The Bartered Virgin (9 page)

“Patience, love,” he murmured. He began to stroke her with his tongue, gently at first. He wanted to enjoy her flavor, taste her honeyed folds. By her tiny moans and stuttered gasps, he knew she was enjoying it, too. He lapped at her opening, sliding his tongue around the edge of her channel. His prick jumped as he sipped her waiting slickness. As delicious a treat as she was, it was time to give her full pleasure.

He took her swollen clitoris between his lips and rolled his tongue across it. With each flick, each tweak, he felt her shake around him. David slipped his hands under her buttocks to cradle her and stop her from flailing. He glanced up and saw her head thrashing across the pillows, her hair spreading in masses of red waves across the white linen.

He teased her more urgently, his tongue licking the hard nub and coaxing her cries, louder and louder. He smiled with satisfaction as, at last, Winn began to shudder beneath him.

“D-David, what’s happening?” But the rest was lost as she arched up and gave a loud gasping cry. Seconds later, she collapsed against the pillow, thoroughly spent.

He quickly joined her. He covered them both with a thin sheet and held her in his arms. Her skin glowed in the candlelight. Her forehead was slightly damp and he smoothed away a tangle of curls. Gently he kissed her and held her heated body close.

“How do you feel, my love?” he whispered.

“Wonderful. Divine. I want to sleep but I don’t want to sleep.”

He nuzzled his nose into her soft, fragrant hair. He loved the way she smelled. Her perfume, her soap, her skin, her sex. Their sex. He purred into her ear. “Hmm…
Aprés-lumiére
.”

“Afterglow! So that’s what it means.”

“Do you like it?”

“Delightful,” she sighed. She turned to face him. “But what about you? Somehow, I think you did not experience the same thing.”

He gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “Don’t worry about me. My pleasure will come soon enough. I wanted to give you a chance to savor your first climax.”

Winn propped her head up on her elbow and trailed a finger across his chest. “That really is very thoughtful of you.” She lifted the sheet off his hip. “Oh! Your penis has deflated.”

He chuckled at her discovery. “Just for a few moments. Not to worry. It shall return to fine working order momentarily. Are you thirsty?”

“Parched.”

He considered their choices for a moment. “The coffee is cold. The champagne is warm. But there is ice water on the tray.”

“Water is fine. Anything.”

He poured them each a glass. He held the goblet to her lips while she drank. When she was done, he set their glasses back on the tray. He glanced at the clock over the cold fireplace mantle, then lit two more candles and brought them to the nightstand.

“What are you doing?”

“I meant to have you home by two and it has just turned midnight. But your tutoring this evening remains unfinished.”

At her puzzled expression, he picked up the book from the nightstand. “I want you to read to me.”

“Read to you?” she repeated. Winn looked down at the book on her lap. “What would you like to hear?”

David climbed in beside her. “Anything. My French is somewhat rusty so I am only picking out every third word. The author’s scrawl is less than grammar school acceptable.”

Winn fingered the cover, remembering her only meeting with Louise Desjardins. “She was quite beautiful. Almost frail, if I recall correctly. She wore a black-and-white striped gown and a huge hat of ostrich feathers dyed the same color. I thought she was the most elegant person I’d ever met. She sent me a gift on my birthday every year until she died.”

“What kind of gifts?” David asked.

“Party frocks, beautiful frilly things with yards of lace and stiff crinolines in pastel shades of lavender, blue and pink. And boxes of chocolates. And a cameo. She was very generous.”

“Indeed. Her ultimate gift proved that. She must have adored you.”

“Yes, Father says it’s because she didn’t have any children of her own.” She turned to him and grinned. “Of course, that’s before I knew what she did for a living.”

“Yes, I can see where children would be an unwanted commodity in her business.”

Winn wrinkled her nose at the word.

“Well, she must have been very good at her
business.
From what I’ve read, she entertained future presidents, politicians, wealthy tradesmen and even clergy.”

“Ah, America. Land of the free, where hypocrisy runs rife!” He ignored her smirk of indignation. “Continue.”

“Well, when she died and Father executed the will, you could have knocked him over with a feather. Imagine, leaving all that money to me. Just because I was kind to her for an afternoon.”

“Must have been some kindness.”

Winn brought her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. “Can’t say that I recall exactly what was so extraordinary about that afternoon. I was just eight or nine. I let her play with my dolls. Margaret brought us lemonade. I showed her the garden. I read her a story from one of my school books. We had such fun. Then she asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up to be a lady.”

Winn stopped and wrinkled her brow. “I told her I wanted to travel and see the world. To sail on big ships and have great adventures. She seemed extremely pleased that I didn’t want a traditional life like my mother. Then she had to leave. I never saw her again.”

“When did you find out about the money?”

Winn propped her chin in her palm. “After my coming out last year. Father explained that I had a handsome dowry and it would make it easy for me to land an acceptable man of society. Of course I didn’t care about the boys who came knocking at my door on Saturday afternoons. I only thought about traveling and seeing the world. So I was naughty.”

“I’m shocked.”

Winn swatted him. “No, really. I told every man who came calling that I suffered from a weak heart and probably wouldn’t live long enough to bear children.”

David cleared his throat. “And how did you manage to pull off this farce without your parents suspecting?”

“Oh, that was easy. I simply told my suitors not to mention the situation to my parents as it upset them too much. Everything was going fine until…”

“Until I came along.”

Winn peeked at him through a lock of hair that had fallen across her forehead. “Two years until I turn twenty-one, then I’d have been in the clear. But that was before Knightsbriar.”

David took one of the pillows from behind her back and put it behind his head. “What does Knightsbriar have to do with it?”

“I didn’t realize how much it meant to you. I want to help you. I want Knightsbriar to be the grand home it was when your grandfather was alive.”

Winn watched him. Something solemn crept into his expression. He reached up and tucked the errant lock of hair behind her ear. His mood had suddenly changed.

“You are probably the sweetest person I have ever met. I actually may have to abandon my plan to simply accept you and, instead, love you.”

Winn sat back against the pillows.
Love her?
“But…but David. You can’t possibly love me. I’m in bed with you and we…we…”

“We certainly did.” He took one of her hands and kissed each of her fingertips, one by one. “And we certainly shall again.”

“No, no. You don’t understand. I’m only here because I thought you would see how unfit I am to marry you. Then you would leave and I could have my money and travel and—”

He silenced her by hauling her down on the mattress and kissing her, hard and possessively. “My darling Winn. Don’t you see? I want you. Proper or not, I am going to marry you. And I don’t give rat droppings about your dowry. We can still travel. I’ll take you to all the places of your heart’s desire. Only we’ll see them together. Having an experienced guide beside you won’t be unwelcome. I can speak enough German to order us a fit meal of sausages, cheeses and beer. In Greece, we will dance in an outdoor café and dine on spicy rice wrapped in roasted grape leaves.”

Winn looked up at him, incredulous that her plan had not worked out quite as perfectly as she’d hoped. She thought about it for a moment. Returning Knightsbriar to David
and
being able to travel as she wanted. It was like Margaret always said about having your cake and eating it, too.

“Do you mean it? You’ll take me to see the Eiffel Tower in Paris and to ride elephants in India and—”

Her entreaty was promptly halted as she felt David’s cock probing her. She smiled into his eyes. “Oh, David. Again?”

He threw back his head and laughed. “Yes, again. And just to make sure we’re on the same track, I have something for you.”

He rolled off her, left the bed and walked over to a simple portrait of President Roosevelt hanging on the wall. He took down the painting to reveal a safe in the wall. Winn knew about wall safes. Papa had one in his study but he never opened it when anyone was around. She watched David dial the combination and heard the tumblers click as the small door opened. David drew out a small black velvet box. He closed the door but didn’t bother replacing the painting.

“This isn’t exactly how I planned on doing this but I see that, if I don’t do it now, my motives may be misconstrued.”

She let him take her in his arms. He kissed her once, tenderly.

“This is for you.” He placed the velvet box above her bare breasts. “Go ahead, open it.”

Winn hesitated before taking the box in her hands. With trembling fingers she unhooked the tiny metal catch. And gasped. The most beautiful necklace and earrings she had ever seen twinkled back at her in the candlelight. Square-cut emeralds set in a fine lacework of sterling silver sparkled in two rows, meeting at the neck clasp in a single row of rare black opals.

“The last of the Wolshingham jewels. This once belonged to Anne of Cleves. You shall wear a queen’s jewels.”

Winn was speechless. Why, this piece alone could restore Knightsbriar. What did he need her money for? But, of course, if this was the last of his family’s treasures, David would not want to part with it. Winn held up one of the delicate matching earrings. It, too, was a treasure.

“Oh, David. I’m speechless. I really am.”

“Never,” he teased.

“Be serious for a moment. Do you know how much this is worth?”

“Yes, yes, I do. And the thought of selling them off to save Knightsbriar has occurred to me, but only as a last resort. If our meeting had not gone successfully I would have done the honorable thing and released your father from his contract.”

Winn stared at him for a moment. Rather than pawn the jewels to fix a roof or raise a wall, he was giving it to her as a token of the marriage he truly wanted. “What changed your mind?”

“You. Or rather the sight of you wiggling your pretty bottom in the garden and trying your damnedest to push me away. I thought then that you were the only woman worthy enough to hold the title of Lady Wolshingham. Two previous queens had the balls to fight their husbands’ tyranny and come out with their heads intact. I knew you were up to that task and then some.”

“Me?”

“You. Puffing on cigarettes—which, by the way, I would not like to see you doing again—taking a swing at me and reading from this saucy book in front of your mother.”

With that he took the necklace out of the box and placed it around her neck. “There, sit back and let me see. Hmm…yes, only drop that sheet. Much better. Darling, you should never wear anything else to bed except your pretty smile.”

David handed her the book, opened at random. After placing it in her lap, he lounged across the bed at her feet. “Read,” he commanded.

Winn was still getting used to the cold silver and heavy stones resting at her décolletage. It felt positively decadent to be sitting in a man’s bed wearing nothing but a fortune in rare jewels. Suddenly she felt up to the task, if for no other reason than to see David’s cock get hard again.

“Very well, David…darling. May I call you darling?”

He smiled at her. “You may call me anything you wish, and that includes any four-letter words you may very well have to throw at me in the future. Now, enchant me. Make me desire you.”

Winn cleared her throat and began, “The fishing season is at least near its end. The ships have come into harbor. My girls are frantic at the thought of having so many lusty men invade the house. It happens this time every year. The first through my door, and I’m happy to say an old friend, is Uriandes Stephanopolous, captain of a Greek frigate. He brings to me pungent cheeses and plump, green olives for my kitchen, heady wines for my cellars and a huge prick for my empty pussy. Along with a ship full of lonely sailors who will spend their money freely with the girls in my salons. It will be such a party that I will be sorry to miss but I shall be otherwise occupied with Uri.”

“Continue.”

“There is a break here. The next entry picks up after the Greeks have left.”

“And what does Madame have to say?” There was a suspicious smile on David’s face that she didn’t quite understand. His next comment puzzled her even more. “I daresay she may have put some experience with Greeks
behind her
, as they say.”

Winn scowled at him. He could be so exasperating at times. “I don’t think it’s fair that you understand these nuances before I’ve had a chance to read them and think about what they mean.”

“Sorry, love. Please continue with the Greeks.”

“
Mon dieu!
My salon is a catastrophe. My girls are ruined for the next couple of days. Two of them have threatened to quit if I make them do the Greeks again. Obviously the fellows have been rough with them. My Uri is always gentle with me. First it is the massage of the body to relax the muscles. He slides his large hand between the cheeks of my ass and squeezes each one hard. Then the oils are applied most expertly to that tightest of flowers. One at a time his large fingers probe the puckered hole until there is a little stretch. It feels good when he does that. He touches me with finesse. If one is prepared correctly, it is the most intense of pleasures. He teaches me to relax and to breathe correctly so there is no pain. Finally, he anoints himself with the oil. With my bottom in the air he mounts me and ever so slowly begins to nudge his slick prick into my oiled ass—”

Winn looked up, sudden understanding sliding into her brain. She eyed David who silently nodded his head. “The Greeks,” he said simply and motioned for her to continue.

“Inch by inch and minute by minute, my flesh eats up his length until he fills me and I feel the warmth of his balls resting on my buttocks. Then he slowly begins to move in and out, all the while my body draws the ultimate pleasure. A little faster he moves, and I hear his breathing getting stronger as he whispers foreign words into my ear. I do not know what he is saying but I understand his pleasure. And he is aware of mine. Finally he shouts his joy and I feel the hot stream of his come filling my ass.”

“My…my goodness. It seems there are so many things I have to learn.”

David plucked the book off her lap. “I think we’ll begin with the conventional method for now. Mediterranean eroticism requires…a little more experience.” He crawled up beside her and placed her hand on his semierect cock. “See what your reading has done? The other evening when you read to me I was stiff as that randy Greek. An incredibly painful strait to be in when no relief is forthcoming.”

Winn closed her fingers around him, feeling his cock jump to life and shudder at her touch. She liked the feel of him, liked what she did to him. Reading about the Greeks aroused her, too. Once again she felt the sticky wetness pool between her legs. She wanted David’s cock inside her.

Shyly she turned her head and kissed him. “I want to feel you inside me. To make you come like I did when you suckled me.”

David kissed her deeply. He fondled her naked body and pressed her into the mattress. Nibbling at the corners of her mouth, he painted a sensual picture with his whispers.

“Someday it will be your tongue teasing me, your lips sending the blood racing to my cock, your little teeth gently biting my shaft.”

“The
brouter la tige
,” she managed. “The books says a man gets great pleasure from this. I want to give you great pleasure.”

“You will, and very shortly. But for the
devourer
…another night.”

David reached down between them, his warm hands feeling for the triangle of curls. His deft fingers probed her slick opening. She was ready for him. She felt it. Her inner muscles convulsed, impatient to close around David’s pulsing hardness.

At last he settled himself between her thighs. “You may find this more comfortable if you wrap your legs around my hips.”

She responded to his commands and was rewarded with David’s hard cock settling itself against her. He reached down and placed the tip of his penis into the very heart of her opening.

“Look at me. Trust me.”

Winn could only nod as he kissed her forehead. Then he began to push into her. Gently at first, as if gauging her reaction. She felt no fear; only a sense of urgency. He stroked harder, further. Inch by inch, until at last he was buried inside her.