London, England – 1816

The wait seemed interminable, but John flexed his fingers and forced himself to take deep breaths. Every cell in his body wanted to follow Anna to where she disappeared up the stairs the moment they arrived home. Instead he paced in front of the fireplace of his study.

Their study, he reminded himself. Theirs ever since he insisted on removing the wall between his study and the drawing room Anna set aside when they married. With the adjustments to the rooms, and the addition of another desk for Anna, they successfully turned the space into an office for their work and their meetings. It almost matched their private study upstairs but this one was for business and the appearance of it. The one upstairs was for them.

He paced again, biting at his lip where Anna had kissed himself swiftly when they arrived back from the theater. It had been almost impossible to let her leave, as wrapped up in her as he had been at the theater. More so when they were in the carriage on the ride home.

On the ride home…

John paused, closing his eyes to think about it and his gratitude for bumpy, busy, noisy London streets suddenly came to the fore. A thought that forced his hand to the mantle, stopping his pacing of the room. The pause to his pace that allowed him a moment spared to think about the possibility of what the carriage driver may have heard.

But when he thought about what the driver might have had to hear…

Tugging at his collar, and adjusting his posture to widen his stance, John took another deep breath and forced himself to walk the length of the fireplace. It strained him and he hissed against the effort before forcing himself into a chair.

His palms pressed to his legs, his fingers flexing as he almost indented the fabric of his trousers, and John fought to find his breath. But all he could think about was what Anna might be planning… Or what they already did. And those thoughts could not be dispelled or distracted by any others he attempted to force into his focus. He could focus on nothing else but the thought of his wife.

Attempting to take another breath did him no good and the second John stood up, thinking pacing might work to temper his libido, John immediately sat back down to gripped the arms of his chair. His head titled back and he sighed, closing his eyes as if the blackness there could tamp down on the increasing pressure on his trousers. But all he saw was Anna in their carriage.

So he gave himself over to it. Surrendered fully and utterly to the images of her his memory conjured. Even if he knew his imagination added a little flare, sought to make colors a little brighter, John submitted to the desire inherent in the memories. The desire that needed no help or stoking as it grew inside him.

Exhaling, John kept his eyes closed and flexed his fingers against the armrests of his chair. With the release of his fingers, imprints surely pressed deeply into his palms, John finally opened his eyes. But all he could see was the interior of their carriage and he was back there in a moment.

The cold in the air threatened to chill their ardor but Anna pressed close to John and her fingers moved over his hand before slipping down to his trousers. She said nothing as she turned her wrist to run her palm over the front of him and squeezed hard. John grunted, locking his jaw, and squeezed his eyes shut until Anna released him as the carriage approached.

"I'm glad you're still ready." Anna stepped back just enough to allow John to open the carriage door for her and then took his hand as he helped her inside.

"Never." John entered the carriage, taking the seat across from Anna.

"Never?"

John leaned forward, "Never."

His lips met hers and John's hands moved to the padding of the seat on either side of her to hold himself in place. The snap of the whip and the jerked of the horses pulling the carriage forward broke their kiss as John tried to recover his balance. Anna's hands moved to his jacket, holding him in place, and they waited a moment for the carriage to stabilize.

Both of them breathed for a moment, giggling with one another at the ridiculousness of the action, before John put his lips back on Anna's. Her hands shifted from John's jacket to his shirt and ran up to his neck to hold him in place so she could tilt her head to slant her lips on his. John moaned into her mouth and opened to her tongue when she pressed for entry.

A moment later John broke from their kiss, leaving Anna huffing out a partial whine, and smiled at her. When she tried to bring him back to their kiss, John removed her hands from his neck and kissed her palms before sinking to his knees before her. The rock of the carriage forced him to adjust his position so he could keep his balance but John left Anna's hands in her lap. A motion that freed his hands to lift the skirt of her dress up her legs and urge them apart.

"I think I'd like the second course."

Anna leaned back and John used his hold on her legs to urge her to the edge of the seat. Despite the shift in the carriage, John held himself steady as he removed Anna's undergarments. Tucking them away, meeting the hint of a smile on Anna's face that only became visible when they passed under the lights the lined the streets, John set to work.

Anna's fingers dug into the padding of the seat under her and into John's hair. Her nails scratched at his scalp, holding herself to him while also pressing his mouth to her. Even with the rocking of the carriage and the rattle of the wheels over the stones, John latched his mouth onto Anna's clit and sucked hard. Hard enough to leave Anna keening as her fingers flexed against his skin while grinding against his efforts. Efforts that quickly brought Anna right to the edge.

At that moment, Anna's cries growing in volume, John pulled back. He waited until Anna turned to him, her frown almost harsh in the intermittent light, before using his fingers to enter her. With a crook and shift of his fingers, John brought Anna higher and held there until a determined suck of his lips on her clit left Anna screaming out her finish.

For a moment John wondered what the carriage driver might have thought at the sound. But the act of withdrawing his fingers from her folds brought John back to the moment. Brought John to the heaving of Anna's chest and the tightness in his trousers. A tightness he shifted in place to try and resolve but only succeeded in moving closer to the results of his work.

Anna's leg shifted over John's shoulder and tugged him forward. John could not resist, his tongue and mouth moving back to encourage Anna toward another climax. But this time, when he held her close to the edge, Anna's leg released him and nudged him back so he sat in an odd half-crouch between the seats. The tightness of the space, and the position it forced him to take, rubbed the seam of his trousers against his growing erection.

Trying to stifle his groan, John moved as much as his position allowed. It proved ineffective and a bump in the road forced John to hold onto the carriage seat to try and not hit the door. But a moment later, Anna's hand tucked at John's jacket and brought his lips back to hers.

She licked over him, pulling back long enough for her other hand to reach for the belt on his trousers. "I'd like another course if you're willing."

"Always." John maneuvered, knocking his elbow and his head on the sides and the roof of the carriage, and let out another laugh at the ridiculousness of their situation. Anna joined him, her hands moving to take care of his trousers, and hummed into another kiss that John pressed to her lips. "Whenever you're ready."

"Always." Anna mimicked and put her feet on the other seat, framing John's form as he crouched to align them. It took a second to find the right angle but they both sighed in relief as John thrust forward.

He could not kneel as fully as he wanted, his legs too long to fit between the two seats, but with Anna's feet using the distance to give her the leverage she needed to respond back to John's thrusts it proved effective enough. Especially when John used one hand at John's hip to bring her closer to him and the other pressed against the carriage seat to provide the leverage from his side. Even the bumps and bounces of the carriage worked to their advantage as they adapted their rhythm to the syncopated motions. A process that left them both crying out as John's finish triggered Anna's.

Dropping his head to Anna's shoulder, John huffed for breath and dug for the handkerchief he used in the theater. His shaking fingers proved difficult to maneuver but Anna's grip on his wrist guided his attempts to clean over her before wiping at himself. She snatched the handkerchief before he could tuck it away and folded it over with a grin as she retook her seat.

"We're almost home."

"So we are." John hauled himself back, hissing at the cramp in his legs, and struggled to tuck himself back into his trousers. After a moment he tried to straighten enough to work the kinks out of his body. "As enjoyable as that was-"

"Perhaps we should do it differently next time." Anna grinned at him as the carriage slowed. "But I've plans for that."

"Do you?"

"Why else do you think I asked if you were willing to leave the theater?" Anna sighed, adjusting her skirt to drop back over her legs as the carriage stopped. "I wouldn't leave you wanting."

"You never do."

"I try to follow the example of my husband." Anna nodded at the door, "The sooner you open that, the sooner I can show you what I mean."

John's hand slipped on the door handle as he tried to move too fast in his effort to open it. He succeeded, and recovered himself enough to not trip out of the carriage, and forced a cold breath into his lungs as he turned back to open his hand for Anna to take. Her fingers wrapped over his and Anna lightly landed on the ground.

As she did, she pressed close and tipped her chin up to whisper. "Wait for me in the study and you'll not be disappointed."

"You could never disappoint me." John kissed Anna's fingers before she slipped herself loose from his grip.

"I should hope not."

The wooden board outside the door squeaked and John almost knocked his chair back in his hurry to stand. With a little barely audible sigh, the door opened and John's jaw locked to stop himself dropping it to his chest. There stood Anna, dressed in only the blue cape from their costume party.

"You once said," Anna closed the door behind her, walking slowly to where John did not dare breathe. "That you wanted to see me in only this."

Anna's hand landed on his chest, pressing him into the wall with her palm before tracking her fingers up the buttons of his shirt as the cape shifted just enough to offer John a view of Anna's skin. "Here I am."

"Here you are." John finally swallowed and breathed.

"And now that I am here," Anna licked over her lips before smiling and nodding at the rug under their feet, "I'd like to be there."

"Yes my lady."

John surged forward. The motion caught Anna off guard, forcing her to drop her hold on the edges of the cape. It draped over her body, leaving all of Anna's skin visible to John. And if it was visible he could touch it.

And touch it he did.

His hands immediately found her hips, sculpting over her sides and up to her breasts to thrum his thumbs over her nipples. Anna sighed into their kiss, steering it from the edge of desperation John's instigation initiated, and tilted her head just enough to slant their mouths. The shift allowed her tongue to enter his mouth and John moaned at the invasion as his hands reflexively grasped at her breasts.

The responding groan that vibrated from Anna's mouth to his encourage John to continue moving his hands. One hand stayed at her breasts, kneading and massaging as Anna pressed into him, while the other smoothed over Anna's back to hold at her ass so their hips could grind into one another. That motion left Anna licking inside John's mouth as one of her hands held at the back of his neck to bring him to her level so her feet could rest on her heels instead of the ball.

A tilt in John's neck had him surrendering his hold on Anna's breast so he could put both hands on her ass. With a moment to caress there, John used the strength of his arms to lift Anna up to wrap her legs around his hips. And, with a pivot, John put Anna's back against the wall next to the mantle.

She used her shoulders against the wall to grind against John and his fingers flexed into her skin before shifting to her hip and her thigh. Their kiss broke and John leaned forward to press himself against Anna. "How long have you been planning this particular maneuver?"

"Long enough." Anna dragged her finger down the line of John's jaw and smiled at him. "This is just the first opportunity for me to use it to my advantage."

"You always have the advantage." John sighed as Anna's other hand undid the buttons of his shirt and tugged his collar and cummerbund loose.

"Do I?" Anna's nails scratched over John's chest as she exposed it.

"Of course." John tried to rid himself of his jacket and shirt without dropping Anna and, ultimately, succeeded. But the slip and shift of their position had them both pausing a second before resorting to giggles again.

"For a moment," Anna's nails, running over John's skin with the back of her fingers, left John shivering. "I was afraid you were going to drop me."

"Not if I can help it." John ground against Anna, leaving her biting at her lip as the seam of his trousers rubbed at her clit.

"Are you going to continue?" Anna replaced a hand at the back of John's neck, "Or should I seek to solve this myself?"

"I'd be offended if you thought I'd ever leave you wanting." John shifted his hips to hold Anna's weight as one of his hands snaked between her legs to brush through her folds.

"Would you?"

"I strive to respond to all the requests my wife would give me." John's fingers ran through her folds, drawing to her clit and rubbing there before returning back to enter her. Anna rocked against his fingers, pressing herself into his grip and the crook of his fingers rubbing over the patch of skin inside her while his thumb ran over her clit. The result left her trembling around him and John did not cease until Anna came with a keening cry against him.

At that her other hand tugged his belt and trousers free, leaving them slipping down John's legs to expose the result of his waiting, his dwelling on their earlier activities, and his just completed action at her center. Anna's hand moved to retract John's wrist and wrapped his wet fingers around himself. The shudder that ran through John only compounded as Anna dipped her fingers into her own slick to run over him as well, coaxing the desire in him higher.

"Then listen to this request," Anna leaned forward, putting her mouth next to his ear. "Take me now."

John's hips bucked and, with a thrust, he buried himself inside her.

With a groan, John put his forehead against Anna's shoulder to give himself a moment. Despite the wiggle of Anna's hips and the rock of her against him, John held still. Even when her clit pressed against John's pubic bone to leave her moaning in his ear, John held firm. Finally, when Anna flexed her vaginal muscles around him, John withdrew and then lunged forward.

The wall served an adequate aid to John's motions. With the tilt of Anna's hips and a shuffle of John's stance, John pressed deeper into her. Each thrust allowed John to reach almost the end of Anna until she cried out and came around him with a ripple of muscles. A ripple and clench that forced John to expend himself in response.

His shaking legs and weak knees had John leaning into Anna slightly. The angle of rest pressed her back against the wall and John used the position to keep himself aloft enough to not drop Anna to the floor. But after a moment, enough strength returned to John's legs and arms so they could move back from the wall in a pivot that had John resting Anna on the furred rug at their feet.

She lay back, luxuriating on the cape that now spread about her like a heavenly mantle, and John caught himself staring at her in awe. When Anna's eyes met his, all it took was a flick of her gaze to the rest of his clothing. Without a word, and moving a bit clumsily in his hurry to comply with the unspoken order, John obeyed and moved closer to where Anna lay waiting.

"There you are." Anna's hands wrapped at the back of John's neck. "I thought I'd never get to see you free of those."

"Never?"

"Sometimes…" Anna's fingers drifted over John's shoulders, her face falling slightly. "Sometimes I worry we're trapped as versions of ourselves."

"Says the woman who came down to our study dressed in only a cape."

"It was rather daring wasn't it?" Anna grinned before her face softened again. "But it's… Like what Mr. Green said at the theater."

"About your family?"

"About what people think of us. Think of them. Think of what we do." Anna let out a breath. "We're… We're different people to different people."

"That's life." John leaned down, kissing down Anna's neck toward her breasts. "But I promise, I'll only ever be true to you."

"And who is that?"

"Your husband," John kissed between Anna's breasts, "And your friend."

"As long as there are no masks between us." Anna's fingers trailed down his shoulders and arms to meet his hips as John's lips closed over a nipple. She hissed a breath as John's tongue worked over her before he pulled back.

"No masks. Nothing but truth between us." John moved to Anna's other breast and repeated the motions there. "Which is why…"

He shifted down, his shoulders spreading Anna's legs to leave her open to him. "I think I'd like another taste of this course."

Once again, John found himself between Anna's legs. Unlike before, his tongue and lips leaving Anna's shaking and finishing, now John tasted himself as well as Anna. The combination left him lapping faster, lavishing the affection he could never express with words but could only give Anna with a crook of his fingers inside her and a closing of his lips over her clit to repeat a familiar motion. He sucked hard enough to leave Anna crying out another finish before he pulled back.

John wiped at his mouth, running his fingers around his lips, and sucked them into his mouth to take the rest of her taste on his tongue. Anna could only huff her pleasure and satisfaction as John shifted to lie next to her on the rug. With his hand holding his head up as he rested on his side, John used his other hand to trace over Anna's glistening skin.

"You spoil me, my Lord." Anna teased, turning toward John and dragging the cape behind her.

"Not enough." John patted the rug beneath them. "This isn't the most comfortable of surfaces for this."

"No, but it is enjoyable all the same."

"That's true." John turned, lying back as Anna moved closer.

But as John opened his arms, ready to welcome an Anna wanting to tuck herself into his side, Anna surprised him by straddling his chest. His eyebrows rose as Anna leaned down to trace her finger over John's face. "Are you enjoying yourself, my Lord Duke?"

"Of course." John ran his tongue over his lips as his hands slid over Anna's thighs. "But…"

"But?"

"But…" John dragged Anna forward so she knelt over his mouth. "I think I'll enjoy this as well."

"John?" Anna leaned back, as if uncertain of the new position, but cried out the second John dragged his tongue over her folds again. "Sweet Judas!"

The ache in John's jaw, from the repeated exercises of the evening, forced him to move differently and faster. The change in position, relative to their earlier motions, allowed for a bit of leverage in his motions which suited John just fine. Especially since he could sufficiently suckle at her folds and tuck his tongue deeper into her to drag out her pleasure. The work of his tongue and lips from his position had Anna coming quickly with a shudder and a quiver of her thighs as they shook around him with another finish.

"I… I…" Anna slumped forward and John shifted under her to allow Anna to seek support on his now raised chest. "I think you'll leave me absolutely exhausted and shattered."

"Only if you enjoy it." John's hand rested on Anna's lowered back. His fingers drifted over her skin, sliding over the sweat gathering there as he sought to soothe the trembling of her body with gentle motions.

"Very much so." Anna shifted to press her sodden center against John's rising erection. She gyrated and twisted against him, keening as the sensitivity of her skin from repeated orgasms only flourished at the press of her folds as they spread over John's arousal. Her motions thickened and heated him until John's hands moved from their soothing motions at Anna's back to a secure hold on her hips.

"Anna?"

"Only if you enjoy it." Her hands rested on John's shoulders before interlacing at the back of her neck. "Only if you want it."

"From you?" John surged forward, taking Anna's lips to kiss her fiercely as she moaned against the taste of herself there. "Always."

"Then," Anna's hands unlinked and she pressed the flat of her palm against his chest to push him backward. John followed her instruction and lay back on the rug as Anna slipped her legs back to position herself directly over him. "Why don't I give us something else to enjoy?"

At that, Anna sheathed him. John's neck arched as his head pressed back into the rug at the sensation of Anna's internal muscles rippling over him again. The angle allowed him to sit deeply inside her and, after a moment as they struggled to find enough air to breathe, Anna took advantage of the position to ride John.

The vision of her, still wearing the deep blue cape as she rode him with determination and practice prevision, had John clutching at her hips. Everything about the sight of her aroused John even further. She was, a goddess lit by the light of the fire and wearing the mantle of heaven. A mantle that slid with its silken touch against his skin to leave John's ever nerve firing so he leapt toward the edge faster and faster at the excitement to his senses. In fact, the combination of emotions and sensations left John releasing early.

He gasped out, falling back to try and give Anna a finish as the failing buck of his hips finally left him exhausted and drained. Anna came soon after, her fingers aiding in the flagging of his to bring herself there. Once again she slumped against John's chest and sighed against his skin.

His trembling fingers skated over Anna's back as her cheek rested just above his heart. John tried to match the speed of Anna's breathing and soon their hearts synchronized as they lay before the fire. Only the crack of the fire and the tick of the clock in the corner accompanied them as they soon drifted off toward sleep.

Yorkshire, England – Present Day

Humming with a frown, John turned to see Anna entering the library. He smiled at her, replacing the book in his hand and pointed at Anna's empty arms. "Where's Michael?"

"Sleeping." Anna held up her phone, shaking it a moment. "I've got his monitor on an app so I'll hear him if he wakes up."

"That's good." John shifted his weight, "I… I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Anna frowned, "Why are you sorry?"

"I…" John rubbed at the back of his neck. "I kind of left you this morning."

"You didn't sleep, did you?"

John shook his head. "I didn't trust myself to close my eyes and fall asleep."

"Because of the bed?"

"Partly." John swallowed, "The marshmallow nature of it was… It was fine but I was more worried about… About Michael."

"What about Michael?"

"I didn't want to have a nightmare and wake him if I started screaming. So…" John shrugged. "So I went back to my own room."

"Ah." Anna moved closer to John, taking a seat in the wing-backed chair. "I can see where that would be complicated for you."

"It's…" John took the other chair, leaving them facing one another. "It's not exactly a situation I know how to handle."

"Is my having a son a problem to… To whatever this could be?"

"No." John shook his head, "But it does mean that whatever this is will affect him. And I don't… I don't want him hurt if anything bad happens."

"I'm touched." Anna paused, "But you're…"

"I don't want to hurt you either." John hurried to say, putting up his hands as if trying to stop an oncoming car. "I just… We can make that kind of decision because we're adults and we've talked but Michael can't choose for himself and if I did something that hurt him then…"

"I see." Anna nodded and offered John a small smile. "And I'm… Like I said, I'm touched by how concerned you are about him."

"I'm concerned about you too." John leaned back in his chair. "I'm here to protect the both of you."

"I feel protected." Anna echoed his motion and sat back as well. Her eyes wandered the sights of the library. "Did you grow up in this house?"

"I did."

"Seems empty."

"It echoes something horrible and creaks in all weathers." John shrugged, "It was a bit frightening as a child."

"And now?"

"Now I live in the basement and the house, most days, is used for tours and weddings and filming and anything that puts all this space to use." John put a hand to his chest. "I'm one person who owns a house big enough to be a private school or a community center or any number of other things a grand house should be."

"You don't like the house?"

"I think it's ostentatious and beautiful and a representation of a different time reflecting different needs." John shrugged again, "I think it should still stand, because of what it represents and what it can do, but I don't think people should live in something as ridiculously unnecessary as a house like this."

"Do you think the people who used to live here thought the same way?"

"Maybe some of them did." John's fingers graced the seams of the arm of the chair under his hand. "It's a lonely place to live if you've no one to share it with. What purpose is a house that offers no home?"

"How very poetic of you."

John cracked a smile, "It's all the books I read."

"These?" Anna pointed and John nodded. "You read all of these?"

"No," John shook his head. "I read a lot of them but some of them offer me nothing and I've no interest in them."

"What about the ones you are interested in?"

"I read those and I keep those in a makeshift library in the basement." John pointed to the floor between them. "Those books I wanted to make sure stayed mine while I gave the house over for other uses."

"Then these books…"

"They're useful but they're more public property than private now." John took a moment to enjoy the view of the library. "They're also part of the local library system so I don't have to worry about caring for them. And the local historical society gets the responsibly for their upkeep as well as keeping up the house."

"A shift of responsibility?"

"A necessity when you realize you've not got the expertise to deal with something and, perhaps, someone else should."

"That's very adult of you."

"I try to believe I'm an adult." John smiled at Anna and then caught the confused frown as she stared at something over his shoulder. He adjusted in his chair to look at the large portrait that caught her eye. "Ah yes, the most famous Duke of Reerbourne."

"He's the most famous?" Anna pushed herself out of her chair and walked to appreciate the portrait.

"He's the one who injected mercantilism into the family fortune to stave off ruin at the beginning of the nineteenth century."

"They're…" Anna crossed an arm over her chest and held her other arm up to support her chin. "They're beautiful."

"They say he married her for her fortune but…" John shook his head, joining Anna in her study of the portrait. "I think he married her for love."

"I think…" Anna paused, her eyes narrowing and then widening as she turned to John. "They've got our names."

"What?" John frowned and then followed the line of Anna's finger to read the inscription more carefully. "Huh. I guess they do."

"What are the odds that they'd share our names?"

"Or that we'd share theirs, since they came first?"

"Sure." Anna gave John a frown that he only returned with a little smirk. "You're a pedant, aren't you?"

"Sometimes." John shrugged and tucked his hands into his pockets. "But, as to the odds… Pretty high."

"Really?"

"Statistically speaking, yes." John pointed between himself and Anna. "We've both got Biblical names that are easy to spell, sound good despite being simple, and they're effective with a number of surnames so the cadence of them is pleasing to the ear, and they're standard in a multitude of languages. Therefore, the odds are high that we'd share the names with them and any number of other people."

"Ugh." Anna groaned, "You're so exacting about this aren't you?"

"I'm a pedant, like you said." John gave another shrug as the baby monitor app pinged on Anna's phone. "I think Michael wants your attention."

"Always." Anna turned off the app and pivoted toward the door. She paused, bit at her lip, and leaned toward John. "Would you like to come with me?"

"Really?"

"Yeah." Anna smiled and extended a hand to him. "Come with me."

John took her hand. "Of course."