The Ward Ch. 05

****

As Nicholas irritably plunged down a dark corridor, he spied a young maid approaching. She courteously bobbed her head when she recognised he was noble, and kept her gaze discreetly lowered, until she realised Nicholas stood in her way.

"I...A-Apologies, my Lord," she stammered, and tried to step around him.

"More than apologies, girl," Nicholas said through his teeth. Before she could answer, he seized her upper arm and dragged her into an empty storeroom. The door firmly snapped closed behind them, leaving another maid staring from the end of the hall with her jaw hanging open.

In the storeroom, Nicholas threw the maid against a cabinet, clawed the white maid hat from her blonde curls and ripped the front of her dress open.

The girl shrieked with terror; the end of her cry roughly smothered under Nicholas' hand.

"Silence!" he snarled, his fingers digging into her smooth cheeks. "You want to bring shame to Lord Bard's household?"

Choking on frightened tears, the girl immediately shook her head, and Nicholas released her mouth. For a moment his hands roughly fondled her exposed breasts, enjoying their small youthful curves, then he placed both hands on the maid's shoulders and forced the shocked girl to her knees.

"Dare bite, and I'll take you from Edmund's employ and have your teeth pulled," he threatened, releasing his cock from his pants. The girl's innocence was palpable as her eyes flared at her first sight of a man's nudity. An evil smile twisted Nichola's handsome mouth. "I am your first?"

"Y-Yes, my Lord," the girl whispered, her cheeks bashfully red. "But...I...I don't know what I'm to do."

"You're to open your mouth, and pleasure your better," Nicholas sneered, and without further ado, pulled the girls face toward him and closed his eyes as a warm, soft moistness encompassed the head of his aching cock.

"Your Lord should thank me for teaching his maids how to behave," Nicholas muttered, jerking his hips until the girl retched around him. "Don't touch me!" he snapped, slapping the girl's hands from his thighs, where they clutched for support. "Link your hands behind your back."

As she obeyed, the young girl's mind whirled with fear and confusion. Knowing not to question a noble's desires, she'd no idea this service was expected of her rank. Why had no one warned her?

As she continued to lament her circumstances and hope not to anger Lord Bard by insulting his guest, the noble released her hair and pushed her forehead, so her mouth loudly slid from his shaft.

"On your feet, girl!" he barked, shoving her shoulder when she did so.

Wiping excess saliva from her lips, the girl staggered back, unconsciously drawing the torn front of her dress together. For a moment Nicholas enjoyed her rare fear as she stared with uncertainty and apprehension. She truly had no idea what was in store.

"Turn around," he growled softly. "Bend over that table, and do not close the front of your uniform."

Looking terrified, the maid obliged and gasped with fright when Nicholas pressed up against her. His hand reached around to gently cup each small breast, and sinisterly pulled on one nipple.

"Good girl," he breathed.

The maid's eyes widened when Nicholas' other hand searched rudely up her skirt and felt around her sacred place. Then a burning finger pressed inside.

"O-Ow!" she quietly whimpered, squirming against the table.

"There it is," Nicholas crooned, his finger wiggled painfully in her tensed, unused channel. "A good girl, indeed. Stay where you are."

Not wanting to tarnish his fine coat with virgin blood, Nicholas stepped back and carefully removed it.

"P-Please, my Lord! Please, don't!" the girl winced through her protest. Though trained not to question her betters, she realised with substantial alarm that this privileged stranger was about to take all of her value in one cruel tryst. Part of her couldn't believe that Lord Bard would condone something like this.

"Shut up, girl," Nicholas snarled. "Do not speak again, unless I tell you."

With a nasty gleam in his eye, he approached, but movement on the other side of the door warned him and Nicholas managed to restrain his hard cock from plain sight as Joel practically kicked the door down.

"Oh. It's you," Nicholas said flatly, relaxing his hold on his sword. "Begone, codger."

Joel angrily strode forward, jerked the bent over girl upright, and quickly gathered the front of her dress together.

Nicholas sighed impatiently. "What the devil are you doing? I am not finished with her."

"Master Edmund requires her immediately, my Lord," Joel bitingly answered, snatching the girl's discarded hat from the ground and dusting it clean.

Rolling his eyes, Nicholas noticed the startled, red-haired maid who hovered in the doorway and had obviously fetched Joel. Nicholas' eyes devoured her; his lips pursed with thoughtful consideration.

"Pure little doves watch over each other," he smiled, and the redhead instinctively took a step backward.

Joel quickly led the crying blonde maid to her friend. "You are both relieved of duties for tonight. Go to bed, and bar the door," he said lowly, and the girls immediately fled.

Nicholas calmly shrugged into his glittering coat. "The first worthy pieces I've seen in Eddy's employ in years. I should gut you for interfering."

"You may be accustomed to treating your servants a certain way, Lord Stiles, but this is not your estate, and you will respect Lord Bard's people when you set foot on this property."

Nicholas drew his sword. "I believe I will gut you, after all. Perhaps an old man lost his mind with age and had to be cut down."

Joel surprised Nicholas by laughing. "Or perhaps an old man was murdered, for once spanking a little brat when his mother would not."

"So. You. Did." Nicholas showed his teeth as the humiliating memory surfaced. "I shall enjoy this more than I thought."

Paused with his sword raised, Nicholas slowly lowered it, staring over Joel's shoulder.

"I don't believe we've been introduced?" he called, his blue eyes curious and his tone holding some ounce of respect.

Prepared to defend himself, Joel stiffened with dread as the unarmed visitor walked by to stand between him and the sword.

"I believe not," Aleksis said coolly, untroubled by Nicholas' deadly weapon.

Nicholas hesitated at the newcomer's impressive appearance. The stranger was clearly wealthy, unusually good-looking and carried himself with an admirable confidence.

"I was about to teach this servant a lesson for insolence," Nicholas said flippantly, sheathing his sword. "But it can wait. I am Lord Nicholas Stiles."

"I know who you are. And the Lord's steward, never showed insolence that was undeserved," Aleksis answered with a frosty smile. Without bothering to introduce himself, he turned and frivolously tapped Joel's tense shoulder. "Come, Joel," he lightly ordered.

Then he left the room without acknowledging Nicholas, and after pausing a heartbeat, Joel followed, his face frozen with terror.

*******

"You enjoy a woman's touch, my Lord?" Mary purred into the ear of the young man she pressed to the wall, her hand working down his pants.

"Y-Yes," Roger uttered, incredibly aroused by also very startled by the lady's brazen manner.

They were introduced less than an hour ago, and the woman was all genteel politeness. Although noticeably fetching, she was Nicholas' mother, and he never entertained the idea of an impromptu tussle. For a while she'd delightfully charmed him, with no inkling of impropriety. But once alone, she morphed into a completely different personality that both excited and frightened him.

"Then we must go someplace more private," she whispered in his ear, and stepped back to grin at his straining erection.

"But... Lady Stiles, I think-" he began uncertainly, but she pressed a finger to his lips.

"Follow me, or not," she cooed, staring challengingly from beneath thick lashes, before prancing toward an ornate staircase.

After a few shaken breaths, the young noble tore after the older woman. It seemed Mary had a certain place in mind, because she touched upon certain doors, frowning as though trying to recall a memory. Soon enough her face brightened, and she turned to beckon the man trailing in her wake.

"In here, quickly," she breathed, and pushed the large doors open.

"My Lady!" Robert gasped, scandalised. "I believe this is Lord Bard's bedchamber!"

"Oh?" she said innocently, twirling to fall upon the readymade bed. "I practically raised the boy. He will not care, I assure you."

"I...I..." Roger stuttered, blinking profusely.

Sighing impatiently, Mary quickly left the bed to close the bedroom doors Roger left ajar. Then she roughly pushed Roger onto the elegantly large bedspread and climbed on top of him.

Roger stared speechlessly as his acquaintance's mother reached under her skirts, her eager hand stroking his aching cock.

"So virile, Roger," she smiled as he gasped and bucked under her.

The tips of her fingers traced his mouth, while her hand continued to rub him through his pants, all the while she gyrated her pelvis against his groin. "Do you want more?"

"I don't know!" he panted with confusion, as Mary's fingers trailed from his lips, over his chin and fixed around his throat.

"You are so, so, hard, young man," she admonished, tightening her grip until he choked. "Shame on you!"

Not wanting to lay violent hands on a lady, Roger restlessly tried to pull her hand from his neck. "P-Please, Lady Stiles, I can't-"

"If you don't want to be throttled, I suggest you place your hands elsewhere," she warned, and removed her hand from outlining his cock and slowly untied the top of her red-velvet bodice to pop both breasts from their confinement.

Roger's eyes flared with shock and desperation. "I can't breathe!" he gurgled, and Mary laughed.

"Then place your hands elsewhere, fool, and you may," she said silkily.

Finally understanding, Roger seized her breasts, gasping with relief as Mary slightly relaxed her ferocious hold. Only slightly.

"Do better," she purred, her fingers twitched warningly, and Roger desperately caressed and kneaded the large breasts hanging from her revealing dress.

"Better!" she suddenly snarled, and Roger choked again.

Panicking, he squeezed the soft flesh roughly, his trembling fingers rubbed her hard nipples, and he began to pull on them.

"Yes!" Mary moaned; her eyes closed with rapture. The boy's cock was very stiff, though he shuddered painfully through each tiny breath she allowed him. She rhythmically thrust against his erection. "More!"

Roger was shocked by his arousal, despite being inconceivably overwhelmed and partially fearing for his life. Despite it all, he was going to release. He couldn't believe it.

Roger's eyes rolled back, he pulled on Mary's nipples as though they could save him, and Mary rubbed her warm crotch over his until the boy exploded in his pants.

"You...wicked...young...man...!" Mary heaved, throwing her head back with both hands fixed around Roger's throat. Finally spent, she relaxed somewhat, and peered at the unconscious noble between her legs.

Smiling with satisfaction, she discreetly adjusted her bodice back to decency, and climbed off Roger. Inspecting parts of Edmund's chamber, she peeked in some drawers, and finally extracted a pair of black riding gloves.

"These should do," she mused with a shrug.

Mary tightly rolled up the leather pieces and concealed them in the folds of her gown. Casting a last malicious glance to Roger's limp figure, she smoothed the creases of her dress and tidied her hair. After pausing to listen for people nearby, she sneaked from the room.

*****

Nicholas paused his angry stride as he heard the faint sound of a woman crying. The scowl on his face brightened to a spiteful smile as he searched for the source.

Lucille heard the approaching tread, and quickly brushed the wet from her cheeks in time to face Nicholas with some semblance of composure.

"Ah, Lady Amelie," Nicholas smirked, eyeing her dejected countenance with substantial glee. "Just the lady to lift my spirits."

"With my own misery, no doubt," she tartly replied, unfazed by his sudden appearance. "I never had a chance to thank you for the message."

"I was delighted, believe me," Nicholas grinned.

Surprisingly, Lucille stepped forward, reaching to cup his face and draw him closer.

"I am a broken woman, and I suppose you would also delight in Edmund's last dalliance?" she asked suggestively, her dark eyes glowing at Nicholas' attractive features. Pressing her breasts to his chest, she watched Nicholas' attention inevitably fall her to cleavage.

In anticipation of defiling a woman who was once dear to Edmund, Nicholas' grin turned lustful as their lips inched closer. Without further ado, his arms wrapped around Lucille and he kissed her passionately, before wrenching back.

"You, bitch!" he snapped, blood spilling down his chin to stain the white of his cravat. Before he could retaliate, Lucille was by the exit.

"You were always a cur, Nicholas Stiles!" she declared, licking his blood from her lips and spitting it to the ground. "I know you thought to turn me against Edmund with your little ploy, but I am a different calibre of woman to what you associate. I will never take part in your childish endeavours."

"He fucked you so well, did he?" Nicholas snarled, itching to strangle her. "You're content to lick his boots, while he slights you for another?"

Lucille laughed, remarkably cheered by how the encounter improved her low mood. "I would rather lick his sullied boots, than kiss you again."

Nicholas lunged, but Lucille fled on her last word through the doorway to safety.

Feeling unusually thwarted that night where it came to women, and particularly resentful of Edmund's unwavering popularity with the fairer sex, Nicholas almost screamed his anger aloud without caring who heard.

*******

"Edmund, a word, if you please," Garrick seized Edmund's bicep, but his host wrenched his arm free.

"You've seen Sage?" Edmund asked, rather viciously.

"Ah...yes?" Garrick replied uncertainty, wondering whether Sage might be better off alone after all.

"Where?" Edmund barked.

"With Celia." Shocked, Garrick slowly pointed the direction, his mouth ajar as Edmund stormed past him.

Having convinced Celia to return to the party, Sage paced her bedchamber, wringing her hands and pausing occasionally to wipe fresh tears from her cheeks. When Edmund entered, her emotions refreshed.

Edmund briskly unbuckled his sword belt and laid the scabbard aside, his dark frown melted immediately as Sage ran to him.

"You...You didn't?" she faltered, pausing as she reached him.

"Of course not," Edmund said heavily, drawing her his arms and settling on a settee behind them. He gently tilted Sage's tear-stained face from his chest and kissed her cheeks. "Am I forgiven?"

"For what, precisely? You have not apologised for anything!" Sage pouted, though her eyes brightened as her earlier indignation faded with relief. She honestly didn't know how she would cope if Edmund bore news of Aleksis' demise.

"You know I was sorry to upset you, minx," Edmund sighed, also very relieved Sage didn't hate him. As he remembered the incident, his shook his head. "Your Guardian is as wise as you warned. I should have heeded your words."

Satisfied and flattered, but perhaps most of all immensely glad that Edmund's fighting desire had abated, Sage snuggled against him.

"I believe I met my mother's brother tonight," she sighed sadly as Edmund jerked with surprise.

"Your uncle? Who?"

"Lord Habern. He approached me without introduction."

"Lord Habern?" Edmund echoed with wonder. "So, your family is more esteemed than mine. For him to confront you, your likeness to his sister must be remarkable."

"I feared I would never escape him," Sage said wryly.

"Perhaps he was once entitled, but you are mine, now. But if you wish to know him, I can arrange it."

"No. My history is inexplicable and would endanger Aleksis."

At her guardian's mention, Edmund pulled a face before his attention returned to the girl in his arms. "Did I mention how irresistible you are tonight?" he murmured against the top of her head.

"Nicholas said as much," Sage angrily mumbled, and Edmund quickly turned her face up.

"What happened?"

"Nothing. Garrick intervened." Sage sighed. "I hate Stiles. He is fun to taunt, but I wish you would run him through, Edmund."

"As do I, Sage. He has provoked me since childhood. But do not get carried away with your teasing. The man is more dangerous than you know."

Tiring of the topic and feeling the need for a different kind of consolation, Sage turned and lightly pushed Edmund's shoulders so she could climb into his lap.

"I know when you chanced upon us, how it must have looked," she murmured, looping her arms about his neck. "But I told Aleksis that I want you," she explained, looking wistfully into his eyes and enjoying the warm strength of his embrace. "And I do, Edmund."

"And a part of you wants Aleksis?"

Sage bit her lip. "I cannot help but feel close to him. But..."

"Hush." Edmund's hand slid from the nape of her neck to cup her jaw.

The intimacy between them flared to a new heat, and soon Sage's hands found their way beyond Edmund's coat and beneath his shirt. The warmth of his hard chest against her palms made Sage shiver with excited anticipation. They kissed a while, until Edmund's mouth moved down her neck toward her breasts.

"Yes!" Sage breathed, feeling the intricate black satin quickly loosen at her chest.

The surrounding air stimulated her exposed flesh, then Edmund's lips hungrily sucked a nipple. His other hand travelled up her skirts, indulgently gripping her bare thigh before moving further to squeeze her buttock and bring her tightly against him.

"Oh, Edmund," Sage sighed, grinding against the newly hardened part of him that persistently nudged her sex.

"I want you, now. I need you, Sage," Edmund groaned against her skin. His cock flexed with impatience as the hot warmth from between her legs called to him.

"Edmund..." Sage smiled giddily, her eyelids heavy with lust as Edmund kissed her again, his hand continued to caress her breasts and send shivering pleasure up her spine.

"Are you ready?" he said huskily, his eyes wildly passionate as he reached between them, fumbling until his fingertips stroked soft, delicate flesh practically dripping arousal. Trying to control his urgency, he slowly squeezed two fingers inside her and watched Sage's mouth drop open with the sensation, her blue eyes pleading for more.

Lust took over, and Edmund's mouth forcefully pressed to Sage's and their tongues danced. After a few heated seconds, his fingers began to slowly move in, and out, careful not to break through her virginal barrier.

"Oh, Edmund!" Sage uttered against his lips, desperately jerking her hips as his thumb slid over her aching nub. "Wait! I need...I don't want..."

But in that moment, Edmund decided not to deflower her until they were married, as much as it might kill him. So, he grinned knowingly against her lips and continued his ministration, hearing her breathing quickly increase to an urgent pant.

"Edmund! I don't know...?" Sage gasped; her voice filled with uncertainty.

"Let it happen, Sage." He gently sucked her neck, his fingers burying into her repeatedly whilst his thumb continued to tease her swollen core.

"Oh, Edmund!" Sage's eyes widened with startled wonder as she gripped the back of his neck, blindly thrusting against his hand.

Then her eyes closed, and her head fell back. Edmund relished in her pleasure, felt her tight, virginal hole clench and throb around his fingers, coating them in a fresh river of juices.