A Haughty Courtesan, page 13
He pulled her head back and once again kissed her with a hunger she had never witnessed before. He devoured her with his wild passion.
“Even dreaming about leaving you for someone else is a sin for me,” he said.
He opened the front of her gown with urgent hands and bared her chest to his smoldering gaze. She was sure her heart would give out if he kept looking at her like that.
Holding her heavy breasts in his palms, he tested their weight and then leaned down to taste the erect buds that were begging to be touched. Taking the tip of one breast into his mouth, he sucked deeply.
“My lord!” she hissed and pushed her chest towards his mouth by arching her back.
He kissed a trail of kisses towards the valley between her breasts and enjoyed the wanton noises she was making.
He picked her up and placed her with care atop his lap. She became a wild little thing after that. She tore open his coat and shirt with her hands and kissed him all over his chest.
He opened the flap of his trousers and his engorged member sprang free. She took it in her small hand instantly and traced its contours with gentle caresses.
“Rose, my love,” he moaned.
She moved his member towards her soaking cunny and pushed it inside her slowly and gently. Once he was seated to the hilt, she moved her bottom in a circular motion and thrilled at the way it made his heartbeat irregular and erratic.
“My lord, is there a problem?” she asked mischievously, teasing him with slow movements atop his member.
He gave her a roguish smile before holding her by her sides and slamming his hardened pole inside her with a single thrust and making her scream.
“No problem, my lady,” he said in an equal amount of mischief and amusement.
She held onto his shoulders as he picked up his speed and made her see constellations behind her closed eyes with his hard and rough lovemaking.
“My name is William,” he said hoarsely. “Scream my name.”
He combined his rough thrusts with rubbing her folds with his finger and pressing down on her clit with the pad of his thumb.
“William!” she screamed.
Hearing his name from her lips made him lose control. His hands tightened on her sides and he gritted his teeth as his member swelled inside her.
Her screaming raised an octave higher when his member stretched her sensitive folds. The moment he started shooting his seed inside her, she reached her own release and came tumbling down the cliff with his name on her lips.
“That was incredible, my lord,” she said.
He pulled her closer to him and she rested her head on his chest.
“Call me William,” he said. “I would like my wife to use my name when she is addressing me.”
“My… William.”
“Your William, my Rose,” he said. “Always yours.”
Chapter 21
With a smile on face and a visible skip in his step, William was walking towards the room of his soon to be wife. He had asked Robert to procure a special license from the magistrate for him. Robert would be arriving any minute now.
Who would have thought he would be marrying the most coveted girl in the whole town?
Who could have believed he was the sodding bastard who had managed to snag the girl every man dreamt of spending a few moments with?
He was the luckiest man alive on God’s green earth.
He came to a sudden halt when he saw an unexpected guest waiting for him in the living room. Her back was turned towards him, but he could still recognize her.
Lady Lillian, the girl he was courting until a few days ago.
“What do you want, my lady?” he asked.
She turned towards him and his guilt reared its ugly head. Her eyes were bleary and red-rimmed. She had cried for a long time and without any doubt, he was responsible for her condition.
“I am of noble birth, yet I am ridiculed due to a harlot,” she said. “You humiliated me, Lord Clifford.”
He could tolerate any insult thrown at his face, but insulting Rose was an unforgivable crime. He promised her a life of serenity and love. No way in hell would he stand aside and let someone ruin her happiness with bitter words.
“I don’t have time for this,” he said, pointing to the doorway. “It would be for the best if you leave this instant.”
She strode towards him and stood a few feet apart from him. She lifted a trembling finger in his direction as rage consumed her from inside out.
“You were courting me until yesterday,” she said loudly.
He had shown his interest in her, but he had not made any calls upon her, nor had he sent any letter or even a small flower. Lady Lillian was being unreasonable in her anger.
“I did not make any formal request to court you, my lady,” he said calmly.
She narrowed her eyes and was no doubt going to retort with a scalding remark. Before she could open her mouth and spill more hateful words, Robert entered the living room.
Robert bowed his head towards Lady Lillian, but she just glared at him without curtsying back.
“Robert, did you procure the special license from the magistrate’s office?” William asked.
He was done talking to Lady Lillian. A beautiful girl was waiting for him and he refused to keep her waiting due to a scorned woman. He was also letting her know he was officially taking a wife and there was no chance for her in his life.
“Special license?” Lady Lillian said bitterly. “You are marrying her? A woman of questionable character?”
Again, she was insulting Rose and right before his eyes. His anger was justified at that point.
“This is my wife you are speaking about, Lady Lillian,” William retorted. “I suggest you leave this instant before I am forced to remove you by other means.”
Have these people no regard for the feelings of others?
Did the lady really believe he would even think about her after dragging his lover’s name through the mud?
“I don’t understand, my lord,” the lady said. “How can you prefer a harlot over a noble lady? Is she really that beautiful?”
Rose was no doubt the most beautiful girl, but that was not why he was marrying her. He saw in her what others usually took for granted. He saw a compassionate soul and a loving heart. He saw the girl who put on a brave face even when she was scared to death.
He fell in love with that beautiful, compassionate and brilliant girl.
“Lady Lillian,” he said. “I would choose her over the whole world even if she was pox-ridden and a leper. Love is a strange emotion. It makes you blind to the outward flaws of your beloved.”
A feminine gasp was heard across the room and everyone turned towards the lovely girl standing in a doorway in a lavender dress and flowing curls with red coloring adoring her full lips and coal under her violet eyes.
“My lovely Rose,” he said. “I am besotted with your wit and charm. I love you. My life is incomplete without you in it.”
He held out his hand towards her and she came running towards him. Instead of taking his hand, she placed her palms on the sides of his face and connected their lips in a passionate kiss.
“Are you ready to embrace the world with me, wife?” he whispered against her lips.
“I will go to the ends of the world with you, husband,” she whispered back.
When they turned their heads towards the occupants of the room, they saw the smiling face of Robert and a seething glare from Lady Lillian.
“Have you asked your parents if they will accept this union?” Lady Lillian asked.
William knew his parents would object to their union, but he was confident they would never reject Rose. He was their obedient son who had never asked for anything all his life. He had blindly followed their orders.
Surely, they will bestow upon him the small gift of accepting his wife into the family.
“I will convince them,” William said confidently.
Lady Lillian gave him a sarcastic smirk.
“Think it through, my lord,” Lady Lillian said. “Do you really believe your mother will let her daughter associate with a harlot?”
Rose stiffened and his arms tightened around her automatically. It was his way of assuring her that he was standing at her side. He will find a solution to her every problem.
“Lady Lillian, this is my family matter. I would really appreciate it if you’d leave my house.”
William nodded at Robert. Taking the hint, Lady Lillian turned around and left with Robert. She was a noble lady. She knew when she was dismissed.
The special license was placed on a small table in a corner. They looked at the piece of paper that tied them in the bond of holy matrimony and then at each other.
“Leave my parents to me,” he said. “I am sure I can convince them.”
“I have complete faith in you, William.”
He picked her up and took her to their shared room. They made love to each other all night long until both of them were too tired to move a muscle.
Chapter 22
A few days after their blissful marital life began, William had suggested meeting his family. She had been reluctant, but he had insisted and she had yielded to his wishes.
She was regretting that decision now.
She had hoped they would accept her with open arms, but that was all daydreaming on her part.
For the past hour and a half, Rose was waiting outside the study of William’s father and listening to their exchange in silence. William was championing for her, but his parents were against their union.
William was inside with his mother, father and a younger sister. She had curtsied to all of them when she saw them for the first time and only the sister had curtsied back to her. His mother had looked at her with disdain and intense loathing while his father had ignored her altogether and commanded his son to join him in the study.
William was unwilling to leave her alone outside, but she had made him follow his father’s orders. She had convinced him to listen to whatever his parents wished to speak about.
“Do you really love me, Mother?” William asked.
Her ears perked up. She had zoned out for a few moments, but the question brought her back to the present.
“What sort of preposterous question is that? Of course, I love you. How can a mother not love her child?”
“Then how come my happiness means so little to you?” William said softly. “She is the love of my life. How can you claim to love me when you are insulting her before my eyes?”
She would never tire of listening to him confess his love for her.
“Is this any way to behave with your mother?” William’s father said. “We raised you better than this. From whom did you learn such unethical manners?”
She knew they were referring to her. To them, she alone was responsible for making their son go rogue. They believed she was a money-grabbing hussy who was taking advantage of their son’s good nature.
She did not blame them for being skeptical about her. She was once a courtesan and trapping wealthy men was the forte of a courtesan.
“You told me to raise my voice when someone is hurting my family,” William responded. “She is my wife. My family.”
Her heart swelled with love for him. She had never known what it felt like to have a family, but ever since William had taken her as his wife, she had known what she was really missing all these years.
“I forbid you to call her your family,” his mother said. “There is still time. You should start thinking about taking a noble lady for your wife.”
Rose placed her hands on her face and started shedding tears. No matter how many times William calls her a lady, she will always remain a harlot in everyone else’s eyes. His family will never accept her.
“It is the first time he is raising his voice to our parents.”
Rose looked at the man standing a few feet away from her. He resembled William in appearance. She had never met him, but she had heard enough about him from William’s lips that she recognized him instantly.
William’s brother, Lord Henry Clifford.
“I apologize for being the reason of distress to your parents,” Rose said.
She became uneasy under his assessing gaze. He neither accepted nor rejected her apology.
“William really cares for you,” he said.
“I care for him too,” she responded softly.
Lord Henry Clifford grinned at her. She was taken off-guard with the sudden change in his expressions. She was not expecting a friendly smile from William’s brother.
“If the lady doesn’t mind, I would like to wait with her outside this door.”
Rose returned his smile reluctantly and nodded her head. He came near her and sat beside her on the bench and listened in silence to the voices coming from the other side of the door.
“My whole life, I shouldered the burdens of the estates without a single complaint,” William said. “I am tired, Mother. I am tired of being an obedient son. I want happiness and a moment of peace for myself.”
Silence fell. The obedient son who always bowed his head had finally raised his voice and no one knew how to respond.
“He has been suffering in silence all this time,” Lord Henry Clifford said. “I wish I had seen it. I wish he had asked me to help shoulder his burdens.”
Rose looked at the man sitting beside her at a respectable distance. His face was contorted in pain. Rose felt his suffering like it was her own because she was also unaware that William was suffering in silence.
“William is a stubborn man, my lord,” Rose said. “He believes he can carry the weight of the world on his shoulders all alone.”
Lord Henry Clifford looked at her. She had not meant to voice her opinions out loud, but she felt at ease with him. He was not emitting the unwelcomed and negative energy like his other family members.
“Why is he William and I a lord?” he asked.
“He allowed me to address him by his name,” Rose said defensively.
Lord Henry Clifford raised a brow and chuckled.
“If that is the case then I allow you to call me Henry.”
Rose blushed when she realized her error. Taking his query in the wrong way, Rose had believed he was not happy with her casual use of his brother’s name.
“The children she bears you,” his mother said. “How will you know they are yours? That trollop could easily jump into bed with another man.”
Rose gasped. It broke her heart that people would question her loyalty to William. She loved him. She would never dream of cheating on him.
Why can’t everyone see her for who she was now rather than judge her for what she did in the past?
“You took it too far, Mother,” William said angrily.
She was waiting for another scalding comment from his mother, but there was silence from the other end.
“I refuse to accept a tramp as my daughter-in-law,” his father said after a long pause.
She tried her best to hide her pain from Henry, but treacherous tears flowed down her face. Henry pulled her head towards his shoulder and she cried her heart out.
“They are angry,” Henry said. “I am sure they don’t mean a word of what they are saying.”
She wished she could believe him. She wished she could change her past. Rose had never desired to become a noble lady because of the shackles society throws at a female, but now she wished she was born in a noble family. She would tolerate all the confining rules of society to be accepted as William’s wife.
“My whole life, I never asked for anything from you,” William said. “It is my only request. Please, accept Rose into this family. I love her. She is my wife.”
“You are asking too much, William,” his father said.
A chair scraped on the floor. Someone was about to leave the room. She stood up and readied herself to meet his mother or father. She was sure his parents were dismissing William by walking away from the meeting.
“You will have to disown me then because those who can’t accept her mean nothing to me,” William said.
She went into action immediately. She did not think twice before barging inside the room. Three sets of eyes turned towards her. His parents were looking at her with anger and hatred while his sister was beseeching her to do something.
His father was sitting on a chair behind a large wooden desk. His mother standing to the side of the chair with her hand resting on her husband’s shoulder. His sister was standing in a corner near a bookshelf.
She looked for William and found him in the middle of the room. She walked towards him and stopped when only a few inches were separating them.
“I don’t want to estrange you from your family, my lord,” she said. “If I am the reason you are leaving your family then I will take my leave because I could never live with myself knowing I put a wedge between your family and you.”
William held her by her arm and turned towards his family.
“This is the woman I chose for my wife,” he said. “She would rather ruin her chance at happiness than see me leaving my family. You may call her a trollop or a tramp, but you don’t know her as I do. She completed my life with her love.”
An uncomfortable silence fell in the room. William had not asked a question but rather declared his verdict. He was choosing her over everyone else.
“I like her,” William’s sister said, breaking the silence. “I support William’s decision to marry her.”
William bowed his head towards his sister in silent gratitude and his sister offered him a smile in return.
“She could become the reason of ruining your chance of gaining a respectable suitor,” the mother reprimanded her daughter.
Lady Beatrice looked at her mother with her head held high. Rose liked the young girl who was standing up for the happiness of someone else. She knew it took a lot of courage to speak up to one’s elders in nobility.
“The man who truly loves me will not care,” the daughter responded. “I want what William has. True love.”
The mother looked towards her husband for support who was staring with unreadable emotion at his daughter.
