Page 22 of Lady Mariel’s Scandalous Love

Chapter Nine

Mariel watched Dash’s face as his fingers traced the carved ivory. It was immediately obvious to her that she had made the right choice in showing him the secret room – and that he likely knew the name and purpose of every object that the room contained. Which was wonderful – and convinced her, instantly, that it was almost certain that his collection at Longwood Peak was comprised of far more than books.

Absently, almost as if he was too focused on the objects before him to register anything else, he responded to her words.

“Yes – diletto is the word used for them in most of the Italian peninsula. There are other words too. Godemiche is one, and dildo is another.”

Mariel filed the words in her mental dictionary, then dared to reach out and take his hand again – the hand that was not exploring the dilettos. She tugged on it gently, until he turned to her. She set the lantern down carefully.

“There are many things in this room, most of which I don’t have words for, and many books as well – most of which I have never seen before. Alex suspects that the collection was created by his grandfather, and may not have been touched since then. Quite possibly, his father did not know of its existence. Look – this shelf is full of books – I haven’t looked at more than a few, so far – I have been too busy with your translation.”

His eyes finally came to actually focus on her, and the look in them, so full of heat and happiness, quite took her breath away. Before she could do more than wonder at that look, feeling a corresponding heat rise in her body, he used their still joined hands to pull her to him, and summarily brought his lips to hers as his arms enfolded her. She melted into the kiss, instantly knowing that his skill in such matters far outpaced that of any man who she had previously allowed to kiss her.

Thought fled, then, and only sensation remained – the taste of him, the scent of him, the heat of his hands upon her, the utterly delicious eroticism of his tongue exploring her mouth, the very obvious hard evidence of his desire, pressed against her body, almost at the juncture of her thighs, and the desperate need for his touch which filled her.

She participated in the kiss with as much fervour as he, exploring his body with her hands, his lips and mouth with her tongue, and pressing herself to him, as if they could somehow meld into one. His hands slid up her sides, and came to cup her breasts. A moan escaped her at the sensation. Then his thumbs traced the edge of her bodice, pushing the fabric down, until they could brush across her aching, hardened nipples. She moaned again, thrusting herself into those hands, unable to think for the pleasure which shot through her body, as if lightning traced her veins.

Minutes passed, and the kiss went on, the wonderful exploration of his hands went on, until Mariel ached all over, but especially deep inside, for more of that touch. Her mind filled with quite explicit and intense images, of all of the things she had seen illustrations of, which could be done between a man and a woman – things which, now, feeling his lips and hands upon her, she wanted to explore – as soon as possible.

His thumbs brushed her nipples, again and again, and her gasps intensified as the pleasure rose. She pulled back a little from his lips as her knees went weak beneath her, a whimper of pleasure escaping her. That sound seemed to bring him back to awareness, and he pulled his hands away, as if to step back from her. She clung to him, breathing hard, and met those deep amber eyes. His hands came back to rest on her sides.

“Mariel, I…”

She knew it – he was going to try to apologise!

“Don’t you dare apologise, if that is what you intended to do! That was… remarkable.”

“But I shouldn’t… I was just so thrilled at what you have found here, and my wish to thank you transformed into rather more… enthusiasm… than I had at first intended.”

“I do not give a fig for whether you should or not. I am not, in any way, complaining about your actions. Far from it. I thoroughly enjoyed every second of that. In fact, I think that I would rather like it if you would indulge me, and kiss me again.”

His face showed shock at her words, but also desire – the heat had not left his eyes, and his hands where they rested on her sides tightened.

“If you are sure…”

“I am very sure.”

Mariel pushed herself up on her toes slightly, and lifted her arms to wrap them around his neck, then brought her mouth to his, tracing the edge of his lips with the tip of her tongue. Dash groaned deeply, as if struggling to resist, then obviously gave in. He crushed her hard against him, and took her mouth in a kiss full of deep hunger and desire, which left her unable to think at all.

~~~~~

The following day, Mariel sat in the small office at Longwood Peak, her translation before her, trying to make herself focus on the work at hand. She was not, at all, succeeding. Instead, her mind replayed those kisses, in the secret room at Fortescue Grange.

It had taken some time, even after they had forced themselves apart, for both of them to achieve a normal heart rate and slow breathing. They had been dreadfully awkward – both wanting to keep kissing, and both knowing that they could not, at that point, simply give in to their desires. They had said nothing, but had turned, by mutual, unspoken consent, to exploring the books which lined the shelves of that room. Once they had calmed enough, they had each taken a book with them, and carefully closed up the room, returning to the parlour. Once there, Dash had spoken with Alex about the room, and the likely provenance of the items it contained, but Mariel had said little, still too achingly unsettled to quite know what to say.

Selina had looked at her, no doubt noting her flushed cheeks, and had raised an enquiring eyebrow. Mariel had given a tiny shake of her head, and mouthed ‘later’, to which Selina had simply nodded, and poured Mariel a glass of port.

This morning, upon their arrival at Longwood Peak, she had felt unsure of everything, but Dash had seemed just as always, almost as if he was pretending that those kisses had never happened. If he was trying to do so, Mariel was torn between allowing it, to make everything simpler, and being offended – for those kisses had been far from ‘nothing’. He had, as usual, greeted them, then left them to the translation whilst he went about more unpacking of crates – wherever it was that he did that.

Now, as she read the same page in the Russian book for the third time, her thoughts drifted away from it again.

“Selina, what do you think is really in Dash’s collection – apart from books, I mean? I am quite sure that there is far more to it.”

Selina looked up from the book she was reading – which was the one that Mariel had brought out of the secret room the night before – and considered the question.

“Well… we can’t be sure, not without seeing it… but I suspect that he has as mixed a collection as we found in that little room, only more extensive – more objects, and quite possibly more… variety of objects, if you see what I mean?”

Mariel sighed.