Chapter 10 #2
Edith nodded and took a delicate bite of her food. She looked at Laurence, her eyes trailing over his scars before a thought sent a shiver down her spine.
“Did…” She hesitated. “Did your father give you those scars?”
She regretted the question as soon as it left her mouth.
Laurence stopped chewing and clenched his cutlery. “No,” he grumbled. “But he was a part of it.”
“I’m sorry,” she apologized quickly. “I didn’t mean to probe. I just… I merely wish to get to know you. We’re married, after all. I don’t want us to remain strangers.”
He nodded, but the movement was stiff. “I’m sorry I can’t live up to the standards your first husband set,” he murmured.
Edith blinked in shock for a moment, then burst into a short laugh, easing the tension in the room. “Oh, no, you have actually far surpassed the standard set by Lord Nealton.” She smiled.
Laurence’s eyebrows shot up, and he laid his cutlery on his plate.
“I beg your pardon?” he asked. “What do you mean?”
“Ah, Lord Nealton was no love match. He was actually a friend of my father’s,” she explained, putting down her cutlery.
“They had been friends for as long as I could remember. At the time of my parents’ death, he was traveling for business, but returned for the funeral.
He kept an eye on me and noticed that my guardians were… ” she trailed off.
She wrinkled her nose while debating how to explain the situation.
“Did they hurt you?” Laurence asked, his voice low and dangerous.
“They weren’t abusive,” she said hurriedly. “Just… cold, distant. I was very much treated as an obligation, not as part of their family.”
“Ah,” Laurence murmured, his shoulders relaxing. “I imagine that was very difficult for you.”
“Yes.” Edith nodded. “My family had been warm and loving, so ending up with them was disorienting. I was left alone often and had to fend for myself. On occasion, I would have to cook my own meals, because they had taken their servants with them to their second home. When they were at home, I wasn’t spoken to or played with.
It was rather clear that they didn’t see me as family.
Even on the day of my debut, it was as if I had been forgotten.
I think I had been. If I didn’t keep my heart guarded, if I got my hopes up, I’d always end up hurt or disappointed.
I promised myself when I left that place that I would care for the people who had no one to protect them. ”
Laurence listened intently to her story without interrupting. His expression assured her that he was carefully processing each piece of information she shared with him.
“So, how did your marriage come about?” he asked.
“Well, Lord Nealton could see how poorly they were treating me and offered me a way out,” she sighed. “A marriage of convenience. He was a widower, and already had boys from a previous marriage. I wouldn’t be an inconvenience, and I could escape my guardians.”
“I see,” Laurence said, nodding stiffly.
“Honestly, if anyone else had offered me such an arrangement, I would have said no. But he had stories of my parents that he could share with me, and I needed that comfort at the time. Besides, I knew my guardians wouldn’t let me choose after my debut.
If I left it too long, they would choose the person with the best connections.
I took the opportunity to choose for myself. ”
“This was all before your debut?” Laurence asked.
“Yes. I married him the year of my debut,” Edith said.
Laurence watched as she looked down and fidgeted with the lace of her dress. Edith couldn’t tell whether he was waiting for her to speak or still processing what he had heard.
“Lord Nealton… well, he left barely two hours after the wedding to see his mistress.” She laughed bitterly.
The words were coming out before she could stop them or realize what she was admitting.
“He loved her very much. She was a retired opera singer. Much closer to his age, so I couldn’t fault him for it.
I saw him briefly the next day, and that was the extent of our marriage. ”
Silence engulfed them both. She kept her eyes fixed on her hands. When she realized Laurence hadn’t spoken, she looked up at him. The candlelight flickered in his wide, blue eyes, and he seemed speechless. She’d never seen him so shocked.
“Wait one minute. Are you saying that you never saw him on your wedding night?”
She shook her head.
“And you barely saw him after?”
She nodded.
“But…” He stared at her, realization lighting up his eyes.
Edith’s cheeks flushed as she realized what she had just admitted. She hadn’t meant to spill her secret.
“A-Anyway, after that—”
“Edith,” he said, leaning across the table.
Her cheeks flushed deeply at hearing him call her by her first name.
“You mean to tell me that your husband never consummated your marriage?” he asked.
She sighed, nodded, and looked back down at her lap, where her fingers nervously scrunched the lace.
“Let me ask you…” Laurence rose from his chair, gently putting his forefinger under her chin and turning her head to face him. “Was Lord Nealton blind?”
Her eyes widened, and she blinked before feeling her lips quirk into a smile. “What?”
“I asked, was he blind?”
His eyes became harder, more determined. She hadn’t realized it was a serious question.
“No,” she murmured.
He dropped his hand and shifted closer to her, his meal long forgotten. She could feel his breath on her cheek as he leaned in, but then he pulled back, suddenly deep in thought as he returned to his chair. His fingers twitched on his folded arms, and she could have sworn a blush crept up his neck.
After a few moments of contemplation, his eyes met hers again.
“So, have you ever experienced the touch of a man?” he asked, standing up.
She swallowed and bit her bottom lip, shaking her head. Her cheeks felt like they were on fire.
“Not even a lover?” he probed, walking toward her.
“No. I didn’t want to dishonor my vows,” she admitted, looking up at him.
His half-lidded blue eyes seemed to churn with something she couldn’t identify. Then, as if something inside him had snapped, he leaned close, cupping her cheeks in his hands.
“Then let me show you the pleasure you deserve to experience, wife,” he growled.
His lips crashed onto hers, finding a frantic rhythm of adoration and repressed lust. She gasped for breath between kisses, her heart racing.
One of his hands slid into her hair, not pulling it, but applying enough pressure to keep control.
His free hand went to her waist, pulling her up from her chair, which clattered to the floor.
“Your Grace—” she whimpered, but he silenced her with another kiss.
“Shh,” he murmured. “You have so much to learn.”
She felt heat bloom in her chest, her mouth dry as he kissed her senseless.
Suddenly, the kisses stopped, and Edith gasped as he scooped her up, one strong arm balancing her legs and the other supporting her back as he carried her to the bed.
She landed with a thud, her legs hanging over the edge.
Before she could register what was happening, his hands were on her.
His fingers ran up her legs, sending shivers through her.
His palms pushed up the skirts of her gown.
She shuddered as he kissed her thigh and watched his eyes take in every inch of her bared skin.
“You’re so soft,” he murmured as he kissed up her leg. She gasped softly. “And responsive.”
“Is that good?” she asked breathlessly.
“Very,” he replied. “Very, very good.”
He leaned in, his breath warming her core. She felt him press a gentle kiss to her folds. Her whole body shuddered with pleasure.
“Untouched,” he murmured, pressing another delicate kiss to her folds. “What a lucky man I am.”
His tongue licked up and around her folds. She whimpered, her hands curling into the bedsheets. His tongue pressed against her sensitive nub.
Stars exploded behind her eyes. One hand flew to her mouth to muffle the strangled moan that suddenly escaped her. He glanced at her with fierce, determined eyes and reached up to gently grab her wrist.
“Do not silence your pleasure,” he said, his breath warming her skin.
“But I might be heard,” she panted.
“Let them hear,” he murmured, his tongue going back to where it had been.
She whimpered, her thighs tensing. He moved his fingers and gently held her open to receive him.
“Let the maids gossip about how they heard their master pleasuring his wife,” he said. “Let there be no doubt that you’re now mine in every sense of the word.”
His artful tongue pressed firmly against her. Sparks of pleasure shot through her, and she trembled under his ministrations. Each lick, each kiss, sent waves of pleasure through her.
“Your Grace—” she moaned.
“My name,” he groaned. “Say my name.”
She bit her bottom lip. Her mind was fogged with unrivaled pleasure. She’d never felt so intoxicated before, not even on the finest wine.
“Laurence,” she sighed.
The last threads of his composure snapped. He reached up, parting her folds, before his tongue explored her. Edith let out a loud moan.
“Good,” Laurence muttered between licks. “More. You sound so beautiful.”
“No, I—” Her words were cut off by another moan.
“Don’t disagree with me just because you’re not used to making such noises,” he moaned, pulling back. “I would rather hear you moan for hours than listen to any concerto.”
Her heart stuttered, and heat pooled like lava inside her.
Laurence grinned and dove back in. She gasped as his tongue explored her with renewed vigor. She gripped his hair, and he moaned at the sensation. His tongue probed the areas that made her squeal and cry out in ecstasy.
He knew he had finally hit his mark when she released a primal, guttural moan and her thighs clamped around his head.
All at once, spasms of pleasure wracked her body. She was consumed by the rapture that radiated through her, and she let out multiple cries of pleasure. She’d never felt anything like it before.
She became aware of dampness flowing from her. He licked it up, moaning softly between her legs.
“Beautiful,” he murmured.
She nodded, her eyes glassy with tears from the force of the sensations still coursing through her.
“Your Grace?” a little voice called from the adjoining room.
It was Tilly.
Edith’s heart stopped, and she looked down at Laurence, who had frozen.
“Go to her,” he whispered.
Edith faltered, torn between obligation and impulse. As much as she knew Tilly needed her, she wanted to stay. But she had made a promise to care for her and could not abandon her now.
With lightning speed, she adjusted her dress and tiptoed out of the room.