Blessed Beginnings (Hunter's Ridge Book 4) (3 page)

The next time she woke, it was to find her husband already dressing. "What time is it?" she asked, stretching her arms above her head and moaning at the pleasure remembered from the night before.

"Time for anyone wishing to skate to get out bed," Lucas teased, bending to kiss the tip of her nose.

"I'm up, I'm up," Lucy squealed, and then giggled when he began to tickle her until she was squirming and gasping. He kissed her again, their tongues tangling until he pulled back.

"That's hardly true as you are still in bed, kitten, but I definitely am." She followed the movement of his hand to see him rub his palm against the bulge pressing against the front of his trousers. As he began to unbutton his pants and released his erection, she felt her body responding. Within a heartbeat, he pulled her to the edge of the bed, flipped her onto her tummy and pushed her knees wide before burying his cock deeply within her. This wasn't the soft loving she had received the evening before. This was the rutting of a man who had no problem staking his claim as he'd done countless times before. He kept his hands on her hips, rocking her against him with each plunge.

"Come for me, Lucy, come hard."

Her fingers clutched the bedcoverings, her hair a tangled mess as she reared her head back and moaned with the feeling of total surrender. "If you don't come, I'm going to leave you wanting, aching for the pleasure you seek." He thrust in to the hilt, moving his hands to cup her breasts, tugging on nipples that were hard as diamonds. "Or should I take your hairbrush and give you a nice hard paddling on your well-striped arse?"

Her cry filled the room as his words, his fingers and his cock possessed her. She came within seconds of his own eruption and then lay beneath him, panting for breath, her body thrumming with the aftermath of her culmination.

"Papa?"

"Yes, my love."

"I don't think I have the strength to get up."

Lucas chuckled and scooped her off the bed, then placed her on her feet, giving her bottom a single swat. "You're far too young to be so tired. It's time to start our day and Molly is waiting for you."

Lucy reached a hand to rub at the spot he'd spanked and smiled as he took her free hand and moved towards the door. "Wait," she said, realizing she had not been given a gown the night before. "I'm naked!"

"And that is exactly how you need to be for your bath," Lucas said, opening the door and leading her across the hall, chuckling as she scurried like a mouse afraid that Cleo was stalking it, preparing to pounce.

"Well, it's about time, missy," Molly teased from where she sat in the rocker, Louisa sitting on a small stool between her legs as the nanny brushed her hair. "I was beginning to think you'd sleep the entire day away."

"Perhaps our little sleepy-head one needs a longer nap today."

"Papa! I was awake, but then you started tickling me and then…" Realizing what she'd been about to confess, Lucy's face turned scarlet.

"I was teasing and it's my fault, Molly," Lucas said. "I'll get our girl bathed while you finish with Louisa."

Lucy blushed but waved to her twin, and was soon lifted into the tub and giggling as her Papa began washing her himself in deference to the time. It was a quick bath but one that had her body colored a pretty pink that grew darker as he vigorously dried her with a large towel before returning her to the nursery proper. The three women laughed as he bowed low and spoke, "Again, I apologize for disrupting your schedule, my ladies."

"Off with you, then," Molly said, flapping her hands at her employer. "I'll have Lucy dressed in a jiffy." Once the Lord of the manor had left, she did just that, despite taking additional time to smooth another layer of arnica cream on a tender backside.

The twins held hands as they skipped down the stairs together, Molly smiling as she followed behind. It never failed to amaze her how these two young women truly loved being both little ones as well as wives. She knew of wedded couples who went through their days barely tolerating one another, all because of familial pressure due to some sense of duty, or for status and position in the top echelon of society. If sexual relations were shared, it was to produce an heir to ensure that the cycle would continue. Though the twins could have held their own in any position, they'd made a choice that required far more than complacency. She'd witnessed both of them sobbing from a harsh punishment, and spread soothing cream on well-thrashed buttocks—and yet, whether they had pale or painfully marked bums, the girls were always eager to be returned to the men who made their lives both complex and yet simple. It was obvious they both loved and were loved by the men they'd wed. Walking into the dining room to join the family for breakfast, she realized that she not only loved both of these girls and loved caring for them in every manner, these two and the men they had married were the best examples of true, deep love she'd ever witnessed. She offered up a prayer that Franny and Ettie might find love as fulfilling. Every face around the large table bore a smile and despite feeling just a bit selfish, she also prayed that the love she was finding with Joseph was just as happy.

Chapter Two

Ettie was still lacing her boots when she looked up to the sound of laughter. Lucy and Louisa were giggling as they clasped each other's hands and stepped out onto the ice after the men helped lace up their skates. The family had returned to the pond where Lucy had learned to skip stones to enjoy the first of the season's ice-skating. It was a perfect day, with the sun turning the crust of the snow into sparkling diamonds. Flurries would occasionally dust the group with new snowflakes as skates were donned and individuals took to the ice.

"So, sister, tell me the truth. What kept you so late this morning?" Louisa asked with a grin as they skated around the perimeter of the pond.

Lucy shook her head. "I'm willing to bet the same thing that kept you abed. Don't think I didn't notice that your nightgown was lying on the floor. If you'd been up that much longer than I, Molly would have already put away your gown and you would have already been downstairs."

Louisa giggled and squeezed her twin's hand. "Aren't you the little detective? Okay, I'm guilty as charged. I don't know why but it seems that every time Edward takes me after… well, you know—"

"Blistering your bum?" Lucy provided.

"Anyway," Louisa said with an exaggerated scowl. "As I was saying, it just feels so wonderful that I hate to get out of bed."

"Agreed," Lucy confessed. "I'm surprised I can actually find the strength to skate. I feel both exhausted and invigorated." After a pause as they made another turn on the ice, she added, "Do you think we are strange, Louisa?"

"Strange? In what way?"

"It's hard to describe really, but… I mean strange in that no matter how much my bottom aches from maintenance yesterday, my body can't ever seem to get enough of my Papa's touch."

Louisa took a moment to answer. "Well, if we are strange, we are identical in that way as well. It was hard to accept at first because it felt like it was wrong for me to like what Papa did to me when I knew I'd disappointed him. But I've learned that he truly means it when he says that I'm forgiven and have a fresh slate. Just as he wants me to learn a lesson when he is disciplining me, he wants me to learn to accept and give pleasure when the punishment is done. So strange, maybe, but I think that if you asked any woman who lives as we do, you'd find we all feel the same mixture of guilt and desire."

"Isn't it incredible how the pond has changed?"

The twins looked over their shoulders to see Ettie, waving her hand to indicate she meant their actual physical surroundings. Franny was skating up as they continued around the edge of the rink nature had provided.

"Yes, but it's hard to believe this was water just a few months ago. Ettie taught me how to skip stones when we had a picnic here," Lucy explained to Louisa.

"I bet that was fun," Louisa said and then smiled. "Lucy, shall we show Ettie and Franny how we used to spin? Do you remember how?"

"A little, but it's been a long time."

"Are you saying you forgot how?" Louisa taunted.

Lucy shook her head, her grin giving her answer. The two began to skate faster until they'd built up a bit of speed and then grabbed each other's free hand and began to spin in a circle. Their cloaks whipped around them and matching golden hair streamed out as the identical figures became a blur.

Ettie skated towards the whirling girls, clapping her hands. "That's amazing!" she called out, then gasped when Lucy's skate hit a rough spot and she lost her balance. Their hands separated and, with arms flailing, the two girls went down hard onto the unforgiving icy surface. While Louisa gave a loud 'umph', Lucy's reaction was far more vocal.

"Ow!" she shrieked as she continued to spin across the pond. Hitting another rough spot caused her to lift up and bounce down onto her backside again before her hands found a purchase, stopping her rotation. "Ow, ow, ow!"

Louisa had recovered quickly, found her feet, and skated to where her sister sat, her legs akimbo. "Come on, we used to fall all the time! It can't be that bad."

Lucy looked up, her face showing her disbelief of her sister's statement. "Easy for you to say! You might have been strapped, but I was
caned
during mainte—"

"Lucy!" Louisa gasped, her eyes cutting to Ettie and Franny, who were skating towards them.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay?" Ettie asked, having made it to Lucy's side after skating out of her sister-in-law's way as she spun on her bottom across the ice.

"As I said, it's been a while since we tried spinning," Lucy said, flushing as she pushed herself to her hands and knees. Before she could say anything further, she squealed as she was scooped up by her husband, who repeated Ettie's question.

"That was quite a display," Lucas said, setting her down carefully and keeping an arm around her waist as he used his free hand to gently dust off her rump.

"The spin or the fall?" Lucy asked, her head tilted back so she could look into his face.

"Both," Lucas admitted. "Are you sure you aren't hurt?"

"Um, just my pride," she managed. "As Louisa said, we used to fall all the time." Her assurance was belied by the fact that both hands were busy rubbing her rear.

Lucas bent and kissed the tip of her nose. Speaking so that she was the only one to hear, he teased, "Perhaps my kitten just needed an excuse to rub her hiney?"

"Papa!" she exclaimed, her cheeks flushing.

"Just teasing, little one. I know your tush must sting a bit. Shall I escort you off the ice?"

"Oh, no," Lucy said, "we just started skating!"

"No worries," he assured her and then moved her to stand at his side, his arm around her waist. "Skate with me, kitten. I promise not to let you fall." The pair skated off, soon joined by Louisa and Edward. Franny followed, her hands buried in her muff as she skated behind the couples.

"Are you sure you want to continue? I know that must have hurt more than you are admitting," Lucas said, looking down at her.

Lucy nodded. "Yes, I want to skate but if I fall again, don't be surprised to find me simply lifting my skirts and petticoats and letting the ice soothe my poor behind."

Lucas chuckled, his hand dropping just a bit to pat her bottom. "I suppose that would do a proper job. Should I plop you down into a nice deep snowbank?" he teased as they skated close to the edge of the pond where mounds of snow had piled high.

Lucy laughed at the image that popped into her mind. It might indeed be comforting, but perhaps as difficult to explain as her reaction to her fall. Shaking her head, she tightened her grip on his hand. "Neither snow nor ice would be necessary if you broke that—"

Her Papa spun her until she was in front of him and held in his arms as he began skating backwards. "Kitten, no matter how you might plead, we both know that you would feel lost without paying for your naughtiness. The cane is an implement that I know has you seriously considering your behavior. And, young lady, if you don't wish to wear wheals across your beautiful arse, then all
you
have to do is be a very good little girl."

Not able to deny his words, she flushed and, tossing her head back, stuck out her tongue. Hearing his chuckle, she closed her mouth, smacking her lips. "What? Don't you love catching snowflakes on your tongue?" A soft yelp was her next sound as his hand connected with her back of her skirts.

"And this is the same girl who wondered if I'd prefer her never to be naughty?" He twirled her in a circle before drawing her close again, bending to speak quietly. "Tonight, my love, you can demonstrate a much better use for that little tongue and your beautiful, warm mouth."

She wondered if the cream she could feel gathering in her core would freeze in the cold temperatures and then decided that no, her body was far too hot to allow that to occur. After she had given him another kiss and a whispered, "Yes, sir, Papa," they skated some more until she traded places to allow him to escort Franny around.

"Are you having fun?" Ettie asked, skating and stopping beside her.

"Yes. I will always love this place. This is where I felt we became true sisters."

Ettie nodded. "Um, are you sure you are okay? I mean, you screamed pretty loudly when you fell earlier."

"I'm fine. I was… um, my bottom is just a little sore."

"Oh, you don't have to say anything else," Ettie said, her cheeks flushing a bit redder than the cold air warranted. After a moment, she smiled. "You and Lucas are so great together. Even when you've been…" She paused, shaking her head. "You two always seem so happy. Do you think I will ever find a man who makes me that happy?"

"I hope so, Ettie. If you find a man half as good as your brother, I can promise that your life will be wonderful even if he gives you a tender arse when you're naughty."

"Lucy!" Ettie said and then giggled. "I love you so much because you are always honest about who you are. Thank you."