Beth hummed quietly to herself as she made the mile and a half walk to the Laurence house. It was true that it was much larger than her own small cottage, but she no longer felt intimidated by its grandeur. If the past year had taught her anything, it was that she was content with the life she had. She was happy to watch her sisters go out and enjoy all the amusements life held for them, but Beth wasn't that sort of girl. She thought about the ball they'd all attended the assembly room and smiled. Meg had every dance on her card filled. Despite her boyish nature, Jo had greatly enjoyed the evening, chatting with many friends who were both men and women. Beth was the quietest of the three and she spent most of the evening waiting on Aunt Marge, their chaperone for the evening.
She wasn't saddened to think she would likely never leave home. It was the opposite. She was grateful. She could remain in her cottage where she felt most at home and comfortable. She would be there to care for her parents in their old age. It comforted her to know that she need never leave the life she was so happy with. No one, least of all her more vivacious sisters, would suspect that she was intimately familiar with the physical act of love.
Wet snow clung to the laces of Beth's boots and by the time she arrived at the Laurence residence she could feel the moisture starting to seep into her stockings, but her cold feet were the furthest thing from her mind. Her entire body hummed with anticipation. Her nipples, already hard, sent shivers through her body every time they brushed against the soft fabric of the chemise under her dress. She often went about at home without her corset and saw no reason to start wearing now. It would only make undressing and dressing more time consuming. She licked her lips as she looked forward to the release she would certainly experience within the hour. It had been nearly a week since she had last seen her lover and her body cried out for his touch.
When Beth arrived at Mr. Laurence's study, he was seated behind the large mahogany desk. Beth had grown very fond of that desk in recent months. She'd cried out in ecstasy on its surface more times than she could count. Mr. Laurence set aside the copy of the Times he'd been reading and greeted her cordially. Beth returned his greeting with all the civility expected from a shy young woman in the presence of an intimidating man. They were both conscious of how many servants were about in a large house and how careful they needed to be.
At last, satisfied that they were alone, Mr. Laurence closed the door to his study and locked it with the silver key he kept on a chain in his pocket. Beth turned to him, a bright eagerness in her eyes. "Are we quite alone?" she asked, excitement giving her voice a breathy quality.
A smile twitched under Mr. Laurence's white mustache, "Quite alone, my dear."
Without delay, Beth closed the distance between them and pressed her small body against his much larger one. Her pulse quickened and desire thrummed in every part of her. It was getting harder to keep this part of her life separate and under control. Insistently, she pressed her lips against his and demanded entry to his mouth with her tongue. A chuckle bubbled up from somewhere deep inside him, "We're very eager today, aren't we, Miss Beth?"
With effort, she pulled far enough away from him to look up and meet his eyes, "Yes, Mr. Laurence. I've been trying to get away to see you all week. Every day I'd come up with a plan and then something would go wrong and I wouldn't be able to come. Mother wanted me to come to the market with her. Aunt Evelyn wanted someone to read to her by the fire. No one asks what I want, except for you."
He looked her over with the gaze of a hungry lion and whispered, "What do you want, Beth?"
She smiled up at him and he saw in her gaze all the sweetness and innocence that the rest of the world saw, but also a raw sensuality that she saved only for him. "I want to take you in my mouth again, Mr. Laurence. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since last week."
Mr. Laurence fought to suppress a groan. He was already hard and the thought of her sweet pink mouth around his cock was almost enough to set him off. Beth knelt down on the floor and primly smoothed the wrinkles of her dress. He felt like he should die right there and go to hell. She looked like an angel with her loose blonde curls and clear green eyes. She looked up at him like a cherubic painting, but he knew the practiced seductive side of her. She knew what her innocent looks and pretenses did to him and she was keen to play their game. Few women in Victorian England controlled their own fates as Beth did. She'd chosen to remain in the comfort of her family home. Mr. Laurence respected that. As his wife, she would be expected to be out and about in society a great deal and that was not in Beth's nature. She really was shy and retiring, although he saw another side of her.
Their shared attraction had proved difficult to manage under the watchful gaze of society. Mr. Laurence was a respected businessman and Beth was the same age as his grandson, although not a particularly close friend of his. It had gotten to the point where neither of them could properly focus on their duties or their lives in the misery of their separation. It was Beth who had suggested their present arrangement. Initially, Mr. Laurence had been worried about the implications of their liaison, but she insisted their arrangement would be nothing so formal. "No one ever needs to know and we can enjoy each other in private as often as we like," she'd said. Her bright green eyes had looked so hopeful. He couldn't refuse her anything she wanted.
Slowly, Beth undid the buttons of Laurence's trousers, stopping after every one to run her fingers along the length of his erect member. Laurence hissed and Beth giggled. "Don't worry, you'll get your due. If we go too fast, it will be over before we begin. I've been thinking about it for an entire week. I want it to last."
He reached out and cupped her face with his hand, "If I could contrive a way to do it, I'd take you away somewhere quiet and make love to you for days. If we could say I'm an old man and you're my companion or some such nonsense. I'd have you for hours in a real bed and we'd only stop to eat, sleep, and bathe, although I'd take you in the bath as well."
"Mmmm… that sounds lovely," Beth said, as she undid the final button and Laurence's member sprung free from its confines. It was large and thick and she could feel it throbbing in her hand.
She ran her tongue down its length and he cried out softly, "Beth, please."
She looked up at him somberly and nodded, before she took the entire shaft in her mouth. Laurence was happy to give Beth all the control in their sexual liaisons, but Beth for her part was helpless to resist anything he requested. Whenever her family inquired about how she felt about their new neighbor, Beth was quick to say that she was grateful to him for letting her practice on his piano and that she admired him as a model of civility, but never anything more. That she loved him desperately was a secret well known to her own heart, but kept to herself.
She had taken him in her mouth for the first time during last week's rendezvous, but she found herself unequal to the task. He was so large and her mouth was so small. He hadn't seemed disappointed at all, but she'd resolved to make it up to him. All week, she'd been practicing with any long vegetables she could get her hands on without being noticed. She thought surely if she could manager a whole carrot, she could manage Laurence.
This time she took him all in at once, swirling her tongue around his shaft, imagining he was a fine lollipop. She watched as his head fell back and he was lost in the sensation. Beth felt proud of herself. Laurence thought only of her pleasure in their encounters and she often worried as she walked home that he was far more generous than she. She sucked on the tip as she came to it, before working her way back down to his balls.
After several minutes, Laurence gripped her firmly by the shoulders. His eyes were dilated and he looked feverish. "Please," he said hoarsely, and nothing more. Good, Beth thought, let him see how it feels to be driven mad with desire. That is what he always does to me. Dutifully, Beth stood and made her way over to the large desk in the center of the room. She skillfully gathered all of her skirts in her hands and hoisted them over hips. She leaned her torso over the desk until it touched her chest, leaving her exposed butt and thighs at a slightly higher angle.
Beth looked over at Laurence with a mischievous glint in her eyes, as though she'd just been caught stealing sweets from the kitchen. She winked at him and he lost all restraint. It was the combination of Beth's real and perceived innocence (she really was innocent in the ways of society if not the ways of the flesh) that made her so irresistible. He'd been shocked when she proposed their current arrangement, but also totally unable to refuse her. Her innocence, combined with a shocking taste for the wanton brought him to the height of arousal every time they were together.
Laurence ran his thumb along her folds. She was wet and ready for him. He entered her in one stroke and was rewarded when she cried out in response. Still, he was ever wary that the servants might overhear them. He would never let anything take away Beth's happiness and a rumor about the two of them would surely make her unhappy. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and offered it to her, "There must be no more noise," he whispered. Silently, struggling to retain any presence of mind, Beth took the folded handkerchief and placed it at the front of her mouth, where she could bite down on its folds and suppress her moans. She knew they had to be quiet, but she was lost in the heat of desire.
Laurence withdrew almost entirely and then pounded into Beth again with force. His balls slapped against the round flesh of her buttocks and they both sighed heavily with pleasure. "You're like an angel sent to comfort me in my old age," he whispered, planting wet kisses along her neck as he pumped his cock in and out of her.
Beth could feel the pressure of her release building as her tight inner walls clenched and released his member, matching his rhythm. Sometimes, in the middle of coitus like this, Beth knew things about herself with certainty, things she'd never thought about before. In this state of heightened pleasure, she felt like her truest self and like someone else entirely, someone unafraid to say what she wanted. "I want you to fuck me like this every night," she said. "I want to crawl into bed with you and call your name until the servants talk. I don't care what people will say." After that, she had no more words or thoughts. She was aware that she was making a low keening sound. She was so close to her release, she couldn't help her body's instinct to beg for it.
Laurence plunged into with long irregular strokes as his cock shot a stream of white hot cum into her body. At the same time, he reached around the rounded flesh of her thighs and brushed his fingers over the sensitive nub beneath her brown curls. At the small stimulation, Beth's inner walls spasmed again and again as she found her own release and milked his cock for every drop of cum.
For a moment, Laurence collapsed on top of her, allowing his full weight to rest on her small form. Beth sighed contentedly and nuzzled his neck with her own. Eventually, the sound of their regular breathing returned and they came back to the full color of reality. Laurence eased himself out of her and proceeded to button his trousers. Beth righted herself from the desk and rearranged her skirts. There was a healthy bloom on her rosy cheeks and Laurence marveled that he had any part in making her look so happy.
There was a tightness in his chest as he looked at her. He loved Beth and wanted her to be happy. He knew that she valued her simple life with her parents and he never wanted to take her away from it. That said, every time she left after one of their afternoons together it nearly broke him. "You'd better go back, my dear. Your mother will wonder how many hours you can spend practicing Chopin without showing some improvement."
Beth smiled shyly at him, revealing the gap in her front teeth. Sometimes she was shy after their encounters, as though she'd revealed more about herself than she intended. "I meant what I said, Laurence. I want to spend every night with you and every day in your company. We get along so well, I don't think it would be any great leap for us to live together. I know it would be strange at first. You've lived alone for so long, but with Mother and Father just down the road, I don't think I'd be too homesick. I know you'd never prevent me from visiting them as often as I wanted."
Laurence was stunned. He'd asked Beth for her hand months ago, before she'd suggested their arrangement. He hadn't wanted to take anything from her, only to give her his name, his protection, and his fortune. To give her choices, to give her pleasure and companionship. She'd flatly refused his offer, but a few days later she'd come to visit him and proposed their current arrangement. What she said now was a shock to him. "My darling, are you sure it's what you want? I'd never pressure you to go out in society more than you pleased, but there will be gossip. There's no getting around it. Will you be alright with the stares when we go out and perhaps the comments? People can be very unkind with something they don't understand."
"I can manage anything as long as you are with me. I've been thinking that I didn't want my life to change, but the truth is that it's changed already. It changed as soon as I fell in love with you. There's no way for things to go back to the way they were before, whether we marry or not. I can never again be happy without you. You've been so kind, never again raising the subject of marriage after I said I didn't want it. But I do want you and marriage is the best way for me to have you. Will you speak to my father?"
"I'll call on him at once. I imagine he'll be very shocked, so we must be prepared to give him time to get used to the idea. He may even be angry, but I'm confident that with time and patience, nothing can keep us apart."
He embraced her and she thought the sound of his beating heart was the most comforting noise she knew. She could have the same happiness as her bolder and more beautiful sisters. She could have a husband and children and not go far away from the life she loved at the cottage. For the first time in her life, Beth was happy she did not long to go away from home and have adventures. She would leave that up to her sisters and look forward to a quiet life with Laurence. It would be a wonderful life.