She had taken hold of him. Whether he had control or not, whether she loved him or not, he had let her in his life. Mariah reflected and represented him. Soon all of the villagers and the local gentry would meet her properly. Their opinions didn’t matter so much as what James feared could happen when news of his marriage reached his distant relations. He had to protect Mariah, and he couldn’t even tell her why. With any luck, his cousins would never know of his marriage and continue to ignore him as they had done for years.
“Are you unwell?” Mariah asked.
He cleared his throat. “Not at all. Just contemplating the festival games that would entertain. If we’re doing this, it must be the best of everything.”
Alice and Edmund chimed in with game suggestions, and James returned to the peace and pain of his own thoughts. Mariah would see to the party. His concerns ran deeper.
* * * *
Standing at the front door, James watched Alice and Edmund as they rode away in the carriage. Mariah waved, all smiles, until the carriage was out of sight.
“You’re visiting again with Alice tomorrow. Come inside. There’s a chill in the air.” He wrapped an arm around her slender shoulders.
“It’s nice to entertain. They seem very happy.” Mariah beamed.
“Yes. Alice will do well with less pressure in her marriage.” James had noted a more relaxed air about his wife’s cousin since the wedding. She seemed fit for that role.
Mariah frowned. “Less pressure? Edmund has very little inheritance coming to him.”
“True, but her parents can help there. If she’d married a wealthy man with a title and large estate—”
“Like you?” Mariah nudged him with her hip.
“For example, yes. She’d have had tremendous family pressure to make a mark, take her place in London and locally. So many eyes upon her every move, and Alice has a nervous disposition to begin with.” He steered her towards their bedchambers.
“That does sound like my aunt. You’re right. Alice is better suited to a quiet life. Not that I wouldn’t love to make a mark in London, but I have no such pressures or fears.” She paused at her door.
“We have no family in London, but should you wish to go visiting, you need only say the word.” He never wanted her to think she couldn’t travel to visit her brothers or father. He’d never separate her from her family. The invitation she’d sent to her father to visit them at Christmas had been accepted. Hopefully, her brothers would do the same.
“Thank you. In time perhaps.” She turned the knob on the door.
“See you shortly,” he whispered in her ear.
After twenty minutes of fussing servants helping them prepare for bed, James heard Mariah’s maids vacate. He did not waste time making his wife wait. He entered through the shared door. “You have earned the affections of our servants swiftly.”
Sitting on the bed in a prim gown, Mariah smiled up at him. “You show them respect, loyalty and decent pay. I praise them. They are an excellent staff and fond of both of us.”
“The best staff. I only allow the best in my home.” He set a wooden box down on the dresser. “You’re not too tired?”
“Not at all. We can sleep in tomorrow.”
He noticed three candles blazing on her bedside table. A hint, no doubt a silent request for more candle play. But he had better things in store for her. “Remove your clothing.” James pulled the covers back from the bed fully so there was nowhere to hide.
Mariah took no note of him as she stripped. Her hair was already down for the night. He studied her bare form. So pleasant and arousing and yet the things he wanted to do to her. The bonds of trust needed to be built further before he dared to give her a child.
“Tonight, we will see how well you are willing to do anything I say. Trust is critical.”
“Tell me, please.” She took a step towards him.
James held up a hand. “No. You are eager but must also learn patience and the pleasure of anticipation. Lie on the bed.”
Without hesitation, she stretched out on one side of the bed, anticipating his joining her.
“The middle of the bed,” he corrected.
Her expression reflected rejection and confusion, but she moved to the centre and propped herself up on the pillows. “Will there be great tests and temptations?” she asked.
“You are insatiable. Intercourse is not wanton. Do I need to get the vicar back here to lecture you?” James opened the box.
Mariah blushed. “For children, it’s encouraged, but you deny me that. The vicar would be speechless if he knew what we’ve done.”
“He would send for the authorities at the sight of you tied up. Or in bed with this.” He took a toy out of the box and let Mariah see it.
“What is it? A vase?” She stretched to get a better look.
“An instrument of pleasure. You enjoyed the candle so well, I thought this might amuse us.”
“This is a test? Use it on my anyway you like.” She let her legs fall open.
“Not me, you.” He handed it to her. “I only wish to watch.”
Her smile vanished. “Watch? What? Should I use it on you?”
“No, use it on yourself. Most anything I can do with it, you can do to your own body. I will observe you pleasuring yourself.”
Mariah turned a deep shade of red. “I can’t do that. Not without you.”
James pulled a chair up to the bed and began to disrobe. “I’ll be right here, enjoying your performance. Don’t hide your desire or curiosity, or hold your screams back. Your needs entertain me. You’re free to play now.” Once naked, he sat in the chair and waited.
“I don’t know what to do. I’ve never done this.” Her hands shook, but James suspected she wanted to and feared it was a trick.
“Pretend it’s me. Do with it what you’d do with me if I gave you free rein.”
“It’s cold glass.” Her hands wrapped around the shaft, feeling it carefully.
“You’ll warm it up quickly enough. Don’t stall. I grow bored.” He sat back, determined to put her on the spot and see her natural instincts.
Leaning back into the pillows, she let the toy nestle between her breasts, she kissed the tip and let her tongue curl and flick it. Her throat tensed as she swallowed. She was serious, but James knew her attempts at seduction would fail.
The view sent James erect in seconds. Her pink tongue on the clear glass, the woman had an instinct for sin, but only with him. What more could a man ask for in a wife?
“Close your eyes. If it helps, I can blindfold you.” He wanted her to know he was watching, but perhaps, the dark would free her.
She rocked from side-to-side, and he caught a glimpse of her round ass cheeks so tender and pale. And that dip at the small of her back. James knew every detail and wanted her to understand and appreciate every inch of her own body as well as him. Mariah was eager to explore him. She needed to understand her form, as well.
“No. I’m sorry… It just feels so odd compared to you.” She sucked it into her mouth, taking several inches then she licked it from base to tip. Ignoring James, Mariah rubbed it against her cheek and down her neck.
The woman had no fear, no shame and the instincts of an experienced seductress. James longed to fuck her right then but held off. She needed to find pleasure in the fake to appreciate the real. When her lips bowed in a smile, his cock strained for her.
The heat spread through him, and he experienced an odd sensation, power and weakness simultaneously. Only Mariah had ever done that to him. The lure of a woman claimed his heart. He’d avoided it for so long. The lush curvy creature before him would not be denied. But trusting the wrong woman destroyed men. He’d seen it. His family had felt it. All James could do was take care and hope he’d chosen well. No amount of tests or sex could guarantee the future.
Mariah trailed the glass phallus down her breasts, tapping her nipples to see the reaction. She pressed her breasts together with the glass toy between them and sighe
d softly.
“You like my gift?” he asked.
“Yes, thank you.” She slid it lower to her pussy. Rubbing it along her slit, Mariah moaned and twirled it the way James had the candle. A fast learner, to be sure.
She spread her legs, tipping up her pelvis for better access. “Is this what you want?” she asked.
He smiled to himself. Mariah wanted permission to fuck herself. She’d learned so much he wanted to reward her but kept the pace slow. “Absolutely. Do whatever pleases you, my dear. Such lust cannot be contained.”
After a few fumbles with angle and the thick glass head, she penetrated her pussy with his gift. It was slightly smaller than James’ cock, but the glass lacked the give of flesh.
“Take it all,” he urged.
She nodded and, slowly but consistently, pushed her toy in to the hilt.
He expected her to pull it out again quickly and begin fucking herself wildly. Instead, she left it buried there, looking down then arching her back. James’ chest heated with pride. She learnt quickly and readily. The pleasures of the flesh were infinite, and they’d explore them all, but he didn’t need to control her every move or need.
“You’re squeezing it?”
“God, yes. It’s so perfect. Thank you.” She reached down and twirled it. Only then did she pull it out partly and shove it back in. She repeated the motion a few more times, and her other hand fell from the headboard to rub her clit and as she held the toy tight inside.
“Did you ever play with yourself before? In the dark?” he asked.
Mariah nodded.
“After riding?”
She shook her head. “I felt the sensation but never suspected it could lead to this. Not until you.” Her hands kept working her body.
“After our encounter in the stables?” He’d shown her new things that night.
She shook her head. “No. The first night I met you. I knew then. My body knew. I was afraid and ashamed, but I couldn’t stop. Please come to me. I don’t want to be alone.” She moaned that last word as her orgasm took hold.
He watched her legs tremble, her pussy squeeze, her back arch and her breasts bounce with the convulsions.
“James. Please!” She reached for him, and the toy slid from her with force.
Grabbing it, James inhaled her scent. The glass was streaked with her juices and evidence of release. He licked it, tasting her passion for him. Every moment with her aroused and amazed him. No lady should do what she’d done, yet the proof of her lust rolled over his tongue sweetly. The glass had heat only because her body burnt for him. Was it ego? James wondered. He enjoyed when she squirmed for him on display. Yet, she was entirely his. What else would she do? Allow him to do? Each encounter only pushed him further into need for more, like a drunken man with only one way to quench that thirst. Mariah.
“Please join me.” She knelt on the bed.
“This toy is always hard. You may learn to prefer it.” The flush of her skin told him she truly wanted more.
“Use it however you desire, but I need to feel you.”
She’d done everything he’d asked. Confident in her lustful ways, she’d shown him passion that never ended. He could not deny she’d earned his attention.
“On your hands and knees facing the pillows.” He reached for a candle from the bedside table and climbed into bed.
Relief filled Mariah as James caged her with his strong body. His chest pressed to her back, his mouth on her neck. The heat of his cock pressed to her rear made her feel content in a very different way than the toy could. With him close, she was safe.
Looking to her right, she noticed he’d brought the wooden box as well. “More toys?”
“One more. I’ll handle this. But first a little reward.” He teased her with the candle, rubbing over her back.
Mariah’s body tightened in anticipation. He’d noticed the candles and seemed to approve. The first bead of wax hit the small of her back, and Mariah moaned low. “Thank you.”
More drops fell along her spine, and she shivered.
“Ready for your new toy?” he asked.
She nodded.
“Eyes on the pillows.”
Mariah heard him fumble with the box and the clink of glass. As much as she enjoyed his gifts, his cock felt so much better.
What felt like oil spilled over her rear entrance, and Mariah gasped.
“Relax.” James pressed his thumb to her opening.
Her body responded as her mind tried to make sense of it. Suddenly, his thumb left and a glass shaft, more slender than the first, pressed to her.
“I’m not sure I can. The candle was softer.” She tried to relax but felt pressure to please and fear that she’d fail.
“Try. I won’t hurt you.” His free hand slid down and worked her clit.
He knew her weaknesses. Mariah groaned, and her body responded to his touch by relaxing. James pressed the toy in a few inches before she tightened on it.
“More.” He pinched her clit.
She moaned. “It’s so tight.”
“One more inch and I’ll fuck you.” James’ fingers dipped to her pussy and teased her slick folds.
Mariah nodded, feeling worn out already. But as he pressed the toy in, the virgin skin met glass for the first time and sparks went off inside her. She rocked back and took more than she expected.
“Excellent. Hold it.”
She felt him let go, but it didn’t hurt or fall. Without a clue how long it was, Mariah held it and waited.
James moved away. “Roll over.”
With a deep breath, she rolled onto her back. Did he intend to follow through and fuck her as he promised? Or leave her with her toys?
He caged her again, and Mariah grinned. “Please.” She kissed him.
James pressed the toy in a bit further, and Mariah squeaked softly. “You’ve almost got it all. I’ll need to order a longer and bigger toy for you.”
“No, this is big enough for there. Where did you find such things?” she asked.
“A glass blower in France does special orders. We shall have quite a collection, I imagine.”
“You’re better.” She kissed his chin.
“You’ll get your reward.” He pressed the tip of his member to her.
Mariah froze. “Aren’t you going to remove the other?”
“Your body can handle both, I promise you. It’ll be very nice if you trust me.” He kissed her forehead.
She nodded. Trying her best, Mariah remembered he knew much more about things than she. He’d never hurt her. Her body could take it if she wanted, and she deeply wanted him and to see what this would feel like. Two shafts in her at once.
“Hold onto it and relax the rest of your muscles.” His thumb grazed her clit, and Mariah’s hips lifted in an instant response.
Slowly, he entered her, stretching and pressing down to the toy. The pressure made Mariah tense, but her body adjusted quickly. The added pleasure took hold. His cock went further than the toy, and she felt the contrasts. He hit the spot she loved, and she grabbed at his arms.
“Like it?” He leant down to her.
“God, yes. Please. Harder!” Her nails scratched his back.
James grabbed her hands and pinned them over her head. “I’ll tie you up if you prefer.”
“Don’t stop. Not now.” She loved when he tied her up, but now, she needed the release without interruption. Since he had her arms held tight, her hips snapped for more.
James answered all her requests. He worked faster and hit that spot deep inside her that sent her into release. She fought the surrender, letting it build again and again until the pressure couldn’t be contained.
Her body convulsed around both shafts, giving her extra pleasure. James held tight inside as her body arched and squeezed, intent on all the reward it could muster. She was fully exposed, fully satisfied, and all she wanted to do was hold him—but he kept her hands pinned. She needed some other release.
“I love you!�
�� she screamed.
He released her arms and pulled free of her. She saw the shock in his eyes.
Mariah felt tears form. Wasn’t that natural for a wife to feel? To say? They’d never uttered it to one another. Tonight, she couldn’t help herself.
The air in the room had changed. She debated an apology but she was not sorry. And their love was not a sex game. There were no rules of property in this part of marriage. Mariah had no idea what to do but to be true to herself and those feelings.
“Let me finish you.” She reached for his erection.
James pushed her hand away. “Don’t lie to get your way.”
“I’d never lie. You may treat me as your own glass sex toy, but I did not lure you into marriage for any reason other than love.” She sat up. “I want you and your children. Flog me, torment me for days—the answers will be the same.”
He pushed her back down and pulled away all the pillows. Sliding his cock between her breasts, he waited. Finally, it dawned on her what he wanted. She’d done it with the toy.
Pressing her breasts together around his hot flesh felt so much better than the hard glass. He thrust forwards and back. He was wet from her pussy, and it thrilled her. The man she loved towering over her, fucking her breasts.
Mariah craned her neck to lick the head of him and pressed her lips to the tip each time he thrust forward.
“You like this?” he asked.
“Yes!” she screamed.
Did he not believe her? Did he regret marrying her? Most men would do anything to get her with child, and he avoided it at every opportunity.
“Suck it.” He pressed forward and shuddered.
Mariah sucked it and licked the tip as she watched his face. Taunt with intensity, his jaw clenched. His eyes went dark, and a low grunt came from him as his release caught them both off guard.
She kept licking. The taste of him coated her tongue, and Mariah sucked for more and kissed to coax every drop free. He’d released her hands at some point, and she grabbed his rear, pulling him in. She swallowed as much as she could.
After a few haggard breaths, James eased back. “You liked that?”
“Yes.” She licked her lips but stayed on the bed. He seemed ready to bolt. “Please, I want more. Don’t go.”
A Firm Hand Page 5