Chapter 20
twenty
Guests began arriving sooner than expected. It was like everyone needed entry into Blackwell Manor that night.
Ever the planner, I was glad to have thought of extra food and drink. Though admittedly, while most were glad of the wine, it was the star-filled ballroom that inspired the most gasps.
I was happy for Gretel’s success, despite no one being able to know the truth of whose excellent decorating skills they admired.
Baz, in the sharpest tux and black mask, greeted his guests as they poured through the front door. He shook hands with important men. Kissed their wives’ hands and did his best to dodge the young women who looked much too hopefully at him.
But I didn’t even feel jealous at the way women looked at him. How could I fault them for admiring how handsome he was?
A smile actually graced my face even while running around to ensure everything went to plan.
The dancefloor swelled with people. The stars swirled, the occasional falling star bursting across the ceiling. Wine flowed and music played.
As new guests arrived, cloaks ended up piled in my arms. I shuffled off quickly, taking them to hang up. A continuous to-do list wrote itself in my mind when I nearly tripped, my slipper tugging on the hem of my dress.
As much as I loved this gorgeous black gown, and more importantly, loved how it made me feel, I could admit I missed my basic black dress and pinafore.
A hand steadied me, and then the pile of cloaks lifted from my hands. Blue eyes twinkled at me.
“Allow me,” Baz said, helping.
“You don’t have time,” I replied, but I couldn’t stop the smile. Especially because I knew the exact way Baz was staring at me. Hours had gone by since Gretel teased me, and part of me wondered in the rush of the ball if Baz would really seek me out.
But I should never have doubted him. Baz could smile and dance, but there was a reason he always sought out the quiet library after visitors left. There was a bit of an introvert, believe it or not, in Baz Coldwell.
And as you can imagine, he had no problems with rule-breaking. Skipping out on his own ball to find time to spend with me was something only Baz would do.
“Come here, fairy,” he murmured.
I glanced down the hall. We were tucked into a nook, and with the wine flowing and the dancing, most were suitably entertained. No one was leaving anytime soon, but if someone needed their cloak. . .
He chuckled under his breath and leaned forward. Pressing a kiss to my lips, he said, “Trust me, fairy.”
And then the cloaks were out of my hands, and he pressed me against the wall.
Of all our close couplings, this one brought more heat to my skin.
There was the thrill of being caught and the knowledge that there might be a room full of much better matches, but Baz still wanted to spend the time with me.
He pushed my dress up, sinking his fingers into my swollen cunt with a groan.
“Stars, fairy.” His voice hardened, his forehead touching mine. I stood on my tiptoes demanding another kiss. That brought a laugh to him, and he obliged, biting my lower lip.
My dress was tight, but he forced my leg around his waist. Two fingers pushed in and out of me, his thumb toying with my clit.
“Messy, messy,” he chided, my cheeks flushing at the noise made from his playing. He pinned my back against the wall and pulled his hard cock out.
A swell of music from the ballroom hid my cry as he slammed into me.
I thought I might break, from the way he touched me and the way he took my breath away.
And then he did something he’d never done before. Smearing my arousal, his fingers trailing to a place it’d never explored before.
He tutted under his breath when I tensed. “We have to get you ready somehow.”
Heat flushed along my skin
He rocked his hips into mine, one finger teasing my ass.
“Give in to me,” he ordered softly, kissing the place where my shoulder and neck met. I clung to that sweetness while he invaded all my senses. His thrusts didn’t let up, and my stomach dipped as he worked a finger into my ass.
“Good girl,” he soothed and caught my lips in a kiss when I cried out. “If you keep being loud, you’re going to give us away.”
He punctuated the words with a thrust, my lips parting at the sensation.
“You don’t want them to see you like this do you, fairy?” he asked. “My cock in your cunt and my finger in your ass.”
I almost cried out again when he thrust his finger into my ass, opening me up.
“Maybe you would like that,” he murmured into my shoulder.
My fingers dug into him as he nailed me to the wall.
I loved when Baz’s attentions were intense, but this was almost brutal with how he pinned my body down and took what he wanted.
My stomach clenched when he added another finger in my ass.
“You’ve offered me every other hole,” he said, his voice low and steady while I lost my mind.
“I think it’s time I claim this one too. ”
He toyed with the hole, filling me as his cock claimed my cunt.
“My pussy,” he said, jerking roughly so I understood who owned it. “My ass.”
He kissed me, his tongue forcing its way inside my mouth.
I combusted on the spot. But he took his sweet time, his hips jerking in and out.
All the while, he whispered dirty things.
You’ve always been such a sweet little whore, fairy.
We have to get your ass ready for my cock.
Yes, it might hurt, but you’ll let me do that, won’t you?
Tear you open because I need you. Every single hole belongs to me, fairy.
He went from playing with my ass to toying with my clit again, and I clenched around him. It spurred him on, releasing a stream of cum into my pussy.
Laughter echoed down the hall.
I tensed, but he didn’t set me down until several seconds later. He grabbed a handkerchief from a coat pocket and cleaned himself up. When he caught my raised brow, he simply helped straighten my dress skirt.
“Seriously,” I whispered.
He feigned surprise. “What? Your dress is long enough and it makes me hard thinking about my cum leaking from your cunt. I’ve been a good boy, fairy. Let a man enjoy his prize.”
“You always enjoy your prize,” I grumbled under my breath.
He shot me a cheeky grin. Another burst of laughter had me peeking around the corner. Baz could only be gone so long before guests started asking questions. And footsteps against the stone floor told me people had started to wander about more.
“You have to be careful,” I said.
He shot me a questioning look.
“Gretel deserves a prize too,” I said, happy at the idea that they would get time together. “But there are a lot of people here. They came to rub elbows with you specifically and now that the wine is flowing guests are becoming carefree with where they wander.”
“It’s going to be okay, Tangwystle,” he assured.
I shot him a stern look so he understood I wasn’t playing. “Be careful, Baz Caldwell, or you’ll find yourself locked away in the Manor’s dungeon.”
A gasp of awe came from the ballroom like perhaps they’d seen a burst of stars.
Baz kissed my forehead. “You know it’s not fair, you and the Manor always working against me.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, smoothing my dress. “Aren’t you the owner of said Manor?”
“Aren’t I?” he teased back with a grin.
I blushed at the way he appraised me, his gaze lingering like he knew exactly what was under my dress. And then he left. I tried my best to get my cheeks to cool off before I wandered off to make sure the tables with food and wine were still in working order.
Do I need to explain that things didn’t go to plan?
It began with a ripple. An eruption of murmurs.
Perhaps if this had been a light smattering of gossip, it would have been different. The whispers would spread, but nothing else would truly spill over.
But that was not meant to be.
Because when Rufus Clinemell found Baz and Gretel in a particularly delicate moment, he exploded. It was his yells and his shouts that gained attention.
This was not the necking of two cozy lovebirds discovered during the ball.
It was a servant who had run out on her contract. It was Baz, a gentleman who had already threatened Rufus just because he was everything the other man would never be.
One second, I placed a silver tray on a table. The next, I heard the gasps. The startled moves of the dancers stopping. People craned their necks, turning to follow the sound.
A set of double doors flung open, the floor of the ballroom groaning with unease.
The moment I saw the doors open, I knew. I knew that’s where Baz and Gretel would be.
For so long, the garden had been a spot of beauty for the three of us. It was normally our own cloister, our place of rest and refuge. The gate and the high wall kept us safe while the sun shone down on us.
But the garden wrapped around the Manor. It wasn’t just the little patch of vegetables I grew. People had been out the two terrace doors all evening, needing the fresh air and comparing the star decorations with those of the real sky.
I had told Baz to be careful. He hadn’t heeded my call.
And now Rufus stormed through the double doors. Dancers and guests scattered, their masks unable to conceal their concern.
Especially as he pulled Gretel—dragged her—across the room.
Murmurs rose when Rufus flung Gretel to the ground.
Men could treat women however they wanted, but Rufus’s unbridled anger had people stepping back.
I pushed my way through the crowd. Part of me understood how bad this was, but another part couldn’t fully process it. All I saw was Gretel on the ground, her dress tangled and her hair falling from its pretty chignon.
In my panic, I believed she hit the floor hard. Most likely because the force had been enough to knock off the silver mask from her face.
The murmurs increased, but not many knew Gretel’s identity.
Not until Rufus unleashed his fury.
“My servant!” His yell filled the ballroom. He lifted a threatening finger, his eyes burning.