Cupping her belly he inquired gently, “How is our little one today?”
“Fine, but I still haven’t felt the baby move. Mother says it should be anytime now.”
“Raise your arms.” When she complied he whisked the chemise over her head, leaving her standing beautifully naked between his wide spread thighs.
His hands began to explore, rubbing over her rounded bottom and up her back to cup her shoulders. He pulled her closer and raised his head to look at her breasts. His hands slid around to cup and weigh each succulent mound. “These are bigger, I think.” He paused to lick and suckle one erect nipple. “The nipples are bigger and darker, too. I can’t wait to see my child suckling at his mother’s breast.” He mimicked the motion and captured one large nipple between his lips, pulling hard until it peaked tautly in his mouth before moving to the aching crest of the other. Of their own accord, her hands rose to bury in his silky hair and she held him close as he sucked her nipples.
When he raised his head she whimpered at the tightness in the sensitive buds. “Are they tender?”
“Yes, you made them so tight they ache.”
He licked each one soothingly before lowering his head to her swollen belly. “While you were standing prettily in your corner, I did some thinking. I’ve been neglecting you. Not that it excuses your behavior, but I understand you are missing some of the social activities and time with friends.”
“Mostly I miss being with you, Andrew.”
Smiling up at her, he pressed a kiss her to her lips. “I miss you too, sweetness. So, I’ve decided to take your advice, my wise old sage, and hire a secretary. I want to spend more time with you and the baby when it arrives.”
“Thank you Andrew. You won’t regret it.”
“Also, I’ve decided to send for Mother and Maggie. It has been three months since James’ passing and it is time for Mama to stop being a hermit in the country. You need a little more nurturing now that your expecting and she will be perfect for the task. It will give her something to occupy her time other than grief.”
She squealed with excitement and bounced up and down in his arms. “Truly?” She grabbed his cheeks with her small hands and bent forward spreading kisses across his face. “You are the most considerate of husbands. I’ve missed my best friend so much these past months. Oh, and I think the world of your mother, of course.”
“Settle down. No jumping, you’re shaking the baby.”
“Oh you darling man, he is snug as a bug in a rug in there.”
“You think it's a boy then?”
“I don’t know, but I have a feeling the first will be a boy.”
“That would be wonderful, although a red-headed, green eyed little girl with a sprinkle of freckles across her nose would be just as nice.” He paused patting her luscious bottom and thought about her punishment. He began to lower her across his lap, but stopped. He didn’t want her putting undue pressure on the baby. He considered the spanking bench, but rejected it for being too harsh. Then it came to him, standing he turned them both reversing their positions. “Lay back, Cici.”
Puzzled, she began to turn over and lay on her stomach, but he stopped her. “No, I want you on your back.”
Kneeling beside her, he lifted her legs in the air and raising her hips, slipped a decorative pillow underneath her. He guided her hands to her ankles, “wrap your arms around your legs and hold them there.”
“Andrew, you can’t mean to spank me this way.”
“Of course I can. This is the position least likely to harm the baby. Not another word now and take your punishment like a good girl.”
“But Andrew you can see everything.”
“I can. I can also see your beautiful face which is what bothers you about this position the most, isn’t it?”
She just stared at him. It was like he knew her better than she knew herself, but how?
“Trust me, Cici. I know what you need more than you know yourself,” he grinned down at her as his big hand rubbed gently over her soft backside.
“Good gracious, you’re a mind reader aren’t you?”
He laughed at her ridiculous supposition. “No, I just know my duchess.” His fingers gently ran along her cleft, teasing her puckered rosebud, dipping in her moist heat, then rubbing lightly over the hard nub at the top of her notch. All the while he watched her response - parted lips, bright eyes, flushed skin, arched back and engorged nipples. She was beautiful as she took her pleasure. Ah, but they had business first.
“Cici, I’m going to spank your naughty bottom now. Tell me why you deserve this punishment.”
“I was petulant and sassy, disobedient and degraded myself which I know you don’t like one bit. And I was so very selfish. I know you are busy Andrew, but I miss you and am tired of sharing. We never had a real honeymoon and it’s been one thing after another since we married. Do you ever wish we could go back to Arrandale and just stay there?”
“Every day,” he replied as he intensified his play and his long fingers continued to tease along her skin. “But we have responsibilities. I promise to make more time for you as soon as I get that secretary. Tell me why else you deserve to be spanked.”
“Uh-, I’m not sure Andrew. I said so many mean things I’m sure I’ve forgotten half of them.”
“You insulted me by thinking I would break my vows to you Cici. We have been over this thoroughly. I promised you I wouldn’t take a mistress and it stung for you to think that I would do that while stashing you away in the country just because you carry my child.”
Tears trickled from her green eyes and he could see the remorse for her behavior.
“It appears I am a sharp-tongued witch like my sister. I didn’t mean it; I was just feeling sorry for myself. I’m sorry Andrew and deserve whatever punishment you see fit.”
He then lifted his hand and brought it down sharply on her upraised behind. He watched a pink handprint bloom across her pale white skin.
“Do not compare yourself to that woman. You are nothing like her.” He swatted her again, one loud crack landing on each cheek.
“Ooh that stings, Andrew.”
“That means I am doing it correctly.” He considered her reddened face critically for a moment before delivering another swat to her other cheek. The sound of his hard palm meeting her taut flesh echoed through the study as swat after stinging swat fell in a steady pattern. Soon her bottom and upper thighs were a uniform pink shade. Andrew stopped to rub her warm flesh softly, his eyes locked on the steady stream of juices running down her cleft to her tight bottom hole. He used two fingers to trace over her from the tip of her firmly protruding nub to the tight hole below. Tracing over the pink puckered skin, he spread the moisture evenly before pressing into the forbidden entrance with his fingertip.
Cici squealed in alarm, panting for breath she managed to rasp “My Lord that is most improper.”
“Ah, but we aren’t the proper Duke and Duchess right now. We are Cici and Andrew, two lovers who are locked away from the judgmental world behind a stout oak door. We are free to explore the pleasures of the flesh without anyone to tell us otherwise.”
He pushed in deeper to the first knuckle and stopped, his other hand moving to the top of her notch. “Open your legs and bend your knees to your chest, I want access to all of you.” When she was in the requested position, her cleft spread wider and revealed the glistening pearl at the top of her slit. She groaned a perfect sound of surrender as his finger slowly worked the distended nubbin while the other finger slid into her bottom hole completely. Her tight muscles clamped down on his finger clinging to him as he withdrew. “You like that don’t you, Cici? Nothing is forbidden when it comes to us as long as it brings us pleasure.”
Gliding his finger back inside her bottom, he increased the friction with his other hand on her pearl. “If I want to take this forbidden hole, I shall, but I’ll make sure you enjoy it. If I want to take a strap to your naughty bottom in order to gain your obedience and subm
ission then I shall, but will be certain that pleasure follows.” He pumped into her faster and the small river of juices increased to a steady flow, further lubricating her and making his path easier. He paused to slip in a second finger. She moaned and lifted her bottom higher, silently signaling she wanted more from him. “If I want to fill your bottom with my hard cock and ride you until we both find fulfillment, I shall and will make you beg me for more.” He eased off the pressure from his teasing fingers as he saw her rapidly approaching climax. “Tell me what you want, Cici. Tell me what brings your body pleasure.”
“You bring me pleasure, Andrew. I don’t know why some of it does, when it is so outrageous and sinful.” She groaned and her hips writhed as his fingers continued to drive in an out of her bottom. Her belly clenched and muscles rippled searching for something, anything that would fill her and help her reach her peak. “Please Andrew; take me with your fingers, your mouth or your hard-,” Although aroused beyond reason her mind wouldn’t let her say it.
“Say it, Cici. If you want something you’ll have to ask for it.”
“Please-,” she begged.
“Surely a young woman with such a salty vocabulary can ask for her pleasure by name. Say it and I’ll give you the pleasure you are seeking.” He slipped in a third finger and stretched her, readying her for his penetration.
“Goodness gracious, I can’t take anymore. Please take me with your hard cock.” Cici spoke the naughty words as he commanded, her voice husky and full of passion. “Fill me, Andrew. Possess me or spank me with that horrid birch rod if you must. Do whatever you want to my body because I know, in the end, you will give me indescribable pleasures.” Her hips pumped awkwardly and she was unaware of the erotic display she presented him when she finally begged, “I surrender, Your Grace. Now, please will you allow me to come?”
His fingers stopped their driving motion as he smiled down at her with a satisfied grin. “I have longed to hear those words from your beautiful lips. But you must wait until I’m inside you before yielding to your orgasm.”
Swiftly, he removed his trousers and drawers and knelt on the settee. He was long and hard and she could see his male essence glistening on the end, a sure sign of his excitement. Finally, he filled her, the heat from her wet sheath causing him to throw back his head as he released a tormented groan. He plunged once, twice then pulled out and slipped lower to her smaller hole. Pressing the head against the tight entrance he used a broad thumb to stimulate her. “Breathe deep and relax, Cici. There will be some stretching at first, but then your body will open for me as always and I will fill you.”
“You make me do such wicked and naughty things.”
“But you love it, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do Andrew. I love all that you do to me.”
He sank in slowly and she moaned at the new sensation. There was stretching and a mild burn, but she was producing so much liquid that he easily began to glide in and out of her. The sight of his hard cock sliding between her freshly spanked cheeks and her body spread open and beautifully submissive beneath him made him ready to climax. Not wanting to leave her behind, he worked furiously at her shimmering pearl adding two fingers into her dripping wet center. “Come with me, Cici.”
Before he finished the words, her body shuddered as sensation overwhelmed her. Distantly she heard Andrew moan at the same time she felt her muscles begin to spasm around him. The slight pinch as she clamped furiously around him was nothing compared to the jolt of ecstasy that swept through her body simultaneously shooting to her thighs, cleft, belly and breasts. She arched her back and cried out in a frenzy of sensation as the first jolt was followed by another. The aftershocks rippled through her body until she lay spent and limp beneath him.
She opened her eyes to his intense stare. His hips continued to languidly pump in and out of her body. “Are you still bored and lonely, sweetheart?”
“Heavens no, I’ll need to sleep for the rest of the afternoon, husband. You have exhausted me.”
“Excellent. I’ll plan to make it home for luncheon more often. Or, maybe I’ll just do all of my work from my study and have you pose naked for me. I won’t get much work done, but I’m sure to be kept entertained.”
“His Grace is insatiable,” she whispered to herself, but he still picked up on it. Giving her a couple of sharp swats as he withdrew from her body, she yelped in surprise.
“His Grace is your husband and expects to be called Andrew.”
“Eighteen years of deportment lessons are hard to undo. I suppose you’ll have to beat it out of me.”
“Asking for another spanking already? Now who's insatiable?”
She giggled as he lightly swatted her bottom which turned into a delighted squeal as the last swat landed on her heated and tingling cleft. “I must get back. When I get home tomorrow evening we will pick up where we left off here, my sweet.”
“I should like that, Andrew.”
He moved away, setting his clothes to rights before gathering her garments and returning them to her. Once he had them both properly dressed he gave her a tender kiss on her lips.
Cici looked at her husband lovingly. He was even more incredibly handsome with a slight flush from his recent labors coloring his cheeks. “I’m having tea with mama tomorrow afternoon, I’ll have Cook plan a late supper at nine o’clock if that suits you.”
“Let’s make it eight and plan to retire early.” They both had silly grins on their faces as they stared into each other’s eyes. This part of their relationship was easy, now if they could just find the same contentment in their public lives.
Chapter Twelve
Andrew flew through the door throwing his hat and cane at Benton’s butler. “Where is she?”
“She’s in her old rooms, Your Grace, and Dr. Wadsworth is attending.”
He ran up the stairs before the man had finished his sentence and came to an abrupt halt outside a bedchamber door where his mother-in-law was wailing in her husband’s arms. Her sister Elizabeth was also present and appeared oddly composed despite the emergency.
“What happened?”
Cici’s father answered, “She fell down the stairs at the opera. One of the other ladies attending found her at the bottom. She was unconscious.”
“How is she now?”
“She hasn’t woken yet; the doctor thinks she is concussed.” He stopped and gave Andrew a sympathetic look. “She was bleeding by the time the doctor arrived.” His father-in-law reached out and clamped a firm hand on his shoulder. “He says she’s losing the baby. I’m so sorry.”
Andrew stood in silence for a long moment then took in a deep steadying breath before entering his wife’s old bedchamber. He had to be strong for her. As he opened the door his eyes flew to the bed where she was just beginning to stir.
“Andrew?” She called to him, her voice weak and raspy. Her hand flew to her head as she turned to search for him.
“Lie still, Your Grace. You took quite a nasty fall.” The physician was standing at her bedside, as the maids flitted around his wife, straightening her covers. Andrew knew by the grimness of the man’s expression and the pile of soiled and bloody linens on the floor that she had lost their child.
Instantly at her side, Andrew sat cautiously on the edge of the bed trying not to stir or agitate her. “My head hurts terribly and I’ve a cramping.” Suddenly her eyes flew to his, then to the doctor who stood behind him. “The baby… Is the baby alright?”
The physician turned, leaving Andrew to break the awful news. Gathering her hands in his, knowing there was no easy way to say it he spoke softly. “You lost the baby in the fall, sweetheart. I’m so sorry.”
“But there will be a chance for others, Your Grace,” the physician callously assured her as if she could easily get over this baby and move on to the next. He then turned to instruct Andrew. “There was no traumatic injury apart from a sprained wrist, a lump to her head and the jarring to the babe in the womb. It was early still so the bl
eeding was minimal. I’ll leave instructions for her care which will include lots of rest, fluids and a meaty diet for a bit. They are easy to follow.” Lowering his voice, he moved closer to Andrew and murmured low for his ears only. “The bleeding will stop in a few days but if it doesn’t please contact me again. Sometimes we have to do a procedure. Well, I’ll explain that if the time comes. Otherwise, no uh, relations until I see her back in two weeks.”
Andrew listened to the physician with one ear as he hugged and rocked his distraught wife in his arms. He was ready for the man to leave them to their grief. She was only eighteen so there was plenty of time, but that didn’t help right now when she was hurting so. Her gut-wrenching sobs pierced his heart. He wanted the baby, too.
“Hush, you need to rest now.” He pulled back and looked at her pale face. She looked inconsolable at the moment.
“Please, will you stay with me Andrew?”
“Of course, nothing could tear me away.”
What he said was true. He supervised her care during her recovery and made sure someone kept almost constant watch on her to ensure she ate, drank and rested as the physician recommended. He had his new secretary either manage his appointments or cancel them for the first few weeks.
The Dowager had arrived the next day with Maggie in tow and both had helped with her care. Despite all the attention, her recovery had been delayed by a fever for a few days. Still, their physician had been in to examine her and declared her fit several weeks ago and she still had not emerged from the melancholy that followed their loss.
Andrew was supportive, but he worried the she continued to feel weak and was burdened with a persistent sadness. Except for family, Cici had declined all invitations and visitors for the past two months. Even with Maggie as her constant companion and her mother visiting daily for tea, she remained pale and withdrawn. Her sister Elizabeth even visited and regaled her with the latest gossip when her social calendar was free. Andrew was convinced that if she didn’t break the grip her grief had on her, she would become a veritable recluse in their home. Therefore, he made plans to get Cici out of the house for the first time since the miscarriage.
Surrender Your Grace Page 12