As usual her emotions towards her husband were conflicted. She still resented him for the loss of her Season, even though she knew that was as much her father's fault as Edwin's (and perhaps just a little bit of her own), and she hated that he had continued her father's methods of spanking... and yet the pleasures that he brought to her body were so wondrous as to be unimaginable. Even when her bottom had burned their coupling had been intensely satisfying, even more so than usual. Edwin was a mass of contradictions - stern, gentle, punishing, caring... the welts on her bottom had healed much faster than ever before thanks to the cream he had rubbed onto it. And now he was cradling her as if she was something infinitely precious. It was all too easy to lean into him and drift away.
Strong arms wrapped around her and swung her up into the air. Blearily, Eleanor blinked her eyes and squirmed.
"Hold still," said Edwin, his voice sounding somewhat weary but also amused. "I'd hate to drop you in the water."
"I can walk," she said grumpily, but she curved her arm around his neck, holding tightly to him as she let her head drop back onto his shoulder.
Edwin nearly purred with satisfaction feeling her snuggling up to him again. The carriage ride had been immensely enjoyable. When Eleanor dropped her guard she was a wonderfully tactile creature, not at all the nagging harpy she occasionally made herself out to be. Perhaps knowing she would have an elaborate and romantic honeymoon, when their wedding had been anything but, had finally softened her to him. Although he hadn't seen much of her the past few days something had certainly changed in her demeanor. Perhaps it was the birching but perhaps it was the trip as well. Even Mrs. Hester hadn't had any complaints over Eleanor's conduct as his wife had thrown herself into settling everything within the household so that they could leave.
Although it was now mid-morning he, like his wife, was feeling the effects of their hastily planned departure. Fortunately they hadn't had to plan their own dinner last night, they'd dined with Eleanor's family who had wanted to give them a send-off but would rather do so the evening before than the morning of. Edwin had received a note from his own family that afternoon, expressing regret that they had missed his wedding and imploring him to bring Eleanor to the Manse after they returned from their honeymoon. He had to grin and shake his head at his parents' foibles, the largest being their reluctance to leave the estate.
Laying Eleanor gently down onto the bed, he undressed her despite the fact that she was only half-awake and tucked her in before divesting himself of his own clothing and crawling in beside her. His wife murmured sleepily and squirmed next to him, tucking herself into his body in the most delightful way. If they weren't so tired he would have taken advantage of their unclothed state, but part of their exhaustion stemmed from how late he'd kept them up the night before. Wrapping his arms possessively around her soft form, Edwin closed his eyes and, despite the erection that was cradled against her stomach, fell almost instantly asleep.
********
When Eleanor awoke, feeling completely refreshed, it was to the smell of the sea, the gentle rocking of the boat, and the shouts of the sailors. She immediately became aware of the large masculine body wrapped around her, something she was unused to as Edwin normally awoke well before her even when he slept in her room. It wasn't entirely unpleasant to feel the hard length of his body pressed against her back, his heavy limbs across her legs and stomach. One hand cupped her breast gently, fingers not quite gripping but curved over the soft mound possessively.
Despite the satisfaction she'd received from him last night, Eleanor couldn't help but feel a warm glow tingling between her legs. The hard ridge pressing into her bottom, which was only a little bit sore now, indicated she wouldn't need much effort to wake her husband and receive satisfaction again, but she was too excited about her first time being on a ship. She wanted to walk the decks and see the ocean! Carefully she started to wriggle away from her husband's furnace of a body, squealing as his arm suddenly tightened around her and hauled her back.
"Where do you think you're going?" Edwin's dark eyes glinted with amusement as he turned her onto her back, his voice still fuzzy with sleep. Propping himself up on one elbow he cupped a breast in a gentle hand and toyed with it, rubbing his thumb over her nipple in a way that made her breath hitch.
"I was going to go up on deck," she said, staring up at him. "I want to see everything."
Her husband's eyes drifted down her body, which was uncovered to the waist, and Eleanor felt her cheeks heat. She didn't think she would ever become accustomed to the lasciviously proprietary way Edwin looked at her whenever she was unclothed. And often even when she was clothed. That little spark in his eyes always preceded a thorough bedding, to the point where every time she saw it her pulse started to race.
"I like the view down here just fine," he said in a rasping growl.
"Edwin!" Eleanor half-laughed, half-protested in exasperation as her husband shifted his weight on top of her, trapping her lower body beneath his as he peppered small kisses along her jaw, trying to reach her mouth.
"Stop moving away," he complained.
"I just told you I want to go up on deck!"
"You'll get there a lot faster if you'd cooperate." The teasing, coaxing tone of his voice was that of a little boy's, reminiscent of when they were younger and he would tease her into doing something that they would invariably get into trouble for later. Only now there was no one to hold them accountable for what they were about to do except for her.
He'd ignored the push of her hands against his chest, using his legs to pin her down as he caressed her breasts. Although she tried to ignore the tingling sensations he was awakening in her body, she could feel herself losing her conviction to go above decks. After all, the ocean wasn't going anywhere. There would be plenty of time, and if she went up now she would be hot and aroused without the release that she so enjoyed. She moaned, allowing Edwin to capture her lips as he squeezed one of her turgid nipples, toying with the sensitive bud, tugging at it as he coaxed her body to the state he desired.
Feeling her submission beneath him, Edwin deepened the kiss. Awakening with an armful of soft, warm woman trying to wriggle away from him had spurred his desires; although he didn't need immediate release upon awakening, feeling her trying to leave their bed had sparked an unusual amount of need in him. Eleanor writhed as he kissed down her neck, her hands rubbing over the flexing muscles of his back as he pleasured her. There was something satisfying about having her acquiesce to him, knowing that she had wanted to go above decks but that he could rouse her body enough to change her mind.
Dragging his tongue across the soft satin of her skin, he groaned as her legs parted further, his cock nudging at the damp flesh of her sex as she opened to him. The urge to shove deeply into her and ride her was nearly overpowering but he beat it back. He would not start his honeymoon with a quick fuck; by the end of this trip he wanted Eleanor to be deeply content with their marriage and he was of the firm belief that keeping her satisfied in the bedroom would assist mightily with that. He had not forgotten her suggestion of separate households, a suggestion which still made him feel somewhat panicked. While he didn't expect miracles when it came to her attitude, indeed he would be fairly disappointed if she never needed another spanking, he did want her to accept him and to do her best to please him as he was doing his best to please her.
Sucking one rosy nipple into his mouth he slid his right hand between their bodies and teased the slick folds of her quim. Eleanor's breath caught on a small cry as she shuddered, her hips lifting to meet his fingers, her body demanding more pressure from him. Attending to each of her nipples in turn, wetting them with his tongue and biting down gently to roll them between his teeth, Edwin made small circles against her heated flesh with his fingers, never touching the little scrap of flesh that ached for him the most.
"Edwin... Edwin please..." Eleanor's back arched as her body twisted, trying to force Edwin's hand to caress her in the way she needed, to
bring her to the brink and push her over.
With his weight supported on one hand, the other busily working between her thighs, Edwin leaned over her face so that he could stare directly into the foggy sapphire crystal of her eyes. Her pupils were large and black as she whimpered through swollen lips; although her eyes were open he was quite sure that she wasn't truly seeing him.
"Please what Eleanor," he asked, his breath wafting across her face, thumb stroking over the hood of her clitoris, just enough to make her jerk but not enough to bring her to orgasm. "Tell me what you need sweetheart."
"You... please... I need you inside me... Edwin... take me... please..."
This lust-crazed plea, combined with the raking of her nails down his chest, was more than he could have hoped for. His thumb thrummed across her clit, pressing down on the aching bud and rubbing hard enough that she shrieked, eye lashes fluttering madly as her body convulsed in ecstasy. Maneuvering himself quickly, he pressed his cock to her slick folds and impaled her with one hard thrust. Eleanor could barely breath, her body was so overcome with sensation as she was split open in the middle of her climax, the pulsing rod sending her higher on a wave of sensual bliss.
Edwin rode her hard, knowing that he wouldn't last long under the circumstances - he never did when he had just woken, which was why he'd pleasured Eleanor with his fingers first. He could feel his wife shuddering in continuous climax around him, her body in constant motion beneath his as she clung to his neck and sobbed his name. The passionate whimpers and groans that fell from her lips only spurred him to a faster, harder pace, the walls of her sheath sucking at him as she tightened and spasmed over and over again.
He groaned her name as he filled her to the brim, the dark hairs of his groin melding with her honey gold curls as the swollen folds of her sex were crushed against his body. Inside of her he pulsed, his body rubbing up and down so that she continued to squeeze and massage his cock throughout his release; his body slowly relaxing atop of hers as spurt after spurt of hot fluid gushed into her tunnel.
With a sigh of satisfaction he kissed the sides of Eleanor's neck, feathering them along her jaw and cheeks until he reached her lips. She kissed him back so sweetly that he thought he might melt on top of her. They cuddled in the afterglow, for the first time truly relaxed. Although he'd enjoyed their relations at home he'd always felt a bit rushed about the aftermath, knowing that he needed his sleep so that he could be up early the next morning to continue setting his affairs in order for their trip. Now they had all the time in the world for him to caress and kiss her, to bask in the warm afterglow.
For Eleanor this was absolute bliss. The way Edwin was looking at her made her feel cherished, something which she'd never experienced before. Her parents had loved her, of course, as had her brother, but nothing compared to this. Edwin was touching her as if she was made of glass, his eyes filled with a soft wonderment that made her feel like the most special, wonderful person in the world.
In that moment Eleanor decided that perhaps she should stop fighting him. Despite the punishments Edwin had treated her very well - and she certainly had deserved some kind of retribution for the trick she'd pulled on him at the dinner party. It was not the marriage she would have chosen, but he didn't seem to expect her to jump at his command, unlike her father and mother. Nor did he worship at her feet, the way she might have wanted him to, but perhaps this new adoration that she saw in his eyes... could that be enough? They had plenty in common, they knew each other well and they had passion. Perhaps she should just make the best of the situation.
"Would you like an escort to the deck?" Edwin asked, smiling down at her in a rakish manner that seemed to imply he'd be more than willing to keep her right where she was. In that moment she made her decision; they were on their honeymoon and she was going to give them a chance. They should rub along together well enough if she stopped instigating trouble.
"I would please," she said, as demurely as she could considering that her husband was still inside of her. Reaching up she brushed a dark lock of hair from his forehead, and saw the pleased look in his eyes as she made the first small gesture of affection to him that she had since their wedding.
********
Paris was glorious. The dresses, the freedom, the art, the people... Eleanor enjoyed the lighter restrictions on behavior. She and Edwin were able to sit at a private table for two even in a public restaurant, she could laugh as loudly and freely as she wanted without anyone staring, and the dresses the other women were wearing made hers look positively conservative. Not that she ever wore one without the fichu, but she could tease Edwin about buying a "real" French dress and enjoy listening to him growl possessively.
A kind of fond camaraderie grew between them as they walked the streets, watched the entertainments, attended the theater, and flirted at parties. Other women watched jealously as Edwin danced attendance upon his wife; Eleanor was not slow in noting that more than one of them tried to tempt him from her side. At first she’d been shocked by her reaction – a blinding possessive jealousy that had rendered her nearly speechless as Edwin had smiled benignly at the glittering beauty and pretended not to know her meaning, keeping Eleanor’s hand pressed tight against his forearm with his own hand.
“You are so attentive to your wife,” the lady purred, managing to both glare at Eleanor and bat her eyes at Edwin. “The men here… they are not so devoted as you.” The way she said it seemed to imply that Edwin’s devotion only went so far as Eleanor’s gaze. She gritted her teeth and opened her mouth, but Edwin gave her wrist a small pinch and she closed her lips as he answered the hussy.
“Perhaps they are not so lucky as to have a wife such as mine,” he said smoothly. The lady frowned and blinked. The words themselves were almost an insult, and yet there was nothing about Edwin’s manner or tone that implied it was so. Eleanor nearly laughed at the other woman’s consternation, even as a warmth filled her. She looked up at Edwin just as he was looking down at her and their gazes caught and held. All the jealous bile seemed to drain out of her as she basked in the glow of her husband’s attention.
The French lady muttered something under her breath about newlyweds and love and stalked away.
At first she’d worried over her reaction, and then she decided that it was only natural. Certainly it wasn’t love. After all, she had decided to make the best out of her marriage with Edwin, it was understandable that she would have a feeling of possessiveness about him now that she had accepted him as her husband. Besides it was a point of pride with her, proof of her desirability, to keep him from straying. Especially considering that they were on their honeymoon. The brazenness of the women was almost insulting to her.
However, possibly the most shocking revelation was when men flirted with her in Edwin’s presence. Not only did she find herself unattracted to any of them, despite the fact that many of them were quite handsome, but Edwin’s demeanor changed drastically as he went from simply standing next to her to somehow actually looming beside her and radiating an unwelcoming coldness to the gentlemen. There was a dangerous air to him when she was first approached by any unknown gentleman, usually almost immediately followed by a return to their hotel – and once with a passionate tryst in their hosts’ conservatory. The closest Eleanor had come to such illicit behavior had been receiving a kiss at her come-out ball, certainly not the kind of heart-pounding amorousness combined with the edge of anxiety that came from engaging in intimacies in such a public avenue.
For himself, Edwin was pleased to watch Eleanor blossom, although he could have done without other men noticing her golden beauty and the sweet joy she took in life. She attracted men like honey attracted flies, and yet now that she wasn’t trying to attract attention she seemed entirely unaware of her conquests. The other women in the room didn’t hold a candle to her and they seemed to know it; although it didn’t stop them from trying to compete with her for his attention. Not one of them appealed to him as much as Eleanor; they didn’t have the
complexities of her character or the inner, unjaded innocence that she exuded. Back in London he’d worried that she’d lost that inner light, but away from her family and acquaintances, seeming to have accepted their relationship, it was shining brightly again. He never wanted to see her grow hard and cynical like her friend Lady Grace and the Eleanor that he was seeing now in Paris didn’t seem in any danger of doing so. It was almost like she was a completely different person; an adult version of the Eleanor he’d known as a child, no longer the hardened socialite with a mission.
One afternoon Eleanor went shopping while Edwin entertained himself at one of the gentleman’s clubs. He’d given her a budget this time of course, but had issued no commands or warnings about the kind of purchases he’d like her to make, which she greatly appreciated. It seemed that he trusted her now, after the past two weeks in each other’s company, and she found that she relished having his confidence. Now that she was no longer fighting it marriage to Edwin had become quite… enjoyable. Her decision to become an amiable wife seemed justified. Now that they’d had some time together, he seemed inclined to let her do as she wished.
After selecting three gowns that were daring but elegant, quite fashion forward and she was certain would be all the rage in London, Eleanor found herself being distracted by the modiste who, upon discovering that Eleanor was newly-wed, insisted on showing her some nightgowns. At first Eleanor had resisted, although she hadn’t wanted to explain that her husband preferred that she wear nothing at all to bed, but then the modiste seemed to realize what Eleanor was implying.
“Non, non,” the woman said, laughing gaily as she waved away Eleanor’s vague explanations. “These will not be for sleeping. Trust me, cherie, your husband will appreciate these nightgowns.”
When Eleanor glimpsed the fabric of the gowns she understood. Some were silky, some were sheer, others had lace appliques in strategic positions… her favorite was a silky gown of palest pink that caressed her skin as it was slipped over her head. The fabric clung like a second skin, the skirt swirling around her legs as she moved before settling back around her curves. The paleness of the color made her skin creamier, her hair more golden, and emphasized the natural pink of her lips.
Birching His Bride (Domestic Discipline 1) Page 12