Ruined (To Love a Governess Regency Short Story) (8 page)

Audrey opened her arms to him when he rolled back over.
 
Instead of embracing her, he grabbed her shift and pulled it higher; up and over her head and flung it across the room.
 
Audrey grasped the blanket and pulled it to her chin. He would give her this moment of modesty but he had every intention of seeing all of her before the night was through.

He took her lips with his own, gently at first. This was not a night to be ruled by passion. They would have plenty of those in the future. Tonight was about love and he wasn’t going to rush anything. He wanted to savor every moment of finally having Audrey in his arms and in bed.

Her lips parted and he traced them before delving deeper.
 
Her arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him closer. His body heated further and he fought the urge to roll Audrey onto her back and take her now. Instead, his hands caressed up and down her back. It was Audrey who pressed against him and that was almost his undoing.

Alec pulled back and brought his hands forward, lifting and weighing her breasts.
 
Audrey’s nipples tightened further.
 
As if to mimic his actions, her palms slid across his chest.
 
Their eyes met and held while each gently caressed the other, content to simply explore at their leisure.
 

A gasp hissed past her lips when he gently pinched each of her nipples.
 
Alec bit back a grin as she squirmed a bit.
 
She wouldn’t be content to simply lay here and touch any more than he would. Alec rolled Audrey to her back and took one of her nipples into his mouth.
 
He slowly circled it with his tongue
before
 
gently
suckling and nipping it while he molded and caressed the other breast.
 

Audrey was not one to simply lay still and be loved.
 
Her hips lifted and relaxed, then turned toward him.
 
Alec stoked the passion and let it build.
 

He slid his hands
across
 
her
smooth abdomen
 
then down to her hips.
 
Audrey did almost everything he did, not the least bit afraid to touch him.
 
Thank goodness. He had heard stories from some of his friends that their wives rarely, if ever, touched them any lower than their upper arms.
 
Right now, Audrey had his buttocks clasped in her eager hands.
 

They couldn’t continue with these caresses much longer or he would explode before he had the opportunity to be inside of her. He had waited a year to thoroughly love Audrey and he wasn’t going to ruin it by coming too soon.

When his fingers slid into her curls, Audrey brought her hand forward and clasped his cock.
 
Alec groaned and momentarily forgot to pleasure Audrey as she slid her hand up and her thumb brushed over the tip.
 

Alec glanced up from where he had been kissing her breast; Audrey’s worried eyes met his.
 
“Should I not touch you here?”

A half chuckle slipped past his lips.
 
“You can touch me there anytime you wish.”
 

He kissed her again, matching the passion that enflamed him when he’d first gotten into her bed.
 
He glided his fingers further, parting her folds, already damp with desire.
 
He parted her legs and slipped between them, sliding one finger into her tight channel, and stretching her.
 
He added a second finger and her legs opened further.
 
Audrey’s hands dropped away from this cock and she grasped the forearm that was supporting his weight.
 
A deep moan came from the back of her throat when his fingers pushed further in and he used his cock to rub against her nubbin.
 

Nails pricked his skin, but Alec didn’t mind. In fact, he enjoyed the passion Audrey didn’t bother to hide.
 
But he couldn’t wait any longer. He positioned himself and entered her slowly.

* * *

Audrey wanted to tilt her hips and bring him in.
 
Ever since he’d begun kissing her breasts, a need had developed deep inside her, making her throb, and consuming her with heat, but Alec was moving so slowly.
 
She lifted and urged him forward but he continue to move in and out, slowly, going a bit further each time.
  
Was he intentionally torturing her?

Alec pulled back and stopped.
 
Audrey wanted to cry in frustration. Surely this was not it. It wasn’t over, was it?

He leaned forward, his lips a breath away.
 
“I love you.”

Before she could respond he thrust forward, deep inside, tearing through her maidenhead.
 
How could she have forgotten? He was being gentle because of her virginity.
 
Tears stung her eyes from the sudden pain, but it was disappearing almost as quickly as it had come.
 
Alec remained still. She looked up to see he was watching her, concern etched on his brow.
 

Audrey smiled.
 
“I love you too.”

His face relaxed and he moved, bringing his member against the place that ached. Over and over he moved and the tension built inside. She tried to move with him but she was awkward.
 
Instead, she grasped his shoulders and brought her legs around his hips. Alec lifted her bottom and plunged inside over and over.
 
No longer slow and careful, but quick, almost frenzied.

The pressure and tightness built until it let loose, and pleasure washed over her, thrumming through her channel, tightening around his cock.
 
Alec stiffened, threw his head back and groaned as he came inside her before he collapsed to the side and pulled her into an embrace.

His breathing was ragged, as was hers. Audrey snuggled against him, enjoying the security of his arms, in awe of what had just occurred.

Chapter 9

Alec gently kissed Audrey’s eyelids. The sun would be up soon and they needed to be gone or there would be hell to pay with Strotham.
 

“Audrey, you need to wake up.”

She slowly opened her eyes and stretched her arms above her head.
 
When she saw him, a contented smile came to her face, like a cat that swallowed the cream, and she sighed.
 
Clearly his soon-to-be wife had no regrets.
  
Audrey snuggled closer to him, her eyes still drowsy with sleep.
 
Alec pulled away and got out of bed. If he stayed there much longer, especially with Audrey seductively pressing herself against him, he would never leave that bed.

Her smile disappeared and her eyes opened wider, etched with worry.
 
Alec leaned over and kissed her. “We need to leave before Strotham finds us.”

The bed dipped as she sat up and looked around the room.
 
Audrey was fully awake now.
 

“Why don’t you wash while I gather my clothes?
 
I will wash and dress after you are done.”

Audrey pulled the blanket tight around her body, got out of the bed and padded her way to the pitcher and bowl of water.
  
A lovely rose color blossomed in her cheeks and spread to the rest of her face as she tried to wash and remain covered.
 
Alec turned his back to give her privacy. One day she would be comfortable enough to be around him unclothed.

When she was finished she scooped up the blue dress from yesterday along with undergarments he hadn’t quite seen and disappeared behind a screen.
 
While she dressed, he washed and did the same.
 
He was just pulling on his last boot when she came back around, dressed and ready for the day, almost.
 
Her hair was mussed, as badly as it had been the day she arrived. With a smile, Alec recalled wishing he had been the one to put her in such a state.

A brush lay on the dressing table and Audrey settled herself before it and began working the tangles from her hair as Alec tried to tie his cravat into something presentable.
 
With quick fingers, Audrey had her hair twisted, tied and pinned behind her head.
 
He had never watched a lady prepare for the day but assumed it took hours.
 
Either he was wrong in his estimation or Audrey was quicker than most. Of course, her hair wasn’t full of cascading curls. That probably would take hours.
 

She glanced up at him through the mirror.
 
“Ready?”

“I have been for quite some time now.”
 
He grinned and bent down to kiss her on the top of the head.

Audrey rose from her seat, grabbed her satchel and tossed her shift from the night before inside, along with the brush.
 
For a moment she glanced around the room, probably trying to determine if she had forgotten anything, before she glided to the armoire and pulled out her cloak. Alec assisted her in donning it then bent to retrieve her hat, which Audrey settled on the top of her head.

The door creaked when Alec pulled it open.
 
Strotham needed to have his servants oil the hinges.
 
He stuck his head into the corridor and looked both ways.
 
Nobody was about at this hour, but if they dawdled much longer, servants would begin their day.
 
Standing back, he allowed Audrey to precede him into the hallway.
 
The floorboards creaked at the top of the stairs and they both stopped and looked around.
 
Hopefully Strotham was a sound sleeper.

A few more steps creaked and the two hastened to be out of the house before anyone came to investigate.

“Exactly where are you going with Miss Rutledge?”

Alec stopped mid-step and turned.
 
Strotham stood at the top of the stairs wearing a silk dressing robe with a belt tied at the waist.

“Miss Rutledge and I were going out for a drive.”

Strotham arched an eyebrow.
“Exactly where to at this hour?”

As if he couldn’t guess already. The man was just being difficult.
 
“Scotland, of course.”

“My wife now owes me ten pounds.” He grinned down at them.
 
“And Fairfield still needs a governess.”

“I am beginning to wonder if he will ever get one.
 
This will be three he lost to marriage,” Audrey giggled.

“Had he not married the first one this would not be an issue.”

“And neither one of us would have found our wives,” Alec reminded Strotham.

Strotham nodded his head in agreement.

“We will be off now, to return someday.”

Alec could hear Strotham laughing as he and Audrey walked out the door, but he didn’t care.
 
The man was as besotted with his wife as Alec was with Audrey and would have done the exact same thing if he was in Alec’s shoes. Of that, he was certain.

Audrey grasped his arm and he led her around the corner of the house to his carriage where he had left it last night. However, the horses were gone. “What happened to my horses?”
 
His voice was not quiet, but quite agitated with concern.

A stable boy came running.
 
“They are in stalls, Lord Winters.”

“Why? I never asked you to do that.”

The boy’s face grew red. “Well, sir, when you didn’t come back, I moved them. I hated to see them outside, tied to the carriage, all night.