The Country Affair

Mary was lost in sensation. This was new, like nothing she could have ever dreamed of. He made love to her with his mouth, tracing every inch of her rose folds with his tongue before swirling it around her bud of desire. She felt driven out of her mind and the coil building inside of her tightened impossibly. She ached between her thighs and felt her lips and areole tingling. He brought her pearl into his mouth and sucked on it gently increasing the pressure, preparing himself for the wave that was about to sweep over her.

The coil insider her snapped and Mary's head tilted back in a silent scream. Colors behind her vision exploded all around her as her back arched off the bed. Her voice at last worked again and she cried out his name, pulling her hands to his head and pushing herself closer to his mouth, as though she couldn't get enough. Her thighs tensed and then relaxed and she could feel the tender parts of her pulsing and twitching between them as he moved up to lie across her once more. She felt the heavy heat of his manhood resting on her mound, pulsing with a rhythm of its own.

He ran his hand over her forehead, smoothing the sweat from her brow as she came back to reality, her heavy-lidded eyes opening slightly to stare into his. Will quickly moved up between her thighs, her legs instinctually rising to clasp around his waist. He stared deep into her golden orbs and at her reddened lips as he moved one hand between them, guiding himself to her gate, mustering all the self-control he possibly had to keep from thrusting deep into her.

Secure at her entrance, he brought his hand to her hips and slowly moved against her, sinking the crown of his organ into hers, opening her for the first time; stretching her. Her heat poured over him, testing his restraint. Mary bit her lip, a wave of fear suddenly coursing over her. Will felt her tense up and stopped, leaning down to kiss her reassuringly, the motion drawing him back out ever so slightly. Her eyes drew down the length of his body to where they were joined. Her arousal at the sight replaced her fears and she relaxed. He moved forward once more, stopping just before her maidenhead, bringing his mouth close to her ear, "I love you."

With a sharp thrust, he tore through the last barrier between them. She winced as a lancing sting coursed through her and she cried out in pain. Will pelted her with kisses, feeling her channel tighten around him at the invasion then relax once more. He moved glacially slow, driving into her further and her pain was suddenly replaced by the sensation of being filled completely; of being whole. His slow thrust forward continued and she felt herself stretching around him, tightening and relaxing and he responding in kind by stopping and letting her adjust to his size.

When he was fully sheathed inside her, he raised himself above her, the magnificent heat inside her enclosing him, drawing him deeper. His head bent down to take the peak of her breast into his mouth, withdrawing him partially. As his tongue traced a lazy circle around it, he thrust back in, harder this time. Mary cried out, this time from shear pleasure as he filled her once more. He withdrew almost fully and entered her again as her hands came up to his back, drawing his body down into hers. A moan escaped his lips and she held his face to hers, tongues entwining and mating as their bodies moved as one.

He found a pace inside of her, slowly rocking his hips forward, her canal pulling on him and releasing him, the muscles clenching and rolling with each thrust. It took all his concentration to not pitch wildly forward, the glorious heat inside of her beckoning him onward. Her hips started thrusting up to meet him, wanting more, pushing him deeper. Her fingernails raked his back and her eyelids fluttered. Their kiss locked them together, their gasps and cries lost in the other's mouth.

He disentangled himself, rising above her, his thrusts quickening, growing deep and powerful as Mary felt the spring tighten in her belly once more. Her body rocked and writhed under his, changing his direction, pushing him upward and deeper. Unimaginable sensations coursed through her. She could feel his heart beating through her, his ragged breathing matching her own and her body melting into his. She felt them move as one, driven by passion and instinct.

His speed increased, his control slowly slipping from him. The convulsive clench he felt around his flesh as he withdrew and entered her told him that she was close. Will reached a hand down between them and pushed his thumb against her bud moving in circles once more, sending her spiraling higher into ecstasy. His momentum reached a fevered pitch as he thrust into her with abandon, feeling his self-control give way, entering into the heights of pleasure.

Her world exploded around her once more and her body arched fully, the tips of her breasts grazing his chest as she cried out in pleasure, succumbing to him. As her body rose to his a blinding heat erased his senses. He tilted his head back with a shout and spurted deep insider her, grasping her hips with tensed fingers as he thrust three more times before crashing down on top of her.

Will lay there with his head at the side of hers catching his breath for what seemed like an eternity as her hands smoothed up and down his back, stroking and soothing him. He brought a shaking hand up to run through her damp hair. Their breathing slowed and he felt himself shrink inside of her until her body let him go. She reclined on the bed, pinned to the sheets by the weight of his body pressed into hers.

Will turned toward her and placed a kiss on her cheek before rolling to the side, taking her with him. He drew her exhausted form into the crook of his arm. Mary laid her head on his chest, listening to his heart. She ran a hand across his chest and up to his shoulder and threw her leg over him. Her insides shifted and ached as she moved, feeling heavy.

"I don't want you to leave..."

"...But I can't stay here. I know," Will wanted that he could turn the clock forward to when laying beside her would be seen as natural instead of ruinous, but knew that they would have many nights ahead. He was fighting falling peacefully asleep as it was. Nothing felt more right than lying here entwined with Mary,hisMary, and nothing would bring her greater shame if they were discovered.

Mary wanted to feel nothing but splendor but panic started to slowly creep into her thoughts. She had to do something. She had never felt so certain of anything in her life. If she hadn't wanted to marry the widowed Earl of Coventry before, she certainly didn't now. Not after today. Mary pictured her life condemned to aching over this perfect moment, the wife of a cold stranger, never seeing her love again. She nestled closer to Will, feeling tears sting her eyes.

He felt her body tense and held her closer, stroking her cheek. Was he too abrupt with what he said? The last thing he wanted was to hurt her, "Sweetheart, I too wish I could stay with you like this forever. But there will be time ahead of us. We have the rest of our lives..."

"Are you saying... that you want to marry me?"

Will looked at her perplexed, smiling, "Yes! Yes, you silly girl. I'd be a fool not to. What did you think this was, a test? I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

She breathed a sigh of relief. She would marry William Deerhurst. So much lay ahead of her. It wasn't too late; the engagement to Coventry hadn't been official announced yet, "My family will need to know about this."

He looked down at her, thinking she was joking, "Are you mad? Your father would just about kill me."

"I'm just so tired of lies."

"What lies? About us today? We didn't plan for this to happen. It just... did. And it was beautiful," he nuzzled in to her, trying to muffle her protests with a kiss.

She brushed him away, "No, you don't understand. This all needs to be set right. First it started with a lie this morning about where I told them I was going to be and—"

Where did you say you were going to be today?"

"In bed."

Mary thought about what she had just said and smiled with thinning lips, holding back a chuckle. They looked at each other for a moment and burst into laughter, breaking the spell of her anxiety. Will planted a kiss on her lips and rocked her close to him, "Well, you weren'texactlylying."

"So... don't tell them yet?" Mary giggled.

"Ah, no. And please don't fuss about this. As I said, I'll protect you. I promised you I would. I'll cherish you; I'll give you a life beyond your wildest dreams. Just please,pleasedon't say anything to your family," he snickered.

Mary felt a familiar hardness start to grow underneath the leg draped across him. Her eyes caught the difference in their skin: hers pale and blush, his golden and tanned. She circled her finger around one of his flat dark nipples and listened as his heart beat faster in his chest, "What would you say we are now? Would you call us lovers?"

"As far as I'm concerned, this day was our wedding night," He tilted her chin up and kissed her again, holding her body against his.

He felt her pressing up against him, the soft tuft of hair grinding against his leg, her thigh undulating over him, arousing him once more. With one swift movement he rolled her underneath him, pinning her to the sheets, his body resting between her thighs. Without any need for words he sank deep into her, claiming her once more.

* * * * *

"Mary?"

She opened her eyes, her vision bleary. The windows outside were dark and still stained with rain and the cottage alive with the sound of her family returned home.

After they had made love a second time, Will wetted a cloth and blotted her clean. She remembered him examining the blood-tinged rag, an expression of sympathy crossing his face, before smiling up at her. He gently helped her back into her nightgown and put her to bed with a kiss. The last thing she remembered before falling asleep was watching him gather their dried clothes from the fireplace.

She sleepily sat up and looked around the room in the candlelight. It looked as though he hadn't even been there. She heard feet dashing up the stairs. Lizzie opened the door and sat down at Mary's side, "So are you feeling any better?"

"Much, thank you... I just needed a good rest."

"Well, you didn't miss a thing at Overbury. The eldest daughter Suzette was justdreadful, and to be trapped indoors with her while it was raining..."

Mary half-listened to Lizzie talking about the visit to their father's schoolmate's manor, thinking instead of Will. The cold reality of what she had done hit her. Except this time, he wasn't lying next to her to comfort and console her, distracting her from her guilt with his marvelous golden body.

"You look very well. Did you just sleep the whole time we were out?" Lizzie said, her eye catching a mark on the bed sheet.

"Mostly," Mary followed her gaze and crumpled and twisted the sheets trying to mask the stain. She looked toward her nightstand in horror. Will had forgotten one thing. Two cups filled with cold tea on a tray.

"Wait... Mary, was that blood?"

"I... started my courses. It was why I hadn't been feeling well."

Lizzie raised an eyebrow. She knew for a fact that Mary had started almost a fortnight ago. Something else wasn't right. She followed Mary's panicked gaze to the two teacups. It didn't take long for Elizabeth to figure everything out.

"Mary, what has been going on today?" she whispered with a very serious look on her face, "Who came to see you?"

Mary's mouth went dry as she tried to come up with a reasonable explanation, but had none. Lizzie eyes were fixed on her, waiting for the truth.

"Girls?" Lady Louisa called down the hall, her footsteps coming closer to their room, "Girls, where are you?"

Mary looked back to Lizzie eyes wide and pale as a ghost, whispering under her breath, "Lizzie, please..."

Her sister immediately plunked one of the teacups down in Mary's hands and took the second in her own. She threw her free hand over the stain, leaning in toward Mary.

Lady Louisa came into the room in her nightgown and robe, her long graying blonde braid rolling over her shoulder out from under her nightcap, "Oh, you made your sister tea. How sweet you are, Lizzie. Mary, are you feeling any better, dear?"

"Yes, Mother. Quite better."

"Good to hear. We have a busy day tomorrow, and after the visit with that awful family," she said rolling her eyes and lowering her voice so her husband didn't hear, "I think that your father and I are ready to retire to bed."

"Good night, mother. Mary and I were just about to do the same after we caught up on today's events," Lizzie said, turning toward her sister as she ended her sentence.

"Lovely. Well, don't stay up too late, dears. See you in the morning," with that she shut the door.

Elizabeth set the teacup down, "Mary, I want to know everything, and I want to know it now."

"I can't, you know I can't! What if they hear us?!" Mary half-whispered, "I promise everything will be revealed when the engagement is announced."

"All right, but you owe me," Lizzie nodded, a wicked half smile curling her lips. She dressed in her nightgown and crawled into the neighboring bed, "You owe me a juicy story with plenty of lurid details on the morrow."

Mary nodded at her before leaning to the side and blowing out the candle. The room was washed in darkness. Tomorrow. Tomorrow. She knew exactly what she had to do. Say no to the Earl of Coventry's offer, and tell her family the truth about William Deerhurst. It sounded simple but she was a labyrinth of emotions. Her eyes were glued to the ceiling for hours before she was finally able to fall asleep.

* * * * *

Mary must have gone through a dozen shawls trying to match one to her cream cotton dress. She wanted to look simple. Chaste. She thought of Will's tongue rolling over her nipple.

Stop it, she said to herself. She had to at least make it through this day. She would have plenty of time with Will later... after her family disowned her. She tried to shift away from that thought as well. It would be all right. If her father could forgive the near ruin Lizzie had caused two years ago, then this would be forgiven too.

Except they were counting on you, Mary,she thought to herself. Her fear washed through her for a minute before her resolve returned once more. The ton be damned, their title be damned she thought. It wasn't worth a life of loneliness and separation. Instead of forcing Will from her thoughts she held on to his image in her mind. It was more than about him, this was about her freedom. Even before Will she didn't want to marry this man who she had never met, let alone heard of.

Being with him had given her strength.Courage Mary, courage.She found it. Cherry blossom. Innocent enough, yet pretty. She wrapped the shawl around her shoulders and made her way downstairs. The Earl would need to be turned down with grace to save her family and any hope she had of repairing her relationship with them after today.

She didn't touch breakfast for fear of losing it. From the moment she left her room all she could hear was her heart beating in her chest. She thought of laying her head on Will's chest, his arm curled around her, whispering his love for her.

She climbed into the carriage with her family. Their chatter sounded like distant echoes against the backdrop of her heartbeat thudding in her ears. The horses started with a lurch and she watched the great Croome Court rise in the distance.

She was helped out of the carriage by a footman as another stood holding the door open for her. A third and fourth stood at the great entry doors. She faced the house that would have been her gilded cage rising before her. A dark fear built up within her. The lord of this house would not be scorned lightly. They made their way up the marble stairs and through the columns to the main hall and into a drawing room to the side, if it could be called that. An enormous fireplace roared on the sidewall from where they entered and chandeliers hung high above.

A man who Mary guessed was the chamberlain closed the heavy oak doors behind them, the sound echoing like thunder. Her mind was transported back to yesterday, the sound of thunder ringing in the distance as Will had carefully entered her, pinning her body beneath his.

Courage, Mary.She erased all thoughts from her mind other than what she had to do. The wait for the Earl of Coventry seemed like an eternity. The only sound Mary heard was her heart beating in her ears. She stood up, hands balled in fists, ready to stand her ground and watch her world fall apart for the price of love and freedom. She was ready.

The door cracked open and the Coventry chamberlain stepped in once more. This was it.

James stood stock still at the door in his tailed coat and banged his staff on the floor twice, "George William Deerhurst, Earl of Coventry."

Mary blinked. Wait, what had she heard? Just as she began to think that she had imagined the footman saying "William Deerhurst when in walked Will, her Will. Her knees buckled but she remained upright, the color vanished from her face. The widowed Earl of Coventry... was Will? She started piecing together this information, the room rushing about her in slow motion.

He smiled at her with a wink and quickly bowed his head to Aubrey, "Lord Beauclerk, it is a pleasure to meet you finally after our long correspondence."

"And the same for you, Lord Deerhurst."

"Please, call me Will."

She stood there dumbfounded. Pieces started to fit together. Calling out her name in the garden. His familiarity with the guesthouse. Mary's head swam as her father spoke once more, "I don't think you've had the pleasure of being introduced to my daughter."

"Actually sir, I have."

"Oh?" Aubrey said, cleaning his glasses.

"At Wellesley two nights ago. She had accidentally dropped her glove."

Mary could contain herself no longer. Her happiness brimmed over. She skipped toward him and into his arms. He caught and held her for a moment before their lips crushed together, Will holding her close around the waist with a hand at her neck. Mary had to kiss him to make sure he was real and this wasn't a dream. They stayed locked there as the Beauclerks looked on.

Elizabeth bit back a knowing smile. She had better get all the details of this tonight, as promised. Louisa gasped and fanned herself at her daughter's improper kiss, looking at Aubrey to do something.

He only chuckled. Aubrey turned toward Louisa, "There; you see, wife? I told you we made her a good match."

The End.