Her Lord and Master Read online

  Slowly, he drew back, and then sheathed himself once more in her heat. With his hands braced on either side of her head, he held his weight from her, their bodies joined only at the hips. Over and over he stroked into her, until her body grew taut as a bow, aching for release from the glorious torment he was inflicting upon her. Then, her muscles tightened and a wave of pleasure flowed over her, dragging Will in its wake, until he too climaxed, calling her out name. She held him tight and wished the moment would never end, but all too soon, the heat of the afternoon sun and the scratchiness of the blanket beneath her reminded Molly of the world around her. Reluctantly, she and Will parted with a kiss, and straightened their clothes. By the time Jane and Ralph returned from their stroll, everything was packed and ready to go.

  In the days that followed, she and Will stole every moment they could in shadowed hallways and empty rooms to exchange kisses and furtive embraces, but she knew it couldn’t last. Luckily for her, the master was away on business in London.

  She was both regretful and relieved, when she found he hadn’t stayed away long.

  The master walked into the library, surprising Molly while she stood at the desk, feather duster in hand and an open book in front of her. She had chosen a slim volume with plenty of pictures, but still she was struggling to decipher the letters on the page.

  “What are you doing?” he asked, as she turned to face him.

  “Sorry, my lord, I was just looking at the book. I…”

  He moved over to the desk, and picked up the book. “The Tale of Robin Hood.” He tossed it back onto the desk. “I would have thought it better suited to the nursery.”

  She moved to put the book back in its rightful place, when he stopped her with a hand on her wrist. “You may have the book, Molly.”

  “My lord?”

  “You may have the book. It obviously pleases you, and is of little consequence to me.”

  “Oh, thank you, my lord.” Molly was so excited, that she threw her arms around his neck. Then, realizing what she’d done, she blushed and jerked back. He caught her around the waist before she could pull away, and kissed her soundly. “If I’d known you’d show such enthusiasm, I would given you a book long ago,” he told her with unusual good humor. Then he kissed her again more forcefully, backing her against the sofa.

  Her legs hit the back of the sofa, and she sank to the damask-covered cushion, while his mouth continued to devour hers. His kisses were different from Will’s: hungrier, more rapacious. Will’s kisses made her feel loved and cherished; the master’s kisses made her feel wanton and wicked. How could two men have such different approaches to the same act? She resolved not to think about Will; it felt too much like betrayal. Truth be told, after a few minutes of heady kisses, she could barely think of anything at all.

  The master pulled down the neckline of her dress, exposing her breasts. Her arms came up to twine around his neck, and she nearly hit him with the forgotten duster. He reached up to take the feather duster from her grip, and gave it a curious look. Molly thought he might toss it across the room, but instead he drew the feather duster lightly along her throat, tickling her with its silky strands. The duster was made of ostrich feathers mounted on an ivory handle worn smooth with age, and the feathers were as soft as a kitten’s fur. The master ran the duster over the delicate skin of one exposed breast, then the other, tickling her and leaving a tingling sensation in its wake. He ran it across her nipples, a barely there caress, before lowering his mouth to suckle her. His mouth closed around one nipple, licking and sucking at it until it hardened into a rosy peak, before moving on to the other. All the while, the wispy touch of the duster danced along her neck and shoulders, tickling her skin and causing her to shiver. Just when she thought she could stand no more, the master’s mouth and hands stilled.

  He scooted lower on the couch and suddenly threw her skirts over her head, baring her lower body to his gaze. Slowly, he drew her thin muslin drawers down, his fingers stroking along her legs as he went. After discarding her drawers and dropping a kiss on her belly, he nudged one knee between her thighs, then the other, spreading her legs wide. He draped one stocking-clad leg over the back of the sofa exposing her pussy, which ached to be filled. But he was intent on teasing her further. Taking the feather duster once more in hand, he played the feathers along the top of one thigh, the soft wisps dancing across her skin. Over and over, he teased her with the feathery touch, until every inch of exposed skin was prickling and tingling. She stifled a giggle when he brushed the feathers across the tender skin of her stomach, but when he brushed the feather duster across her clit Molly thought she would swoon.

  However, that gentle touch was not repeated, instead Molly felt something smooth and slightly cool rub against her. She shivered, and looked down to find that the master had reversed his grip on the duster, and was rolling the handle against her clit. It was an unusual, but not unpleasant sensation. It grew more pleasant as he drew the smooth, bulbous tip of the handle down along the folds of her pussy, then back up, causing a rush of moisture between her legs. Molly sensed what was coming, and so she was not overly surprised, when the master slowly began to work the tip of the ivory handle into her pussy.

  The feeling was unfamiliar. The ivory was slightly cooler than the warmth of a human body, and unlike a cock, there was no flexibility or give to the hard handle. Still, the sensation she was feeling was pleasurable. Because the handle was thinner than anything she’d felt before, it slid into her waiting cunny easily. It was also longer, she found when the master began to slowly thrust it in and out of her body. She felt it against the back of her womb as he drove it deep into her pussy. The strokes gradually grew harder and faster, the handle pistoning between her legs, leaving her gasping, until finally she reached the apogee of her pleasure. She cried out as the master thrust the makeshift cock into her one last time, her body convulsing around it.

  Slowly, he withdrew it from her body, took a handkerchief from his pocket, and wiped the handle clean. Then he straightened her clothes and brushed her lips lightly with a kiss.

  “Enjoy the book,” he told her as he strode out of the library, leaving her more confused than ever.

  All that week, Molly practiced reading from her new book as much as possible, but it wasn’t until Sunday that she got to share it with Will. When she told him it was a gift from the master, although she left out most of the details, Will still grew very upset.

  “It’s not fair,” he said jealously. “He gives you a book, and you are in awe. If I could, I would give you everything…books, pretty dresses, a house, children, my name.”

  “Surely you don’t mean that, Will.”

  “I don’t care if you are ruined, I want to marry you.”

  “You do?”

  “I love you,” he told her.

  “I love you too.” Molly was surprised to hear the words on her lips, but she knew as soon as she said it that it was true. Will was good, and kind, and true, and she loved him. But she also loved her master…how could this be? Still, there was no future with the master. She knew her place in his world and it was not at his side as a wife. Will was her future.

  Will grabbed her hand, saying, “Come with me. The cottage is mine now. Old Jarvis is pensioned off and gone to live in the village with his daughter.”

  The tidy gamekeeper’s cottage lay just off the main drive, with the bulk of Ashford Park beyond it to the north. A small stone wall enclosed a garden desperately in need of tending, and behind the house, Molly could see a henhouse also in need of repairs. Will caught her hand in his, excited as a small child on Christmas morning, and led her through the house, extolling its virtues. The holland covers had already been removed, and Molly could see the worn, yet still sturdy furniture. The house was small, but cozy. There were just four rooms, a parlor and the kitchen downstairs, and two bedrooms upstairs. It was to the larger of these two bedrooms that Will eventually led her.

  “This is where we will lie together as man a
nd wife, someday,” he told her, gesturing at the huge featherbed.

  “You are already the husband of my heart,” she replied.

  “Then lie with me here,” he whispered. He shrugged out of his long, brown greatcoat, before removing her bonnet and her dew-damp redingote, laying them carefully over a chair. He removed his tall, scuffed brown boots, while she slipped off her shoes and stockings. Next, he removed his jacket, waistcoat and shirt and placed them upon the chair. Clad in only his trousers, he advanced on her, and drawing his hand along her cheek, kissed her softly on the lips. She responded to his kiss with a gentle kiss of her own.

  He drew his hands slowly along her shoulders, then spun her about, facing the bed. His hands went to the laces of her bodice, unfastening her dress, while his lips returned to nuzzle her neck. He slid her dress from off her shoulders, then loosened the drawstring of her muslin shift. Meanwhile, his lips never left her neck, licking and nibbling at the sensitive skin there. With a flick of his wrist, her shift billowed to the floor, followed by her undergarments.

  She stood naked before him, and she could feel his erection nudging her buttocks as she pressed back against him. His hands came up to fondle her breasts, his fingers plucking at her nipples until they were drawn into hard peaks. One hand slid to her waist, the other to the nape of her neck, where he toyed with her tawny curls, before sending his fingers skittering along her spine.

  Gently, but firmly, he bent her at the waist, and pushed her lightly onto the waist-high bed. Molly was surprised, but unalarmed. Her master’s tutelage had taught her to be unafraid of new and undiscovered pleasures. Her cheek against the counterpane, Molly looked over her shoulder to see her lover unbutton and then discard his trousers and drawers.

  In all their hurried and stolen moments, she’d never seen Will fully unclothed before. Gads, but he was beautiful. He was not as broad-shouldered as the master, but was every bit as chiseled. Skin bronzed by the sun lay over the whipcord muscles of his arms and chest. His stomach was flat and chiseled, his hips narrow, tapering down to long, lean limbs. Even his bare feet were beautiful.

  He stepped behind her, and once more ran a finger along her spine, along the seam of her buttocks, and then across her waiting cleft. Molly wiggled against his hand, letting him feel her warmth and wetness. She watched over her shoulder as he reared back, and grabbing his engorged cock, guided it into her slick passage.

  His hands went to her hips, pulling her back as he thrust himself deep inside her. Molly sighed with pleasure, as Will slid slowly out of her, then thrust back in hard, driving into her cunny. He soon set up a slow, steady rhythm of thrusts that had her moaning and pushing back against his hips, unable to get enough of his long, hard cock.

  Her hands clenched the counterpane as she felt her climax drawing close. She could feel the sheen of sweat on Will’s body each time his skin slapped against hers. As he plunged into her warm depths, again and again, she felt herself hovering on the brink, then with a warm rush, her muscles clenched tight around his cock, sending Will into an orgasm of his own. He stiffened, cried out and managed to thrust deeply into her one last time, before collapsing against her.

  Molly couldn’t move. Will’s cheek was damp against her back, and his weight pressed her into the bed, but she didn’t seem to mind. Finally, Will rolled to the side, dragging her with him, burying his face in her neck as they both flopped onto the mattress.

  He stroked her damp skin as he snuggled up to her and spoke to her of the future. He spoke of the repairs he would make to the cottage, creating a snug home for her, and the laughing children they would raise there…a half-dozen at least. Molly knew it was wishful thinking. The future would bring what it would, and in the meantime, they should grab at all the present had to offer.

  With that in mind, Molly began to return Will’s caress. She ran her hand across the wide, muscled planes of his chest, making lazy circles around his flat nipples, before dancing her fingers down along his flat stomach to his re-surging manhood. She stroked his cock, rubbing her thumb against the sensitive tip until he grew hard in her hand.

  He pulled her down to him for a kiss, her naked body slanted across his. His hands caressed her backside as he dragged her leg over his, aligning their bodies. “Ride me,” he told her in a husky voice. Molly quickly grasped his meaning and sat up to straddle his body. His hands came up to fondle her breasts, rubbing the pads of his thumbs against the sensitive nipples until they were ruched. She reached down, taking his hard cock in hand, and guided it within her aching passage.

  Both of them gasped with pleasure as Molly sank down onto the instrument of his desire, seating him deep within her womb. Then she began to ride him, arching her back and grinding her pelvis against his hips. At first her movements were slow and easy, as she reveled in the new sensation; she had never been with the master in this manner. He always dominated her instead. Now, she was in control and enjoying every minute of it.

  The best part was the look on Will’s face as she rocked against him. Knowing that he was at her mercy, enjoying himself at her whim filled her with a sense of power. Will was able to relinquish control to her, and control was something she’d rarely had before. He thought of her as a partner, an equal, and she knew that this was one of the many reasons why she loved him.

  She couldn’t deny that another one of the reasons was the pleasure she took in his body, a pleasure that was rising even now. She leaned forward to capture his mouth, bracing her arms on either side of his head, and thrust her hips forward. Will moaned against her mouth. She began to rock her hips quickly against his, her sweat-slick skin gliding across his. He grabbed her hips and thrust upwards, and was soon matching her stroke for stroke. Molly felt the approaching flutters of an orgasm and felt Will’s body tense beneath hers. With a grimace he came, his seed shooting into her in a warm explosion. At that, Molly was undone. Her body convulsed in a spasm of pleasure that left her collapsed, limp and panting against Will’s hard chest.

  As they lay there entwined, with Will stroking her hair and murmuring sweet words of love in her ear, Molly was paralyzed with bliss. If only this moment could never end, she thought, but of course all moments must, and all too soon.

  The afternoon was drawing to a close by the time they’d gotten properly dressed, and Molly made her way back to the house with a heavy heart. Now that Will was moved into the gamekeeper’s cottage, she knew she would see less of him. But perhaps that would be a good thing. Perhaps then, she wouldn’t feel so guilty about betraying her master with Will, and vice versa. Molly sighed. She knew she was walking a dangerous tightrope, and she could only hope that somehow, someway, she would find a way across. Little did she know that her prayers would soon be answered.

  A few days after her last encounter with Will, Molly was in the parlor when she heard a loud commotion from the front hall. Along with several of the other servants, she rushed in to see Will and three of the grooms carrying the master into the house. Lord Ashford was white as a sheet and apparently unconscious.

  “What’s going on?” demanded the butler, Mr. Cutter.

  “I found him along the stream,” Will said. “I fear he’s badly hurt.”

  The butler immediately sent one of the footmen to fetch Dr. Miles, while Will and the other servants, including Plunkett, carried Lord Ashford up the stairs to his bedchamber, with Mrs. Hutchins and Molly close on their heels.

  A torturous half hour later, the doctor arrived, only to find that his patient had yet to regain consciousness. Immediately, he asked Will for his particulars of the accident.

  “I was walking Remus, my mastiff, alongside the stream as I often do, when I noticed a bay horse limping along. Sure that it belonged to Lord Ashford, I looked for him nearby. Then, my dog caught scent of something. Upon following him, I came to the berm, where I found Lord Ashford lying upon the ground barely conscious. I’d wager that his horse threw him. I did not stop to check his injuries, just brought him here as quickly as I could.”
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br />   After hearing this explanation, the doctor began his examination of the patient. Thankfully, his lordship remained unconscious. Finally, the doctor rose and declared, “His lordship has broken his leg and has a severe concussion. We must address the first injury immediately, as for the second, we can only hope for the best.” He issued instructions to Mrs. Hutchins and Molly to bring hot water and bandages, and he sent one of the footmen to find something to use as splints.

  Returning to the room, Molly found it hard to watch as the doctor cut away the master’s boot, revealing swollen, mottled flesh. Then, the doctor washed his hands and examined the leg further.

  “Good news, there appears to be no breakage of the skin.” The doctor then instructed Will, Plunkett and the footman to hold down his lordship’s body while he set the broken limb. As the doctor tugged on his lordship’s leg, he came awake, screaming with pain. Molly heard the grinding noise of bone on bone, and then thankfully, the master once again passed out. He remained blissfully unaware as the physician finished setting and binding the leg.

  “Who will be responsible for his care?” the doctor asked, as he prepared to leave. Molly and Plunkett both stepped forward.

  “You must wake him every hour,” the doctor said. “You must not give him anything for the pain, until we have determined that the blow to his head has not damaged his faculties. Once he is able to stay awake for several hours at a time, you may give some of this.” He handed a small vial to Molly. “A drop, as needed, will suffice. I will return tomorrow to check on his lordship.”