Page 15 of The Valentine Skates
He raised up and pulled her close. “Lili—why? Are you hurt?”
She shook her head violently and urged him back down onto the bed. He looked up at her silently, a question in his eyes.
“They…they did things to me in the harem so that I would not feel pain or struggle when the dey took me.” She paused a few telling seconds. “But then he never called for me.”
Frederick shook his head hard before grasping her shoulders and turning her in his wide bed. He pulled completely out of her before edging inside again in slow, tantalizing movements.
After settling into a rhythm, they moved together in a dance their bodies seemed to know intimately, perhaps from another life. Lili threw back her head and clutched at the sheets while he rode her with a single-minded intensity she feared she didn’t deserve. Guttural sounds came from somewhere deep inside her, and then she cried, tears flooding down her cheeks, while his seed flowed hot and searing into her womb.
Chapter Nine
September - The World Intrudes
Frederick foughtto suck air back into his lungs. The bed linens tangled around their limbs, and the two of them had somehow ended up nearly tumbling over the side out onto the floor. He sat up and scooped her close to his face, picking out her beloved features in the dark. He tenderly outlined one of her brows with his finger.
When he covered her lips with a deep kiss, she moved her tongue into the depths of his mouth and commenced an erotic exploration. His cock sprang back to life in spite of the thorough drubbing the randy creature had just taken. He’d lost all track of time and didn’t care. The milk maids would start the morning chores without him. They’d be surprised at his unusual late arrival, but they’d carry on in spite of his tardiness.
When Lili abruptly abandoned her vigorous lapping of the inside of his mouth and transferred her efforts to his cock, he sighed and fell back onto the bed. He suspected he would not be leaving his chamber any time soon. His cold, lonely room had turned into a heated, sweaty cocoon of unending pleasure. The silky blonde head moving over his nether regions had become the center of his world, one he was not inclined to abandon any time soon.
At a sharp rap on his door, he managed to rasp out, “Whoever you are, go away. Now.”
Lili flew out of Frederick’s bed in an instant, the counterpane wound around her body. They’d been found out. The servants would never disturb them. Someone else must have discovered their secret.
Heedless of his own state of undress, her lover advanced steadily toward the door and demanded, “Who’s there?”
From the other side, his steward croaked out in terror, “I’m sorry, sir, but there was a small fire in the dairy. One of the women dropped a lantern into the straw this morning.”
Frederick cracked open the door and poked his head out into the hallway. “For God’s sakes, man, why didn’t you call me earlier?”
“Well, Mr. Meredith, you never sleep this late. Your housekeeper thought perhaps you were ill…” The steward’s voice trailed off, obviously cowed by the squire’s fierce tone. “The men saw the flames from the stable and put it out, but there’s a lot of smoke. I thought you’d want to know.”
“I’ll be right out.” Frederick snicked the door shut and moved back toward her.
Guilt and terror mingled in her gut. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
Frederick slammed her into his chest and claimed a hard kiss before pushing her away. “That is why you have to marry me. We were lucky this time, but we can’t go on this way with you sneaking into my room in the middle of the night.”
“But the shame…” In the middle of her explanation he pressed two fingers against her mouth.
“Your shame as a woman who was taken captive against her will would be nothing compared to your shame as a marquess’s sister caught sneaking into the bed of a lowly farmer. And that’s not even touching the surface of what would happen if we’ve started a babe.”
She shook her head hard. “It’s the wrong time of the month.”
He chuckled and gave her a more lingering, leisurely kiss. “You might have to explain that excuse to a child of ours some day. And now I have to walk through the halls of my own manor and out into my farm yard with everyone who works for me suspecting I’ve been thoroughly ravished by some mysterious village woman I’ve secreted in my bed chamber.”
“I, I’m sorry,” she managed to stammer.
He stepped toward the pitcher and bowl on a dresser in the corner where he managed a hasty wash and quickly pulled on trousers, boots, and shirt before heading toward the door. He looked back and gave her a mischievous smile. “I’m not. I’m not sorry at all.”
When he paused and then pivoted to come back for one last kiss, he added, “Take your time. Cover your face with your cape hood, and I’ll have Davey meet you down by the river road with the gig. Maybe I should let everyone believe I have a secret woman from the village.”
When Frederick walked toward the dairy to discover the extent of the early morning fire damage, he caught the sly smiles on his men’s faces. They thought he couldn’t see their knowing smirks. He decided letting them think he’d found a random village woman with whom to slake his needs might be the best way to protect Lili.
At the sound of shouting from the front gate, he remembered the village farmers he’d hired to help finish the gathering of hay into tall, cone-shaped stacks for the use of livestock throughout the winter. He moved toward the noise of laughter and good-natured arguments over who would manage the most stacks that day.
He wondered if Lili would still follow through with her plan to move to Howick House on St. James Square. He hoped to hell she’d stay in Guildford with her former governess, but he refused to give wings to his hopes. He’d waited years for this woman. A few more months would not be too much to bear. He hoped.
Lili and her lady’s maid Margaret had nearly finished packing her trunks when they were interrupted by the sound of horses and the creaking of the ancient Howick family carriage from outside Helena’s cottage.