Chapter Seventeen
“I can’t just go to Annabelle and tell her what you overheard,”
Mark said as he leaned back in his chair. “She won’t believe me.
She’ll think I made it all up.”
From where Natalie stood at his desk, she
glanced, once more, at the closed door to his office. Sure, she’d
shut the door when she came in here, but she kept thinking she’d
find it open and someone overhearing them.
“I don’t think she’ll believe you, either,”
she replied, drumming her fingernails on the smooth surface of his
desk. “I just saw her. I told her what Velma said, but she didn’t
believe me. She thinks you put me up to it. She thinks I don’t want
her to marry Kenneth.”
“Do you want her to marry Kenneth?”
“Of course not. Kenneth’s lying to her about
owning a railroad. If Velma says no one with the name Gordon owned
a railroad, then no one did. Velma’s never given me a reason to
distrust her. And those men had to have been talking about
Kenneth.” To be sure, she asked, “Do you know anyone else who’s
going to propose to a wealthy young lady?”
“No, I don’t. There’s a good chance they were
talking about Kenneth. If only we had proof…”
“Isn’t this proof enough?”
“Not for Annabelle. She’s harder to deal with
than Tony is.”
“So that’s it? We’re going to let her marry
Kenneth?”
“What can I do if she doesn’t believe what
we’re telling her? I mean, I can object during the wedding, but
that’s not going to change her mind.”
He was right. Given how adamant Annabelle was
when she visited her, nothing Mark said was going to make any
difference. “I wish this was as simple as Velma wanting to marry
Tony. When you told me why you made Velma marry Tony, you said it
was going to be a good thing for them. And you were right. It
turned out that way. I spoke with Velma today, and I’ve never seen
her happier.”
“I knew it was good for them to be
together.”
“It was,” she admitted as he got up from his
chair and walked over to her. “Even when she thought she was going
to marry you, she didn’t look that happy.”
He frowned. “But you’re happier with me than
you would have been with anyone else, right?”
She giggled. “Of course, I am. I love you.”
She kissed him, and he slipped his arms around her waist and pulled
her closer to him. “I wouldn’t enjoy being with anyone else. You
are a wonderful husband. Apparently, quite a few women were hoping
to marry you.”
“Only for my money. They didn’t really want
me.”
“Does that include Fran?”
“You’re not worried about Fran, are you? I
told you I only considered her for marriage because our fathers are
good friends.”
“I think she resents me because you married
me instead of her.”
“That’s one of the things I didn’t like about
her. She can be petty. Is she giving you a difficult time in that
social group Annabelle’s in?”
She thought about lying to him but decided
against it. She lowered her hands so that they were at his chest.
“A few of those women don’t like me, Mark. I’m not sophisticated
like they are. I don’t know all of the etiquette rules like they
do, and I’m not as educated as they are. But Mrs. Gordon fits in
with them. That was the whole point of me going to those functions,
wasn’t it? So that Mrs. Gordon would feel welcome in Omaha?”
“Well, that was part of it, but I also wanted
you to feel welcome. I thought the group would be good for you,
too. If you don’t want to be a part of it, then you shouldn’t be.
My mother doesn’t care for it. She stopped going to it a long time
ago.”
“Does Annabelle like it?”
“I don’t know. She never talked to me about
it.” He squeezed her waist. “You don’t have to be in the group. The
only thing I want is for you to be happy. If the group doesn’t make
you happy, do something else with your time.”
“Won’t that hurt your reputation?”
“If someone decides they don’t like me
because you’re not in some silly woman’s group, then I don’t need
that person in my life. I have enough work to do already without
worrying about what someone thinks. Do what you want. You have my
full support.”
Feeling much better, she smiled. What a
relief. Now she didn’t have to worry about how she did things. She
was free to be who she was. “Thank you, Mark.”
“You’re my wife. Your needs are important to
me.” He gave her another kiss. After a moment, he said, “Maybe, if
I can get my parents and Velma involved, we can convince Annabelle
to end her courtship with Kenneth.”
“You really think you can get them involved
in this?”
“I’m not sure, but what’s the harm in
trying?”
“And if that doesn’t work?”
“Then we’ll be forced to take drastic
measures.” He kissed her. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
It was worth trying. She hoped the strategy
would work. If his parents believed him, there was a good chance
they’d help them. She already knew Velma would do her part. Better
yet, it would be an honest way of handling matters. Considering
everything, it was the last best option they had. Glad he had
thought of it, she hugged him.
***
Something in Natalie had changed during the
course of that day. She wasn’t sure what it was, exactly, except
that she no longer felt any apprehension about living in Omaha. The
weight of struggling to fit in with Mark’s world was no longer
pressing her down.
Conquering her fear of the elevator had been
a part of it, but there was more to it than that. Part of it was
Velma pointing out that she wasn’t the problem in the group, that
the problem stemmed from Fran’s bitterness that she’d married Mark.
That, in itself, had freed her up from feeling like such a
disappointment because she couldn’t seem to be what everyone else
in this affluent society expected her to be.
As Velma had said, Fran and her friends made
it a habit of putting on a pretense of being nice while looking for
ways to make someone they didn’t like feel inferior to them. So
there was nothing she could have said or done to make that any
better. The best thing she could do was get out of the group.
Thankfully, Mark was alright with that.
It would be nice to start focusing on things
she wanted to do instead of worrying about what others expected her
to do. Yes, she would still go to dinner parties and dance with
Mark, but at least she didn’t have to spend her evening talking to
women like Fran and Katherine ever again. Now she could meet women
who sincerely liked her and befriend them. Who knew? Maybe she
could even form her own social group.
Regardless of whether she’d
actually do that or not, the day had marked a transition in how she
thought about everything around her. She no longer felt like things
were happening to her. For the first time in her life, she felt like she was
taking control of things and making them happen. And that was a
very freeing feeling.
When she woke up the next morning, she no
longer had the dreaded sensations of duty and obligation haunting
her. When she woke up, she was as excited as she’d been on the
morning she’d married Mark. For the first time in a long time, she
was looking forward to the day.
She rolled over and saw that Mark was still
asleep. He didn’t have to go to work today, which meant they didn’t
have to hurry to get out of bed this morning. With a grin, she
snuggled up to him. It hadn’t been until last night that she’d
finally overcome her shyness and become bolder in bed with him, but
she figured that was to be expected since she’d recently gained a
sense of confidence she’d never had before.
And, since he had woken her up in the past to
make love to her, she didn’t think he’d mind it if she returned the
favor. She kissed his jaw and his cheek then worked her way to his
ear. He’d told her he was sensitive there. She kissed his ear.
Then, because he’d seemed to like it the previous night, she traced
the edge of his ear with her tongue.
He shivered, and she stopped to look at him.
His eyes were still closed, but she caught the slight smile on his
face.
“Why did you stop?” he asked, still keeping
his eyes closed.
Chuckling, she brought her mouth back to his
ear and resumed what she had started. And as she teased his ear,
she let her hand glide over his chest and then down to the more
interesting part of him that was already erect. She took his penis
in her hand and traced the tip of it with her thumb. A bead of
moisture came up through the slit. She rubbed her thumb over it
then traced the ridge around his tip.
To her surprise, he remained still the entire
time. Yes, he let out a moan from time to time to let her know he
was enjoying her ministrations, but beyond that, he didn’t do
anything to encourage her. Curious, she lifted her head and saw
that he still had his eyes closed. The smile on his face, however,
was wider than before. And that’s when it occurred to her what he
was doing. He was letting her take the lead.
Making sure her grip was firm around him, she
moved her hand up and down his shaft in the manner he’d taught her
last night. Soon, she established a rhythm that caused him to groan
louder. However, despite his arousal, he still didn’t move. She was
impressed with his self-control. She didn’t think she could remain
still if he was touching her so intimately.
Again, she glanced at his closed eyes. What
would it take to get him to open them? What would it take to get
him to move?
After a moment, she opted to do something
she’d never done before. She got on top of him and took him into
her. And this time, he did open his eyes. More than that, he put
his hands to her hips and pushed himself deeper into her.
Pleased she’d finally gotten him to move, she
leaned forward and kissed him. He drew her closer to him, and the
urgency in his kiss as his tongue interlaced with hers let her know
exactly how much he wanted her. He was fully aroused. There was no
denying that, especially not with the way his hands were roaming
all over her body.
When their kiss ended, he brought his mouth
to her neck and whispered, “I love you, Natalie.”
“I love you, too, Mark,” she murmured, her
skin tingling from the way he was kissing and touching her.
She straightened up so that she could more
easily rock her hips. This earned her another groan, but this time
he kept his eyes open and cupped her breasts in his hands.
“I like this position,” he said, his voice a
bit raspy.
“Do you?” she asked as she continued sliding
up and down his penis, aware that when she angled herself just
right, her sensitive nub rubbed up against him very nicely.
“I like the view.” He gently squeezed her
breasts and then brought his hands back to her hips.
Perhaps she should feel shy that he was
openly staring at her, but there was something in his gaze that let
her know how much he desired her. She was the most beautiful woman
in his world. Knowing this eased her shyness and enabled her to
become bolder in her actions.
She gave herself completely to the moment. He
felt good inside her. Really good. And it was becoming harder and
harder to concentrate on anything but the pleasure mounting up
inside her. She didn’t know how long they were working together
until she reached her peak, but when she did, her orgasm was more
intense than anything she’d experienced before. He had stopped
moving inside her, instead choosing to rub her sensitive nub in
order to prolong her pleasure.
Once she was spent, he wrapped his arms
around her and rolled her over so that he was on top of her. He
kissed her mouth, her cheek, and her neck. He lifted her hips and
moved deeper into her. From there, he made love to her. She moaned,
enjoying every thrust as he stroked her core.
This was wonderful.
He was wonderful. And to
think she’d get to spend the rest of her life with him. Together,
they’d have children and grandchildren, and one day, she might even
get to pass on her wedding dress to one of their daughters. Perhaps
she’d give her grandmother’s shawl to another one. Perhaps the
other would get the dried lilac. And if they had more than three
girls… Well, she’d figure out something memorable to give to them,
too.
Groaning, Mark grew still and released his
seed. As he did so, she kissed his cheek and held him close,
feeling more content than she’d ever felt in her entire life.