Chapter 19

CHAPTER NINETEEN

“ I hear their horses,” Lydia said, her heart beginning to race at the sound.

Barbara’s head perked up from her book, tension written across her face as she strained her ears.

“As do I,” she said excitedly, shuffling out of her chair and the lap blanket.

Alice and Helena quickly followed and the four of them headed to the foyer. It was late, but none of them aside from Juliet had been able to sleep; too worried for their husbands to do so. After Juliet had gone off to bed, saying she would stay with her nephews for the night, they had remained vigilant in the front parlor, doing their best to distract themselves to pass the time.

“How many?” Alice breathed, as Lydia flew open the front door. “Four, please say all four.”

Relief flooded through Lydia as she saw four riders coming fast up the drive. Ezra was recognizable even in the darkness and was in the lead.

“Yes, all four,” Lydia replied, taking hold of her sister tightly as their husbands approached.

Ezra flung his leg over his saddle as his horse began to slow down, but he did not wait for it to stop before he jumped off and strode quickly toward Lydia.

“Ezra, your leg!” she cried in warning, but Lydia rushed toward him at the same him; the two of them coming together with great force as their lips pressed together greedily.

“I’m fine,” he murmured into her lips, though she felt his right leg begin to tremble with fatigue.

“You came back,” she breathed, peppering him with kisses.

“I promised you I would,” Ezra replied, his voice raw as he tucked her body tightly into his arms, holding her head to his chest.

She could hear his heart pounding as his hands moved and pressed on her back, as though he was trying to push her into him. Looking around, she could see that her friends and their husbands were having similar reactions to seeing one another.

“Duncan, thank God,” Alice sobbed, rushing up to him as he got off his horse.

“It’s all right, my love,” Duncan soothed, cradling her to his chest.

Lydia then watched in fascination as he took his mask off, letting it fall to the ground before he leaned down and buried his face into her neck.

“You let him hit you in the face?” Barbara asked incredulously, shoving at Ambrose’s shoulder before pulling him by his lapels as Lydia turned toward the couple.

“It was a dirty punch, darling, I could not avoid it,” Ambrose snickered before his wife hauled him down for a kiss.

“Come here, you handsome fool,” Helena laughed, going to hug Morgan as she let Ambrose and Barbara have their moment.

“Careful, darling, I’m not allowed to fall in love with you,” Morgan teased but accepted her hug warmly.

Lydia smiled warmly, beyond relief that they had all made it back in one piece.

“Did you find him?” she asked, turning her head to look up at Ezra.

She felt his body go still for a moment, then his hands began to caress her again.

“Yes,” he acknowledged. “He is in the proper hands now.”

“So, it is over?” she asked.

She wanted to feel hopeful, but there was something in his eyes that she was incapable of deciphering.

“Yes,” Ezra agreed, gently holding her chin, and stroking his thumb gently along her jaw.

“Then what is wrong?” she asked, studying his face; a face she had learned to read like a favorite book.

There was worry there. Fear, even, but Ezra said, “Let us get the others to their rooms first. We have all had a vexing day.”

Knowing it was the right thing to do, Lydia nodded, and as everyone broke away from one another, more hugs and words of endearment were exchanged. It did not take long after that for everyone to head to their respective rooms, and soon Lydia found herself walking with Ezra into his quarters. It was the first time she had stepped into the room since his attack, and though it was clean, she felt a shiver of discomfort as she stepped inside.

She had almost lost him in this room. Ezra caught her looking around worriedly and pulled her into his arms.

“There is no one here,” he assured her.

But, when she looked up into his eyes he nodded in understanding, and silently went about the room, looking through all possible hiding spots until she was satisfied.

“This is my fault,” he said tiredly, taking a seat on his bed. “All of it.”

Lydia felt her heart ache as she saw the self-hatred in his eyes and went to him.

“No,” she breathed, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. “Do not blame yourself.”

Ezra pulled her away just enough to look her in the eyes, and a knot formed in her stomach.

“I have ruined you.”

Lydia shook her head, taken aback by the statement.

“What on earth are you talking about?” she asked. “I am not ruined!”

“You were pure. Before me, you were pure and good. Now you’re threatening to stab people and are hitting people over the head with vases.”

Before Lydia could respond, Ezra said, “According to George, my mother used to be just like you. Just like you before my father twisted her into who she is now. And I…I have done the same to you.”

“Ezra, no, ” she insisted, tightening her grip on his shoulders.

“I do not love as others do, I do not feel as others do,” Ezra went on, shaking his head. “I will destroy you as my father destroyed my mother, and Lydia, I will not have it. I will not destroy you.”

Panic seized her as Ezra moved her so he could stand, and then gently pulled her hands from him.

“You cannot…”

I am in love with you, Lydia,” Ezra cut her off, his tone vehement, “And I will not be responsible for breaking you.”

He went to move away, but before Lydia could think clearly, she panicked, her hand shot out and she slapped him.

Ezra stood in front of Lydia, stunned. Her hit was the softest he had ever taken in his life and yet it had rattled him to his bones.

“ No,” Lydia said adamantly, pushing at his chest. The back of his legs hit the edge of the bed, his weakened right leg faltering, and he sat down hard.

Hurt, fear, and anger were written plainly across her beautiful face, and he felt the weight of his decision compound. Look at her. You are right.

“This is not you,” he protested.

“It is your turn to be quiet now,” Lydia snapped back, using his own words from the previous night against him.

“This marriage has been…a paradox,” she admitted, keeping her eyes trained on him, “We went into this union as a business deal, but Ezra, you and I have both changed since then. Not just me, and you know it.”

“Yes,” he admitted begrudgingly.

He had changed in many ways. Not just by finally finding relief from his detachment and rage, but in the way he touched Lydia and thought of her. He had never been so obsessed with a woman. With sexual acts with women? Always. Puberty had hit him hard when he was young, and his desire had only grown since. But not a specific woman.

“And as for your mother, ” Lydia laughed mockingly, “I meant what I said, yes, but I would have done it for Juliet or Alice or any of the others as well because I spent too much of my life enduring and far too little protesting.”

She paused to take a steadying breath, her features softening.

“It was you, Ezra, who showed me that I could take charge of my life and protect my loved ones. When you accepted my deal no one, not even my father, believed I could help you. Yet you did. I do not necessarily want to stab anyone, and I did say it partly in jest, but I will love you and protect you forever for bestowing that upon you.”

“I have always believed in you,” Ezra replied quickly, unable to help himself. “From the moment you made your wager in my office I knew you would win. Even if I changed the rules of the game, you would find a way to succeed. And you have.”

“So do not push me away,” Lydia insisted.

Her hand reached toward his chin, and she forced him to look up at her, just like she had that very first night, and Ezra felt the rest of his numbness and fear slip away. His entire body had screamed at him to stop as he tried to leave her. And now he was powerless.

Lydia was taking his control away from him again, and he felt the weight being lifted off of him as he leaned forward and pressed his forehead against her bosom.

Ezra felt Lydia let out a breath of relief, and her hand slipped from his chin and up to his hair as her other arm wound around his back.

“You love me,” Lydia whispered, holding him close.

“Yes,” he breathed.

“And I love you,” she quickly continued, “Neither of us expected it to happen, yet here we are. So let us learn how to deal with it. No more pushing me away.”

Ezra could only nod as he felt Lydia’s hands slip around his neck and begin to loosen his cravat. Her touch was gentle as she pulled the piece of silk away, then moved to the buttons of his collar. Her thin fingers slipped the obsidian beads through their holes, further relieving the pressure around his bruised neck, and he hissed in a breath of pleasure as he finally felt the bare flesh of her fingers contact his skin.

She massaged him tenderly, careful not to hurt him before returning to the rest of his buttons.

“You frightened me just now more than you did during our entire marriage thus far,” Lydia murmured, continuing her work of undressing him.

Ezra flinched at the words.

“I am so sorry,” he whispered as she smoothed his shirt down his shoulders.

“Mmmm,” Lydia hummed, tracing her nails down his spine.

He shivered with pleasure under her touch, still unused to his own reactions to her, and buried his face further into her breasts. Ezra attempted to bring his hands up to her back to work at her corset strings, but Lydia suddenly stopped, grabbed his hands, and pushed them back down.

“No, no,” she chastised, tugging a fistful of his hair, forcing him to raise his eyes to his. “I think it is time you receive a punishment, husband.”

Ezra felt nothing but desire and arousal fill him as he looked up at Lydia’s possessive gaze. For a moment he ignored her little game and grasped her to him tightly so he could drag her into his lap for a kiss. Instead of fighting him, Lydia kissed him back hungrily, her gentle nails turning sharp as they gripped into his muscled back.

“I suppose there is no talking you out of it?” he asked after pulling back harshly from their feral kiss.

Lydia smiled at him sensually as her cheeks turned pink.

“I am afraid the only way out is through,” she replied, tracing her nails from his shoulders to his wrists.

Her fingers tightened around his hands, but he did not fight her as she brought them up and pushed him back onto the bed.

“You are not to leave this bed until I command it,” Lydia instructed, tenderly kissing the column of his bruised throat. “Not until we have you have fully rested, and we have finally talked about everything.”

“But the others,” he began to protest but hitched his breath as Lydia’s fingertips grazed against the hardened length of his member through his breeches.

“The others also need their rest. I think they should all stay here for a while and recover from all of the unfortunate events. I believe we will all be sequestered to our rooms for a while.”

Lydia untied his breeches, freeing him from the straining confines of the garment, and he felt his erection bob as he heard a feminine sound of approval slip from her throat. Ezra forced his head back, trying to provide her with the control she wanted as she slid his breeches and briefs down his hips, stripping him, but he felt a sliver of his panic return.

Could he do this? Truly? Hand himself over so willingly? He felt his thoughts beginning to unravel as the tension returned to his body, but just as he was about to say stop, Lydia slid her mouth over his pulsing rod, and his mind went utterly blank.

Women had tasted him before. Many, in fact. And he had enjoyed gripping their throats and hair and furiously thrusting into them, but he had never allowed something like this.

Lydia’s hands slowly drifted away from his wrists as her lips suckled and soothed him, but Ezra kept his hands firmly in place on the bed, feeling an intense shudder rise from somewhere deep within as he let her take control.

Lydia moaned around Ezra’s hardened phallus, aroused by the taste and feel of him in her mouth. Unlike the last time, she took him deep inside her throat, lodging him all the way back until she could take absolutely no more. She drank from him greedily, taking in his deep, desperate grunts and moans as she suckled to her heart’s content.

They would talk, they would reach solid ground, but first, she was going to have her fill of him. It had been too many days of frenzied worrying, and now she was going to take all of the time she wanted.

That was until she felt Ezra slowly losing control beneath her.

Though he had done well at first keeping his hands flat on the bed, they now clung tightly to the sheets, and his hips had begun to piston in time with each thrust into her mouth. Understanding bloomed in her when she felt him swell in her mouth, and she felt herself gush with arousal as she brought him close to his edge.

“Lydia,” Ezra panted.

His deep voice, so etched with ache and need, only amplified Lydia’s own desire, and she plunged her mouth down further onto him, pushing past her comfort, opening her throat, and devouring him. Ezra’s hips shot forward as his hands suddenly flew from the blankets to her hair, holding her to him tightly as he began to spill his seed.

Lydia moaned, her insides turning molten as she felt his rod spasm repeatedly and the inside of her throat became coated in his hot liquid. His muscled body trembled for her, and he moved his grip from her hair to her shoulders and hauled her up his chest.

Lydia gasped, dragging in fresh air as her mouth became free, but it was cut off by Ezra’s kiss as he began to tear at her gown.

“Jesus, what you do to me,” Ezra whispered fervently against her lips, ripping her dress open from the back.

He dragged it down hurriedly over her shoulders, tugging it over her waist and tossing it away from her. When he was finished with that he ripped the thin fabric of her shift into shreds, freeing her from her stockings and shoes last.

“Show me,” Lydia panted as he rolled her onto her back. “Show me everything.”

She hissed in a breath as Ezra’s hot mouth clamped down on her throat and her hands flew to his body, finding grip wherever they could. Lydia bucked her hips as Ezra first kissed, then scraped his teeth down her neck and collarbone as his hand disappeared between her legs.

“Ezra!” she gasped as two of his fingers slid between her already wet, hot folds.

Ezra groaned against her throat as he began to work his hand, letting the two fingers inside of her crook and coax out her pleasure.

“My turn,” he rasped, then wrapped his arm around her waist.

Lydia gasped as he lifted her with one arm as though she weighed no more than a pillow. Her gasp transformed into a deep moan as he sat her atop his hand.

“I do love you,” he whispered darkly, a sinfully handsome smile spreading across his face as his fingers began to work faster, “But if you want full control of me, you are going to have to challenge me for it.”

As he said so, Lydia felt one of his fingers slide out of her tight sheath, but before she could whimper in protest, she felt him slide it somewhere else. Lydia’s breath caught in her throat, her lashes fluttering as she felt both pleasure and discomfort at the new sensation.

Desperately, she dug her fingernails into his shoulders, trembling as the discomfort began to transform into molten pleasure. She could hear herself; hear how her juices created a slick suckling noise against his hand as occasional wicked grunts of pleasure left Ezra. He was watching her unravel, making her hold herself on full display as he did so, and she loved it.

“Here is the first challenge,” Ezra growled- “Ah, look at me, sweetheart, I am talking to you.”

Lydia felt his fingers spread across the back of her skull and was suddenly thrust forward. So lost in her pleasure, Lydia had not realized that she had tilted her head far back and had closed her eyes. Not only that but had fully begun riding his hand, no longer needing his arm for support. Her eyes flew open, and she saw Ezra’s blue eyes glowing with pleasure and dominance.

“Wh…what?” She panted.

Ezra tisked , giving her a pitying look, and suddenly stopped.

Lydia whimpered at the severity of the pause, but as she parted her lips, Ezra pulled her head forward and muffled the sound. His kiss was quick and harsh, and when he finished he pulled roughly away as his hand went from her head to her throat.

“Ready to listen, now?” he asked, bucking his hand again a single, torturing time.

“Yes,” Lydia panted, then whimpered again as she felt the intensity of the thrust.

“Mmmm, there’s my good wife,” Ezra purred, beginning to rhythmically work his hand again, “Your challenge is, you must not come.”

The pleasure of his fingers had already made her mind begin to go blank again, so she was certain she had misheard his words.

“But…”

Ezra’s hand worked her harder then, another one of his fingers sliding into her dripping, tight sheath to replace the one that had gone somewhere else, and she felt another deep pull of pleasure.

“If you come you will have to endure my punishment with me,” Ezra went on, then clamped his mouth over her right breast.

Lydia moaned loudly, her nails now breaking the skin of his shoulders as his tongue and teeth teased her relentlessly.

“So, whatever you do,” Ezra groaned, taking her pleasure higher and farther than it had ever been before, “Do. Not. Come.”

Lydia’s orgasm flooded from her as her body began to tremble uncontrollably; her moans pouring out in the same fashion until Ezra clamped a hand over her mouth.

“Oh, my poor, sweet thing,” Ezra purred as he laid her down. “Looks like you are taking my punishment with me.

His manhood, rigid and ready once more, slid deep inside her without preamble, and Lydia moaned his name against his hand as he began to take full and utter possession of her. Her walls, already so slick from his teasing, clenched and suckled around him greedily the moment he was inside, and she trembled and bucked as he made her come apart again.

Ezra pulled his hand away from her mouth only to seal his lips there next, not giving her a chance to take a breath of her own before she was infused with his. His kiss was as demanding as his thrusts; stealing her breath and her senses as her body became completely his to claim.

It was too much, and somehow not at all enough, and she felt a desperation begin to build in her as she ran her nails hungrily over every bare expanse of his body that she could find.

“Harder,” she breathed, tearing away from the kiss when she could not take any more, “I am yours. Make me yours.”

Lydia saw pure love shimmer through the thick mist of arousal in Ezra’s eyes, followed by gratitude. He kissed her roughly once more, then rose to his knees. She gasped when he threw her ankles up on his shoulders, then screamed his name as he grabbed her hips and slammed back into her. Ezra’s grip was tight on her thighs, pinning her to him as he became completely savage in his lovemaking.

She wanted this, Lydia realized as her body shuddered in utter pleasure with each intense, possessive thrust. She wanted this every day, every night, with Ezra and just Ezra, for the rest of her life. She wanted to slip into the darkness with him just like this, and she wanted to coat him in her light at the same time. They were meant to blend, to fuse. To never be apart.

Ezra’s moans began to grow more ragged and desperate as he continued to lay his claim on her, his fingers digging deeper into her hips as he began to move at a more frantic pace.

“ Lydia.”

Ezra’s voice was so thick with pleasure that her name came out ragged and raw as he thrust into her a final time and gripped her waist to the point of bruising.

Lydia moaned through the biting pain as she felt him burst inside of her and reveled in the feeling of his loss of control. A wicked thought entered her mind as she still felt him spasm, and so she began to pulse her inner muscles around Ezra’s tool. He groaned deeply at the sensation, and locked his hips into her, allowing her to milk him dry.

Soft tendrils of pleasure began to wrap around her again as Ezra leaned his forehead against her ankle, then pressed kisses into her flesh as he slowly eased himself out of her. Lydia moaned in protest at the loss, but it was absorbed by his kiss as he came down to gather her into his arms.

“You lost,” Ezra whispered.

Lydia could feel his grin against her ear as he kissed and nuzzled her, and she smiled sultrily back at him as she twisted to face him.

“You cheated.”

Ezra managed an indignant look over his pleasure-filled gaze.

“I did no such thing,” he replied calmly, circling his hand around her throat. She whimpered as he squeezed softly.

“In fact, I encouraged you not to come.”

Lydia laughed softly, then bit his lip lightly before kissing him.

“My opinion remains,” she teased.

“Cheated or not, I still won,” Ezra replied, shifting down to her breasts, one hand still around her throat.

“My punishment is now your punishment.” He nipped playfully at her nipple, then soothed the soft pain with his tongue before he drew her breast into her mouth.

Lydia moaned deeply as she thrust her fingers into his hair, holding him to her breast.

“Oh no,” she breathed, as his fingers began to swirl lazy trails down her throat, her waist her hips, “Whatever shall I do?”