Seven Months Later

“What do you think, Mrs Upton?” Annie asked as she presented the menu ideas to the housekeeper. 

“Quite perfect, my lady.” 

Annie shook a little at these words. It may have been many months now, but she was still getting used to being addressed so. During her travels with Luke on the continent, it had been easy to feel free of the world of the ton, but now they were back in London, she was feeling the pressure of what was expected. She and Luke had decided to tackle people’s gossiping head-on, the way Jemima and Noah had done. Tonight, they were to hold their first dinner party, but they were to begin with their closest friends.

“Would you advise any amendments?” Annie asked as she proffered the menu to the cook too, who stood beside her and Mrs Upton. Miss Havers, the cook, appeared delighted to be asked.

“Well, just one. What do you say to adding cream to this dessert, my lady?” she offered, pointing at the desserts listed.

“It is wonderful. Thank you so much.”

“Have no fear, my lady,” the housekeeper said as she took the menu from her. “All will be well for the event. You may leave it in our capable hands.”

“Thank you, you are kind.” Annie smiled at the two of them as she stepped back from the kitchen and returned to the servants’ staircase. Annie was touched by the staff’s kindness indeed. She was slowly getting used to running her own household, but she was still nervous at times, and the housekeeper’s encouragement mattered to her more than she could say.

Hurrying up the stairs back to the main part of the house, she passed other servants on the stairs who all smiled and bowed to her in turn, before she reached the upper door to the ground floor. Stepping inside, she found some of their bags and portmanteaus were still being unloaded from where they had been taken off the carriage. Having returned this last week, some of their furniture followed along behind them.

She passed some of the manservants as they carried the cases up the stairs to the bedchambers, calling to them and offering a few instructions on where it was best to place each bag. As they hurried to their tasks, Annie stepped back, looking around her house with glee.

Yes, tonight shall be a good night!

They were announcing their return to London society but in their own way. She was keen not to cater to everyone. Those that were unwelcome company would not be invited, particularly if they had a nasty habit of gossiping, but true friends and family would be welcome. 

“We are almost ready,” she said softly to herself as she observed the maids running back and forth too. Some had been sent to clean the silver, others the crystal glasses, and one was running round with a coal bucket, preparing the fires.

Seeing there was one person missing in all of this busyness, she crossed the hallway and started wandering the rooms, looking for Luke. She eventually found him sat in the parlour, relaxing back on a rococo-style settee, with some papers in his hand. He was muttering something under his breath and hadn’t immediately noticed her entrance, far too absorbed in what he was reading. 

Closing the door behind her softly, Annie crept up behind Luke, unable to resist, tiptoeing so quietly that he persisted with reading out the papers.

“What on earth does that mean?” he whispered to himself. “Oh…right.” 

Annie smiled when she peered over his shoulder, noticing what it was he was doing. Since they had married, Luke had offered to take on more responsibilities of the earldom, an offer which had been hastily accepted by his father. Again and again, had his father spoken at length of how thrilled he was to see Luke had matured so much, something he had put down to Annie’s influence, though she had laughed off the compliment at every turn, believing it all happened naturally in Luke’s nature. Luke was looking over tenants’ papers now, clearly trying to get to grips with some of the finer details of the tenancy agreements.

Deciding he needed a little distraction, she bent down and quickly kissed him on the cheek.

“Ah!” He jumped so much that he nearly fell off the settee, leaving Annie to step back with raucous laughter, gesturing toward him.

“Oh, your face,” she said, placing her hands to her stomach in an effort to quell her giggles. 

“Yes, I imagine it is a picture,” he said wryly and moved to clamber back on the settee. “Something tells me you need punishing for that.” He tossed the papers to the side and tried to draw her toward him. She playfully tried to run away, but he was too quick for her. He took hold of her waist and pulled her back toward him, so that the two of them fell together onto the seat of the settee. “Ha! I have you now,” he said with mischief, refusing to release her even as she wriggled in his grasp.

They fell into a comfortable position, with him laying back on the settee and her half-fallen across his chest, with her legs entwined with his own.

“You and I better hope the staff do not suddenly have cause to ask me a question about tonight, or we will be caught like this!”

“Well, we are used to being caught in odd positions.” His reference made her glower at him mockingly. He softened that glower by quickly kissing her. “How go your preparations for tonight?”

“Well, I think…” she said, then chewed her lip, a little nervous once again. “Mrs Upton has been very kind in her assistance. I just want everything to go well.”

“It will be well,” Luke said with that reassuring smile she had grown so used to. In the last months, Annie had discovered just how easy it was to be married to Luke. The two were always making each other smile and laugh. No day was a hard task, and every moment together was a joy. Of course, they bickered, like any couple should do, yet most arguments ended up in more kisses, something that constantly thrilled Annie. This reassuring smile was something she was beginning to discover that she loved very much. It was ever present, in his want to be there for her as a loving husband. “Has everyone replied?”

“Yes, all those we care for are coming,” Annie said, adjusting to lift herself up a little, with her hands on Luke’s chest. “Your parents will be here, and my mother. Jemima and Noah, too. Mr Barton and Peggy are coming as well. I wish to hear all about their honeymoon. If Peggy’s letters are to be believed, his mother nearly came with them.”

“I can well believe it,” Luke said with a laugh. “She was so convinced at one point Adam would never marry, I expect she wanted to come too in order to see the proof of their love with her own eyes.”

“Peggy had some more news too,” Annie began carefully, wondering what Luke would make of the discovery she had made that morning. “It seems your old friend, the Duchess of Bannerman, has remarried.”

“Good. Who is it?” Luke said without hesitation.

“Peggy says he is a French count. Very rich and young, by all accounts, and something of a reputation of his own.” At her words, Luke laughed a little more. “Something has tickled you.”

“What a surprise. I told you, did I not, that the duchess had no real interest in me? She has married quickly indeed, a man of equal wealth, which shows that was what was really in her heart, and a man of equal reputation. It sounds to me as if the duchess has a type of man that she likes, more than a single man she really likes.”

“I think you may be right,” Annie observed, scrunching her nose in thought.

“Speaking of past interests, have you heard any news of Mr Knight?” At Luke’s words, she glowered at him.

“He was never a past interest.”

“Did he or did he not propose?” Luke asked, sitting up with the two of them together. The movement made them fall against one another, so that her chest collided with his own. When she attempted to create more space, he wrapped his arms around her waist, keeping her near to him. She smiled and fell against him, her lips close to his, teasing him with the promise of a kiss. 

“He may have done,” Annie accepted. “From what I hear, he has courted a few ladies, but he has not married, according to my mother. For his sake, I hope he finds someone he can love soon. I fear he will remain in love with the woman he used to watch when we danced together.”

“For his sake, I hope he can find love too,” Luke said softly. 

Annie smiled a little, suddenly distracted at how close she and Luke were together. He seemed to take the same hint, brushing his lips against her own for a few seconds, though not quite kissing her.

“I suppose I should be thankful to Mr Knight,” he whispered. “He was part of the story when I found you. I have him to thank for being so happy now.”

“Luke?”

“Yes?”

“Can we stop talking about Mr Knight?”

“Agreed,” he said eagerly and kissed her. The kiss was sudden and bold, taking her tongue with his own. She indulged in that kiss, trailing a hand up his neck and into his dark hair, so that her fingers pulled playfully at the tendrils. He growled into the kiss as she pulled. By now, she had learned this was something he liked, for it always produced this reaction. “How long until our guests arrive?” he asked, parting from her kiss for a few seconds only.

“Hours,” she said in answer.

“Thank god.”

“Ah!” Annie squealed in surprise as she was suddenly dislodged from his lap and left on the settee. “Where are you going?” she asked.

“To make sure we are not disturbed.” He crossed the room quickly and grabbed a small chair, bracing it against the door handle to ensure it could not be opened, then he moved to the one window in the room and closed the curtains, blocking out the view of the garden and enshrouding the two of them in shadows. “What do you think? Secluded enough?”

“We might be heard by our staff,” Annie said as he crossed toward her. Despite her words, she reached for him anyway, unable to resist the chance of mischief.

“Then it will have to be a challenge for us to be quiet,” he said playfully, then found her lips with his own.

The kiss was an intense one, urging Annie to lean into him as his hands instantly went for the skirt of her gown, lifting it quickly to her hips. She pulled him down toward her, their movements heated and fast. As she pulled at his tailcoat, it was the first thing to go, followed by his waistcoat and cravat. When he was only in his shirt, his fingers passed across her hip beneath the hem of her skirt and down to her thighs. That tantalising touch stilled her movements, distracting her with pleasure. 

He moved her to sit on the very edge of the settee, with him knelt in front of her and her knees on either side of his hips, then he moved his fingers to her centre. When he found her ready for him already, warm and wet, she heard his gasp, just as she gasped too and tilted her head back, basking in the thrill of that pleasure.

Unable to restrain herself, she reached for him, making him stop with his fingers long enough so that she could remove his shirt. Next came his boots and his breeches that he kicked off across the floor. Once he was bare, she reached for him. As he pleasured her, she took hold of him. 

The first time she had done this, she had been nervous, with her hand trembling around his length, but these days, she knew what to do to excite him. With each touch she gave, his breathing grew faster, and a pinkness spread across his cheeks. When sweat began to bead down his chest, with his hips bucking toward her hand, she knew they had to move things on. He clearly sensed it, too, for he urged her to release him, then moved their bodies together.

Bringing her to the very edge of the settee, he lined his length up with her centre, then he held it, teasing her at her opening.

“Luke,” she begged, her tone pleading. He chuckled softly and moved his lips to hers, kissing her so softly that it made the excitement of the moment somehow warmer and more encompassing.

“Nearly, love,” he whispered against her lips. He held their bodies together, in this taunting position, as he went for her gown. He lifted it over her shoulders and threw it to the floor, so that she was only left in her corset and chemise. The corset went next, and the chemise. Once Annie was bare, she could feel the coldness in the room, but it was quickly masked when he moved his body against her own, eliciting a heat from deep within her body that seemed to emanate out of her.

“Luke,” she begged again, needing that touch. This time, he gave in to her. He slipped his length inside her, making that same shock of pleasure she had always known them to share build inside her.

She arched back on the settee, clinging to the back of the cushions as he began to rock the two of them together. What started out as slow and languid, so that she could feel every part of him as he pleasured her, became even more heated and fast. Soon, he had hold of her knees and was holding her open to him as he thrust inside of her.

Annie had to bite the inside of her mouth not to cry out his name at the pleasure. She clung to the settee behind her all the more, bracing against his thrusts, but the settee’s legs began to scrape across the floor, making such a sound that they both froze and smiled.

“We will be heard,” she whispered breathlessly to him.

“Hold on, love.”

She did as he asked, moving her hands to his shoulders as he changed their position. They left the settee where he moved the two of them to the rug across the floor. On her back, with her legs lifted around his hips, the pleasure was soon there again, with Luke making love to her with such passion that his name fell from her lips many times. She was aware of him making sounds, too, soft growls that he sometimes tried to hide in the crook of her neck, muffling the sounds with soft nibbles and kisses to her skin. Each one of those kisses sent her body into new heights of thrills. 

Within minutes, she could feel that pleasure building. Each rocking of their bodies she coupled with a stolen touch, trailing her fingers down his chest or across his arms. When that shock of final pleasure hit her, she gripped his shoulders, anchoring herself to him. This time, her end brought his. That thrill was still echoing through her body as she felt him still. He closed his eyes and shuddered through his last movements, the two of them perfectly still together.

When she reached up toward him, pulling him down to her, the kiss was soft and gentle, contrasting the passion of their lovemaking.

“Do you think our staff heard?” she whispered after a minute, making him smile all the more.

“Let us hope not,” he laughed, “but I’ll tell you something, love. When our friends and family arrive tonight, I will be struggling to keep a straight face.”

“Why is that?” 

“Because we have just made love in the very room that they are to come and share drinks in this evening. How can I not laugh when I see them walk across this rug?”

“You and your mischief!” She patted him around the arm as he laughed, kissing her again.

“My lady? Are you in there?” The housekeeper’s voice was coupled with a tap to the door, making the two of them freeze.

“Every day is an exciting one, isn’t it?” Luke laughed as he stood to his feet and hurried to dress himself again. 

Annie smiled as she too stood to her feet and caught the chemise he tossed toward her, for she couldn’t agree more. Every day that she and Luke shared together was a thrill. It no longer mattered to her that the manner of their courtship may not have been a smooth one, for she had something finer than she could have ever hoped for. A marriage of true love, which had given her a taste of real happiness.

THE END

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