to be alone with his wife to almost losing her only to experience some of the most soul shattering sex he'd ever had. With the exception of the fruitless and tiring afternoon Lucien had spent missing Mirabelle, it had been one of the best days of his life. And if her performance after dinner was any indication, it could only get better. She applied herself to her "lesson" with the same determination she did all things. Mirabelle had licked, sucked and kissed Lucien so avidly and thoroughly that he'd nearly lost control and let himself go in her mouth. He'd had to pry his finger between her lips to force her to let go so he could settle her on her knees in front of him. Lucien took her from behind and pounded into her with such force, he'd been sure she would beg him to be gentler. Instead, she'd begged for more and bit a pillow so hard it ripped, causing a cloud of feathers to rain down on them when they climaxed.
As incredible as their first day of true sexual intimacy had been, the openness and the renewed connection between them was even better. Mirabelle was no longer quiet and guarded. She laughed, teased and flirted as she used to before things had become strained after Gilles' and Elise's wedding. Lucien felt the unique calmness that he only found with Mirabelle and realized that he hadn't felt it since the night they'd married. He would never hold back again, he decided. It had nearly cost him his sanity and Mirabelle. Lucien decided he would give her everything and let her tell him when he crossed the line. He grinned as he tried to imagine where the line would be. Wherever it was, he knew she'd speak her mind and give him everything in return.
Chapter 22
Mirabelle cringed. Her mind had drifted and she'd inserted one song into the middle of another song. She did that a lot lately. She'd sit at the piano and as soon as she'd start playing, “poof!”, there went her brain. Lucien had turned her into a cat. If she wasn't napping, she was mindlessly darting about the house or staring off at nothing. Mirabelle couldn't stop the smile that pulled at her lips. The last few weeks of their marriage had been so much better than the first. In fact, Mirabelle decided that the first three weeks didn't count and so far her marriage was perfect. Since the confrontation in the study, all the boundaries and barriers between them had disappeared. The physical and emotional intimacy between them was more beautiful than Mirabelle had ever imagined. Also, her friendship with Lucien had intensified and become the foundation of their marriage. She secretly and smugly believed that he now considered her his very best friend over her brothers. When they were with the family, they were more of a single entity among them. Mirabelle and Lucien would trade conspiratorial looks, share jokes that only they understood and would join forces in teasing Gilles or Alastair.
Mirabelle heard swift strides approaching the music room and looked up. It was Lucien. A moment later he was in the doorway, he looked tense, taut. He slammed the door causing Mirabelle to jump, his eyes were wild and his was face rigid.
"What?" Her eyebrow rose as Lucien advanced towards her.
"Up, now." The words were hard and brisk, like the cracking of a whip.
Mirabelle shrugged and rose from the bench. She rounded it just as he reached for her. Lucien turned her and pushed her against the piano. Before she could ask what he was doing she felt cool air against the backs of her thighs and his fingers parting her. Her eyes went wide and she felt Lucien's erection slide into her in one swift, hard stroke. Mirabelle gasped as he slid out and then seated himself again fully. His arms wrapped around her and he began driving into her with such force that her feet came off the floor. With the relentless pace and the feel of Lucien behind her, like a solid wall of muscle and heat, it only took Mirabelle a few minutes before she screamed and flew apart in his arms. Aside from the fury of his breath in her ear, Lucien continued thrusting silently and ruthlessly into her core until he pulled her tight against him, froze and then made three more powerful thrusts into her. Mirabelle felt the tension drain from him as heat exploded within her. Lucien relaxed his arms around her and stood. She felt her skirts fall and his hands working at his trousers behind her. Cool lips pressed against her shoulder before he turned and left the room.
"Well..." Mirabelle said under her breath as she shook her skirts and blinked at the empty room. "Perhaps I'll have a bath and a nap before dinner." In a daze, she climbed the stairs.
Lucien was definitely living up to his reputation, she decided. He was insatiable and unapologetic, not that Mirabelle minded. They still met in her room at night but the mood was usually more affectionate and comforting when they came together. As if they needed soothing after a demanding and tumultuous day. In the morning, Lucien was urgent and possessive when he took Mirabelle as she woke, worshiping everything he kissed and stroked. At some point, later in the morning or early afternoon, one of them would seek the other out, frantic and hungry. They would kiss wildly and tear at each other, Mirabelle's clothes usually suffered. Now and then, Lucien would seek Mirabelle out later in the afternoon. His moods were so unpredictable by then.
He could be as he was in the music room, impatient and forceful. Or, he would flirt and tease until Mirabelle was impatient and forceful. Sometimes, he was tender, whispering loving phrases and caressing her gently as he took her. She loved it all, everything Lucien did aroused her. She loved that he could surprise and overwhelm her.
Eventually, the family grew tired of their seclusion and started making calls at Clerendon House. It started with Alastair. Mirabelle sensed that he missed her and was worried that she wasn't happy. Because she knew that he would find it hard to simply ask her and wouldn't enjoy the conversation, Mirabelle met him over the chess board. She let him see her content and enamored with her husband and trounced him so that he knew that her mental faculties were still sound. The Mothers began taking tea at Clerendon House most days, politely prodding and teasing. Madeline had chosen to stay at Spencer Place to give the newlyweds privacy and Mirabelle got the feeling she was discreetly inspecting various rooms during her visits. Gilles would bring Elise and they would sit at the piano while the husbands relaxed in the library or study.
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Given Lucien's mercurial demands and appetite, the family's visits to Clerendon House made Mirabelle's life easier. She never knew if they would actually make it to appointments. They would be just out the door before Lucien was dragging her back up the stairs, or he would kiss her a little too long in the carriage and they would have to turn around or one of them would stare at the other a little too intently across a room and they would have to leave. Mirabelle had left for fittings or to go shopping and when she returned, Lucien all but attacked her at the door, starving and acting the victim as he pulled her into the front parlor.
Not that she was without demands; she would often greet Lucien at the door or beckon him into the study when he returned. Mirabelle particularly liked kneeling between his legs while he was at his desk and taking him in her mouth. She felt powerful and primitive rendering him helpless in the place where he elegantly ran his dukedom. And the excuses she'd used to interrupt him while he was bathing... Poor Hugo! Mirabelle loved seeing Lucien wet and naked, like a marble god that had come to life. The occasions where she had dared to "help" bathe him had ended up with her fully clothed and soaked and half a tub's worth of water on the floor.
Mirabelle loved when she could predict Lucien's moods and intentions. He had an unintentional code he used when others were around. "There's something I wish to discuss with you." meant that he wanted to taste her and love her with his mouth. "There is a matter that requires your attention." was Lucien's way of telling her that he wanted her to take him in her mouth. Mirabelle's favorite was "If you would excuse us..." so that they could attack each other like animals in the next room. Every time Lucien cleared his throat to speak, she felt her nipples tighten in anticipation.
It didn't take long for the family to suspect. One afternoon, while Mirabelle and Elise were at the piano and the men were across the room, Elise leaned in close and whispered.
"It seems that things between you and Lucien are better." Her head angled towards Mirabelle and a playful smile tugged at her lips. Mirabelle couldn't help but sigh.
"Better doesn't begin to describe it!" She continued to recount the first few weeks and the confrontation that changed everything. Elise couldn't believe Lucien's misapprehension or Mirabelle's response.
"Did you truly say that he'd had plenty of wives?" Elise gasped.
"Who had plenty of wives, sweetheart?" Lucien asked as he and Gilles swaggered across the room. Mirabelle cast about frantically.
"King Henry, my love." She kept her voice casual. Elise bit her lip as she tried not to laugh.
"Poor fellow, with all those wives." Lucien mumbled as he leaned in and brushed his lips against Mirabelle's cheeks. She swatted his shoulder.
"Poor fellow? What of his poor wives?" She argued. Lucien chuckled as he claimed her lips.
"They were probably all mouthy." He mumbled. Mirabelle narrowed her eyes.
"I thought you liked that I was mouthy." She grumbled against his lips.
"As I'll only have the one wife, I have to make the best of it." Lucien's voice had gone deep and Mirabelle expected that he would make an excuse soon.
"I think I'm going to be sick.” Gilles pulled Lucien away from Mirabelle and led him to the sideboard. She sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Are you feeling well?" Elsie whispered.
"Of course. I've been a bit tired but Lucien is quite demanding." Mirabelle shuffled through the music to determine their next piece. "Why do you ask?"
"You seem different. I can feel that you're tired but there's a sort of... humming about you and you're warmer." Elise bit her lip. "Is it possible that you're expecting?"
Mirabelle tried not to react. She was almost certain she was but she was waiting until she was sure before she told Lucien. She was over a month late for her courses but had no other signs. She didn't want to even say the words with anyone before him.
"I suppose it's possible but it would be too soon to be certain." Mirabelle hoped she sounded nonchalant. She hated lying to Elise, not just because it was almost impossible to do successfully. Perhaps, sensing that Mirabelle was avoiding the discussion, Elise shrugged and smiled softly.
"I think you might be. Now, what are were going to play?"
Chapter 23
“None of you have found anything? No one has heard from or seen him?” Lucien stared across his desk at the three runners he'd hired to search for Whitrose.
“Not a thing, Your Grace.” One stated with certainty while the other two nodded. “As far as we can tell, he's dead.” Lucien stood and walked to the window. Everything looked the same as it always had but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was out there.
“Keep looking.” He said as he turned. It was clear that the men thought he was a fool. “Just humor me and do your best. Send word if you find something.” With that, he nodded, dismissing them.
Once they were gone, Lucien went to the sideboard and poured a drink. He dropped into an armchair and squeezed his temples. Instead of being reassured by the fact that there was no trace of Whitrose, he felt unsettled and paranoid.
Chapter 24
Mirabelle pressed her hand to her stomach as she slipped into her bedroom. Her courses still hadn't begun but she didn't feel any differently. She was always tired but Lucien required a lot of energy. She smiled as she tugged the bell pull and waited for Mary. As she kicked off her slippers she spied a white rose lying on her pillow. Smiling, she lifted it and brought it to her nose. Inhaling the scent, she imagined Lucien leaving it for her. The image moved her more than the elaborate display of flowers that had filled her room during their engagement. Mirabelle placed it on her vanity just as Mary entered.
"I'd like to take a bath and have a nap before I get ready for dinner, please." Mirabelle began undressing and looked at the rose. She'd have to ask Lucien where he found it. As far as she knew, there weren't any white rose bushes at Clerendon House.
Unfortunately, there wasn't time before dinner. She'd overslept during her nap, ignoring Mary's scolding and tugging until the very last minute. Once she did rise, Mary ruthlessly tucked, brushed and pulled at Mirabelle, rushing to get her dressed. Just as she was about to rise from her vanity, Mary draped a fichu over her shoulders and began pinning it. Mirabelle laughed and tried to pull it off.
"Surely not! When have you ever known me to wear one?" Mary slapped at her hand. Shocked Mirabelle stared at her maid through the mirror.
"You can't go down to dinner all marked up like this!" She hissed.
"What?" Mirabelle pulled the lace aside and leaned forward. She gasped. There were scratches and love bites on her neck and cleavage. She pulled her bodice down and saw that there was an actual bite. "Lucien, you beast!" Mirabelle whispered.
"You might want to have a word with His Grace. And he's not the only one. I caught sight of his chest and back the other day. I don't know what you two get up to but it's a good thing he's all covered up."
"Just pin this stupid thing on; I'm late as it is."
Chapter 25
Lucien was about to excuse himself to check on Mirabelle when she rushed into the room.
"Sorry! I took a nap and had the hardest time waking up. Mary practically had to push me out of bed." She addressed the room as she crossed to Lucien. She pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before she went to sit with The Mothers and Elise. His cheek felt warm where her lips had been and he had to resist the urge to press his hand to the spot.
"I believe I owe you an apology, Lucien." Alastair said softly. Lucien looked at him. An apology? "You and my sister are well suited and Mirabelle is happy." Gilles nodded as he looked towards the couch.
"Elise was right, as always. Do you know she has another suspicion about your wife, Lucien?" Gilles looked at him pointedly. Alastair's brow furrowed. Lucien's heart stopped for a moment and he couldn't feel his body. He started counting, they'd been married for almost two months and she hadn't had her courses. He felt drunk despite being on his second scotch. He smiled as he stared at Mi
rabelle.
"She hasn't said anything yet but time and mathematics would suggest..." His smile became wider. Gilles patted him on the back.
"Elise thinks she doesn't want to tell anyone until she's certain."
"I'd be surprised if she wasn't." Lucien mumbled, more to himself, but Gilles and Alastair both gave him withering looks.
"I might go ahead and kill him." Alastair said as he downed his scotch.
"Do keep in mind that she's our sister." Gilles scolded. Lucien laughed and put an arm around Alastair.
"Would you believe that she's actually taught me a few things? You'd be shocked if you knew. She's amazing!" He raised his glass in salute and Mirabelle looked across the room at him, confused. Lucien winked and looked at Alastair. His face had gone blank and he was still before he walked away. Gilles and Lucien laughed as they watched him at the sideboard. Which reminded Lucien... "You might want to remove some books from your library if that ends up being a girl." Lucien nodded towards Elise. "Mirabelle asked if I had a copy of The School of Venus. Said the one at Spencer Place went missing before she had a chance to study it." Gilles eyes went wide.
"You didn't tell her what happened to it, did you?" He gasped.
"I didn't say a damned thing." Lucien said under his breath. Gilles nodded as Joss came in to announce dinner.
At the table, discussion turned to the family's plans for the summer. The season was all but over and with Gilles recently inheriting Longwood, there were now two options for summer retreats.
"You're sure you don't want to come with us to Winthorpe, Madeline?" Mirabelle asked while ignoring Lucien's foot rubbing her calf. Perhaps higher? He wondered as he reclined and stretched. She pursed her lips and glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.
"Goodness, no! The two of you would be terrible company. You're always taking yourselves off and making such a racket. I think you need a little more time to yourselves." Madeline winked at Celine and the two laughed, Alastair looked like he wanted to bolt from the table, Elise chewed her lip to keep from laughing, Gilles glared at Lucien and Mirabelle became absorbed with her tart. Lucien's cravat felt as if it had become too tight and his face felt warm. He cleared his throat.
Wicked And Wild: Spencers in Love Book Two Page 11