“It will more than suit, Pietro, and I am grateful for your courtesy towards Annie and Dermid,” Rosamund answered him.
“I shall have the housekeeper air out the chamber and prepare it for the bride and groom. After that, however, they must keep it clean and neat themselves,” Pietro said.
“Annie is a good housekeeper,” Rosamund promised.
The majordomo bowed and departed the apartment.
“What is this?” Patrick demanded as he reentered the dayroom. “Annie says she is to sleep with you tonight.”
“I think it best,” Rosamund said. “We must at least preserve the appearance of propriety, my lord. And Pietro is opening up the bedchamber next to our apartment so Annie and Dermid may have their privacy when they are not needed.”
“And where am I to rest my head this night?” the earl demanded.
“Why, in your own chamber, my lord,” Rosamund replied with a mischievous smile. “I have told Annie that anticipation but stimulates desire. We shall see just how much, my lord, eh?” And she laughed softly.
His green eyes narrowed. “Madame, you try my patience with your indulgence of our servants. They are a lusty, naughty pair who do not deserve your kindness. But I, who adore you, do deserve it. Am I to be denied my rights because of our servants?”
“When,” Rosamund teased him, “did the time of day ever matter to you, Patrick Leslie? You are a far lustier devil than your servingman, but perhaps I am beginning to tire you out.” Her amber eyes were bright with anticipation.
“I think, madame,” he said slowly, “that your behavior is in need of some correction.” He made a move towards her.
Rosamund edged away from him, putting the table between them. “Is it?” she taunted. “And are you man enough to deliver me that correction, my lord?”
His eyes narrowed again at her challenge. “I am, madame. I think that your round little bottom must be spanked until you admit your fault to me.” He leapt forward, turning the table aside as he did so.
With a little shriek of surprise Rosamund fled him, now putting a chair between them. “You are slow, my lord.”
“And you, madame, too confident.” He strode towards her, backing her and the chair into a corner of the room. And when he had put her there he smiled wickedly and said, “Now what, madame? You have no route of escape from your punishment now.”
Wide-eyed, she could but watch as he yanked the chair away. She attempted to dart beneath his arm and escape, but he caught her, and sitting down on that same chair, he pulled her down over his knees. “Now, madame,” he said in menacing tones as he deliberately and carefully lifted her skirts up to bare her round little bottom, “you will be spanked.” His hand came down on her buttocks with a satisfying smack.
“Ohhh!” Rosamund cried. A second blow descended, and she asked him, “Is that the best you can do, my lord?” Her ridicule, she quickly discovered, was a mistake, and her flesh was soon tingling and distinctly warm with his punishment.
“Say you are sorry for mocking me!” he growled.
“What will you give me if I do?” she asked from her rather ignominious position across his broad lap.
He laughed, and a hand slipped beneath her to forage between her nether lips. She was very wet, and he smiled. “Your punishment, Rosamund, has been every bit as effective for me as it has been for you.” His hand descended thrice more on her hapless bottom. “Are you sorry yet?” he inquired softly.
“Yes,” she exclaimed. She was hungry to have him within her and amazed that the spanking he had given her had resulted in such white-hot lust.
He set her on his feet, fumbling with his clothing, and seeing his lover’s lance free at last, Rosamund sat upon it, her back to him. He unlaced her bodice, then pushed aside the swath of her auburn hair from her neck. His hands cupped her breasts, and he pinched the nipples even as he fondled the twin globes of her bosom. His lips brushed her nape, and then his teeth sank into her graceful neck, and he groaned as she rode him with an expertise that always astounded him. “Witch,” he whispered in her ear, his tongue licking at the curl of perfumed flesh.
“Devil!” she hissed back, her body arching as she strove to force him deeper into the heat of her eager body. She ground her buttocks, still hot with her punishment, into his body. He filled her full, and her head began to spin while she once again wondered why it was this man who could love her so completely, and none before him. She felt no disloyalty to Owein. They had loved each other and been loyal to each other; but no man until Patrick had ever given her the supreme pleasure she was now experiencing. “Oh, sweet Mother Mary!” she gasped. “Oh, Patrick! Don’t stop! Please don’t stop!” She shuddered with the pleasure coursing like boiling honey through her veins. “Ahhh! Ahhh!” She shuddered again, feeling his passionate tribute flooding her body. “Ahhh, Patrick!” And she collapsed against him.
“Rosamund! Rosamund!” he groaned in her ear, his breath hot and moist. “There has never been a woman like you, I’ll vow! If I died in the next minute I should be content, my darling.” He pressed a kiss against her nape, his warm lips lingering as he breathed in the familiar scent of her. “I love you. I shall always love you!”
Rosamund sighed, but she was not yet ready to open her eyes. She relaxed against his broad chest, his manhood still within her. “I shall never love another as I love you, Patrick,” she told him.
His hand tenderly fondled her breast for a few moments, and then he said, “We cannot be found like this, my darling. Can you arise from me now?”
Rosamund stood on shaky legs and breathed in several deep breaths. She drew her skirts down, brushing away the wrinkles. “You must rearrange yourself, my lord, if we are not to shock our two lusty servants.” She smiled when she said it, noting that his manhood had not lessened greatly in size. “You are very randy today.”
“And did you enjoy being spanked, sweetheart?” The green eyes twinkled.
“I did,” she admitted. “It seemed to add a fillip of excitement to our passion.” Then she blushed with the admission.
He chuckled. “I could not resist,” he said softly. “Your taunts were most exciting, my darling.”
