Chapter four

A/N I'm so sorry that it's taken me this long to update! I've finished my studies so I should definitely be more regular for this story. Thank you guys so much for the reviews - the love really helps to maintain the inspiration for this story!

It was dark and it was cold but though her breath came out in delicate puffs of smoke, Elizabeth felt nothing as she strode through the courtyard trying to inject purpose into her posture. It must have worked for no one bothered her save for a few curious stares thrown her way. She supposed a lady heading towards the stables at night was an unusual sight, especially by herself but she couldn't bring herself to care. All she wanted was to chase away the memory of his lips against hers and the burning of his hand against her thigh.

It was wrong. Sure they were betrothed, but she had known him for less than she had known boys back home and already had engaged in more sinful thoughts than she had ever entertained in her entire life. She didn't even like him so why she was feeling anything but disgust she couldn't hazard a guess. Her friends had regaled her with tales of their own dalliances but even they seemed to express at least a vague sense of attachment to the men. In comparison, Elizabeth couldn't help but wonder what was so different about her?

When she arrived at the stables, her internal confusion halted when her horse was not where she had left it. Instead, it had been stabled at the far back, its head baying back and forth in an attempt to dodge its assailing neighbour. She recognized the black beast instantly. Ramsay's horse. It was fury that carried her forward, fury that propelled her to intercept a bite that was meant for her poor mare's neck. When she failed to shoo the stallion away, it didn't escape her how similar their situation was to her own.

"I don't think she likes him very much." A voice, his voice that she had hoped to escape interrupted the moment. With a sigh, Elizabeth refused to move, to even spare a glance behind her. Still, she took note of the sound of his slow and deliberate footsteps heading towards her. When he came up behind her so close he was almost pressed against her, she realized that Ramsay was not a man who liked to be ignored. "Perhaps she needs to learn to relax a little," he says, his voice close to her ear as he reached out, his hand pressing gently against her horse's nose. For a moment, she allowed herself to admire his elegant hand and to enjoy the sensation of his breath against her neck, but only for a moment.

"Or perhaps your horse is in desperate need of a lesson in manners, just like its owner," she retorts, pushing herself away from Ramsay. If she had hoped to scare him away, she would be disappointed when he smiled lazily at her.

"I didn't think you were all that fond of manners and propriety." When his blue eyes slowly roamed the length of her, she knew immediately what he was thinking, similar images of herself pressing up against him shamelessly came to her as well.

"I can see why you would think that," she said, trying and failing to hide the upset in her voice. "But I'm not like that. I may not be my sister but I don't do things like this," she finishes lamely, confusing evident in her fidgeting hands.

If he felt at all moved or sorry for her, he didn't show it and neither did he relent. Instead he took a step toward her and brought a hand to her face. He ignored her flinching and raised her delicate gaze up to his. "You don't have to pretend with me. A lady is never what I needed" – when she gasped, he couldn't decide if it were outrage over her position as lady being questioned or his hand on her lower back pulling her closer. Seconds later he got her answer when her dainty hands came up to press against his chest, attempting to push him away.

"And I suppose that's why you have need of that girl you sent to me earlier. I saw you two you know, coming out of here making it painfully obvious to everyone that you two are lovers." That last word came out in an undignified squeak that was enough to make him smile.

"I didn't think you cared at all about that?" He reminded her. "Besides you're completely wrong." Looking up at his handsome face, Elizabeth suddenly hoped that maybe she had jumped to conclusions. Why she held such hopes was beyond her. "We didn't fuck in the stables, we fucked in the kennels."

This time he grabs her hand before the palm connects with his cheek, his laughter and her outrage cutting off quickly when he kisses her. Like the last, this kiss is anything but dull except this time it's Elizabeth that bites his lip harshly, hoping the pain would shock him enough to pull back. He doesn't, and when his tongue touches hers she can taste his blood, can feel his hand move further down her back, pulling her tightly against him. When she finally breaks free, his lips move to her neck instead, teeth grazing against her skin sending her shivers that she tried so hard to repress.

"You disgust me," she forces the words out as his lips start to trail upwards again and they have the desired effect. He immediately freezes, pulling back so his blue eyes stared into her own.

"I disgust you?" He repeated, his tone eerily calm. As she looked up at his perfectly blank face, she decided then and there that she preferred his smirk, so matter how infuriating it may be. "Did I disgust you when you threw yourself at me before dinner? What about when you shivered at my touch in front of your parents no less? What about that moment where I saw you consider taking me up into your room and giving yourself to me?"

"I didn't consider that. I'm a lady"-

"So you keep saying, but I've yet to see proof." As if to prove his point, he wiped the back of his hand against his lip, his pale fingers staining with blood and held it up to her. "I'm starting to wonder if you're as innocent as you once seemed."

Aghast and appalled with her own judgement as well as his that allowed her in this scenario, Elizabeth didn't see the wolfish smile on his face before he lunged out to her, spun her around and hauled her back up against his front in one smooth move. His arm around her waist kept her there, his chuckle deep against her ear.

"If you do anything I scream Ramsay," she warned, her fingernails digging into his hand in an attempt to get his grip to loosen. She could see bloodied half-moons forming in his skin but he didn't seem to care.

"And what purpose do you think that would serve? I am Lord here, my men answer to me and besides, they all know well how much I like to make ladies scream."

Elizabeth shuddered at the double-sided implication, the truth of his words sinking in. She was surrounded by his people, what would they care about his dealings with a silly girl from a smaller house? Her thoughts halted immediately when she felt his hand move around her neck, his hand warm but surprisingly gentle against her.

"You're such a pretty little thing. Why do you pretend so much?" His voice had dropped to a whisper, but there was a glint in his eyes that was far too calculated for her nerves.

"Let me go."

"Oh absolutely, I'll let you go as soon as you admit you want me. That you want this," with that his hand moved down, down between her breasts before it settled on her stomach, his fingers circling around her hip. As he leant down to bite her neck once more, she tried so hard not to let it affect her, but it was hard when his hand continued its path, delving below her hip in a way that could only be described as possessive.

When he raised her face to his and kissed her, she admitted then that she was fighting a losing battle, his tongue brushing against hers in a way that she knew she shouldn't like so much. She tried to turn around, wanting to deepen the kiss but he wouldn't let her. Instead he held her there, at that awkward angle his hand still making its way to her thigh, the heat of his grip searing through her dress.

When he began to move the material up and she guessed his motive, she gave one last attempt at seeing reason by pulling away. "Shh don't pull away now. You were enjoying yourself before, imagine how much more enjoyment I can give you." Against her better judgement and her growing fear, she did imagine it and she couldn't quite repress the kernel of excitement that rose.

Still, this was wrong. She shouldn't, she couldn't. "I can't do this."

"Why not?"

"Because it's wrong. Our wedding night"- was all she managed to get out and he gave a breathy little laugh behind her. When he placed a kiss along her collarbone she couldn't help but arch into him.

"I'm not planning on having our wedding night early Elizabeth. There are other things we can do besides that, that can give you pleasure." She wanted to ask what other things but embarrassment stopped her, conflicting embarrassment at asking after such lewd things but also revealing how little she knew about them. She knew he would only mock her for it.

When his hand delved under her skirts and against her leg she jumped, the warmth startling and almost sobering if he gave it chance. Instead he pressed on, his lips and teeth continuing to play along her neck and the corner of her lip while his hand crept up her thigh. When he almost made it to the juncture between her legs and she tensed up, he couldn't quite hold back a laugh.

"Just imagine what it would be like," he said, fingers teasing along the insiders of her upper thighs. "That feeling that's growing here, only I can help with that. And no one would have to know, it would be our little secret." He was right, there was a feeling growing, a deep and warm feeling that was spreading right through her core and God help her, but she wanted more. She wanted to know what this pleasure was that she had heard whispered, and she only had to look at his devious smile to know he could give it her.

This time when his fingers brushed against her again, she tensed but only out of anticipation, not daring to even breathe. Sensing victory, Ramsay smiled behind her, his index finger ever-so-slightly brushing against her core. She gasped instantly, unsure of this new development and her reaction. When he did it again, but slowly this time, only pleasure bloomed and she couldn't help but moan.

"I hope you remember this moment Beth," he says, his voice a whisper-soft caress in her ear. "Remember the moment you proved to yourself how little you can control you desires for me." Finally his words penetrated the lust-induced fog that had seemed to cloud her better judgement and yet she still found herself letting out a moan of disappointment as he pulled back from her. She didn't even understand what it was she wanted.

"Some lady you are," he said, the soft kiss at her temple belying the mocking tone of his voice. Before she could react, he left her there, his harsh departing laugh the proverbial salt in the wound.

Frustrated and confusingly unfulfilled, Elizabeth didn't move, didn't react except to push her skirts back down and adjust herself. Standing there with the cool air teasing her sweat-kissed skin, she was filled with so much shame it was all she could do not to cry right then and there. Somehow however, she held on to that last thread of dignity, refusing to walk outside among men, among his men with a tear-stained face. She hated herself and her weakness, but even more than that, she hated him with a passion that surprised her.