Page 25 of Lady Mariel’s Scandalous Love

Still playing with her breasts, he moved his finger gently, then faster, and was rewarded with another whimper of pleasure from her. She arched again, sliding herself down on his lap, her hips pushing against his hand, moving in that way which was driven by instinct, to take the most possible pleasure from sensation. Soon, those movements became frantic. He could feel her rising towards a climax, and redoubled his efforts. Within moments, she shattered in his grasp, writhing, gasping and, most satisfactorily, calling his name. He held her as she came back to reality, gently kissing her lips as her eyes came into focus.

“Dash… that was… truly amazing.”

He could not stop himself from grinning like a fool.

“Why thank you, Mariel. I had hoped that it would be.”

She laughed softly, shaking her head.

“I am quite sure that you knew it would be, for you appeared to know, exactly, what to do to make that happen. But…” her hand slipped down between them, to curve around his aching cock, “…what of your pleasure?”

He shook his head.

“We have gone quite far enough beyond the bounds of what is right, between two who are not married – we should not go further. It is not that I do not want more, or that I do not want your touch… I most definitely do. But your reputation…”

“At this point, I do not give a fig for my reputation. Dash, I want this, and more. I have wanted to explore this sort of thing for so long, so very badly – but there has never been a man who I liked enough, wanted enough, or trusted enough for me to consider it – until you.”

He kissed her again, gently, slowly, a kiss filled with all of the emotions that rose in him at her words. He was honoured by her trust… but… what did he truly feel? Was this just lust on his part? He was ashamed to admit that he did not know. He drew back from the kiss, and met her eyes.

“Thank you for your trust. But because of that, it is even more important that we stop, now. We need to be sure that our desire for this is not simply born of the rather… heating… effect of spending our days focussed on erotica. I would not want to go to the point where you were irrevocably ruined, only for you to regret this later.”

“I am not sure that I believe, any more, that what society sees as ruination actually matters. And I cannot imagine regretting this, or anything we might do together. But… yes, perhaps you are right, perhaps we should stop… for today… I do not promise, in any way, not to wish to do such things again, another day, should you be… persuadable.”

Her fingers slipped down and gently caressed his aching cock again, before she carefully rose from his lap, and restored the bodice of her dress to order. Dash felt his heart pounding, so loud and hard that he wondered she couldn’t hear it. For the idea of this happening again was beyond appealing – even if completely wrong. He swallowed hard.

“I begin to suspect, Mariel, that there is very little which you could not persuade me to, if you tried hard enough.”

“I will remember that.”

Her violet eyes were full of mischief. Dash decided to move the conversation away from what had just happened, in the hope of achieving some semblance of comfort.

“I gather, Mariel, that you naughtily took advantage of my absence to explore? That you could no longer stand to not have seen the rest of the collection?” She nodded. “And now that you have seen it – some of it, at least, are you repelled by the depth of my depravity, as society believes you rightly should be?”

“Dash, if collecting such as this is a sign of depravity, then I am willingly as depraved as you. I would have such a collection if that was easily possible for a lady, and the idea of exploring your collection is quite the most exciting thing that I have ever contemplated in my life. Now – show me more of it, and tell me what every item is.”

~~~~~

Their carriage drew up before Lady Phyllida Wormington’s home, Kirkwold Hall, directly behind Dash’s. Mariel looked at Selina, as they waited for the footman to open the door and let down the steps.

“Are you concerned that this evening will become… difficult?”

Selina gave a little shake of her head, but Mariel noted that she held quite firmly to Alex’s hand.

“I am determined that it will not. No matter how Lady Phyllida and Lord Hockingmoor may treat us, her parents invited us, so we will put a good face on it.”

Alex smiled at her words.

“Lord Kirkwold is not such a bad man to deal with – he was my father’s closest friend for many years. It would have been disrespectful of me not to come.”

Mariel nodded.

“I will find it interesting to watch people this evening, although I am sure that everyone will present their best polite behaviour.”

Beside her, the Dowager Duchess sniffed, as if none of it was worth contemplating – she, for one, would rather forget the events of the previous few months, and the scandal which had resulted in her son marrying Selina, instead of Lady Phyllida. It was, Mariel thought, going to be a long evening, and probably an unpleasant one.

They descended from the carriage, and proceeded into the house. Mariel was glad that Dash was present as well – it at least guaranteed her another person to talk to, whom she actually liked. In the foyer, Lord and Lady Kirkwold were greeting their guests, with Lady Phyllida and Lord Hockingmoor standing beside them.

It was a tense moment, as Alex and Selina approached them, and Mariel suddenly found herself hard pressed not to laugh, for the expression on Lady Phyllida’s face was a mixture of vitriol and attempted superiority – and it was matched, perfectly, by the expression on Lord Hockingmoor. Selina and Alex carried their entry off beautifully, remaining serene and calm in the face of it all.

The greetings were spoken, albeit through gritted teeth on Lady Phyllida’s part, and they passed on into the parlour, where the other guests stood talking with pre dinner drinks. As other local nobility came to speak to Alex and Selina, and to the Dowager Duchess, Dash appeared quietly at Mariel’s side. His voice was barely above a whisper when he spoke.

“One day, Mariel, you really must tell me more of what happened, in the days before the scandal that allowed Alex and Selina to marry. For one look at certain faces as we arrived tells me that there is much more to the story than I know.”

Mariel laughed softly.

“Oh there is – it would make an excellent comedy for the stage, should anyone ever dare to perform it.”