Author's note: Immensely grateful for all the feedback. Hope you continue to find this little story amusing and fun. As I may have mentioned, this chapter is not strictly noncon/reluctance but I kept it under this category for continuity. Hope you continue to enjoy the efforts of this amateur writer. Please do send your thoughts and feedback.
Cheers all!
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Lord Davenport scooped up Evelyn, limp and exhausted, in his arms and carried her to a sofa by the fireplace. The fire had burnt down to smoldering embers. He laid her down and cover her with her wool shawl and brushed a lock of hair back from her adorable sleeping face.
Ah, the young! Full of energy one minute, quickly fatigued the next.
He smiled warmly as he brushed the back of his fingers over the curve of her smooth cheek and swiped the tip of her little nose. Her long thick lashes fluttered for a moment, but her eyes remained shut as she sank further into a deep sleep.
He left her there to gather up the crumpled leaflets of papers scattered at the foot of his desk. One sheet in particular caught his attention and he laid the rest aside. There wasn't enough light to make out what was written on that sheet, but he didn't need to read it to know its content. It was a neatly itemized list of Lady Evelyn's worth. A stunning dowry that, even with his already considerable wealth, made Lord Davenport catch his breath a bit.
He remembered the moment Prince Edward produced the list.
"I trust a man of your stature will neither be intimidated nor corrupted by all this," Prince Edward said with a chuckle. "A lesser man will find excess unavoidable."
Lord Davenport gave the list a brief glance. What he felt he kept to himself as he kept his eyes tracked on the prince as he tucked the list into the breast pocket of his jacket. "And what's to be expected from me, Highness?"
Prince Edward either didn't understand his meaning or feigned ignorance. "It's yours my lord! Your bride's dowry. Do with it as you like. Hell! Throw it all on a game of cards if you'd like as we both know you're plenty rich."
"And what's do you expect from me in return?" Lord Davenport asked again.
"Why, you're simply the best match for my little sister. We share some distant blood do we not? I believe your lineage trace back to the Conqueror. I simply couldn't find another man with your fortitude to suit Evelyn!"
"Here I was so certain it was my charming disposition," Lord Davenport replied wryly.
The young prince shrugged off the remark. His expression suddenly turned serious and solemn for once. "I think the villain who attacked Evelyn might have acted out of sheer opportunity and drunken lunacy, is what I think."
Lord Davenport's chin jerked and his jaw clenched tightly at the mention of that fateful night.
The prince nodded in agreement to what he saw on the Marquess' s face. "Can't be sure of anything though can we? With all the migrants flowing in from the country daily... the ones too drunk and useless to work in those hulking factories they have up north now. They'll happily slit anyone's throat to feed their disgusting appetites. You could hardly blame the filthy animal any more than you can blame blame a dog for biting, seeing a young lady, out alone at night- ."
"I assume this ties in with the proposed reform measures somehow," Lord Davenport guessed.
Prince Edward held up a hand. "I'm not one for politics," he protested. "My sole concern is for Evelyn. While part of me is certain it was just some crime of opportunity, I can't be entirely certain can I? Can you, my lord? She'll be yours after all."
"Measures are in place. She's safe in my care," Lord Davenport said.
The prince nodded, but something else still troubled him. "My little sister is very beautiful as I'm sure you've heard. Well, I don't need to tell you, you know how women are. Like nearly all beautiful women she can be willful and stubborn with a childish streak. Her curse being she's awfully bright too so I must urge you to protect her and keep her safe, even- no! ESPECIALLY from herself. "
Lord Davenport had lowered his chin but flicked his steely gaze up to the prince again. "Do you propose I cage her, Highness?"
Prince Edward's expression brightened once more and he chuckled humorously. "I see I'm on dangerous grounds. I wouldn't presume to tell any man how to handle his own affairs. I'm merely- well I feel it my duty to make you aware of certain facts."
"Speak plainly, sir! Is she prone to madness?"
"Not at all! But! Evelyn may from time to time get it into her pretty head to go looking for her mother. I don't need to tell you the litany of reasons why she wasn't successful and won't ever be successful. I think you can guess why such a thing would not be in anyone's interest."
"No doubt," the Marquess replied. "While I can keep her physical person from harm, how do you propose I should keep a daughter from seeking her own mother?"
"Lord Davenport ought to have no trouble controlling his wife, I should think. But, I've been told nothing occupies a woman's mind better than children of her own!"
Some remnants of a shattered cut-crystal tumbler crunched under Lord Davenport's boots, pulling his mind back to the present.
"Fuck!" he cursed then looked over at the sleeping Evelyn a short distance away.
"Nothing is ever done without forethought" he whispered at her. "We're all pawns in some great scheme aren't we?"
Lord Davenport sought out a fresh glass and poured himself a splash of deep amber colored whiskey. He looked at the list again, then back at the sleeping young woman before shutting the sheet away in a drawer. With one hand hooked in the waistband of his trousers, he held the whiskey tumbler before him and lightly swirled the amber liquid within the crystal glass.
The air was permeated with the smell of smoke wafting from the smoldering embers in the fireplace. The lateness of the hour, the smoke mixed with the tangy smell of sweat and sex invaded his senses and made him feel more intoxicated than he ought to. His tired, sore eyes looked around the heavily shadowed room. Nothing seemed real. Nothing... except for her!
Evelyn was all feminine curves and angelic beauty. She slept on her side with her delicate little hands clasped together and tucked beneath the curve of her dewy cheek. Her hair, like ribbons of black silk, fanned around her alabaster skin. The shawl that covered her slipped down her shoulders. Every short breath she took, the swells of her breasts pushed up against the crook of her folded arms. With some effort, he fought the urge to lean down and flick his tongue over her supple globes and suck on her pretty pink nipples. Instead he sat down and laid her slender little feet on his lap. Just then, her lips parted and her little wet, pink tongue darted out to lick her lips. That little motion filling his mind with a vision of two streams of tears roll down the side of her flushed face as he plundered that hot little mouth! His fervent imagination had him imagining her hot breath... her wet tongue... when she wrapped her beautiful, ripe lips around his cock!
He dragged his free hand over his mouth and shifted on the sofa to relieve the pressure from his aching cock. Not even a larger mouthful of the sharp, liquid fire could quell his primal hunger.
"There's no telling if it will be just us in this marriage!" he reasoned with himself. "One wrong move- should I upset her in any way, she might go running straight to her brother. She hasn't so far- but there's no telling what she might do in future."
By law, not even the king can interfere in the affairs between a man and his wife. That doesn't mean that a displeased father and brother, especially a royal father and brother, can't make life quite unpleasant for a errant husband.
He set aside the empty whiskey glass in his other hand and took hold of her slender little feet as he watched her sleep. His desire grew as he rubbed each of her icy cold feet in turn, first her long slender toes, then the hollow of of her arches, in slow circular patterns that made her breath catch in her arched throat. Oh those lips-! He nearly tore her gown as he pinched her flesh and caressed the length of her bare legs. When he discovered crusted trails of his dried fluids on her inner thighs he was hard enough to drive nails through a wooden plank!
Evelyn turned over. Her shawl fell away when she flung one arm over her forehead. Her shapely breasts, her smooth stomach and rounded thighs was splayed out for him. He felt the heat emanating from her before he felt her wiry patch of fur and dipped a digit easily into her sopping folds. Her heady scent was simply intoxicating! Yet, he didn't go further. Instead he pulled back and took a deep whiff of her aroma on his slick fingers.
"Evelyn? Evelyn, wake up."
Slowly her thick curly lashes fluttered and her deep blue eyes, sparkling in the dim light, reappeared. "W-what's happened? " she asked, groggily, as she sat up and looked around with her sleepy, unfocused eyes. She was jolted fully awake when suddenly became aware of the large man sprawled on the sofa beside her. With her heart pounding and her face ablaze she quickly drew her legs under the hem of her gown.
"You fell asleep. Not the ideal place for that," he said, casually as he scrutinized whatever it was he was rubbing between his fingers.
Evelyn's eyes widened and her lips formed an O. "Is it morning? The servants will be up- Oh! If I'm discovered like this-! With you-!"
"Well damn all that," he replied casually "The fire's gone out. You might be more comfortable sleeping in your own bed."
Evelyn suddenly noticed that her fingers were like ice. Somehow it didn't matter. "And you?" Evelyn asked in a small, shaky voice.
His lordship reached out to cup Evelyn's chin so she couldn't look away. "I'd like to join you, believe me... but it's simply impossible at the moment."
A chill tingled down Evelyn's spine under the intensity of his piercing gaze. Then his eyes darkened with desire when his glance dropped to her lips and lingered there. The thrill she always felt when he gave her that look was overshadowed by sudden self-awareness. She had given herself to him! The evidence formed dark stains on her night gown and left a dry, crusty trail between her stiff and aching thighs. There was no going back! Even so Evelyn blushed and turned away just as he swooped in for a kiss. The kiss landed on her ear. He seemed to find her bashfulness amusing as he tilted her chin till she faced him again.
