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“Divine,” he murmured, fixing my skirts then straightening his jacket. My eyes fell to the way he was straining against his trousers, his palm adjusting the hardened length as best it could.
“There are suspicious gazes, Mr. Blackwell,” the driver said from the still opened door. I blushed hotter than before, drawing the folds of the cape around me, adjusting my hair which had loosened from my convulsions.
“Let it out,” William suggested, reaching behind my head and pulling the pins which held my hair in place, letting the strands cascade down my shoulders in tight curls.
“Scandalous. I wonder if they’ll be able to tell I’ve just thoroughly fucked you with my mouth.” I shuddered at his crassness, at the utter sensuousness of what he’d just done.
Intertwining my fingers with his, he kissed me. I could taste myself on his mouth, a summer fruit. He pulled away, turning to climb from the cab.
“Wait!” I said, pulling him back inside. He looked at me curiously, and I smiled, swiping my thumb across the smeared lip paint on his face. “Pomade.”
He simpered, taking a handkerchief from his pocket, and wiping the excess color from his face before taking the handkerchief to my own, cleaning up any imperfections.
“Perfect,” he stated, kissing the tip of my nose and pulling us into the soft glow of the estate. The sun had long since set, stars twinkling overhead in the chilled night.
William placed his hat atop his head, cane in one hand, and my arm wrapped around his.
“They have been eyeing the carriage quite studiously from inside,” the driver said under his breath. William chuckled.
“Thank you, friend. Go enjoy yourself.” He turned to me, “Ready?” I nodded roughly, my joints still loose from our ride, my core still filled with dampness as evidence of what we had just committed. I knew I should be offended by myself, disappointed even. What he’d done to me would be considered wrong and make me undesirable by the lot of potential husbands. The experience had been anything but wrong…
We began the assent of the stairs to the wide, tall entrance doors. William tipped his hat to several of the men and women gathered by the door and walked slowly into the bustling house. Smooth music floated through the air from the ballroom, a staff member of the house met us and took my cape and William’s hat. My grip tightened on his arm as we went deeper into the chaos, every set of eyes we passed bore upon us with heated gazes.
The house was large and well lit, decorated with holly garlands and bells of silver and gold. Several young women were dressed in rich golds and navy with high necklines and long, flowing hair tied in the back with a coordinating bow. I gazed down at my chest, cursing William in my head and wishing I could hide behind the folds of the cloak.
William kept my arm around his, holding it tightly and every so often offering a squeeze of reassurance. He was an anchor for me, while my head still reeled from my release. He pulled us, I realized much too late, straight to Mrs. Quinn. She was dressed in a sky-blue gown with pearl accents, her hair down as well, curtaining her thick neck in waves of strawberry blonde. She stood next to a single young man, but I did not see her daughter Leslie anywhere.
“Mrs. Quinn, I would like to thank you for inviting me,” William said, bowing slightly to greet her. She was caught off guard by his presence, drinking him in.
“Oh, you are most welcome, Mr. Blackwell,” she managed to get out. Mrs. Quinn’s attention found me, and at the realization of who stood on William’s arm, she sucked in a quick breath, eyes widening.
I flushed bright red, the entire carriage ride here written all over my face I was sure.
“Good evening, Mrs. Quinn,” I said quietly. She stood stiff and straight; her chin tilted upward in indignation. For a moment, her hair exposed the side of her neck, and I could have sworn something had been poorly concealed there. She looked at my arm looped around William's and scoffed quietly.
“Miss Abbott, Mr. Blackwell, this is my husband’s nephew, David. He just graduated from Princeton University,” she said sharply.
I knew of David, and his reputation. A penchant for wooing young women, taking advantage of them. Rumor had gone around he fathered a child in New Jersey. He was tall and well built, his uncle's red hair and light skin, his father's brown eyes and sharp jaw. I curtsied to David who made no indication of William’s existence.
“Congratulations on your achievement, Mr. Quinn, I have heard a great many wonderful things about Princeton. I, myself graduated from Oxford in England,” William recounted.
“I've heard a great many things aboutyou, Miss Abbott,” David said, ignoring William entirely. I gaped in shock, but he continued, “You're even more beautiful than they say.” David offered a brutish smirk. William tightened his grip on my arm.
“I'm afraid she's taken for the night, Mr. Quinn. Perhaps you can prey on some other girl out on the dance floor. Miss Harold, for instance, has yet to say no to a gentleman.”
I gasped, taken aback by William’s statement. Mrs. Quinn sucked her teeth but David ignored him still, smiling only at me. He was serpentine.
“May you save one dance for me, Miss? I would certainly go about heartbroken if I did not get at least one dance; you see, my aunt promised that I would have the most handsome woman at the ball, yet when I arrived yesterday, I was told she had been taken away from me by a wolf in sheep's clothing.”
I opened my mouth to reply, but William pushed me aside, almost shielding me entirely with his body.
“Must I reiterate, Mr. Quinn? Miss Abbott is taken for the night.” William gripped my wrist tightening in his hand, pulling me away from the interaction.
“Why can't the lady speak for herself?” David insisted suddenly, wrapping his fingers around my other arm, tugging me toward him. His fingernails bit into my skin. William glared, a venomous look which shifted his features into something angular, animalistic.
“Do you want to dance with him, Rose?” he asked, his eyes never leaving David’s.
“It would be expected of me,” I said through my teeth. Pleading in my eyes as I whispered, “Especially if they all think I’ve taken you to bed…” William’s gaze found mine, rage building in his eyes as they left me to stare back at David.
