Chapter Ten #2
The next time he awoke, dawn was upon them.
The light was faint coming through the windows.
More important than that, he found his cock hard and wanting her.
He brushed her hair away from her neck and kissed her, gently turning her over on her back.
Spreading her legs, he ran his hand up and down her thigh.
She was still wet from their earlier coupling.
He inserted a couple of fingers into her passage.
Yes, she was wet and warm. She called out as his thumb rubbed her magic spot and broke apart in euphoria as her climax overtook her body.
“My God, Charles! What was that?”
“You had an orgasm. Your mother never told you about such things?”
“Only the basics, and one was to just lie there and let you do the rest. I learned more from my sister than my mother, but nothing about this,” she replied.
“Hmmm. Your mother was brought up in a different time.”
“I know. She has no opinion when my father is around, pretending he knows all.”
“I thought she might be, and I’m sure she’s quite opinionated among her friends.”
She arched a brow. “You can read people well.”
“Just one of my many quirks, that’s all.”
“And you’re modest too,” she replied.
He reached out to her and pulled her toward him. “Why don’t we see if we can get some more sleep.”
“You’re right, we should. Can we go on a walk if the weather holds?”
“We can do whatever you wish,” he replied.
“Maybe there are some saddle horses we could use and ride instead.”
“I’m sure there are. Now sleep, my dear. Sleep.”
Sleep didn’t elude either one. Charles heard a soft knock on the door. Grabbing a sheet, he wrapped it around himself and went to the bedchamber door. Frazier stood on the other side.
“I took the liberty of having breakfast brought to you. It just arrived and I had it put on the small table in front of one of the windows.”
“Thank you. I’ll wake Lady Cathryn now.”
“Is there anything else you need?” the valet asked with a smug grin on his face.
“No, that’ll be all for now.”
“As you wish, milord.”
Charles waited until his valet had shut the door behind him.
Walking over to the table, he saw breakfast looked scrumptious.
He snatched a piece of bacon and walked back to the bed.
Cathryn was already sitting up, her legs swung over the side of the bed.
She had grabbed a robe and was putting it on. “Did I hear something about breakfast?”
“Yes, indeed you did.”
“Good. I’m famished,” Cathryn replied.
“As am I.” He walked over to a chair near the entrance to the bathing chamber and picked up a robe. Dropping the sheet, he put it on.
Sitting down, she poured them both a cup of coffee. While waiting for it to cool, Charles watched as she took off the lid keeping her plate of food warm.
“This looks fabulous,” she said as she slathered strawberry jam on a piece of toast.
He grunted in agreement, picking up his fork and taking a bite of egg and then sausage. He then picked up his coffee and took a sip. Still hot, but drinkable.
“I asked Frazier to see what the availability of two horses might be. We could ride the estate. That is, if you’re not too sore from our activities.”
“No, I’m not. I just need to take a bath.”
He wasn’t sure if she was saying that for his benefit. Women were complicated creatures.
*
Charles was unfamiliar with the estate grounds.
There was a lot going on as this was truly a working estate.
At a far end, away from the manor house, there was a mine in use for coal.
From what he understood, his great-grandfather had started the venture.
It had continued, bringing quite a profit to the estate.
It also kept a large number of people employed.
They would visit the mine site another time.
Today he wished to learn the layout of the land with his bride.
His valet, Frazier, had given him a quick run-down on the layout of the estate so he would know a little more about how things were set up. His thoughts were interrupted.
“Charles, we’re at the orchard.”
He reined in his gelding and stood to admire the multitude of fruit-bearing trees. “Ah, so we are. It’s massive.”
“How many trees would you guess there are?” she asked.
“I wouldn’t even stand to guess. A couple hundred, if I had to guess.”
“That’s a lot of jam, pies, and cakes.”
“It is,” he replied.
She patted her horse’s mane, and they sat side by side. “I wonder if some of the fruit or products from the fruit is sold or given away?”
“I’m sure some of it is. The revenue from the sales would go back into the estate.”
She nodded. “Where to now?”
“Why don’t we see what’s at the far end of the orchard?”
“Yes, and while we’re walking through, we could make note of what types of trees grow here,” she replied.
“Excellent idea.”
They began to walk through the orchard on a path on the perimeter of the orchard. They passed apple, pear, peach, which were most familiar. Finally, at the other end of the orchard, was a small meadow fenced off with rock walls. It didn’t take but a moment to understand why the walls were there.
A small herd of Belted Galloway cows were grazing just beyond the wall. Charles had never seen this particular breed of cow before, and he sat on the back of his horse and watched. The breed originated in Scotland, and from what he could recall, they were not uncommon in northern England.
“Fascinating, aren’t they?” Charles said, watching her reaction.
“They are. I don’t think I’ve seen them before.”
“Neither have I.” He glanced up at the sky. The sky was changing. The beautiful cornflower blue was quickly being taken over by gray clouds which took over the landscape. “I hate to end our lovely ride, but I’m afraid we need to return to the stables before the sky opens up.”
Looking up at the skies, Cathryn grinned. “Lead the way, husband. All we can do is hope it stays away.”
“Come, follow me,” he said.
“Do you know a quicker way?”
“No, but we need to hurry.”
“Look,” she said, pointing to a portion of the sky which still had blue sky and white clouds. “That wasn’t like that a couple of minutes ago.”
“You’re right, but we still shouldn’t dawdle. I would hate it if you were to get sick from my decision.”
Charles led her back the way they came through the orchard.
When they reached the small meadow leading to the stables, he broke his horse into a gallop.
Cathryn followed, clucking to her horse to try and keep up with him.
She was a better rider than most young ladies and he wondered how since her mother was more interested in her daughter’s piano playing.
The sky was still a mixture of blue and darkening gray when they arrived at the stables. They began walking to the house, still mindful of the weather.
“That was very enjoyable,” she said.
“I take it you didn’t get a chance to ride much.”
She shook her head. “Heavens no. If it weren’t for my father, I would have never ridden, even sidesaddle.”
“That’s a pity. You’re quite a good rider.”
“I love the freedom riding gives you,” she said.
“It is very liberating, isn’t it?”
“Hmmm.”
They walked around to the front of the house and entered into the main entry hall. As Charles was about to close the door, the rain began coming down at a good steady pace.
“We made it just in time,” he said.
“Do you have anything you should be doing?”
“I need to write my brother, let him know we arrived in York and see what’s going on in Kent and how long he thinks we should stay here before returning.”
“Excellent.”
“I came up with an idea. We wait for Arthur’s reply and see what he says. We could take the train to London and spend a couple of days before returning to Kent.”
“That would be fun. Does your family have a box at one of the theaters?”
“I’m not sure, but I could ask Arthur.”
She smiled. “Why don’t you go to the study and write your letter? I’ll order you some tea before I go upstairs to change clothes.”
“Perhaps I should wait on my letter to Arthur and help you.”
“I think you should write your letter. If you don’t do it now, it won’t go out until tomorrow.”
Sighing, Charles nodded his head. She was right, but the moment he finished, he intended to have his cock buried deep inside her. “You’re right. Why don’t you join me when you’ve changed?”
“Very well. Let me order you some tea and head upstairs,” she replied.
He watched her as she sashayed across the remainder of the hall. She would go to the kitchens for the tea unless she ran across the housekeeper and then upstairs to change.
Finding the study, he rang for someone to come start a fire.
It was damp in the room and it surprised him that one hadn’t been lit.
Walking around the room, he decided to wait until he got the fire situation under control before he commenced with his letter to his brother.
It took no time for someone to answer his call.
The young maid brought a bucket with coal and proceeded to get a fire lit.
Charles made sure to thank her as he could tell she was nervous, leading him to believe she had forgotten to light the fire in the study.
He sat down at the desk and began looking through the drawers for paper and pen.
Quickly, he placed everything on the desktop exactly as he wanted it.
As he was about to pick up the pen, a knock on the door was followed by a footman pushing a trolley filled with a teapot, small sandwiches, and cakes.
He noted there was two of everything. Cathryn was joining him. That made him smile.
He rose and strode over to the cart to fix himself a cup of tea and a plate of sandwiches and a scone. This time when he sat down, he placed the tea in a specific location to his right and the plate at the top.