Patience (30 page)

Gooseflesh lifted across her skin. She could feel Matthew’s strength and relentless intent as he moved around her, rending the last of her garments. And then she stood in naught but her stockings and riding boots. Cold rain fell upon her naked body. Patience looked down at herself. There was nothing between her skin and God’s tears. The drops poured over her, cleansing her of inhibition and filling her with an ancient and pure need to possess and be possessed.

She blinked against the rain as she raised her gaze to Matthew. He stood before her, his wet hair framing his face and his handsome features carved into merciless and predatory lines. His clothes were plastered to his body and his magnificent cock bulged thick and tumescent beneath his breeches. The last shreds of her chemise were still hanging from his fists, but he threw them down and then began to walk slowly around her.

She followed him with her gaze, her body frozen with a tense anticipation. Her breasts heaved and her thighs quivered. Between her legs, she felt a fierce heat. Was this how Persephone had felt? In the moment of her capture, had she stared into the fiery eyes of Pluto and known that her life would never be the same? And in that breathless moment, had she rejoiced?

Matthew moved behind her. A startled gasp broke from her as he grabbed her and lifted her from her pile of skirts.

His voice was a low growl by her ear as he dragged her back to the wall. “You belong to me. You are mine and only mine. And I will brook
no more
of your petty disobedience.”

Patience swallowed a cry as, once again, Matthew forced her over. Her pile of clothes protected her from direct contact with the hard brick, but she was acutely aware of the weight of her dangling breasts and the wash of the rain upon her naked body.

Matthew’s arm clamped around her waist. She felt the press of his hip against hers. Then his hand landed and a hot explosion of pain burst across her bottom. Patience jerked up and bit back a cry as tears sprang to her eyes. Matthew pushed her back down and brought another heavy-handed spank down upon her. Patience groaned and her cunt clenched. Matthew’s hand lingered on her buttock, caressingly, then lifted. Another hard spank came and another. Patience’s tears overflowed as the strong blows continued—each one another shocking eruption that reverberated through her and into her. And while Matthew laid them on hard and heavy, claps of thunder boomed in accompaniment to the wet, smacking sound of his hand and the cries she could no longer contain.

She wept and writhed against him—against the force of his will and the force of his hand, neither of which could be stopped or diffused. His arm was a circle of iron around her, and his hand rained down fire. She struggled to escape. But she knew she wouldn’t. She knew she mustn’t. And as Matthew ground his prick against her hip and landed a barrage of blows on her burning bottom, she suddenly felt as if she were cracking—as if, spank by heavy spank, Matthew were causing an irreparable fissure to inch through her. She wept and wept. Yet, even as she longed for each spank to be the last, she hoped for another. What would happen if she broke entirely?

Patience cried out loudly as Matthew’s hand came down stronger than ever. His cock pushed against her hip. She wailed as another fierce blow landed. But then he was stroking and squeezing her heated flesh. She moaned around her tears. Her bottom felt hot and huge, yet she trembled with a desire unlike any she’d ever felt—a desire for Matthew.

A desire that stretched both backward and forward in time.

A desire that reached into forever.

Her chest tightened and fresh tears sprang to her eyes. There was no going back. He was the one she’d always wanted. Before she’d even known him, he was the one. The moment she’d seen him, he was the one. He would always be the one.

God, how would she ever do without him?

Her tears fell, indistinguishable from the rain that ran down the slopes and into the crevices of her bent body. And Matthew’s touch was as unrelenting as the water. Patience sucked in her breath as his fingers slipped between her legs, and then she groaned and twisted as she felt the hot, slick wetness that was sluicing from her cunt.

Matthew shuddered against her, and then he pulled her up. She fell into his arms, and when she lifted her eyes to his, her body quaked at the passionate gaze he bent upon her. For there was, in that gaze, absolute certainty—absolute possession.

Stepping away, he picked up her skirts and swept her things from the wall. Then he returned to her and, bending, tossed her over his shoulder. Patience’s breath left her in a rush, and exhilaration coursed through her as he headed toward the house. His arm was tight around the backs of her knees, his shoulder strong beneath her hips—and still, the storm raged.

From her strange upside-down angle, Patience watched Matthew’s long legs as he strode across the drive and mounted the wide steps. Her heart pounded as he threw open the door and carried her over the threshold. Then, just as quickly, the door slammed shut. In the sudden quiet, her panting breaths sounded loud. A red and gold rug whirled below her and then receded as Matthew crossed the wide foyer and moved down a hall with long, purposeful strides.

Patience listened to the striking of his boots on the wide planks of the hardwood floor and the sound tantalized her, for each step he took brought her closer to some new fulfillment—or punishment.

Her nipples tightened.

Perhaps fulfillment and punishment were one and the same.

They entered a well- lit room, and Matthew dropped her sodden clothes over a wooden chair before crossing to the fireplace. Patience expected to be put down, but instead, he landed a sharp spank on her left buttock. She gasped and then sucked in her breath when another fell on her right buttock. Biting her lip, she curled her fingers in his shirt, for though the spanks weren’t nearly as hard as the last ones, her bottom was sore and tender.

She felt his lips brush against her hip, and then he was setting her down before the low burning fire. Her legs shook and she swallowed as she met his stern gaze.

“There is a bootjack beside the hearth.” His voice was low and velvety. “Take off your boots and stockings. And be quick about it.”

Moisture spilled onto Patience’s thighs and her heart beat wildly. Immediately, she went to the jack and used it to remove her riding boots. As she rushed back before the fire, she glanced briefly around the room. They were in a large library, made cozy by the illumination of oil lamps and comfortable- looking furniture. But she had no time to admire it. She could feel the heat in her bottom as she moved, so she returned her gaze to her task and, as quickly as she could, began to unknot her garters.

While she worked to untie them, her attention kept being drawn to Matthew. He undid his cravat. Then he opened the top of his shirt and, slowly and deliberately, rolled up his sleeves—as though he had much work to do. His cock looked huge and hard beneath his wet breeches. And, all the while, he held her in his dark gaze, which somehow managed to be both soft and stern at the same time.

Patience shook as she dropped her garters and then rolled down her stockings. Though she knew it was impossible—though she didn’t even want to run—she couldn’t help glancing toward the door.

“Don’t even think of it.”

Her nipples immediately hardened at his quietly ominous tone. She met his gaze as she straightened. She craved something in that tone—perhaps the strong and uncompromising quality of it. For even as it threatened, it made her feel safe. It said that what she did mattered—that
she
mattered, and that he wouldn’t let her go. Letting her stockings drop, she stood before him, naked and shivering with tension.

Matthew pulled free his loosened cravat. “Take down your hair.”

Patience watched the black silk dangle from his hand. God, was he going to tie her? Did she want that or not?

She jumped as he suddenly whirled her around and bent her over. Then she was gasping and writhing as he held her against him and swatted her bottom with strong, lifting spanks that came from below rather than above. Her gasps turned to cries, as each one seemed a little harder than the one before. Also, she felt the power of his hand more against her drying skin than she had in the rain. Heat rapidly spread across the tender underside of her bottom. But despite this new torment, her cunt felt heavy and her clitoris ached. Her tears came easily now, and she wept with mortification as she felt her desire running down her legs.

Matthew whirled her back around and spoke each word slowly. “Take down your hair.”

With her bottom throbbing and her chest heaving, Patience quickly pulled the pins from her snood and laid them on the mantel with shaking hands. As she reached to remove more, she swiped at her tears.

“No,” Matthew said, low. “Leave them.”

Patience drew her brows together in puzzlement.

“Your tears—leave them. I want you to feel them on your face. You hide a part of yourself when you brush them away, and I won’t have that.” He tipped up her chin with his finger. “For how can I touch you where you need to be touched, if you hide from me?” His eyes delved into hers. “Now. Take—down—your—hair.”

Patience trembled as she stared into Matthew’s gaze. Was there no part of her he would not insist upon seeing? He was looking at parts and places of her that even she had never seen. What would he find? Her heart tightened and more tears welled.

Now was not the time for such questions. She lifted her hands back to her pins and, as she removed the last ones, her eyes dropped to Matthew’s beautiful and formidable erection. As trembling and tense as she was, she adored the shape and thickness of his engorged organ—adored the way it rose up before him, a proud symbol of his masculine power.

Removing her snood, she let her damp curls fall down her back. There was nothing more for her to take off; and when she returned her gaze to Matthew’s, she suddenly felt her nakedness. Impulsively, she wrapped her arms around herself.

Matthew frowned. “Put your hands at your sides, and keep them there until I tell you otherwise.”

Oh God!
Squeezing her eyes shut, she forced her hands against her thighs.

“Look at me,” he said sternly.

Patience’s eyes flew open, and she felt them well yet again. But she felt no sadness or regret, only a fierce desperation.

“Your nakedness is for my pleasure,” he said more gently. “You will not cover it. Indeed, you will open yourself for my view whenever I command it. And as you do, you will look at me with the grateful knowledge that all I command of you is for my pleasure—and therefore, for yours.”

Patience’s clitoris ached with its fullness.

“Even if what I command is your punishment, you will endure it for my pleasure. And you will look at me and pay me the tribute of your emotions, no matter how difficult. Is that clear?”

I cannot oblige you at this time.
She could utter the words whenever she wanted . . .

His frown deepened. “I said, is that clear?”

She bit her lip as one of her tears spilled over. “Yes, Matthew.”

His gaze seemed to follow the path of her tear. “Good.” He bent close, and thunder rolled outside as he pressed an open-mouthed kiss to the wet trail on her cheek. She trembled with want as he pulled away. His dark, long-lashed eyes were hard and full of the fire’s reflection. “Now, lift your hair.”

Patience did so immediately, and as Matthew reached around her she breathed the smell of him—rainwater and vetiver. He looked down at her as he drew the silk slowly across the back of her neck. His eyes seemed to look inside her and he paused. “Above all, Patience, remember that you ran from the barn because you trust me. You ran because you yearn for a strong hand, and you trust that I know how to wield mine. Isn’t that so?”

Still holding her hair, she stared into his firelit eyes and her tears overflowed. It was true. “Yes,” she admitted softly.
But why?
She lowered her gaze. Why did she crave what most would find intolerable?

Her tears fell as the rain fell without. She could feel each one, rolling down her cheeks and dropping upon her breasts. But she could not dry them or conceal them. She could not run away so that they could not be seen. And she could not pretend they didn’t exist.

For he wouldn’t let her.

She lifted her wet face to Matthew.

“There,” he said softly. His gaze moved over her face like a caress. “There’s my beauty.”

Patience’s blood surged, and suddenly her heart felt overfull.

Matthew stroked his fingers gently along her jaw. “Your tears make me hot and hard, and I will never tire of them. But, of course, they are not a reprieve.”

Shaking with emotions and needs she couldn’t explain, Patience waited as Matthew tied the silk snugly around her neck. Lightning snapped. Her breathing quickened. The leash offered some comfort, but not as it had the night before. Everything was heightened now—everything was more than she thought she could bear. Yet, at the same time, it wasn’t enough.

Gripping her leash just below the knot, Matthew drew her close and brushed his lips tenderly over hers. Keeping her hands at her sides, Patience pressed up against him and tried to seduce a deeper kiss from him, but he pulled back just enough to keep her reaching for more. She lifted onto her toes, but still he drew back, giving her only the lightest of kisses.

“Set your feet apart,” he said against her lips.

Patience expelled a frustrated gasp, but she complied. Her clitoris throbbed as Matthew stepped to her side and stroked his hand over her breast and down her belly. Then he reached between her parted thighs, and she gasped as he stroked her wet folds.

“Ah, my disobedient beauty,” he said near her ear. “See how wet you are—and with such little punishment. Why, I’ve barely begun to give you what you deserve.”

Barely begun?!
Patience trembled as she felt him parting her. Then she moaned as he slipped two fingers just inside her quim, and gently massaged the slick interior.