The drawing room glowed in the candle light and hummed with the sound of a dozen conversation; just for a moment she had stepped back into the shadows to observe the room and their guests, fatigued from a long night playing the perfect hostess. His requests for her to entertain his colleagues and their wives were infrequent but she still found them trying. She was not like him, a natural socialite and although not one person partaking of their hospitality that evening would have guessed, she craved the solitude of their togetherness. The party was, she could feel, coming to a satisfactory end but it could not come soon enough for her. She knew she could not stay out of the circle of light for long so she savored the moment watching the flirting and drinking, an amused smile playing round her beautiful mouth. Her eyes swept the room for her husband however at that moment he was not in her line of immediate sight but she knew he was close, she always instinctively knew when he was close. It was as if they were somehow inextricably linked, their very souls as one. With an intake of breath she composed herself to socialize once more and took a step forward to join the crowd but was stopped, gently but insistently by a masculine hand encircling her wrist, pulling her back against a powerful body that dwarfed her own tiny frame. Warm breath laced with the mellowness of the whiskey he'd just finished played against the side of her neck and her own breath caught in her throat stifling a moan of desire. His other hand moved to lay on her waist possessively his fingers feeling through the fine fabric to press against the boning of her corset. She knew that to the casual on looker they would look like the perfect couple relaxing in a moment of companionship and that excited her, for this was a game they played sometimes. It was a game of want and wanting that sent shivers of anticipation racing along her spine at his dominance and she closed her eyes for a moment as his mouth came level with her ear.

"Go upstairs now. Wait for me in the usual way."

She felt liquid heat pool in her belly as his lips delicately pressed to the sensitive spot where her cheek met her jawline, a promise of kisses to come. He then stepped past her into the light and she was, as always overcome by the masculinity of his physical presence, the fact that every woman in that room old and young secretly wanted him yet he was hers alone and also by the knowledge of what would playout between them in the sanctuary of their bedroom. It took her another moment to steady herself but somehow she stayed close to the sides of the room and managed to exit without being accosted by any of the guests. She knew that there would be no impropriety, that he would make the correct responses to their guests, explaining her sudden absence. Her penance would be only the penning of a few vapid notes of apology, a worthwhile endeavor for the pleasure she would receive for her unscheduled exit.

She barely made a sound as she glided up the stairs to make her preparations. On entering the bedroom she stripped back the counterpane and top sheets running her fingers tips, which had become suddenly hypersensitive over the cool linen anticipating the warmth their bodies would transfer to the fabric in time causing her fingers to flex and her nails to dig into the softness of her palms. In her dressing room she removed her shoes and with trembling fingers her jewelry, her dress and her petticoats. Slowly she rolled the silk of her stockings down the porcelain smoothness of her legs allowing her imagination to replace her hands with his. The callouses that still graced his fingers and palms despite years now of less manual labour, chafing her skin with delicious friction and she felt herself become slick with want under the flimsy silk and lace of her underwear which she removed too. She yearned to touch herself, to rub that sensitive nub of flesh between her legs and allow release to flood through her but she resisted the temptation; it was his touch she truly craved. Faintly downstairs she could hear the sound of their guest's departure and with a shiver knew that he would soon join her. She slipped the blood red silk robe that he'd bought her for nights such as these over her corset the only piece of clothing other than the robe he expected her to be wearing. She relished the restriction it afforded her breathing, the containment that would heighten her pleasure by reducing her intake of oxygen making her light headed and even more sensitive to his touch. The kiss of the silk brushing against the parts of her skin that were unclothed, caused memories of other nights full of passion and release and she unconsciously rubbed her naked thighs together in frustration that he was still not here.

She returned to their bedroom and to her dressing table seating herself on the stool and with now steady fingers, unlatched the silver box that she kept there. Her fingers gently caressed the contents and her fingertips selected one of the many pre-rolled cylinders that lay there. She inserted a hashish cigarette between her lips, ignited the tip and inhaled the smooth vapors as deep into her lungs as the restriction of her corset allowed and immediately a calm washed through the cells of her body. She gazed for long moments into the mirror studying her own reflection made hazy by the spirals of smoke that filled the air around her. She noted her eyes, their blue almost obliterated by the darkness of her dilated pupils. Her skin pale like ivory but her cheekbones flushed with colour and her lips darkened where she'd worried them with her teeth. She closed her eyes against her reflection never liking to look for long; she knew he found her beautiful but had never been vain about her looks.

"You are beautiful." His voice throbbed with passion and it was as if he had read her thoughts. She opened her eyes and saw him reflected in the mirror silhouetted in the door against the faint light. He had already removed his jacket, waistcoat and his cravat and the white of his shirt was open highlighted against the natural tan of his throat. She longed to run to him to bury her face into the opening, to button herself against his skin and stay there but she resisted the urge. He was master in this room and he needed her to submit to his every whim. And so she sat there quivering with barely suppressed need as predator like, he came towards her his eyes black with passion and she gazed back at his reflection her corset restricting her breathing to shallow pants which made her head spin – just as he knew it did. As he walked towards her he sensuously started to fully unbutton his shirt his eyes never leaving hers, his tongue sweeping suggestively over his lower lip as her mouth went dry. As he reached her seated form he slipped the linen off his shoulders the muscles of his chest flexing making his skin ripple. She imagined herself turning, to trace her hands over the planes and hills of his masculine form, to run her lips and teeth over the velvet and satin that clothed those muscles, to drink in the musk scent of his skin unique to him. Even with the space between them she could feel the heat radiating off his skin but she knew what he required, she obeyed his unspoken command keeping completely still as his hands came to rest on her hair. Silently he began to remove the pins that secured her elegant chignon dropping them on to the table as her raven curls cascaded down over the red silk to almost her waist. He then knelt behind her his eyes level with hers brown burning into blue with the confidence and dominance of the alpha male he was. His hand snaked round retrieving the cigarette from the ash tray in front of her and he took a long draw, his eyes never leaving hers. As he exhaled filling the air with looping grey tendrils he gently he inserted the tip between her own lips, removing it after she'd inhaled and then with the faintest hint of a smile on his lips he lent forward.

"Open your legs."

Shivering, she obeyed immediately and was rewarded by the brush of his thumb against her clitoris. Her body reacted immediately a spasm of pleasure rushing through her core and she bit down hard on her bottom lip to stop her moan of want.

His smile widened as he felt and heard her reaction and his voice dipped to a whisper thrumming against the sensitive skin of her neck.

"Eager tonight Mrs. Chandler?" He continued to rub more firmly now at that little nub of flesh that had in those few moments become the centre of her existence the other hand grazing her hip. She leant back against the warm firmness of his chest her head lolling back against the support of his shoulder her eyes ever locked on his. She was in thrall to him, his hands, his eyes, his lips, his voice. She cared for nothing apart from that one exquisite point of contact between them. Around them humanity could have crashed out of existence, the sun and moon could have collided and she would have noticed nothing. She could feel her release building, her blood turning to water in her veins and the corset's restrictions causing her to gasp to force enough oxygen into her burning lungs.

Suddenly though the sensation was gone her half closed lids flew open in protest but she knew better than to complain although in that second she'd have gladly killed him. She kept her legs open although she wanted to grid them together to get back some of the sensation her body craved.

"Good." His voice throbbed into her ear and she felt his tongue trace a path from it down the sensitive skin of her neck to where it met the junction of her shoulder and he bit down gently causing her whole body to shudder.

She raised her head and fascinated she watched his reflection as he bought his thumb to his mouth and placed it between his lips. She watched entranced, her own lips open as his eyes fluttered closed for a moment and he sucked the slickness of her pleasure from the digit. She almost came in that instant she'd never seen anything more erotic and never had she felt more desired.

He stood then but she could still feel the heat of his body burning into her flesh. He placed his hands on her shoulders pushing the robe down so it rippled in a silken waterfall to the floor between them. His hand reached into his trouser pocket and she watched him remove from the depths a pocket knife which he reached round her to lay on the dressing table. He then began to unbutton his trousers sliding them down over his narrow hips. He was naked beneath the fine wool and she felt her heart racing as she observed the reflection of his erect form. Standing now in her line of sight he was the epitome of male beauty and she marveled to see reflected in his eyes the craving for her that she felt for him.

"Stand up Vanessa and face me."

She stood her knees almost buckling under the weight of his scrutiny. Wearing only her corset she felt exposed but she enjoyed the feeling of power it gave her. She could see that despite his dominance of the situation he was fighting his own self-control. His jaw was locked and his hands were clenched down by the sides of his hips.

"Do you want me Mrs. Chandler?" His voice was barely above a whisper rough with suppressed desire.

"You know I do Ethan."

"Then take me darlin'"

Languorously she sauntered around the stool allowing his eyes time to take her whole body in and as she did so she took hold of the back of his neck exerting just enough pressure to make him turn so his back was now facing the mirror.

This exchange of power radiated in the room and between them. She was now in control because that is what he wanted and she luxuriated in the naked desire evident in his face for her.

"Sit down my love."

He sat on the stool and the need to have him deep inside of her became unbearable. Slowly she straddled his body placing her aching core just over the tip of his shaft. She watched intrigued at the play of emotions in his eyes, lust mixed with pure love that she knew were reflected in her own. Slowly she smiled, then holding lightly to his shoulders she lowered herself onto him watching as his eyes darkened with even more pleasure and a hiss ripped from between his teeth, reveling in how he filled and stretched her sheath completely. For moments they stayed completely still, focused totally on each other's eyes and the pleasure of their connection but then carefully she started to roll her hips clenching the silken muscles in side her body and a deep moan ripped from between his lips. He surged forward placing his hands on to her waist made even smaller by the tight lacing of her corset attempting to kiss her mouth. But she leant back against his thighs the midnight mass of her hair brushing down his legs refusing the touch of his mouth her smile becoming salacious as she circled her hips again and he groaned in pleasure and frustration.

"Tease."

She laughed then a low chuckle that she knew he could feel deep inside her body and continued the gentle circling, soon however the slow movements were not enough and she braced her toes on the floor the other side of the stool and began slowly at first to lower and raise herself on him. With every downward stroke of her body she clenched her muscles tighter round him cloaking him in her and she felt his shaft pulse and heard the harshening of his breathing. As she rose and fell her corset began to rub against her nipples and she felt the delicious, almost painful friction against them knowing they would darken and harden as they always did under his mouth. She could feel his hands gripping her waist even tighter further restricting her breathing but she relished it, as it caused every sensation to heighten, she could feel every part of him. She began to build up the rhythm of their bodies him matching her, the strokes getting longer and harder and he met each of her down thrusts plunging himself deep inside of her. The pleasure washed through her in waves and she threw her head back wantonly riding him in total abandon her fingers tearing into his shoulders her body crashing down onto his, her breath so short now that she began to see a blackness around her vision when she opened her eyes. But he knew her body like his own and even in the throes of his own pleasure he had her care. She was conscious that his hands had left her waist and there was a new pressure on her back. Just as her body and mind began to tip over into whiteness he slashed the lacing of her corset. The feeling of oxygen flooding like balm into her burning lungs took her over the precipice of her own ecstasy and she screamed her released into his shoulder feeling in that second him flooding her body with his passion.

Eventually the spiraling bliss receded and she became conscious once more of her body. He had removed her corset completely and her naked chest was melded to his the sweat of their passion drying on their skin their frantic breathing falling into a natural pace. His arms encircled her rubbing her back in circular caresses firm but full of tenderness, tracing over the ridges and dents left by the clinching of the corset. Carefully she eased her head off his shoulder noting the mark her teeth had left at the height of their lovemaking. She quickly brushed a kiss over it and then found his eyes again. Her hands came up to hold either side of his face burying her fingers into the thick smoothness of his hair always worn that little longer than fashion dictated. Gazing deep into his eyes she pressed her mouth to his for the first time during the excesses of their evening. His mouth always so firm softened upon her touch and he opened his lips to the invasion of her tongue caressing it with his the whisper of alcohol still present. She could still feel him rock hard deep inside her body, stretching her flesh with a slight burning that made her feel sated and totally loved.

She shifted her hips and he lifted her slowly off him shuddering slightly as he left the heat of her body, placing her into his lap and wrapping her back into the sanctity of his arms, his fingers lightly running over her cooling flesh. They basked in silent reflection for moments, totally and finally at peace.

She felt her mind and body start to completely relax and a luxurious tiredness sweep through her.

"Take me to bed please Mr. Chandler."

He chuckled softly and she felt his wry smile as he pressed his lips to her hair drawing her scent into him.

"Tired already Mrs. Chandler?"

Her eyes still closed she smiled her answer but then added, "I feel I've entertained well tonight."

His laugh was gentle and full of love. Then he stood, easily holding her cradled in his arms and in a moment placed her upon the cool sheets of their bed. She stretched feline like holding out her arms and squirmed against the smooth linen until he joined her stretching his warm nakedness next to her pulling her onto his chest, holding her close and safe next to his heart.

As the darkness of sleep descended over her she suddenly thought of her corset lying discarded like a second skin on the floor, its sliced laces a visible reminder of the things that had transpired between them.

Pressing her mouth to the warm satin of his skin she murmured between sleep and waking.

"And I believe you owe me another new corset."