And that was the reasoning he used - in his mind at least - to assuage his guilt as he all but swept Miri into his arms and carried her into the house the moment the vehicle rolled to a stop.
Will kept minimal staff in his townhome. He and Anna had learned to do for themselves over the years and even if they hadn't, he simply couldn't afford to keep many servants. So as he strode through the dimly lit halls with Miri in his arms, there was no one to see them. In some distant corner of the house, he thought he might have heard a scurrying noise, but that was likely Mrs. Applewhite, the live-in housekeeper, making certain that at least some of the wall sconces were lit. Normally Will's valet, Aversely, saw to the task but the man was at his home this evening attending to his sick mother.
Shifting in his arms, Miri looked around her as they moved through the house and once more, Will was thankful that the darkness hid his sins. It was difficult to see faded wallpaper, peeling paint and threadbare furniture in the dim candlelight. It was also difficult to see the faded spots where furniture, paintings, and other decor had once been, drapes that were at least twenty years out of date, and woodwork that no longer gleamed with beeswax polish but was now dulled with age and cheap cleaning products.
His home was clean. Will would never allow it to be otherwise. But it was also extremely shabby and worn, much like him. And there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.
"Please don't mind the decor," he attempted to joke as he moved smoothly through the house as if she weighed nothing. In truth, he barely even noticed her weight because he was both so thrilled at the prospect of bedding her and so terrified that she would notice his poverty at the same time.
As they came to a stop outside of his bedchamber door, Miri placed a palm on his cheek and turned his head so that he might face her. "None of this matters to me, Will. I am not some silly, vain debutante. I don't care about how you live. The only thing that matters to me is you."
His heart twisted at her words and he did his best not to allow hope to bloom in his heart. That was simply her arousal talking and her unrelenting thirst for knowledge. She was desperate to know passion and she was paying him to teach her. That was all she had meant. Nothing more.
"Miri, I will not fail you," Will promised as he pushed open the door to his chambers, thankful that, as usual, Aversely had left a branch of candles burning low and awaiting his return.
It was risky to do such a thing, of course, but the candles were safely placed inside a large, stained glass vase that had been hand-blown nearly a decade and a half prior by one of the "starving artists" Will's mother had sponsored while leading her family into further penury. The thing weighed nearly two stone and was all but impossible to budge. Will's mother had "gifted" the monstrosity to him for his birthday one year, placing it on a specially constructed, carved marble table that weighed over another two stone - a gift from another artist she patronized - rendering the entire contraption rather immobile. Will had resented the gifts ever since. Tonight, however, for the first time in his life he was glad of the monstrosity that occupied a corner of his room simply because no one else wanted it.
The light from the candles now filtered through the ruby, emerald, sapphire, and amber-hued glass, spilling dancing spirals of color across his room and giving the place a warm and welcoming glow. The colored light also gave Will's chambers a beauty that they did not ordinarily possess. The worn, rounded edges of everything in view was made beautiful in the sparkling light, so much so that one did not notice the shabbiness that permeated this chamber.
Will could see a wondering look in Miri's eyes as he placed her almost reverently on his bed. "Your chambers." Once more, she knew where she was and was making a statement rather than asking a question.
Will knelt down on the floor before her, looking up at her with beseeching eyes. "This is all I have that is truly mine, love. I would make love to you tonight in a gilded palace if I could, but I do not own such finery. This? The random bits of art left over from my mother's follies, the battered writing desk that once belonged to my grandfather, and the few bits of things I have amassed over the years? It is who I am. Just as you showed me your telescopes, love, I show you my poverty. This is my heart, who I am when everything else is stripped away. And I pray that you do not banish me for my shortcomings. Or my sins."
Sliding to the edge of the bed, Miri grasped Will's hands tightly. "Never. I am forever grateful that you trust me enough to show me this part of yourself, Will. And it does not make me desire you less." She drew in a deep breath. "If anything, it makes me desire you more."
"Thank God." He closed his eyes in silent prayer, knowing that if he had to debase himself in this way, become a whore in order to survive, then he had at least chosen the right woman to lie with. One he could love if the situation was different.
When he opened his eyes again, Miri was still sitting on the edge of his bed in her elegant gown, gazing down at him with something that looked very much like anticipation. And affection, something that surprised him. "Take me, Will." Her voice was clear, her gaze direct. "Not because I am paying you to, but because you want to bed me. For tonight, let us forget the contract. I need to forget it. Please. I am begging you. Love me as a woman you could care for and not as a woman so desperate for affection that she needs to pay for sexual pleasure."
There was something so raw and earnest in her gaze that Will's heart broke as he realized this was just as difficult for her as it was for him. He was ashamed to be selling his body but she was just as ashamed to be essentially purchasing him. In her own way, Miri felt unworthy of anything more than a paid tryst as well. Until that moment, Will had never considered that Miri might feel the same humiliation that he did when it came to their arrangement.
Or that she truly did wish for more.
Rising up to his knees, Will was nearly at eye level when he cradled her face gently in his hands. "Miri, love, for me this madness between us might have started with the need for coin, but I have long since passed that point. I care for you. So very much. For me, there is no hardship in bedding you. You know this, I think, and I know you care for me in your own way. So do not feel guilt over your wish to lie with me in return. We are two people who desire each other, who feel affection for each other, and there is no crime in that. You are not the cold, unfeeling woman so many claim that you are. And tonight? I intended to prove it." Then, feeling the need to ease the rising tension between them, he grinned at her wolfishly. "And before I am finished? You will beg me to give you that pleasure again."
When she smiled that same queenly smile he had come to adore, Will relaxed. There was his Miri, the woman who hid behind a wall of indifference but was, at heart, a fiery and passionate lady of desire.
"I would like to see you try," she challenged, and he saw the ghost of a smile tease her lips.
"Then I accept that challenge, my lady. Gladly." Never one to back down from a dare, Will quickly came to the conclusion that the best way to have Miri wet and writhing beneath him, ready for him to enter her, was to tease her curiosity.
She was still nervous; he could tell. Will decided the best way to put her at ease was to bare himself to her - quite literally.
Miri's eyes grew wider and wider as he began removing his clothes, but to her credit, she never looked away or played the shy maiden. In fact, when he stripped off his evening shirt, he could have sworn that she wanted to reach out and caress his naked chest but did not dare quite yet. Instead, she lay back on the bed watching him with those luminous green eyes, her fingers clenching and unclenching, twisting his counterpane in her hands.
She did let out a small gasp of shock when he stripped off his trousers, his massive, erect cock springing free to bob against his stomach. However, she still refused to look away and when she unconsciously licked her lips as she gazed at his cock, Will found himself becoming even more aroused at the idea that she liked what she saw. Him. She liked him. That was beyond what he could have even hoped for.
"I had no idea," she whispered, her gaze finally lifting to meet his. He should have been embarrassed, he supposed. After all, if this were another woman, she would be judging him to see if she was receiving what she had paid for. However this wasn't another woman. This was Miri and she wasn't like that. Instead, she was genuinely enthralled with her first look at a naked man. And the feeling it gave him was incredibly erotic and not at all sordid.
Then, she frowned. "But will you...fit?"
"Oh, I can assure you that I will fit quite nicely," he whispered as he loomed over her, though she did not seem the least bit frightened. "I am larger than most men, I'll grant you. Not to brag, but you do like facts and the fact is, I am a large man. However, I will make you ready so that we will fit together as nature intended when the time is right."
She looked up, her eyes wide. "I trust you, Will." And he could tell that she meant every word.
"Then let me love you, Miri?" Will felt his heart flip over in his chest but he pushed the sappy emotion aside. Now was not the right time, especially when the woman he desired most in the world was nodding her assent.
Kneeling down again, he prayed that he wasn't making a mistake by starting with her feet, but thus far, nothing about this woman indicated that she viewed the topic of her lame leg as something to be avoided. If anything, she was rather direct when discussing her infirmity. The only time she shied away was when she was made to feel a fool because she could not walk or dance or run as other young ladies could. Tonight, Will had no desire to make her feel a fool. The only thing he wished to make her feel was flush with desire - and wet and aching for his cock.
Miri didn't feel his touch at first. He knew because she didn't react. The light brush of his fingertips over her slim ankles was likely barely noticeable. However when he slid his hands over the top of her foot, tracing the delicate ribbons of her slippers over her ankles, she felt that well enough. She drew in a sharp breath and stiffened beneath his touch, but he stilled his hand immediately. Though he did still caress her ankle lightly with his thumb, accustoming her to his touch.
"Trust me, Miri, love," Will whispered, his eyes remaining locked with hers. "I won't hurt you. Not for all of the coins in England. Let me take the lead. Leave the work to me. This time? It is only about you and your pleasure." That seemed to relax her again and when she leaned back on her hands, Will took that as approval to continue.
As gently as he could, he untied the fragile ribbons and slowly began unwinding them from around her ankles. With each pass of the fabric over her stocking-clad skin, Will made certain to caress her gently, his touch never too fast or too harsh. When the ribbons were unbound, he slid the dancing slippers off of her feet and gently placed them aside.
"Lovely," he whispered as he kissed first one ankle and then the next. "Simply lovely."
"Doubtful," she replied softly but did not pull away from his touch this time. Instead when he extended her leg and began massaging the arch of her foot with his thumbs, she sighed in what sounded like pure bliss. "Oh, that is lovely."
"Told you so," he teased as his fingers caressed higher, up her silk stocking clad leg to the tops of her stockings. This was not precisely uncharted territory for him, but this was the first time he had ventured that far beneath her skirts with a mind to completely undressing her. "Do you know what else, love?" he asked as he slowly, methodically slid her stockings down her legs without a word of protest.
Miri let out a luxuriant sigh. "What?" she asked, her mind clearly beginning to float on a cloud of bliss.
"I wager you will taste just as exquisite." It was evident that his words did not register with Miri or, if they did, she did not comprehend them, for she offered no protest when he rose and gently undid the laces of her gown, stripping her out of the magnificent frock bit by bit and eventually leaving her clad only in her corset and chemise. He prayed she was not wearing drawers again.
As her creamy skin was revealed to him, he felt himself grow hard to the point of almost spilling where he stood, but he somehow managed to keep control of himself. Mostly. He could not resist kissing and nipping at the soft skin of her shoulder once or twice as he tugged the gown over her head or cupping her breasts and teasing her nipples with the pads of his thumbs as he knelt behind her to properly adjust the little bit of clothing she had left.
"What are you about, Will Davenport?" she asked breathlessly as she studied him from her position on the bed.
Miri had moved little when he had undressed her, a testament to her complete trust in him. He had said that he would take the lead and she had given him her trust. Now, when he returned to his submissive position on the floor, she was still every inch the queen that she had been earlier. Maybe even more so with the creamy tops of her breasts threatening to spill out over her corset at any moment. She also looked as if she was ready to be ravished. And he knew just the man for the job.
"I told you there was more than one way to know pleasure, love, did I not?" He sat back on his haunches, waiting.
"You did." She nodded slightly.
Will winked at her. "Then prepare to discover another perfect and utterly delightful way, my darling."
"But we haven't yet..." she began to protest. Whatever she would have said died on her lips as Will spread her legs wide and nestled himself there before using his thumbs to spread apart her feminine lips, revealing her most secret of areas.
"Oh." There was a wealth of meaning in that single word.
Will grinned at her wickedly. "Yes. Oh."
At the first trace of his tongue on her feminine lips, she shivered but to his relief, she did not pull away. She would not, not his Miri. She was too curious and, if the muskiness he could taste on his tongue was any indication, she was also far too needy.
When he dipped his tongue deeper into that hidden valley, she sighed in what sounded like pure bliss. When he pushed her further, teasing that little nub of pleasure with the very tip of his tongue, she moaned and for some reason, he was inordinately pleased.
"Oh, Will," she moaned again. "That is...delightful."
He resisted the urge to beat his chest as he smiled against her inner thigh. Still, he could not help but be pleased with himself. "Then hold on, love, for it is about to become even sweeter."
It was clear Miri had no idea what he was talking about but as he slid his hands up and over her calves, his fingers skimming lightly over the damaged muscle of her left leg, it also became clear that in this moment, she had given him her implicit trust to teach her what she wanted to know. And Will was only too happy to oblige.
As he parted her legs wider, Miri whimpered a bit, but a few quiet words of endearment soothed her and soon, she was spread wide before him, all of her most secret of places on display for him to look upon as he liked. Will was aware of the incredible trust she was placing in him, as well as what a true gift she was bestowing upon him at the same time. So as he began to lap at her feminine core, he sent up a prayer that in the end, he would be forgiven for this sin of debauchery for there was nothing evil or sordid in what they were about to do.
Miri felt as if her body was on fire. Every part of her ached and had done so since Will had swept her out of the masquerade and into the night. She had thought her desire could not possibly reach any greater height than it had when Will had kissed his way up her legs. She had been wrong.
Now, with him teasing and tasting her feminine flesh, Miri thought she might die of desire if such a thing was even possible. With each swipe of his tongue through her slick channel, she felt this strange need spiraling higher and higher inside of her. She was searching for something, reaching for a feeling just beyond her grasp, but she had no idea what it was or how she was to reach it. All she knew that with each pass of his tongue and each tug of his teeth on her most sensitive area, she grew wetter and more restless. More anxious for the bliss that he had promised her.
Then he inserted first one finger and then a second into her feminine core, all while he focused hi
s attention on the little pearl of pleasure she had discovered on her own so long ago. Caressing that nub felt good enough when she did it, but when Will was focusing his attentions there? She thought that she might split apart.
Gently, he began stroking his fingers in and out of her wet heat, mimicking what she knew he wished to do with his cock. From her position on the bed, she could look down the length of her nearly naked body to where his fingers entered her and his head was bent as he lapped almost hungrily at her slick channel. The sight was...erotic and just then, something warm and languid flowed through her body, relaxing her.
"That's it, love," Will coaxed softly. "Let it happen. Let yourself go and just feel."
That was easier said than done, of course, especially since the sight of Will's broad, naked shoulders were doing something very peculiar to her insides. As was the feel of his two fingers - or was it now three? - sliding in and out of her, stroking her in a rhythm that was just right and perfectly timed to each lick and suck of his mouth on her feminine lips.
Looking at Will, his head bent between her legs, his fingers buried inside of her while he was kneeling naked before her finally did something to Miri that she could not explain and she felt her body's core beginning to tighten.
"Yes, love, yes," Will coaxed as her body began to buck beneath his touch and her core tightened around her fingers. "Come for me, Miri. I want to taste you."
She had no idea what he meant but she also found that she no longer cared. All she knew was that she was reaching and clawing, driving higher and higher to ease this tension in her stomach that made her breath come in gasps and her body tighten of its own volition.
Her breasts ached and her fingers scrabbled against the ties on her corset. She was about to ask Will for help when she found a loose ribbon and yanked hard. There was a tearing sound but she didn't care. All that mattered was that her corset fell away, freeing her breasts. She yanked her chemise over her head for good measure until she was just as naked as he was. Still there was no relief from the internal fire that was threatening to consume her.
An Earl For Hire Page 17