The Marquess’s Ward (2 page)

‘Nicholas, have you gone crazy? We have been friends for years, and you now want to throw it all away over a misunderstanding in regards to this mere girl?! I think you have lost your head over her. I had already guessed as much, by the way I had been catching you constantly looking at her since I arrived to see you. I never thought I would see the day that you were made soft by a—’

‘Bertie, I warned you before! Be very careful what you say next!’

‘It’s ok. I will be on my way.’ Bertie got up and dusted off his clothes. ‘You’ve lost your fun, Nicholas; I will not be visiting again.’ With that, Bertie turned in haste to leave, walking down the hallway with a slight sideway swagger as he continued to hold his bleeding nose.

Nicholas, fists clenched, watched his former friend leave. Victoria could see that he was trying to contain his anger, but she had no care for his show of emotion. She was more focused on her own anger at the Marquess at the present time! She wondered what lurid tales Nicholas had reported back to Bertie about her parentage that had allowed his friend do be so bold as to seek her out and make very inappropriate advances towards her. Did Nicholas also see her in the same way as Bertie did? Her mind was filled with such negative thoughts.

‘Are you ok?’ Nicholas asked. ‘Did he hurt you?’

‘I am fine, thank you!’ Victoria snapped back at him in response.

‘Then whatever is the matter with you? You sound angry!’

‘That’s because I am angry, My Lord! I could have handled that situation by myself. I didn’t need your help; I didn’t need your protection! And I certainly did not need you to draw Bertie’s blood on my account.’

‘Oh, I can see you had it all in hand, despite Bertie cornering you pretty much against the wall. You are a very ungrateful madam; you don’t know what could have happened to you.’ Nicholas spoke sternly and sarcastically to her.

‘That is your opinion, My Lord, but I think differently. I could have handled the situation myself.’

‘And your opinion is ridiculous, or perhaps Bertie was right: You were in on the joke, and were enjoying and inviting his attentions. Perhaps I should call him back so he can take his pleasure with you.’

Victoria slapped the Marquess hard across his cheek; she was surprised at the strong reaction that he had provoked from her, as she used all her willpower not to shake in front of him. ‘How dare you!’ she cried. ‘I knew that is what you thought of me all along! That’s why you told Bertie about my mother! You think that my mother and I are low-lifes, just some common sluts that both your father—and now you—want to toy with!’ Victoria had never been so angry in her life.

‘No, I didn’t tell Bertie about you for that reason. He asked how you came to be living with me as my ward, and I only told him the truth. I did not think he would take such a poor judgement towards you because of that. I surely cannot be blamed for his misunderstanding!’

‘Like hell you can be blamed! He is your friend! You brought that lecherous man into this house, where he had opportunity to bother me in the first place, and you have the nerve to now say that I encouraged him. You know nothing about me.

‘And what’s more, to think that you are the biggest hypocrite of them all! I have seen your female acquaintances you bring around the house. You are only interested in them if they are prepared to show you what is up their skirts. You are the disgusting one, not me!’ Victoria spat out at him.

‘Are you really disgusted by me, Victoria, or are you just jealous? Do you want me to look under your skirts too?’ Nicholas mocked her, showing her no mercy with his callous words.

His words fully enraged Victoria, as she looked to escape him, but Nicholas would not let her go. He gripped her wrist, stopping her from leaving his side. She looked up into his eyes, seeing in them something that both scared her and made her excited at the very same time. She was completely transfixed by him as he bent his head down towards her and took her mouth in a deep, punishing kiss that knocked out any fight left in her against him.

She moaned loudly as their tongues met with raw need, as if they had not drank for days and now thirsted only for each other. Nicholas pinned her against the wall roughly, as he caressed down her body eagerly. He pulled down roughly at the top of her bodice, nearly ripping it apart as he exposed her naked flesh to him. His eyes were full of complete lust as he bent down to suckle at her breasts, one at a time, greedily. Victoria purred with delight as she gripped onto his head and hair to steady herself as he played with her nipples with his tongue. She felt all warm and wet inside, as Nicholas kissed her again from the neck back up to her lips; he kissed her at length, with much vigour.

‘Victoria do you know how much I have wanted you? I have desired you for so long. There were times at night when I thought I would simply die from the need of you. It killed me to know you were sleeping only doors away from my own room!’ he whispered into her ears, and then groaned loudly to show her that he meant what she said.

Victoria could not fully comprehend his words; she was caught in a haze of lust and desire, as she felt herself getting heated inside. Nicholas pinned her more firmly against the wall, crushing her to him as he kissed and caressed her, his body rubbing against her own. She became aware of his aroused state, as his large, hard manhood rubbed against her belly enthusiastically.

Nicholas lifted up her skirts with haste. Victoria did not give him any resistance; she craved the same thing he did! He rubbed her up and down on her lean thighs with his hands, before finding her most intimate of places. His hand entered her panties expertly as he felt the warmth and moisture that was ready for him. He moaned in anticipation as Victoria trembled breathlessly against him with sheer pleasure and delight.

‘Please, Nicholas,’ she begged him. ‘I can’t take anymore.’ She felt the pleasure build up inside as he stroked her womanhood again and again.

‘Good! You are nice and ready for me. Come to my room. I want to take you with your back flat on my bed, so I can feel you fully, with all your warm and wetness around my cock!’

Victoria, instead of being shocked at his words, felt herself get further heated, with the thought of Nicholas inside her. They managed to find their way to his room, which was luckily only down the hallway. All the way to his room, they kissed and undid each other’s clothing till they were inside and the door was locked securely behind them.

Nicholas looked at her with pure lust in his eyes as he made light work of taking off the rest of their clothes. He helped Victoria undress, kissing her body as her dress and undergarments fell to the floor by her feet.

‘You are so beautiful,’ Nicholas said, as he took in her womanly curves and slender frame. All the while, he pulled off his already undone breeches completely and took off the shirt that Victoria had eagerly tried to pull off from his body just moments before.

Victoria held in her breath in pure delight and admiration as she took in his well-made muscular body and his proud manhood that stood out big, strong and hard. She tried to remember the theory lessons that her mother had given to her on the act of lovemaking, but she could not recollect what they had spoken about. Nicholas did not give her time as he carried her to his big four-poster bed and laid her down, her back flat on the bed, just as he had wanted.

‘I am sorry, Victoria. I cannot wait anymore. I need to have you now, but I can stop. I need to know I have your consent first? That you also want to make love to me as I desperately want to make love to you! You are a grown woman of two-and-twenty; you must make the decision.’

Victoria could see from the frozen expression on his face that Nicholas was restraining himself, as if trying desperately hard to keep his body under control. ‘Yes, Nicholas, I want you. I want you now!’ Victoria spoke wantonly as she stroked Nicholas’ face with her right hand, causing Nicholas to breathe out with relief.

He kissed her deeply again as he lay on top of her. Victoria loved the feel of Nicholas’ toned strong body engulfing her. He stroked her thighs before parting them wide; they then looked at each other with desire marked on each of their faces as Nicholas entered into her.

There was a short, quick pain, but this was slowly overridden by the stirrings of pleasurable sensations forming inside her, as Nicholas thrust himself inside her again and again, making Victoria cry out his name. She did not want him to stop; she couldn’t get enough of him, as his hard member pushed more deeply and steadily inside her, driving her senses crazy. She could hear Nicholas’ own deep groans as he separated and moved her arms so they stretched out past her head, on either side of her. He held her hands tightly with his own, and pushed into her more deeply, again and again. Victoria could not believe such pleasure was possible. As she moved her hips to get more access to what she craved, Nicholas’ responded with an appreciative growl. Their bodies moved together in pure ecstasy, until the pleasure was too much for Victoria to handle. The heat built up intensely inside her till she succumbed to her beautiful defeat and allowed herself the urgent release she needed, as she held on to Nicholas’ hands tightly with her own and cried out his name! 

All the while, Nicholas continued to thrust into her firmly, his groaning washing out Victoria’s own screams of delight. He pumped into her for the final time, going more deeply and strongly than he had done before, his impactful movement sending him over the edge. He growled loudly for an extended length of time as he spilled his seed into her, and came powerfully inside her with much impact.

Nicholas fell on top of Victoria in exhaustion, burying his face into her array of dark brown hair that now covered a large area of the top half of the bed.

Victoria instinctively embraced his tired body. As she stroked his back tenderly, she could feel his breathing, just like her own, gradually coming back to normal. Nicholas kissed her neck tenderly in response to her touch, before just moments later closing his eyes and falling gradually asleep.

Victoria lay with Nicholas in her arms. She did not want to move; she needed to see and feel the evidence of what had transpired between the Marquess and herself. She had never suspected that the day would end up with their sweaty bodies entangled together after a heavy session of love-making.

But now, on new reflection, when she looked back and thought about the last couple of days, weeks, and even months, she realised that they had become much closer over time, especially after the Marquess had kept his word about teaching her and helping her to get settled into her new home. She had sensed that there was something there between them, something that she could not completely define to herself. But it was present in the words they were hesitant to say to each other, the longing looks at each other when they thought the other was not watching and the accidental touches when they were in close proximity and brushed past each other, touches that would cause her to feel butterflies in her stomach and goose bumps rise all over her skin. And even when they disagreed openly with each other, there was always the presence of a charged atmosphere between them. They were able to bring out the extreme in each other; it was as if they argued to hide their inner frustrations within themselves and each other.

Looking back on these signs, Victoria realised that it was her inexperience that did not allow her to see what was now so obvious to her, which was their strong attraction for each other—an attraction that sounded similar to the stories that her mother had reported to her to have had with Nicholas’s father. So Victoria realised that it had been only a matter of time before Nicholas and herself released all their pent-up passion for each other, which had been brewing from underneath for some time, and that time had come today!

Whether they were right to unleash their feelings of desire for each other was another matter altogether. Victoria closed her eyes, not giving the difficult question another thought as she joined Nicholas in his slumber.

‘N
icholas, it’s time for me to leave!’

‘Leave? Why ever would you mention anything about leaving?

‘And I thought you had come in to see me in my office because you wanted an additional lesson from me. I know how you love to learn,’ Nicholas teased, as he got up from his seat behind her desk and walked over to embrace her, his eyes bearing the mischievous wicked twinkle that Victoria had become very familiar with. She was very aware on what subject Nicholas wanted to teach her! But she used all her mental strength to resist him as she pushed him away almost roughly, as she blushed at his words. She tried to wipe out the visions of their hot passionate love sessions they both enjoyed, especially the one they had shared in this current room when he had placed her against the desk she was now gazing upon and had bent her over—

Victoria swallowed hard. She was not prepared for how difficult this would be.

‘Sorry, Nicholas, I cannot do this anymore....you said I could go when you taught me to be a lady, and you have given me teachers to instruct me on how to be a lady, as well as your own tutelage. It was very kind of you. You kept your word, but now I want to go!’

Nicholas stepped back from her; he looked both angry and crushed at receiving her plea to leave. ‘So you want to go you, ungrateful girl, and not even bearing a thought about me? So what was I then to you? I was only teasing you before, but maybe I am right and you only used me to learn about men before you ventured off to use your new skills on others!’

‘How dare you!’ Victoria turned to walk away, not having the energy and mental strength to fight with him; it had already taken a lot for her to confront him directly.

‘Victoria, I am sorry for my harsh words,’ Nicholas said more softly. ‘I am just angry and confused. I don’t know why you have to leave. I thought we were getting on well...really well, that we had an understanding, a setup that we both thoroughly enjoyed.’

‘That’s just it; I don’t want an understanding with you! My mother had an understanding with your father, and I saw what it did to her. She was always waiting, longing for your father, and when he came to see her, she was always overjoyed, as was I! But then he would be gone for long lengths and it would leave her so very low in spirits that there were days on end when she would not leave her bed, unable to take that she had no say or control of how he was able to come and go, in and out of her life. All her life was planned around him. I do not want the life my mother had as a mistress. If I should be with a man, I want to know that I am the only one for him, and him for me. Perhaps I am being selfish and unrealistic; perhaps I am asking too much, but that is what I want, and that is what I promised myself I would have, should I be with a man.’ Victoria confessed to Nicholas all the thoughts that had been on her mind since they had started their passionate affair.