Still, try as she might, she found it hard to immerse herself in the story tonight. Other thoughts kept intruding, then too there was the background noise from the yard below. Though she could not make out any precise words being shouted she could hear the hoots and jeers drifting up to her window though it was shut fast against the cold night air. She pulled her nightcap down about her ears and to that added her shawl which she draped over her head also, to muffle out the sound. Then she rested her elbows against her raised knees and glued her eyes to the well-worn pages of her periodical.
By sheer dogged determination, she managed to wade her way through the words on the page, though she took in truly little of the story. She wasn’t sure how much later it was that the bedroom door was flung open and Nye came in, stripped to the waist, a candle in one hand and a cloth in the other which he held to his eye.
She sat up straight in astonishment. Surely it wasn’t as late as all that? She lowered her shawl from her head. She fancied she could still catch snatches of conversation in the courtyard below.
He limped across the room. “Need to sleep,” he said, lowering himself down onto the bed with a stifled groan. Watching him Mina almost winced herself. He was a mass of cut and sore flesh. His left eye looked to be the worst, a deep welt above it which looked only freshly healed.
“What are you doing up here at this hour, Nye? They’re surely still drinking the bar dry?”
“Dottie’s taken over the bar,” he said briefly, collapsing back onto the pillows.
“Dottie?”
“The brunette came with Jones, the promoter. She’s run several bars in her time. She knows what she’s doing, and she won’t stick her fingers in the strong box.
“Well, you look terrible,” she said, remembering she was still cross with him from earlier. She shifted over to make room for him as he was already crowding her with his much larger body.
He gave a crack of laughter. “And you’re all heart,” he said, reaching over and snatching the book from her hand.
“Nye-!”
He threw it across the room. “Get over here,” he said seizing her under the arms and dragging her body across his. Mina froze a moment and then started to struggle.
“Ow!” he objected. “Keep still. Or I’ll give you something to squirm about.”
“Get off me, you brute!” she huffed, even though she stilled her limbs out of consideration for his injuries.
He gave a grunt and relaxed back against the pillows again, dragging the cap from her head and tossing it over the side of the bed so her hair spilled down over his shoulder.
Mina squeezed her eyes shut. It was extremely undignified spread-eagled in this fashion! She felt her face warm at the feel of all his hard muscle. All he was wearing was a pair of long underwear. “This can’t possibly be comfortable for you—” she started reasonably.
“It is, so shut your yapping and go to sleep.”
“You rude beast!” She braced her arms on either side of him to lever herself off, but his hands seized her immediately keeping her in place. One at the top of her thigh and one at her waist.
“All I want to do is sleep,” he growled. “But if you want to make it into something more, then I’ll happily oblige.”
To her alarm she felt something stirring against her thigh. “No,” she burst out, for the inn was full to the rafters.
“Then give me what I want.”
She pondered this a moment and forced herself to relax back against his hard body.
He gave another groan and shifted against her.
“Nye, you said—”
“Everything hurts,” he explained curtly.
Which didn’t explain his erection she thought with annoyance, but she was too much of a lady to point that out. Which the brute was probably counting on, she thought, gritting her teeth. Fine! If he could ignore it, so could she. She moved her head, resting her cheek against his shoulder and tried not to jump when his hand came to rest familiarly on her rump.
“Nye,” she frowned.
“Don’t suppose I could persuade you to take this damnable nightgown off?”
“Certainly not!” she huffed indignantly.
He sighed, cursing under his breath. Then his hand moved, she heard a rustle and when it slid back it was against her bare skin.
“Nye!”
“Just give me this,” he muttered. “I’m in agony.”
“It’s your own fault, if you will partake in such brutal sports” she tutted. “I have no sympathy for you.”
“You’re a hard woman,” he said, and she jumped when his thumb stroked over her backside in an idle caress. “But you do have a nice arse,” he added thickly.
“You are the most aggravating man, Will Nye!”
“And extremely nice breasts,” he added appreciatively.
“Stop it!”
“If you had any Christian charity, you’d take this bloody thing off and let me feel them bare against my chest.”
She gasped. “You’re an utter disgrace!” she said angrily, raising her head from his shoulder. She couldn’t really make out his face in the dark, but she could have sworn she could see his eyes gleaming beneath her. And he was definitely hard against her thigh now. “You said all you wanted to do was sleep!” she pointed out.
“I do,” he groaned. “But now I need a quick tumble to take the edge off.”
“Well there are plenty of whores around, so I suggest you go and find one!” she retorted angrily with a directness that shocked even her. Of course, if he had done any such thing, she was uncomfortably aware she would have hit the roof. What was going on with her these days? She struggled to rise up off him, but it was futile.
“I don’t want one of them,” he said huskily and suddenly his hands were at her neckline, roughly yanking the thin cotton until a loud rent was heard.
“Nye!” she gasped feeling the cool night air against her bare breasts. Then his mouth was there, wet, and lascivious. He sucked the tip of one breast until he had taken as much of it into his mouth as possible and moaned around it loudly.
Mina gasped, her hands clutching at the pillows behind him as he pinched and plucked her other nipple, his hands roaming over the big, soft globes of her breasts, rubbing and stroking them, as his tongue licked over and underneath and between the valley as he switched from one to the other in indecent worship. “Nye!” she whimpered as he sucked the other nipple into his mouth and laved it with his tongue making her whole body jolt in reaction. “Oh God!”
“Mmmm, that’s it, comfort me,” he groaned against her wet flesh.
To her horror, she realized she was now fully astride him, writhing against his muscular stomach as he suckled and nursed at her full breasts in turn. It was so wrong, she thought distractedly, as she shifted over his hot mouth, pushing her other breast forward for his attention. Sucking in a shuddering breath, she was glad it was dark, so he couldn’t see her wantonness!
“Take the rail,” he growled, releasing her breast before fastening greedily on the other.
“What?”
He seized one of her hands and pushed it toward the iron headboard.
“Grab a hold of it,” he growled. “With both hands.”
Mina groped blindly for the metal headboard as he reached down and roughly tugged the remains of her poor mauled nightgown out of his way. Then she felt his thumb stroke over the most private hair between her legs, making her shiver. His cock was standing firm against her buttocks now, rubbing against her for attention.
“Are you wet, Mina?” he asked hoarsely. She watched him run his tongue over his full bottom lip, as his fingers slid into the warm folds of her quivering cleft. Mina’s fingers gripped hard around the brass rail of the headboard. “Nye!” she gasped again, and he gave a satisfied growl. “Drenched,” he said tracing her slit as he coated his fingers in her moisture. “I want you to ride me.”
“What?” Even as her shocked words burst forth, he slid two fingers deep inside her,
making her eyes water even as she clamped down on him. “Oh Nye!”
“Hmmm,” he hummed, throwing back his head to look up at her face. “I always forget what a sweet little pussy you have. Far too sweet for such an obstinate woman.” He moved his fingers and she squirmed at the sensation coiling in her loins. “Ohhh!”
“I bet I could make you come from this alone,” he mused, pumping his fingers, but even as she undulated against the firm stroke, his hand halted. “No,” he said as she suppressed a groan of disappointment. “I want you wild and wanton for it.”
“What? I don’t...”
He shifted again underneath her until she felt his rampant shaft between her legs, hard and urgent. “That’s it,” he grunted as he aligned the tip against her slit.
“But... I don’t—”
“You do the work this way, as I’m too banged up.” The fingers of one hand spread her open as the other grabbed her thigh, guiding her down over his staff. Mina bit her lip and groaned as the thick head pushed into her where she ached and throbbed.
“Nye,” she groaned as he eased into her inch by inch. “It’s—it’s too much.”
He gave a husky laugh. “You can take me,” he said, tugging on her thigh and pushing his hips forward. He spoke the truth, for she felt him lodged there firmly before his hands came to grab her buttocks and urge her forward onto his cock. She tried to stifle the satisfied moan that rose to her lips as he slid deeper. She could not manage to suppress it when he slid the last couple of inches home. Luckily, he drowned it out with his own loud grunt. “Yesss!”
He dropped back against the pillows with a sharp exclamation. “Woman, you’re going to kill me,” he groaned. “You’re so tight.”
Mina’s hands dropped from the rail to either side of his head on the pillows. The bed shuddered as she felt him reach up instead to seize the metal frame with his hands. “Ride me,” he groaned. “Now.”
“I don’t—”
“Yes, you do. Move your hips,” he ground out, sounding in pain. “Use me.”
Mina blinked down at him. She felt so full at this angle, she was a little concerned she might do herself a mischief. She bounced forward experimentally, and he groaned. Re-settling her knees against the mattress, she rose up and then sank back down on him. She couldn’t help crying out at the thrilling sensation of propelling herself like this on him.
“Harder,” he grunted.
Mina repeated the action with more vigor this time. “Are you sure this isn’t hurting you?” she panted when she heard his ragged breathing as she rose and fell, rose and fell against him. She could feel her own bliss approaching, climbing up her spine as she arched her back and ground down against him in a steady rhythm.
“You’re not sat on my face,” he pointed out. “That’s where I’m cut up.”
She muffled an objection that would have been a waste of breath in any case. “Then,” she panted. “You’ll tell me, won’t you?”
“What?”
“When you want me to stop. So, we can change back to the normal position,” she said, face flaming hot.
“By normal, you mean missionary?” he asked with a raised brow. “Besides, you won’t make me come like this,” he said with supreme confidence. “And I told you, call me Will when I’m inside you.”
“Oh.” She fell forward, bracing her hands against his chest. “Will,” she sobbed, twisting her fingers in his dark smattering of chest hair, and tugging sharply. She couldn’t hold off much longer, a few more strokes and she’d ignite. Holding off her pleasure, she stopped bouncing and just undulated against him, tightening her inner muscles around him, taking him deep. “Will,” she whispered brokenly. “You feel so good.”
She felt him throb within her as she came apart and suddenly his knees came up behind her. The bed jerked as he released the headboard and sat up, his hands hard on her hips.
“Minerva!” he choked, and she blinked in the dark as she felt his breath on her face, his shocked voice in her ear. For a second, she thought she’d hurt one of his injuries, but then she felt him spilling within her. “W-will!” she gasped, but his hands held her rigidly in place and suddenly, his mouth was on hers, hot and devouring. He wound a hand in her hair as he stroked his tongue in her mouth, the other grabbed firmly at her backside, holding her firmly in place on his spurting shaft.
He moaned into her mouth as his hips surged hard against her until he was spent. Then he just held her there a moment as they panted in each other’s arms. He released his grip on her hair and ran his hand from her neck to her middle back. Nipping at her bottom lip, he lifted his mouth from hers, still breathing hard. “Witch,” he whispered and fell back onto the pillows, taking her with him. Too tired to protest, she let her eyes drift shut and fell fast asleep in his arms.
18
Predictably, if distressingly it was a hammering on the door that awakened her the next morning.
“Mrs. Nye!” shouted Edna’s voice. “They’re asking for the master below!”
“Alright Edna!” she yelled back and glanced down at Nye’s sleeping face. His eye was not so swollen this morning, she was relieved to see though he still looked rather battered with a purpleness coming out below it. Both his arms were outstretched and, as per usual he was out cold. She shook his large shoulders and saw him wince. He must be sore, she realized, quickly releasing him.
When she started to peel herself off him, he grumbled in his sleep. “Leave off your squirming, wench. I’m not done with you yet.”
“Wench? I’m your wife, you heathen! And you most certainly have done!” she scolded him. “It’s morning and I’ll thank you to remember I’m a decent woman.”
He sighed at that, though his eyes remained closed. “So long as you don’t remind me of it at night, I’m content,” he said in a gravelly voice.
Mina turned her head sharply to look at him, but he hadn’t moved, so she crossed to the dresser and helped herself to clean stockings and drawers. She had managed to clamber into her chemise and corset before his eyes finally opened and he watched her stepping into her petticoats.
“I’ll cure you of that respectability yet, Mina Nye,” he rumbled ominously.
She stuck her nose in the air. “Seems to me you need some semblance of it around here. You’re utterly shameless.”
“Is that so?” he sounded more amused than anything.
“Brazen,” she added. “And so are your clientele,” she hesitated.
“What is it?” he asked, swinging his legs around so his feet hit the floor. “It’s not like you to hold back,” he observed before continuing. “I told you, you shouldn’t mix with them. They’re a rough crowd. If you heard something that offended you, then I did warn you—”
“I’m not talking about the prizefighters,” she burst out. “At least, not directly.”
He eyed her warily. “What then?”
“Do you know who—” She flailed a moment for the right term. “Accompanied Clem Dabney upstairs yesterday?” she asked.
His eyes narrowed. “Clem?” he said with rising ire. “What of him? If he said anything to you—”
“No, no. He did not even know I was there,” she hastened to stem the flow. “It was some married lady, I think. Her husband was a spectator in the crowd and yet still she went upstairs with Mr. Dabney.” Nye blinked. “You do not look shocked,” she said, feeling like the wind had been taken out of her sails.
He said nothing for a minute, just pulled on his long underwear. “This will be hard for you to fathom, Mina,” he said dryly. “But very few would bring their wives to watch a boxing match. She was likely his mistress and if she went upstairs with Clem, then he would not have forced her.”
“I know that!” Mina flushed. “I may be sheltered but even I knew that much.” She took a deep breath, lowering her gaze. “Have married women ever—” She broke off a moment. “To you, I mean,” she said stiltedly. When she mustered the courage to look at Nye, he had his hands on his hips and was wa
tching her under lowered brows.
“Offered to toss their skirts up for me?” he asked dryly. “If they did, those days are behind me now. And I was never particularly interested in respectably married women. They expect you to do all the work and then be grateful for it, in my experience. They’re not worth the bother.” Mina gasped at this and pressed her hands to her hot cheeks. “I’m doing you the favor of being frank with you,” he pointed out. “If you ask me a direct question, then I’ll give you a direct answer, whether you like it or not.”
“What makes you think I was not satisfied with your answer?” she asked boldly, lowering her hands from her face. “If you had enjoyed making sport of other men’s wives, I would have been seriously displeased!”
“Oh, would you now?” he asked, going from tense to amused. “For your information, I am only interested in one married woman and that’s my own.” He surprised her by crossing the room to haul her into his arms and soundly kiss her. “Now put on your dress,” he growled. “Before I’m tempted to drag you back to that bed. More tempted, that is.”
At the gleam in his eye, Mina hurried to free herself and fetch a clean black dress from the wardrobe. She would not put anything past him when he looked at her like that.
“I’ve invited Effie and Dot to take breakfast with me this morning in the parlor,” she said over her shoulders as Nye pulled on his breeches. “At nine o’clock.”
He looked skeptical. “I doubt they’ll be up before noon,” he predicted. “It would have been a late one last night. People will likely stick around until this afternoon before they start leaving with sore heads.”
“Well,” Mina reflected, moving to the mirror and taking up the hairbrush. “I shan’t be offended if they do not show up. But I shall have to prepare in any case.”
When she made her way downstairs ten minutes later however, she found Effie drifting out of the kitchen in a sea-green dress and cradling a cup of tea in her lace mittened hands. “There you are, Mina,” she greeted her with a yawn and a kiss to her cheek. “I’ve left Jeb abed, but I wouldn’t have missed our cozy catch up, not for the world!”
A Bride for the Prizefighter: A Victorian Romance Page 26