Wickedly Wanton: A Ménage Regency Tale (7 page)

They walked in companionable silence back to the Beauchamp Estate. Reddick had said a couple other things about what he expected her to do in the future. Sabine couldn't say she overly minded—not with arousal beating through her veins and her core wet and clenching for release.

She didn't want Reddick, certainly not the way she wanted Aiden or even Faith. But his commands, the way he ordered her and taught her, aroused her in unexpected ways.

After she'd tasted his cock and swallowed his seed, he'd fondled her breasts again until she thought she'd beg for him to take her. Always conscious of the need to keep her tryst with Aiden and anything she did with Faith a secret, she hadn't voiced a word.

Now she, Reddick, and a stoic Faith sat in the parlor waiting for afternoon tea. Sabine hadn't realized how quickly their time had passed while she knelt before her soon-to-be husband in a house he'd rented solely to teach her.

No matter how many times she thought that, reminded herself of that, she couldn't seem to accustom herself to the reality. Even kneeling before him, first the glass cock, then his hard, warm one in her mouth, sliding down her throat, she couldn't reconcile the fact that his man was to be her husband.

“Ma'am”—the butler bowed deeply, face blank of all emotion—”Lord Severn is here.”

Sabine immediately stood, suddenly scared Aiden's presence would upset the delicate balance she'd built over the last several days. He couldn't walk in here and expect her to go to him, not with Reddick here.

What would he think? Aiden knew she was to marry Reddick, but what would he think of her submitting to the older man's desires?

“Show him into the east parlor,” she said, already standing, “I'll see him there.”

The butler didn't move. With disapproval just coming through the man's otherwise stoic exterior, he glanced to her left. “He's here to see Mr. Reddick.”

Caught half-standing, half-sitting, Sabine frowned. What? Who was Aiden here to see? Glancing at Faith, she saw the same confusion in her friend's frown.

“Very well,” she said, sitting back down and looking to Reddick. He stood, bowed to her and Faith, and followed the butler.

Frozen to the seat, she jumped when Faith sat beside her. “What do you suppose that's about?”

All she could do was shake her head, thoughts chasing themselves around her mind. She couldn't begin to understand why Aiden wanted to see Reddick, let alone
here
.

“Where did you go?” Faith asked.

It took Sabine a moment to formulate an answer, and when she did, realized honesty was the only answer she had. “He took me somewhere private,” she admitted quickly, glancing at the door in case anyone happened by.

Swallowing, she could still taste Reddick's seed and wished the tea would arrive quickly. She wanted to wash away his taste.

“He wanted to teach me…certain things. How to please him, how to…” Her voice dropped even further until Faith had to strain to hear her. “How to…intimately pleasure him.”

“Oh!” Faith jerked back in surprise, dark eyes wide. “And did you?”

“What choice have I?” she snapped. “Despite the lack of formal announcement, Mr. Reddick is courting me with the understanding we're to marry. My father has the contract now, which only awaits our signatures. He said”—and Sabine dropped her voice again—”Reddick said he wanted to ensure I was aware of his taste before our marriage bed.”

“When he discovers you're no longer a virgin,” Faith said just as the tea trolley rolled in, “how do you think he'll react?”

Glaring at her to be quiet before the servants, Sabine simply said, “I don't know, but there are ways around that.”

But as she poured the tea, she had the feeling should if he ever discover her duplicity, he'd teach her a lesson. And it wouldn't be pleasurable.

* * * *

“Have you changed your mind, Lord Severn?” Reddick asked as he entered the parlor.

Severn turned to look at the man, face devoid of all emotion. He'd spent the last days alternating between hating his weakness over wanting Sabine and plotting to have her completely.

“Have you finally decided to join me in the munitions business?”

“There's nothing in which I wish to join you,” he said. The other man raised an amused eyebrow at that and Severn resisted the smug cut. “There's something I wish to
take
from you.”

Reddick offered a perplexed laugh. “And what is it the great Lord Severn wishes from my humble belongings?”

“The woman you court,” he said shortly.

Severn narrowed his eyes at the anger that crossed the other man's face. There was a deeper layer to the man, one Severn hadn't realized until now. He wanted Sabine, but why? Business reasons with her father? Likely, but to have that level of anger show on his face at the mere mention of taking her from him, no, it was more than that.

Sabine was exceptionally beautiful, innocent even as she preformed the most erotic of acts with him and Faith. She gave off an air of chaste inquisitiveness, wanting always to learn, willing to do whatever he said, whatever gave her pleasure.

She was a rare creature.

Had Reddick sensed that as well?

“She's the woman I plan to marry,” Reddick said shortly, “and I've no intention of dismissing that contract. At what point did you develop an interest in my fair little Sabine?”

Curling his hands into fists, Severn controlled his temper. What liberties did Reddick take with her…and what did she allow?

“She's quite charming,” he said with a quick and easy smile, clasping his hands behind his back. “I've been quite taken with her since the picnic last week.”

Slowly nodding, Reddick walked a wide circle around Severn. Keeping a bland look on his face, he offered a bored look to the man. He knew the game Reddick played and wouldn't lose. Not to one such as him.

“She is quite charming at first sight,” Reddick allowed. “But you, the established bachelor, I'm surprised your tastes would run to one so innocent.”

He laughed, short, amused, unconcerned. “I've decided it's time to take a wife and my interests were piqued by her. She's changed my views on marriage.”

“My congratulations,” Reddick said with a slight mocking bow, “to you and your future bride. However, this one is taken. I find her too sweet a treasure to relinquish.”

“You haven't heard my proposal,” Severn said confidently.

“At any price,” Reddick interrupted.

Severn studied the shorter man, noted the implacable look in Reddick's eye. He wouldn't budge on this, but the larger question was why. Refusing to allow Reddick's resistance to the idea to stop him, Severn tried another tactic.

He didn't just want Sabine. He had to have her.

Wanted to be the one to taste her innocence yet expose her to all there was in the world. In his bed. He wanted to be the one to teach her; he wanted to be the one to instruct her in all the ways to pleasure him—and herself.

Selfishness consumed him when it came to her, and he refused to lose her.

“Perhaps her father,” he said with a nod, “has a price. I came to you as a courtesy.”

The smug smile was not lost on Severn. “Stanton's price has been paid; he's indebted to
me
. And that is not likely to change.”

Intrigued, Severn nodded. Reddick knew who he was and that he was much wealthier. Had more connections—hell, possessed a title! What would Reddick have over Stanton?

“Then the two of you have bartered her flesh,” he shot back. “There are many things I can barter with.” He bowed to the other man in farewell. “Many that would strangle your business, many that would destroy Stanton's.”

“By the time you destroy Stanton, she will be mine.”

“And you? The systematic destruction of all you know? Do you think,” he demanded, “I cannot do it? That I won't? I have done more for less of an insult. She is a possession I desire and there will be very little I won't do to acquire her.”

Severn left the room then, enjoying the arrested look on Reddick's face. He withstood the impulse to see Sabine and left the manor. Every word he said to Reddick was true. He'd destroy that man if he didn't relinquish Sabine.

* * * *

Reddick stalked back into the front parlor. Sabine looked up at him calmly, but Faith jumped up and offered him a glass of port. Dismissing her with a curt wave, he stared at Sabine for several long moments.

“You”—he pointed at a wide-eyed Faith—”stay here. Sabine.” His voice became silken, and he saw her gaze change from curiosity to concern. Good. “Sabine, come with me.”

He took her back to the east parlor, shutting the door quietly behind him. In the instant before the door completely shut, he saw Faith hover in the hall. He clicked the door closed and flicked the lock.

Then, turning to Sabine, he asked, “Why have you garnered the interest of Lord Severn?”

Her head jerked in surprise. “I don't understand what you mean. I met Lord Severn briefly at the picnic, but that's all.”

Through narrowed eyes, he looked her up and down, judging her answer. With quick strides, he crossed the room. “Are you certain,” he asked softly, fingers rough on her chin, “there is nothing more I need to know? That there is nothing else between the two of you?”

He saw it in her eyes, her desire to jerk her head from his grasp, but she didn't move. Reddick growled in approval—mayhap she had learned the lessons of this afternoon well.

“He met both Faith and I the day of the picnic,” she said evenly. “We spoke briefly—of the weather, of the guests. Nothing more. ‘Tis my reputation you affront,
Sir
.”

That last was spoken with a sneer, but he noted she used the term nonetheless. Letting the silence stretch between them, Reddick admitted he could see why, with just a look, a brief conversation between them, Severn would become intoxicated with her. ‘Twas the same when Reddick first saw her.

“Your body,” he said softly, making sure every word was clear, “and your innocence are mine.” Stepping back, uncaring the curtains opened to the side gardens, he ordered, “Bare your breasts to me.”

She didn't immediately do so, but looked around. “I don't care who comes in,” he snapped. “Do as I say!”

Sabine nodded and reached around, struggling with the laces of her gown. He waited impatiently, staring straight at her, refusing to allow her to drop her gaze. Eventually she managed to undo the laces and buttons just enough to tug her bodice down.

“I'm going to take one sweet peak into my mouth,” he said, not touching her, “and I want you to push into me.”

Sabine nodded and took a step forward, lifting her breast for him. Reddick smiled in approval before closing his mouth over her breast, biting down on the nipple, suckling it hard. When he eventually released her, the pale skin of her breast burned bright red from his mouth.

Straightening, he smacked the back of his hand to his left palm. Sabine instantly knelt, face flaming in discomfiture.

“Do as you did to me earlier.” She looked to the door, glanced over her shoulder to the windows. “Do it!” he growled, recapturing her attention.

Her fingers shook, but she loosened the ties to his breeches and took out his cock. In her hands, he pulsed, fury adding to his arousal. But he would not fuck her, would not take her virginity. Refused to allow his anger over Severn's implications ruin his plans.

He'd train Sabine first.

Her mouth was warm over him, her hands tentative against his shaft.

“No!” He jerked back, cock sliding from Sabine's lips. “Don't use your hands.”

She nodded and whispered, “Yes, Sir.”

Swallowing, Sabine took him back into her mouth, hands fisted in the material of her gown. She sucked him, tongue moving around his tip, but it wasn't enough. Fisting his hand into her hair, he thrust harder, deeper, uncaring how untutored she was.

She would submit. Would accept all he taught her. Would surrender everything she had to him.

Deeper and harder, but still she took his cock, didn't complain, didn't pull back. He could feel his balls tightening, could feel the wave of orgasm just out of reach. Then Sabine whimpered, and he looked down. She watched him, wide blue eyes, tears staining her cheeks, mouth open as far as she could, taking him deeper and deeper.

Reddick climaxed, grunting as he continued to thrust into her hot, sweet mouth.

Forcing his legs to hold him, he let the weakness wash through him. A drop of his seed escaped Sabine's mouth. She saw him watching her, and her tongue licked the side.

“Good.” He straightened and gestured to his breeches. “Now right my clothing.”

“Yes, Sir,” Sabine whispered and carefully put his flaccid cock into his breeches, straightening his clothing. Her face was a tear-stained mess, lips red and swollen, nipples tight, breasts heaving as she struggled for air.

A beautifully submissive woman to his needs.

“Stand, Sabine,” he said, and once more, she instantly obeyed. “It would take much to move me to surrender you.”

So saying, he leaned over her, cupped her breasts, and kissed her. She kissed him back and he could taste his seed on her lips. Deepening the kiss, tugging on her nipples, he held her for just a moment. Not close, certainly not comforting. Just to prove in one more way that she was his.

“Cover yourself,” he said, dropping her breasts, “and rejoin me in the parlor.”

Faith slipped into Sabine's bed, knowing the servants were long asleep. She'd sneak back out before first light, her body somehow knowing when to wake her so they wouldn't get caught. But for now, she slid between the thin sheet and snuggled next to Sabine.

Because of the heated night, the curtains were open and the window cracked just enough to allow a breeze to enter. Outside, the nearly full moon shone its pale light across the floor, slanting along the bed. Sabine sat in a beam, looking unearthly and unreservedly beautiful—even more so than usual. And, Faith noted with shiver of arousal, her shift wasn't buttoned to her neck. A hint of her full breasts peeked through, oh so tempting and hers for the taking.

“What happened this afternoon?” she asked immediately.

Cursing her tongue, she waited for an answer. Insanely jealous of the time Sabine spent away from her, she needed to know every moment of her day. However, she'd planned on making inane chatter first, speculation on what Lord Severn and Mr. Reddick wanted, even on the weather.

“Mr. Reddick took me to a house he rented,” she said. Her voice was steady, cool even, and the blue eyes she turned to Faith were distant shards of glass in the moonlight.

“But he has an estate several miles away!” she protested, sitting up.

Sabine nodded. “Indeed. Faith, he rented the house in order to…train me.” She paused, nodded as if that was the correct word, and continued. “To train me to be his wife. Train me in bed, much as Severn did with us.”

“He entered you before he married you?” Faith shook her head, at a loss. “I mean…he forced you to do this?”

“It wasn't forced,” Sabine said, drawing each word out, still steady, “but it was…” She stopped, turned her head to look out the window. “He made me understand how it is to be between us.”

“I don't understand,” she admitted. How what was to be between them? “How different could it be? What could he possibly want to teach you
before
your marriage?”

She knew to be the proper hostess, how to keep house, hire servants, stay within a budget. And thanks to Lord Severn, the pleasures of sex.

“Mr. Reddick considers himself to be my commander,” Sabine said. “Today's lesson consisted of falling to my knees and baring my breasts to him.”

Here she lowered her shift, and for a heartbeat, Faith thought she demonstrated what Reddick required. Confused, for she'd done so before Faith, indeed Lord Severn, and this was not a lesson in need of demonstrating. But then she saw the mark. It was an angry red across her pale breast, marring its perfection.

“And taking his cock into my mouth,” she finished.

Scandalized, Faith's gaze flew back to Sabine's. “Mouth?” she whispered, barely able to understand what her friend meant.

But the mark on her breast drew her back, and ever so softly, she touched it. Sabine shivered, but Faith didn't know if it was from pain or desire.

“He did this to you at his house?” she asked, too shocked to fully comprehend what happened. “Is he going to take you back there again?”

“Yes,” she answered. “At his house and even here. When he ordered me from the parlor this evening after Severn's departure.”

“Here? He did…did he force…” She shook her head and gathered her thoughts. “Did he frighten you?”

There was a long silence and eventually Sabine said, “I wasn't frightened, no. I was not as quick to respond as with Severn. However, I still grew wet between my thighs.”

Taking a moment to consider all this, Faith wondered if Sabine was amenable to Mr. Reddick. But she could not utter the words. The very thought of a man's cock, indeed of anyone other than Sabine near her, frightened her.

Not knowing what else to do or say, Faith lowered her head, hesitating just a moment, before kissing the reddened spot Mr. Reddick left. Sabine didn't push her away, and she ran her tongue over the nipple, suckling harder. This pleasure didn't stop her thoughts, and Faith knew she'd lose this intimacy sooner than she could bear.

She didn't wish to hear about how Mr. Reddick made Sabine wet between her thighs. She didn't wish to hear how anyone else could elicit that response from
her
Sabine.

At least for the moment, it was only them.

* * * *

“Have you sent off the letters?”

Severn's secretary, newly arrived from London, nodded. Dismissing the exhausted man before he had a chance to expound on things further, he turned to his banker. The man, anticipating the question, answered in the affirmative and held up the ledger.

Not bothering to read it—he would do so later once everything was entered—he spun on his heel and stalked to the hallway.

Uncaring of the hour, of how many days he forced them to work, he demanded answers. Severn had driven his people hard, sending missives and demands until he had what he wanted. It was merely a matter of time now.

He couldn't say why he went to all the trouble and expense, but he couldn't do otherwise. Having his secretary forcibly removed from his cozy London flat, his banker and two of that man's assistants enclosed in guest rooms, even the additional footmen employed as messengers.

None of it mattered.

The painting drew him to it, as it had since he'd caught Sabine looking at it during that afternoon. A pair of afternoons, that was all it took for the woman to ensnare him. Her beauty was exceptional, of the first water, but it was more than that. He'd had beautiful women before.

No, it had to do with her words, their brief conversations in between their coupling. She was an adventuress, a woman who knew her own mind and wanted to go further than society allowed.

Was it the challenge of the woman that pulled him? Or deeper?

Here, staring at the painting, the lustful look in the master's eyes, the innocence of the servant, Severn admitted it went deeper. He'd never much given thought to women and society and didn't care about other women. He cared what Sabine wanted.

And he intended to be the one to show her all the pleasures she'd never imagined. All the sights of the world, anything, indeed
everything
, she wished.

“Lord Severn.”

Turning at the sound of his banker's voice, he raised an eyebrow. But the man merely held out a letter.

Lord Severn, as per your request, we've acquired the banknotes issued to Mr. Rupert Reddick from the Bank of England.

“Excellent.” He handed the letter back to the man and dismissed him. He had Reddick where he wanted him. Feeling smug, wolfish, he looked at the painting once again.

It wasn't about destroying Reddick. It wasn't about the challenge. It was about Sabine.

* * * *

Sabine rode across the estate, taking in the crisp morning. A thin layer of fog blanketed the ground, clung to her skin. She breathed deeply, enjoying the coolness, the freedom. Spurring her mare faster, she galloped through a well-trodden path to the stream.

Eschewing the spot where she first met Lord Severn, she let the mare walk beside the cool water. Faith clung to her now, even at night, and she didn't have a moment to herself. Rolling her shoulders, Sabine relaxed for the first time in a week. Unbuttoning the jacket to her brown riding habit, she let the breeze cool her.

So much had transpired in one week, changed her. If she bothered to think of this beforehand, she wouldn't have believed herself the type to break society's rules so inexorably. Aiden, Faith, even, to some extent, Reddick all aroused her in different ways. No, she wouldn't have thought herself the type, but she relished it.

Remembering her friend, Sylvia, and the conversation she and Faith had had with her before coming to Gloucestershire, she felt another stab of pity. Sylvia had been horribly forlorn after her marriage. She hadn't enjoyed marital relations with her husband, had shuddered and nearly cried with the pain of it, but then he was a dismissive man at the best of times.

As her mare picked her way through the rocky bed of the stream, Sabine wondered if that conversation, so fresh in her mind, was the reason Faith urged her to accept Aiden's proposal. Whatever the reason, she was glad she had.

Her body had never felt so alive; she adored being touched, craved Aiden's hands on her. The forbidden nature of her actions thrilled her. She couldn't understand Sylvia's objection and dislike of the act.

The forcefulness of Reddick and how he taught her yesterday. How he forced his cock into her mouth. She hadn't cared for the taste of his seed, but the act itself, the very fact he ordered and dismissed any of her refusals stirred a naughtiness in her. Shocked her, yet she thrilled to submit to him. It was exciting and so very different from the tenderness of Faith and her complete adoration of her body.

Both Faith and Reddick offered her something very different and very appealing.

In the end, it was still Aiden. Was it because he introduced her to these exotic pleasures? Or something else, something more? Deeper? When she thought of him, it was different from Reddick or Faith. With them, she thought of the act of sex and naught more. Reddick's dominance and how it thrilled her. Of Faith's tenderness and submission and how it pleased her.

With Aiden, it wasn't just their intimate relations that sparked her imaginations, her desire; it was a connection. The beginnings of an intellectual connection she wanted to explore as desperately as she wanted to explore him again. She sensed in him not only a kindred spirit when it came to matters of the flesh, but in other ways as well.

Their love of art and adventure, of travel, and their willingness to experience the unknown.

“What the hell was he doing?” she asked of her mare. The mare shook her head but offered no answers.

Since that night three days ago, Sabine had wondered why Aiden was in the house. Why, more importantly, he wished to see Reddick and not her. Surely, Mr. Reddick's presence wouldn't affect his desire to see her, not when he'd been so forward previously.

She wanted to know. The answers tempted her but she had no good reason to call on him. What had happened between the two men to make Reddick so insistent on knowing what happened between her and Aiden. To impinge her reputation.

However, Reddick hadn't mentioned it again, even as he continued to
teach
her. Sabine shivered at those memories—so much for her reputation!

He'd promised to call on her again early this afternoon, told her they'd continue their lessons. Sabine took a moment to examine her reaction to this. She tingled with anticipation, enjoyed them. No, Reddick's orders, his power over her, were exciting and she admitted to being aroused by them, but fire didn't lick her veins, pound through her at the very thought of seeing him again.

Only Aiden brought that out in her.

She had to put Aiden out of her mind. Her future was with Reddick, even though she'd yet to approach him further about Faith, about the future of her friend. Perhaps today, on their walk to the house he'd rented. Sabine promised herself she'd judge his mood and force the opportunity if need be.

Hmm, should she offer Faith as a companion and sneak off with her? Or as a lover? Reddick didn't seem to want that. He reveled in the power, needed to hold that over her. But Sabine felt she could convince him, if not to accept Faith into their bed, then to accept her as part of their lives.

Not only was Faith dependant on her, but Sabine had grown accustomed to Faith. She was a good friend…and a delectable lover.