The Duchess's Journey

I imagined this story in the last days, but I'm not sure if I will continue it.

It will depend on your feedbacks.

Calixte, thank you for your review on this part.

Enjoy the reading.

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Part 1

Glancing to the wall clock, Lady Katherine Spencer was startled to notice that it was already 10:30 AM, time for her daily appointment with her husband. Standing up from her desk, where she had been working with her correspondence, she fixed her hair and dress and glided through the corridor to the west side of the manor in the direction of his study.

With elegant measured steps she followed on and sighed, knowing that William would not be pleased by her delay even if it were for a few mere seconds. He was very strict with punctuality; and always had his day carefully planned. For someone who did not know him, this information could make him seem a boring man, but in fact it was really the opposite. He had so much energy, and usually got involved in so many different things that in order to accommodate his many interests he really needed a strict organization. She enjoyed these morning meetings, and she thought that he did also, as it was one of the few occasions that they could talk in private and enjoy each other's company, away from the servant's eyes. He would usually tell her about guests or people he planned to invite for dinner in the next days, and she reported to him the status of the manor administration and asked for advice in issues with her charitable activities, the servant's issues or purchases she intended to see to. When she finally arrived she gave a slight knock on the heavy mahogany door and opened it, her heart accelerating a bit as it always did when she was about to see him, ... only to find the studio empty.

Disappointed, she entered the studio and closed the door behind herself. In these six months of marriage he had never been late for anything.He must be busy somewhere else, she thought,I will wait for him here.She went to the chair in front of his desk and sat gracefully, fixing her skirts and her hair; wanting to look beautiful for her husband.

Their marriage had delighted the London society. At thirty years old William was one of London's most sought-after and eligible bachelors in town, and he had showed no inclination for marriage until Katherine had debuted last season at seventeen years old. In her first ball he had surprised her parents and the society matrons by asking her to dance twice in the same night. In the next day he had gone to her family's house in Regence Park and had talked to her father. They had married 4 months later on her eighteenth birthday and had been married for the last six months. Her royal bloodline was a perfect match for his own and everybody had commented that her white-blond hair and mauve blue eyes did a perfect contrast with his dark completion. His Grace, the Duke Marshall was a very handsome man. He was tall, broad shouldered, with black hair, blue-green eyes and a wide mouth. Although most people found him an intimidating character, Katherine didn't feel scared or intimidated in his presence. She felt safe... safe and cherished.

Lost in her thoughts she was startled to notice that more than 15 minutes had passed and William had not arrived yet. Annoyed, her eyes wandered through his desk to pause on a large book with a strange design the cover. Knowing that her husband would not mind if she distracted herself while waiting for him she took the book in her hands and noticed that it was a sketchbook. Painting was one of William's many interests. He was a very talented artist, especially with charcoal portraits. She opened the sketchbook and smiled when she found a portrait of herself reading a book. She turned the pages and found many other sketches of herself in many different activities and positions.Maybe I'm becoming another of his many obsessions like painting, riding, politics, horses, hunting and philosophy. She smiled inwardly, feeling strangely flustered at the thought.

Katherine suddenly stopped and felt all the blood drain from her face, only to return and make her blush as brilliant crimson red. Terribly embarrassed, she stared at the sketch of herself lying naked in bed with a languorous expression on her face, her legs opened indecently with an oozing liquid pouring from her sex. With trembling hands, she turned the page and found another sketch; this time she was arching her back, her breasts pointing up with erect nipples and her mouth open as if she were screaming in ecstasy, her eyes dazed with pleasure. She turned page after page only to find more sexual sketches of herself; all the drawings beautiful and lustful, but also crude in what they showed. William was an ardent and demanding lover, and although she was very responsive to his demands, to see herself displayed so with such vulgarity in such intimate moments was frightening.I didn't know I looked so wanton during sex. It excited her and at the same time made her feel fearful and vulnerable.

Turning another page she found a blank page with an inscription: "Essays on Submission". Intrigued, she found one sketch that she did not recognized that brought a cold shiver down her spine. She was standing alone and with her face turned to a post; her hands were tied above her head and held on to a hook attached to the post. Her legs were spread and her ankles were tied to rings attached to the floor. Her naked body seemed to be hanging from the post as if she was tired and her bottom seemed hurt. It was marked as if it had been whipped. With a horrified gasp she exclaimed inwardly:What's that?

On the next page Katherine felt her body respond instantly to the erotic view of herself kneeling naked and blindfolded, with her back straight, her hands tied behind her back. Her hair was loose and some tendrils were falling over her breasts. There was a small bow of fruits in front of her. This time she was not alone, man's arms appeared from the left of the drawing and one of his masculine hands was inserting a grape bud into her open mouth. The other one was cupping her mound with one finger inserted in her sex. She had some fruit juice escaping from her lips and a few drops had fallen over her breasts and belly.

She turned the page and found herself again naked and kneeling but this time she was sitting back on her ankles. Her legs were well apart and with head tilted back so that her loose hair touched the floor with her hands clasped behind her neck. She was looking straight ahead like a diligent little soldier ready to be inspected. Again a man's arm appeared from the left and this time his hand was holding one of her breasts and squeezing one of her nipples.

With her heart racing she found another sketch where she was naked on her hands and knees, positioned at the side of a chair where a man was seated in formal clothes. This time her hair was not loose but tied in a ponytail leaving her face fully exposed, and she was looking at the floor with a submissive expression in her face. William had not drawn the man's face, only his body, but she knew it was him sitting straight in his studio's armchair. His beautiful hands were caressing her back as if she were a pet.

The last drawing was stunning. She was laid naked on her stomach over a man's lap, naked, her hands were tied behind her back and her face was hidden behind the cascade of hair that fell down to the floor. Like the previous drawing, the man's face could not be seen. Just part of his body and the fact he was fully dressed. One of his hands was holding her by the waist, whilst the other was raised as if to hit again her already sore bottom. These are William's hands! He is spanking me!

Shaken, Katherine stood and went to the window with her mind in turmoil, her feelings shattered.Oh my God, Oh my God, William, what on earth is that?To see herself displayed after sex play was shattering enough, but this? This was sick. Brutal. Erotic. She tried to calm down and breathe calmly, but it was all in vain. Try as she might, she could not help the feeling that she really did not know or understand her husband at all. She tried to focus her thoughts on the drawings, trying to understand what they represented. Did it excite him? The idea of torturing, spanking her... treating her like a she-dog? Or were these drawings only her husband's sexual fantasies? Calming a little, and with horrified fascination, she came back to the table and spent several moments analyzing each drawing carefully.They are disturbing... and they are beautiful...

Some details had escaped her earlier, but she noticed now that in all these portraits her sex was completely bare... there was no pubic hair at all. Also, she noticed that in all of them she was wearing a leather strap around her neck; it looked like a dog's collar... In the drawing where she was at the side of the chair there was a leash attached to the collar, held by the man's hands. As if she were a dog. And the expression of her face was a mix of submission, reverence to the man that held her leash, and something else that seemed to be pride - but how? How could any woman be proud of being tied, or whipped or treated like a dog? With her hands on her mouth and tears clouding her eyes, she turned abruptly to leave... and found her husband at the entrance of the studio, with his back against the closed door looking intently at her.

"My lady." He greeted her formally and entered the room walking, slowly in her direction. Katherine instinctively stepped back, uncertain of what to do or how to react. He flinched at her withdrawal, but continued walking and stopped at her side, gazing at the open sketchbook.

"I see you have found my sketchbook." He looked at her and his expression, though reserved, revealed concern. "I apologize. It's obvious that drawings have upset you." Katherine thought she saw a trace of vulnerability in his eyes, and this gave her the strength to try to understand what was going on. Holding back her tears, she asked in a small voice:

"My lord, what are all these sketches about? I don't understand... "

"So, I'm not William anymore? When I left you this morning called me by my Christian name and even added 'my Love' if I recall correctly." He answered in an obvious attempt to avoid answering her question. There was an edge to his voice; and Katherine was unsure if it was anger or hurt, or perhaps a mixture of both.

Katherine blushed a bright scarlet, remembering how he had awakened her with a fierce kiss after his usual morning horse ride and the furious lovemaking that followed. He had demanded a fierce response from her, forcing one orgasm after the other until she was spent and dazed. In fact, he was becoming more and more ardent in his lovemaking, as if he wanted her to overcome all her inhibitions giving herself to the moment without restraints. She looked at him and saw the vulnerability in his eyes this time more clearly, and a fear of rejection that helped to calm down. Forcing herself to focus on the problem at hand, she answered more steadily:

"You are still my William, and I'm still the same Katherine from this morning. But I'm not sure if you are the man I thought you were. This is the reason why I'm asking you... what are these sketches about?"

He gave her a sad smile and answered in a bitter tone.

"These are just dreams of a devious mind. Don't concern yourself about them. I will make sure they are destroyed."

Katherine sighed; she knew him well enough to see that her comments had hurt him, and also that he was hiding behind his pride to avoid showing it. Her only thought was to restore the trust she had always felt for him... the trust that had been shaken by these images.

"William, I'm sure the paper can be easily destroyed, but unfortunately I can not erase these images from my mind so easily; and so I want to know why you have done them... and what they mean for you."

William looked at her, surprised. He had not expected such an honest approach from her about something that most women would prefer to ignore. She was standing by his side, embarrassed, but determined. He didn't dare to expect that she would understand his desire to dominate her. Since he had met her at the Devonshire's ball he had felt the desire to make her his own. He had thought that by marrying her, this desire would diminish, but it was intensifying. They had been married for 6 months and although they had an active sexual life, it was not enough for him. He wanted her body, her mind, her wishes... her very soul... sometimes he felt he wanted to absorb her inside him so that she would never leave him. How could he explain that to her? How to make her understand?

She was so young! Like himself she was an aristocrat with royal blood, proud and very conscious of her ranking and position in life. But with him, especially in their bed all that pride and subtle arrogance was dissolved in a heap of responsiveness submission to his demands that always made him want more. This very morning after many orgasms he had been able to convince her to suck and kiss his penis for the first time, something he had been patiently waiting to experience with her and she had not disappointed him... He had not ejaculated in her mouth... yet... but, it was just a matter of time and patience. She was his dark dreams come true and now for the first time he felt hope to be able to share his secret fantasies with her... and maybe to make them come true.