Dear readers, It's so cold here in Ohio. A whopping 24f as I write this. I decided I needed to warm things up.
Enjoy, and Happy Holidays!
5.
After listening to Colonel Tavington rant for an hour or two after the explosion, Captain Bordon managed to get his hands on a bottle of brandy and a glass and made his way back to his room.
It was late now and he expected his wife would be bathed and asleep in bed considering those were her plans. Instead, Bordon found Teddy where he had left her earlier, by a bathtub- now steaming, struggling to remove her gown.
He almost stepped out of the room again but he was tired now and angry over Tavington's arse ripping tirade. All Bordon wanted was to sit quietly by the fire and enjoy a drink-or two or three. He would try to give her some privacy but Bordon wasn't going anywhere. Teddy would just have to deal with his presence.
When she turned Teddy was startled to see Bordon there. She was expecting a maid to return and help her out of her gown. Unfortunately it was only him and he didn't look very happy.
As much as the taffeta gown had made her feel pretty when she dressed for the ball, she now wanted the blasted thing off more than anything. She was dying to sink into her waiting tub and soak the weariness of the day's events from her body and go to bed. Teddy would need help with that, and Bordon would just have to do.
She approached him as he was about to sit in one of the upholstered chairs by the fire and stood with her back to him.
"Would you be so kind as to help me with my laces?" She asked politely, unable to mask the exhaustion in her voice.
She heard him sigh and say, "You seemed to be doing just fine. Besides, I am no ladies maid."
For whatever reason- reasons she would never begin to comprehend, Teddy decided to needle him a bit. She turned her head to look at him over her shoulder and replied with a coy smile, "Obviously I am not doing fine on my own or I'd be in that tub by now. And you were the one who claimed to be an expert on removing stubborn gowns."
Teddy turned away as he set his bottle and glass down. "Alright then, we shall do this my way," he replied in a warning tone that made her shiver.
She felt the feathery slide of his hands at her shoulders. He brushed her hair aside with a finger and placed a kiss at the top of her spine.
Teddy hadn't expected that and it took a few seconds to register in her brain what she was feeling. Another warm kiss and his large hand snaked around her waist; Teddy closed her eyes at the feel of the masculine body pressed against her back. She felt a slight tug on the laces of her gown and the heat of his hand as it slid in one long stroke up the silk bodice to the swell of her breast, giving it a gentle squeeze. No ladies maid had ever done that.
But what Teddy felt most; the sensation that seemed to overpower everything else was the feel of his hot mouth traveling across her skin as he nuzzled and nipped at the softness of her neck. It sent streaks of heat all the way down to her toes. The next thing she knew, her sleeves sagged and her gown was coming down her arms and being pushed off her hips, followed by layers of petticoats. She would have never noticed if it hadn't been for the rustling sound the fabric made as it fell in a heap to the floor.
With a sigh, Teddy gave in and let her head fall back against his shoulder. She felt a coolness wash over her midriff as her stays came off and then all that was left were her shift and stockings. Teddy wondered if he would stop now and secretly hoped he wouldn't. She still wasn't sure what was happening and at the moment, she felt too good to care.
Bordon did not stop. Bordon felt her pulse racing under the most delicate skin as he tasted her neck. His mouth and tongue sought out every sensitive place he could discover. Every sweep of his hand was an exploration; a fragrant spot behind her ear, the tender juncture of her neck and shoulder.
In his own mind, Bordon was a bit confused as well. He never intended to introduce her to his passion. He knew he shouldn't allow this to happen; that it would only complicate matters more. Yet the primitive side-the side of him that had wanted her since the first time he saw her naked- kept nudging the gentleman aside until it was no more than a faint voice in the back of his mind.
He turned her gently in his arms and finally kissed her lips, sinking into the warmth of her mouth. This kiss was new for Teddy. The kiss they shared at the stables and in the garden were for show. But this kiss was fierce and possessive. His lips smooth and firm, commanding her mouth to move with him. His tongue stroking and persuading her to let down what few defenses she had left. Teddy kissed him back fervently. She wanted to respond in whatever manner he wished her to. Not just to satisfy him, but to see where he would take her.
She should be pushing him away, she was playing with fire; Teddy knew that. Something had become uncorked inside her and it dawned on her just how lonely she was and how much she missed being touched by a man. Teddy felt a difference in Andrew compared to Ram and she was thankful for that. She didn't want Andrew to kiss her or hold her or make love like Ram- it would have been too cruel. Yet Captain Bordon was affecting her in ways she never thought he would. This was not the simple touching of comfort and companionship as he had just began to show her in the previous weeks, this was passion.
Bordon lifted her arms and placed them around his shoulders, broad and hard. His arms locked about her and he lifted her feet off the floor. He knew he should stop now but he couldn't bring himself to do so. He sank into the chair behind him, drawing her down to straddle his lap. In this position he could tease and fondle her as he pleased. Her shift was rucked up to her hips and in one fluid movement, he lifted it over her head and was rewarded with the sight of the two most perfect breasts level with his face- exactly where he wanted them.
Bordon skimmed his hands lightly up the backs of Teddy's thighs, making her jolt. He leaned forward, breathing her sweet scent and licked. Teddy gasped and nearly collapsed against him. He held her firm, tormenting her with his lips and tongue until he felt her desperately clutching at his shoulders for more. Only then did he draw her closer to take the peaked nipple into his mouth, and suckle.
Teddy moaned and the sound of it gave Bordon a sense of satisfaction, discovering that he could bring that out of her. His hands continued to caress and stroke her back while he feasted on her breasts. Teddy's fingers slid over the rippled curl of his hair and she dipped her head to nuzzle and kiss his head, his brow, his cheeks, his lips.
She looked down at his face and watched as the line of his lips suddenly altered into what she knew now as his brand of smile. Something wicked briefly flashed in his blue eyes and then he touched her. Teddy tried to squirm away as a delicious sensation stabbed through her. His fingers followed, she could not escape him and judging by the expression on his face, Bordon knew it.
With a moan she closed her eyes and felt her entire body sag against his hands- his wonderfully talented hands. Bordon drew her into another bruising kiss and began stroking her.
Like magic, his hands sculpted over her curves, powerful, experienced fingers played a dallied with her. She closed her eyes and shuddered as his fingers penetrated and retreated, caressing and petting her. When she finally couldn't take any more of his seductive torture she convulsed against him, her cry muted by his devouring kiss.
Minutes later, with her warmth still slumped around him, his hands still cupping her naked bottom, Bordon glimpsed at the ivory curves of her and envisioned a time where he might be able to explore her a little further. His fantasies about her raven hair and her lips alone were reason to make him imagine enough lustful thoughts to send him to hell for eternity. It would be so simple to unfasten his breeches and take her right now.
Eyes narrowing, gaze unfocused, he considered things.
When this interlude began, Bordon felt more than confident about the control he could easily gain over her. But now, he wasn't so sure who it was that had been in control in the first place. While he was unquestionably the more experienced of the two, Teddy had an eagerness, an enthusiasm and a confidence in her own sexuality that Bordon had never encountered before. Whores were paid to please; wives had a duty to tolerate their husband's needs. Teddy was like neither. There was no passiveness in her; she had already more than proved that. He pushed and she responded. It pleased him to see her please herself. It was an odd concept for Bordon.
His taste for women had grown jaded over the years and Teddy was like a novelty. She had radiated and her passion had affected him like a drug. He wanted more of her yet he knew she was not for him. He also knew that if he bedded her, from then on, every woman he was ever with would be compared to her, and found wanting. That revelation only deepened his resolve not to take her. It wouldn't matter if it ruined their chance of their planned annulment; there were always ways around that. What mattered was that he knew she would ruin him for any other woman and he would never want anyone else but her. That wasn't an option.
Teddy's face was still hidden in his shoulder and he patted her bottom to make her stir. She moved in his lap, making him grunt as her knee brushed across the erection barely hidden by his breeches. She sat back and studied him. Her lips were bruised like crushed cherries and her carefully coiffed hair was a mess. She looked positively debauched and again, Bordon couldn't deny the primal sense of achievement.
"You," he said resuming his stony façade, "have a bath waiting. And if you don't hurry, your water will turn cold." With a few flicks of his fingers and wrists, Bordon had divested Teddy of her garters and stockings and then added with a soft peck to her furrowed brow, "I know how much you hate that."
Teddy wriggled and carefully eased out of his arms. She stood before him in all her glory, looking…..dejected.
"What about you?" She asked.
His jaw hardened and he shook his head, waving his had dismissively. "I'll deal with it."
Teddy took this to mean he would see another woman. Perhaps the lady with the pearls. At first that thought made her laugh to herself and then it almost made her sick. She was quite surprised when she finished her bath and after donning a clean nightgown, found Andrew asleep in the bed. Teddy climbed into the massive thing and in the morning, thought it odd that two people could finally have so much space to sleep and yet end up wrapped in each other's arms anyway.
That was when Teddy made her decision. She would convince Andrew that they should stay together. She was determined that somehow, she would make it happen. Not by trickery or deception. She would win him.