Cutler Beckett woke with a smirk on his face early in the morning, his thoughts continued to drift back to the actions of last night as he dressed himself for the day. He stood in front of the mirror and straightened his clothing and powdered white wig one last time before deciding everything was perfect. He would allow nothing to be out of place, not when everything was going so well. Everything was finally turning out the way he wanted, at this thought he smirked at his reflection and exited his bedroom.
As the clock struck exactly eight in the morning Cutler took his first step into the dining room. The table which he had selected to decorate the dining room was much smaller than the one which took up residence in the Sullivan household, but it was by no means less grand. He had in fact selected the table after Anna had made a passing comment about hating long tables and how she wished her home had a shorter one. Anna had mentioned how much she would prefer it if everyone was much closer, that long table ruined the atmosphere, unless of course one was entertaining guests. It was rather presumptuous of him to purchase a table in the hopes of pleasing Anna, but he proceeded with his decision anyway. He ran his fingers along the finely polished wood of the table, closing his eyes as he pictured Anna lying on the table beneath him as he entered her. He smirked at the thought; he had a lot planned for when he finally claimed Anna as his wife, there would be no surface left untouched, he would make sure of that.
As he waited for Anna he slowly paced around behind his chair. He stopped pacing the minute he heard light footsteps making their way to his direction. Such light footsteps could not belong to Mercer, or any of his household staff, so he surmised that Anna must finally be on her way down.
She moved quickly, as if she was already aware that she was somewhat late for breakfast. Her emerald eyes were downcast with a small hint of shame gracing her features, yet Cutler could not tell why. This morning she wore her hair down around her shoulders in curled ringlets. Her dark red dress was designed in such a way that left her shoulders enticingly bare, exposing her pale skin for Cutler to plainly see. The corset that she was wearing was pulled tightly, forcing her breasts upwards and pushing them together, Cutler licked his lips as he took in her appearance. Anna's lips were coloured the same red as her dress and he wanted nothing more than to pull her close to him and kiss those plump lips of hers.
"Good morning Anna," Cutler said making his way over to her. He took her dainty hand in his own and brought it up to his lips. As he gently kissed the back of her hand he kept his eyes trained on her.
Anna blushed and smiled at Cutler, "Good morning," she replied happily.
"Shall we?" he asked rhetorically gesturing to the chairs with his free hand.
"Of course," Anna said.
Cutler led her to the nearest chair, her hand still clasped in his own. He pulled her chair out for her and waited until she was seated comfortably before seating himself in his own chair at the opposite end of the table. He picked up the dinner bell which was placed on a plate near him and he rang it, signalling to his servants that he was ready for them to serve breakfast.
Ms. Kirkpatrick was the first of his servants to make her way into the room, a permanent scowl etched onto her features as she moved about. She placed several slices of toast onto the table, accompanied by jam and butter before moving back to take her place against the wall. Next there came another servant who brought in Cutler's tea set out on a silver tray. The servant took his place against the wall next to Ms. Kirkpatrick, several others followed carrying other items of food, but neither Anna nor Cutler paid them much attention. Once they were finished filling the table with food and drink Cutler simply waved his hand in their direction thus dismissing the servants in silence. It was not an odd thing for Cutler to do, but Ms. Kirkpatrick thought it highly improper for him to dismiss them so that he could have breakfast alone with the young Lady Sullivan. Any time spent without a chaperone of some sort was time when Lady Sullivan's virtue could be brought into question, yet this seemed not to bother either party.
The pair began to silently eat their breakfast, Cutler watching discretely as Anna took a sip of her tea, licking her lips after swallowing the liquid down. Many times in her presence Cutler found it difficult to concentrate and now was no exception. "Tell me my sweet, did you come to any sort of conclusion as to what we discussed previously?" Cutler asked as he took a sip of tea.
Anna's eyes widened as she remembered exactly what Cutler was referring to. She had given his words consideration, but she was not sure of her answer. She refused to voice her ideas to Cutler yet, lest she sound like a fool in front of the one man who truly seemed to respect her intelligence. "I have yet to reach a conclusion Cutler," she replied.
"Would you like me to enlighten you perhaps?" he asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk in her direction.
"To be frank, yes I would like for you to enlighten me," Anna paused before continuing, a curious smile gracing her features, "but I would much rather figure it out for myself if you do not mind."
"I have no problem with that my sweet," Cutler replied, his eyes trailing along her body.
Anna blushed as she watched his eyes roam freely, it made her body surge with pride and the distinct tingling between her legs returned knowing that he would look at her in such a way. She was pleased that she had grown into a woman that caught the eye of Cutler Beckett, the man she had wanted to marry ever since she was a young girl.
"Perhaps it is too early in the morning to discuss this," Cutler began, "but would you permit me to ask another question or two anyway?"
"Ask me anything you wish Cutler," she said flashing him a brilliant smile.
"Were all of your curiosities resolved last night, or do you still wish to learn?" Cutler selected his words carefully so that anyone listening in would not have been able to understand his meaning.
Anna's emerald eyes widened at Cutler's question, "there are still things that I wish to learn," she answered blushing. "I found my lesson last night to be rather stimulating and I was hoping that your offer to further my education was still valid."
"That was going to be my next question," Cutler replied smirking. "I was going to ask if you still wanted my assistance, but it seems you have already answered my question." Cutler leant forward and spoke so softly no one apart from Anna could hear his next words, "I shall look forward to later on tonight my sweet. I shall teach you things you never even dared to dream about, things that will make your body cry out for more."
Anna's face turned an even darker shade of red at his words, "then I shall look forward to tonight as much as you do."
"Would you accompany me to my study for a moment?" he asked Anna, expecting that she would not turn down his request.
"Of course," she said smiling at him.
Cutler lead Anna down the hallway, as elegantly decorated as the rest of the estate with objects that showed Cutler's fine tastes. Anna smiled broadly as she always did when Cutler was at her side, his arm linked through hers, his head held high with pride. Anna really did admire how handsome and how sure of himself he was, and she realised that the longer she spent around him, the happier she began to feel. At times Anna caught herself worrying that Cutler would soon be out of her reach, she saw the way many other gorgeous women followed Cutler around with their eyes. Anna knew that once upon a time those same women would not have looked twice at Cutler, but due to his sudden rise to power, those women now found him irresistible. They were certainly far more beautiful than she was, no doubt they could also sew as well as doing all of those other things which a proper Lady should be able to do; things which Anna had no time or patience for. Anna shook her saddening thoughts away as she felt Cutler come to a stop, he had chosen her to be his and she had to be confident that his mind would not change with time.
"Is something wrong my sweet?" Cutler asked as he pushed the door open with his free hand, he looked down at Anna's slightly watery eyes with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh no Cutler," Anna said, forcing a smile on her face, "absolutely nothing is wrong."
Cutler continued to look at her with questioning eyes, but Anna looked away immediately, she knew she was being foolish, but she could not help but doubt herself at times.
Cutler led her around the back of his large work desk and pulled out his chair for her to sit in. Anna gave him a questioning look, but she sat down regardless after seeing that his face held no hidden emotions. She continued to watch him silently as he removed a key that was hidden up his sleeve. Cutler gave Anna what appeared to be a weary smile as he slid the key into the top drawer of his desk and unlocked it. As he pulled the drawer out she could see the inside was littered with many pieces of paper, each looking as important as the next. A small pistol lay on top of the papers, ammunition rolling around as his fingers shuffled through the piles of paper before he finally found what he was looking for. Cutler clasped the object tightly in his fingers before locking the drawer once again. The key then slipped back up into his sleeve, hidden from the world once more, only Anna and Cutler knowing exactly where it was.
"I will trust that you will keep what you just saw to yourself," Cutler said. "The gun included."
"I did not see anything," Anna said nodding.
Cutler smirked at Anna's willingness to comply, "good," he whispered in her ear as he remained bent over close to her. "Just know that if you ever need protection, and Mercer or I are not around to help, that you are more than welcome to take the pistol for yourself. There is a spare key to this drawer hidden on top of that bookcase," he said pointing to the bookcase closest to the door. "Not that I imagine you will ever be in such a situation my sweet," Cutler's finger trailed lightly across her cheek sending a pleasurable chill down her spine. Anna nuzzled her face into his touch as he dragged his fingertips down her exposed neck until they rested on the warm skin of her bare shoulders. His fingers were lightly calloused from his younger days, but the warm smooth feeling of his caresses had Anna silently begging him to keep moving.
"Thank you Cutler," Anna replied biting her lip to stifle any unladylike sounds from escaping her lips.
Keeping his hands on her shoulders and drawing patterns on her skin with his fingertips Cutler bent closer to Anna and pressed his lips to the sensitive skin beneath her ear, "I have something precious that I wish to give you, but I do want a small something in return," each word he spoke caused his lips to brush against her skin in a tantalising manner. He smirked against her skin as he saw a blush rise upon her face, from his position he could easily see her breathing quicken as her breast began to move against the restricting corset.
"What is it that you want from me?" Anna asked.
"Everything," he whispered leaving a soft kiss against her neck.
Anna let out a gasp both at the words and at the feeling of Cutler surrounding her so completely. Her mind flashed back to last night, seeing him standing before her, completely naked. She felt a strange tingling between her legs at the sensation of his touch and she had to sudden urge to pull Cutler closer to her body, but she fought the feelings, knowing it would not be the best of ideas. Anna wanted Cutler desperately and in every possible way, but she had to be patient, just as he was always so patient with her. He had promised that tonight he would pleasure her and she would simply have to wait until then to relieve the tingling sensations he was giving her.
His smirk returned as he saw Anna panic for a moment before he finally spoke again, "but of course that will have to wait until we are husband and wife. For now, the only thing I want from you is a kiss my sweet. But first, close your eyes and hold out your hand for me."
Anna instantly snapped her eyes shut and held out her hand for Cutler. He studied her face in silence for a few moments, watching the way that her plump red lips strayed slightly open and the way her breasts rose and fell with each breath she took in. Cutler felt the telltale twitch of his body in response to Anna's movements, how he was going to get any work done today was beyond him. He would be lucky if he could even concentrate on his monotonous paperwork with the vision of Anna's lips and breasts for firmly etched into his mind, let alone with the accompanying memory of her small fingers coaxing him to release. His eyes fluttered closed as he attempted to reel his thoughts back in so that he could give Anna the object he was holding tightly in his hand.
Slowly he dropped the object into her opened palm. It was cold and metallic feeling, Anna guessing that it was a key before she opened her eyes. She waited until she received some sort of sign from Cutler that it was alright to open her eyes.
"You may open your eyes now my sweet," Cutler said.
"Thank you Cutler," Anna said tilting her head to get a better look at Cutler, "what does this unlock?" she asked studying the small key placed in her hand.
"It unlocks what I presume will become your favourite room in this house."
"And what room would that be?" Anna asked her eyes full of curiosity like they had been the night before. Oh how Cutler adored that curious streak buried deep within Anna.
"Why it is the library of course."
"Really Cutler? You are giving me a key to your private library?" she asked in disbelief. "Thank you so much!" Anna practically squealed with delight.
"I thought you might be pleased my sweet."
"I am most defiantly more than pleased Cutler, I am amazed!" Anna said, "I am honoured that you would allow me access to your private library."
"You are most welcome," Cutler replied.
"Forgive me for asking, but where exactly is your library? I have explored most of your home by now, but I do not recall coming across such a room."
"The library is behind the last door to your right further down this hallway," Cutler informed Anna. "And please remember to lock the door behind you once you enter. There are many precious things in there and I do not wish just anyone to be able to glimpse upon them."
"Of course Cutler, thank you for allowing me into such a precious place," Anna replied, smiling up at Cutler who returned the gesture.
"Now will you give me that kiss I requested, or will you make me wait?" Cutler asked.
"I could never allow you to wait dear Cutler," Anna replied.
With that final comment Cutler trailed his fingers into Anna's honey coloured ringlets and pulled her mouth forcefully to meet with his own. His kisses brushed roughly against her lips in a demanding manner. Cutler alternated between gently biting at Anna's bottom lip and licking it with his soft wet tongue. Anna let a quiet moan escape from her open mouth and it that exact moment Cutler took advantage of her opened mouth and slipped his tongue inside. Their tongues twirled slowly together, caressing and moving in time with each other. Cutler slowly pulled away from Anna's lips, his tongue trailing over her lips once more before he broke contact with her.
"Mine," he whispered firmly against her lips before allowing his teeth to nibble at her plump red lips one more time. His eyes gazed upon the exposed flesh of her shoulders and neck; he wanted so desperately to run his mouth over her pale skin, to lick and suck and caress what he deemed to be his. He wanted to bite into her flesh and leave a mark that would let everyone know who she belonged to, but he could not do so, yet.
He silently extended his hand to Anna and helped her to her feet. Cutler's arms automatically found their way around her waist and he held her tightly, keeping her soft body pressed against his own.
Anna heard his whispered words and placed a small hand on his cheek. She leant closer to his ear and whispered to him, "as you are mine."
Cutler smirked at her words, she was just as possessive of him as he was of her. Not even heaven would be able to help anyone who dared come between them. Cutler's lips pushed roughly against Anna's in a commanding kiss, "you really should get going now my sweet. I fear if you stay any longer I will not be able to concentrate on my paperwork for I will be too busy," Cutler paused as he spoke and placed his lips closer to Anna's ear, "indulging in my time with you," he continued.
"We can't have that now can we!" Anna said giggling at the feeling of his lips.
"Of course not my sweet," he replied.
"I shall leave you to your work now, please do try not to work so hard. It does worry me when I see such dark circles under your eyes," Anna said making her way towards the door.
Cutler remained silent in response, but beneath his unreadable mask he felt something strange stir in his heart. Anna truly did care about him for who he was, rather than what he had. In that moment Cutler was sure that he had made the correct decision when he decided to make Anna his Lady Beckett.
"Cutler?" Anna called, turning back from the door.
He looked up from his papers, "yes my sweet," he replied his voice sending shivers through Anna's body.
"May I read some of the books once I am finished? I imagine you would have to most fascinating collection," she said blushing slightly as she remembered Cutler praising her intelligence, amongst other things, only the day before.
"You may read whatever you wish whenever you wish my sweet," Cutler replied. "It is your library just as much as it is mine."
"Is that so?" she asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.
"But of course my sweet, I could no more deny your thirst for knowledge than I could deny my own thirst," he said smiling at the meaning of his words.
"Then thank you Cutler. I shall leave you to your work now," Anna said. "Will we be having lunch together today?"
"Yes my sweet, I think I can step away from work for that. I will have it brought to the library at the appropriate time and I will see you then."
"Goodbye for now Cutler!" Anna said, the smile on her face never in danger of falling.
Anna silently entered the locked room with the key that he had entrusted to her possession. Books lay in unorganised piles strewn across the floor, although Cutler had moved into his new home a week or so ago, he had yet to unpack everything. Cutler liked things to be sorted neatly and placed in a particular order, he could not trust his servants to treat his books with care, nor could he trust they would place things in the correct position, so the room had been left untouched. Cutler had certainly meant to get around to organising the library himself, but more and more Company work would make its presence known and as a result he never found the time he needed to organise things perfectly.
Anna let out a sigh as she realised what Cutler had asked her to do would take a very long time, but she would enjoy the task nonetheless.
The morning hours melted away, until Anna found her stomach beginning to protest at the lack of food it was receiving. Anna continued working, sorting books into piles and finding suitable places to put them. First she had thought to organise the books alphabetically by author, but she quickly dismissed such a method as it did not serve much of a functional purpose. She decided that it would be better to organise the books in order of topic, and then in alphabetical order from there. He had books by great philosophers; he had a small assortment of biology texts and poetry. All books one would expect a future Lord to be in possession of, but then there were the books which one did not expect to find. Books in foreign languages with complicated lettering and strange alphabets which Anna could not decipher no matter how hard she tried. Anna also found books featuring what she thought must be legends, yet the books had a serious tone to them, demanding to be taken seriously. She made her mind up that she would ask Cutler about those peculiar books some other time, for now she simply placed them in a separate pile, unsure where to put them on the shelf until she was certain she had them all collected nicely.
Anna's eyes widened as her fingers clasped around a rather tattered looking book, clearly this was one Cutler had spent a lot of time looking at. The title on the side had worn off so Anna could not tell what the books was about, and the front was so worn that it gave no hints either, she decided to open the pages and look inside in order to satisfy her curiosity. Part of her felt guilty for secretly looking at something Cutler prized, but he had told her that she could read whatever she wanted whenever she wanted, so she did not think that he would scold her for her actions.
She pushed her fingers between two completely random pages and flipped the book open; she let out a small gasp at the sight she was met with. One page contained text while the other contained an elaborate illustration of a couple entwined. The woman was lying naked on the bed, her legs spread and hoisted up over the man's shoulders, the man was equally as naked, his face hidden by the positioning of the woman's legs. The illustration showed the man's erection entering the woman and was titled "Charles plucks Fanny's virgin flower". Anna was shocked by the illustration and she tore her eyes away flipping to another page which she hoped would be safe to read. The next page she flipped to contained a different illustration, one that reminded her of her own actions last night. The woman sat naked in bed, her breasts exposed, next to the bed stood a man. He was different from the one drawn on the previous page and he was almost fully clothed. The only part of the man which was exposed was his erect cock. The woman had her hand tightly wrapped around his member and appeared to be taking care of him the same way Anna had taken care of Cutler. Underneath the illustration was the title "Fanny emboldens William".
The unmistakeable sound of the door being unlocked behind her threw Anna into a panic and she knew the only person who would be entering was Cutler. The book flew from her hands as she attempted to hide it back in the pile she had retrieved it from.
"You have done a truly excellent job in here my sweet," Cutler whispered in Anna's ear from behind, his voice deep and seductive, sending chills down her spine. Before Anna could turn around to face Cutler, his arms had wound themselves tightly around her waist. He pulled her soft body backwards to rest gently against his, his lips brushed softly against the exposed skin of her neck as he whispered again, "I am glad I left such an important task in your capable hands."
"Thank you Cutler," she said blushing at his compliment as well as the feeling of his lips against her skin. "But I do have such a long way to go until I am completely finished."
Cutler loosened his grip on Anna's waist for long enough to allow her to turn around in his arms and face him. As soon as she was comfortably facing him, his grip tightened once again. Anna's arms trailed up his chest and wrapped around his neck as she smiled up at him. His lips moved forward to claim hers in a short, innocent kiss which Anna returned just as gently.
"Lunch will be making its way here soon, but first, what is that book you quickly hid back in that box when you heard me come in?"
Anna's face flushed red as she prepared herself to be scolded for looking at that book, "oh it was nothing important Cutler." Anna said trying to distract him.
Cutler ignored her claims, spinning them both around so that the book was closer to him. One of his hands dropped its grip from around her waist and picked the book up, "ah, so it is this one that you found. I believe it is entitled 'The Life and Adventures of Miss Fanny Hill', fascinating book really," Cutler said. "Tell me my sweet, does this book repulse you, or does it make you curious for more?" Cutler asked, his eyes roaming Anna's blushing face.
"It does not repulse me in the least, but I will admit that it did startle me," Anna smiled shyly at Cutler, "I have never seen anything like it before."
"That is because these sorts of books are banned, it is illegal to own such material. So I ask you to keep my ownership of this book to yourself."
"Of course I will do that Cutler, I could not bear to see you punished," Anna whispered.
"You are so good to me my sweet," Cutler said, "perhaps, when you are bolder we can read this book together? There are many more illustrations, things that I am sure you would enjoy."
"I would like that, but for now I am not courageous enough," she replied biting her lip.
"That is fine my sweet," Cutler said kissing her cheek softly. "After tonight I hope you will be satisfied, yet curious enough to continue."
"I have no doubts in your ability to satisfy me," Anna said, her stomach growling in a deeply unladylike fashion. ""Shall we have lunch now?"
"Yes, we shall. The sooner we begin our meal the sooner the end of the day will come. Then the night shall be ours."
Thank you to those who have left me a review, it really helps keep me going! Thank you as well to those who have subscribed to this story - it means so much to me!
The book mentioned in this chapter actually does exist - wikipedia told me so!