An Affair of Honor (Rebel Hearts Book 2) Page 23
She glanced across the room. Mr. Hastings and Sally were currently kissing beneath mistletoe. The pair had married months ago and still appeared inseparable and very happy together too. “He was trying to impress his wife and seems to have succeeded.”
“I can understand that desire.” William winked. “But I beat him, I’m sure.”
“Yes, William. I’m sure you taught him a lesson he’ll soon not forget.” She smiled fondly at her husband. William’s playful streak was a rare commodity, and she cherished each and every glimpse into his lighter soul. “What happens next?”
The family Christmas gathering was quite a bit more involved than she’d first imagined. After a communal breakfast, they had taken to sleighs and delivered gifts to all the tenants of Newberry Park. William, despite his naval career, was well known at Newberry, and he’d greeted many of the farmers with such joy in his eyes he was breathtaking. He’d introduced her to everyone and remained with his arm around her back, supporting her during the lengthy conversations.
“Next we all troop outside carrying torches, light the bonfire, and watch it burn.”
“All of us?”
“Perhaps not Aunt Pen this year. She was just complaining of the cold and plans to retire shortly.”
Matilda fingered her blanket. “I should give her my blanket before we go out.”
“That would be very kind of you, but I was hoping you would take it with us. It is very cold outside tonight, and I had plans to wrap us both in it.”
“It’s not a very large blanket, William.”
“Large enough for me to wrap my arms about you and huddle together under it while we watch the fire burn. And after a while I had hoped to slip away with you. Somewhere private where we might be ourselves.”
A blush heated her cheeks and she squirmed. She had plans for the night that required them to remain indoors. Matilda just hadn’t told him yet. She had finally figured out her husband’s secret, the one thing he dared not reveal about his desires. She’d known he was holding back but was rather astonished it had taken her so long to figure him out. “I’d like that, but can we stay indoors if I promise to be very quiet?”
“You’re hardly ever quiet these days,” he complained without real disapproval in his tone. It had been a week since he’d laid a hand to her bottom, and she missed the warmth and comfort such touches inspired. He glanced at her quickly, considering her request with the gravity it deserved. They would have some explaining to do if they were overheard. “Perhaps the bonfire can wait.”
“Thank you.”
“Let me take Vicar to Dawson for the night, and then we can make an escape.”
It didn’t take William long to dispatch Vicar to a secure room for the night. When everyone began talking loudly about going out, they slipped from the room hand in hand. The cold of the hall almost took Matilda’s breath away. Although she was bundled up in her blanket, the chill in the air made her nose burn and she hugged the fabric closer to her skin. William led her firmly away from the white drawing room, and Matilda pulled him up the stairs. “I have a Christmas gift for you in our rooms.”
“You do?”
Matilda nodded. It had taken all her cunning to hide his presents in her luggage and not have them discovered. “It is warm there. Come and let me show you.”
They hurried toward their guest bedchamber as voices burst out laughing below and doors clattered shut. Matilda was breathless with anticipation for the surprise she was about to reveal and quickly slipped into the bedchamber assigned to them on their arrival.
“Darling.” His kiss was fierce and consuming as he pressed her against the door. Matilda flicked the lock when they drew apart a few moments later. “Billy.”
“That’s my Mattie, always seeking the fastest way to please us both.” He kissed her some more, but they both were aware that time was short and privacy paramount. He turned her around and placed his hand at the back of her neck. “You are a terrible tease, my love.”
She shivered as he steered her toward the huge four-poster bed. “Then punish me, Billy.”
She had already laid out his present. A mask, red silk strips of cloth, riding crop, and an unworn snowy white cravat cloth of his waited.
His fingers tightened on her neck. “Matilda?”
“Surprise.” Matilda took two bold steps forward, halted at the foot of the bed, and dropped her arms to her sides. “Merry Christmas, Billy Boy.”
William came up behind her, glancing at the items she’d spread out over the bed. “They were in a locked chest in the attic at home. What are they doing here?”
“They belong in our bedchamber.” Teasing William was always pleasurable for her. Matilda wiggled her bottom, bumping against his groin deliberately. His sharp intake of breath made her smile. She glanced up, making sure he noticed the hook dangling from a length of rope tied to the high rail.
William reached for the hook and tested it. “This will not be quiet,” he told her. “You might cry out a little more than normal.”
“Then tie me up and gag me,” she said as she cast an innocent glance over her shoulder and then gestured to the cravat and the other things. His eyes widened farther. “That is what they are for.”
He nodded slowly.
It had taken Matilda some time to figure out what each length of red cloth was used for. She had studied the creases on each until she’d figured out William must enjoy binding women during sex. Since he’d not done so yet but often held her wrists, pinning her against the bed or walls, she decided he would probably like to do it with her one night.
This evening was the perfect moment to experiment, but time was short. “You do want to restrain me, don’t you, William?”
“Hell, woman.” He raked his hand through his hair and then shook his head. “I love you, Matilda. Even more than I thought possible.”
Her gown disappeared, corset and chemise too, until she was standing naked before him. His hand struck her bottom, and a pleasant burn warmed her cheeks.
He secured the first long silk tie around her body so it crossed between her breasts and tied it at her back. “I told you not to touch that chest.”
“Thank you for this perfect Christmas,” she whispered.
“My pleasure,” he said, winding another around her right thigh firmly. He reached for a third strip and tied it around her left leg. “Or it will be very soon.”
Matilda widened her stance, bent over the bed, prepared for more punishment.
He hooked his fingers in the silk band tied about her chest at the back and held her firmly in place. Then he spanked her with his hand until her legs trembled. Moisture coated her thighs, and her sex quivered with need by the time he stopped. She did not feel the cold, only the heat of her husband’s regard.
He drew her upright using the silk bonds, bound her wrists in front of her briskly, and then reached for the long white length of cloth. He twisted it between his hands and then pressed it to her lips. Matilda opened her mouth, accepting the gag, and breathed deeply through her nose as he secured it at the back of her head. Her mask slipped over her face next. She loved to wear her mask. It made her feel mysterious and safe all at once.
A rough growl left William’s throat as his skin pressed against her from behind. He was naked, aroused, and ready to punish her. His arms wrapped around her body instead. “Darling.”
Matilda couldn’t respond with the gag in her mouth, but lifted her arms up toward the hook. With his help, she dangled from the mooring point, her toes barely touching the ground.
“When the punishment becomes too much,” he whispered, “bring one knee up onto the bed. I will stop immediately.”
She nodded her understanding, excitement filling her with restlessness. She swayed from the hook, but the first light smack of the crop against her nipple caused her to groan. He brushed her body all over with the crop, sliding the leather between her legs too, and tapped lightly over her clitoris. Matilda moaned around the gag as her body b
egan to throb.
William stopped touching her and silence lengthened.
Although she expected punishment, the first strike of the crop was a shock and she could not contain her cry. Although muffled by the gag, she could have been heard by anyone passing their room. The second strike burned and her eyes filled with tears as she fought her instincts to moan loudly. The third and fourth strikes had her tears falling. She sobbed at the fifth and sixth.
“That’s enough for the first night,” he promised after the seventh strike, despite her not signaling for him to stop. He set his warm hand to the back of her neck. “I love you.”
He threw the crop away onto the bed before her. William removed her gag and released her from the hook. He kept her hands bound, the silk ties wrapped around her body, and laid her gently over the bed.
A smooth, hot caress stroked over her flaming cheeks, and then William hooked his fingers beneath the ties on her legs to part her thighs and entered her from behind.
She arched her back. He always felt so very good when he was impatient to be inside her body. His use of the ties to control her was no detriment to her pleasure.
Her arousal only increased the more he used them.
Matilda held on to the ends of the ribbons of silk bound around her wrist as he began to move. Her bottom stung every time he pressed hard against her skin, but the slide of his cock brought bliss. She would find that perfect moment again where everything ceased to be and there was only her and William. Billy.
His grip on her hips eased and then he touched her between her legs. Matilda closed her eyes, and desire surged through her body as he made love to her roughly and thoroughly, leaving her in no doubt that her gift of complete trust and submission had released his hidden passions. She enjoyed their time together the most when he was on the verge of losing control, as he seemed to be now, until she was sobbing his name and ready to scream.
His hand slid up and covered her throat and then her mouth, muffling her cries of passion as they drove each other crazy.
He turned her head a little so they could see each other. “When are you going to tell me?”
She frowned and his grip on her mouth eased. “Tell you?”
“When are you going to tell me you love me?”
His hands moved to cover her breasts and then down to cover her stomach. He patted her stomach lightly. “And that we’re having a child.”
“There’s no babe.”
“I think there is.” He hovered over her, barely moving against her, but still full and hard inside her trembling body. She wriggled but he caught the ties at her back and held her still. “And about time too.”
It was always hard to think when he was inside her. Harder now that she was restrained as she was. She frowned, concentrating on his lips rather than how her position made her vulnerable and even more aroused by that. “You really do want a child so soon?”
William kissed her cheek. “Getting you big with our child is all I think about lately. Have you not noticed a lessening of your punishments and an increase of ease in your schedule?”
“Yes, but I had thought it simply your growing accustomed to me. I thought, perhaps, you had grown tired of punishing me so often.”
He drew back and thrust deep. “Heaven forbid I ever grow that accustomed to our marriage. I have never been so aware of another person as I am of you and you test my limits every day. Your breasts have been tender to my touch of late. Your waist has thickened too. All things I love, I hasten to add.”
Matilda’s cheeks blazed with embarrassment. She had given the chances of conception absolutely no thought. She had been too wrapped up in her new life, in William’s astonishing love, to think any further than her next punishment. Provoking William in unexpected ways could take hours of planning and effort on her part. But could he be correct about a babe?
If so, they would have to take greater care in bed. William cradled her hips between his hands. “A daughter for you, a son for me. A dozen or one, but I will never get enough of you.”
She blushed. “Or I of you. Of moments like this with you.”
“So what is your answer?”
Matilda struggled to bring her thoughts in order. She had never dreamed of this life but she thrived on it. She thrived with William. He had become the center of her world, and she had accepted she was the center of his. They made a good pair. They made magic together. “I do love you,” she confessed.
“Thank God,” he whispered and drew back to slap her bottom. “I have needed to hear since I met you.”
He slammed back into her, and his thrusts quickened until they both cried out soon after.
Wedged beneath William, Matilda fought for breath. She hadn’t thought he was waiting for her to say it. She’d thought he already knew she loved him.
“Don’t call me Billy again tonight,” William said as he wrapped his arms about her waist and drew her tight against him. He was breathing hard and rough against her ear. “Dear God, that name on your lips drives me insane.”
“I had noticed that,” she whispered. Warmth filled her soul. Happiness. Contentment. She liked what they did together. She liked that she could drive him wild so often. She loved being bound and punished too.
As her breathing slowed, William shifted off her and then eased her into bed, wrapping her warmly against the cold. He moved to the windows and peeked out. “A large group is coming back.”
Matilda smiled. She had love, she had desire and discipline, and exquisite pain from the one man she’d never expected to care about her. She curled her bound hands under her cheek and admired the man she’d married. When William had demanded she pretend to love him she had never intended to. She had thought a few turns about a society ball would be all that was required of her. But a fake marriage to William had become all too real. Too tangible. He had invaded every moment of her life and shown her how to live in his world.
She had once resented the Fords’ easy, undemanding, pampered life, but there was nothing easy about loving William and nothing she would do to change him. “Will I be punished for unlocking that chest?”
“Undoubtedly, but not too soon,” William said, coming close to fiddle with the knots to release her wrists. His eyes glowed as they held hers, warm with love, and desire betraying his heightened emotions. “There is a lovely spot not far from here where I can take you over my knee again before we go home if the weather is agreeable. The spot is on the edge of the woods, protected from casual notice. No one goes there in winter, not even the hunters. You’d like to be spanked in the outdoors, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes, William.” Truthfully, Matilda didn’t care where they were as long as William was with her. There was darkness in his soul, but she wasn’t afraid of him—his darkness excited her beyond reason. She craved more adventure with him like tonight—his hand burning her skin, his body thrusting into hers, passion exploding from every nerve as he made love to her with wild abandon.
Matilda bit her lip as her body responded to her thoughts. “I’d like that above anything, Billy.”
“Matilda,” he growled as his eyes darkened with lust. “I already asked you not to provoke me again tonight.”
“But it is Christmas. A time for giving.” She smiled and fluttered her lashes at him. “I think I would enjoy making love in the outdoors as much as I enjoyed being tied up, Billy.”
She laughed heartily as William drew close and pressed the gag lightly to her lips again. She really did love to provoke him. “I really do love you, Billy,” she mumbled around the cloth before he stopped her talking by making love to her until the sun rose the next morning.
A Christmas Affair
Rebel Hearts, book 3
Publishing in
A Very Wicked Christmas Boxed Set
October 2016
Click this link for more information about A Christmas Affair and the Rebel Hearts series.
About Heather Boyd
Bestselling historical author Heather
Boyd believes every character she creates deserves their own happily-ever-after, no matter how much trouble she puts them through. With that goal in mind, she weaves steamy English set love stories that push the boundaries of regency era propriety to keep readers enthralled until the wee hours of the morning. Brimming with new ideas, she frequently wishes she could type as fast as she conjures new storylines. While writing full time north of Sydney, Australia, Heather collects dust bunnies in all corners of the house and does her best to wrangle her testosterone-fuelled family into submission.
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