Stone strolled along Bond Street on the way to his jeweler. He had it in mind to buy a pair of sapphire earrings to match the necklace he’d given Theo. After her stunning revelation the previous night, he wanted to reward her courage. As she had sat curled against him on their bed, she’d looked up at him with a wariness that had disturbed him at the time. But with a little patience and trust, she took the leap and told him what he had already suspected. The pairing with Linc and Wolf had excited her, made her fantasize about what it might be like. And to his great pleasure, she shared those deep, dark thoughts with him, which gave him the opportunity to find a way to make her fantasy a reality. As a result, he was terribly excited at the prospect—hence, his trip to the jeweler.

Traffic was heavy, as usual, so he seized the rare opportunity to dash across the street. He was midway across when a hack appeared out of nowhere. With a Herculean leap, he damn near made the sidewalk. Instead, he managed to slip off the edge of the sidewalk, bumping a man as the public coach rolled by, and clipped his shoulder. The man he collided with reached out and grabbed on to him. With a firm yank, he was hauled to safety with little more than a sore shoulder to show for the incident.

“Those damn hacks are becoming a public safety issue,” the man said as he steadied Stone.

“Indeed,” Stone agreed as he got his bearings. “That was bloody close to the walkway. I must thank you for hauling me forward when you did. I might’ve landed beneath that hack without your quick thinking.”

“Not at all. Nothing any man wouldn’t’ve done.” He clapped Stone on the shoulder and grinned. “I daresay it took me back to my military days.”

“Well, thank you for your assistance. My carriage is at the top of Bond Street. May I drop you somewhere?”

“Thank you, but that’s not necessary. I was just on my way to meet my wife at the haberdasher’s.”

“Very well. And thank you again for your assistance.” Stone turned and decided he would stop at the jeweler’s another time. White’s seemed like a good destination. After all, a drink would help settle him after yet another near miss.

---

A week later, Theo and Stone sat in the library enjoying a quiet evening at home. He was reading the same passage for the third time when Theo’s soft giggling shattered his concentration again.

Thwarted, he finally gave up on the political treatise he’d spent the last hour attempting to read. Setting the pamphlet aside, he relaxed in his chair and watched Theo enjoy her novel. She seemed to alternate between gasps, groans, and giggles. He considered how much he had enjoyed exploring his wife’s newly awakened desires and hearing her groan and gasp for much different reasons. And though they had discussed much, she had mentioned one particular pairing from The Market, the lone woman with two men. Perhaps this was a particular pleasure he should consider offering up to her? His whole being tightened in annoyance at the notion of another man touching his delicious little wife. Pushing the thought aside, he returned to his previous enjoyment of her occupation until—at some point—she became aware of his scrutiny and looked up from her book.

“My apologies, Stone. Was I too loud?” She bit her lip in a seductively innocent gesture.

“Not at all. I enjoy watching you.” His heart thumped steadily in his chest.

“That’s a bit odd, but I must say I was enjoying my novel. The heroine had just purchased a high-perch phaeton with a handsome matching set of cattle. I fear I am rather jealous of her freedom to drive her own vehicle.” Theo sighed.

“What would you do with your own vehicle?” Stone tried to picture his wife sedately tooling through Hyde Park. No, not his Theo.

“Well, drive it, of course. I could take it to my fittings, go visiting, or stop for an ice at Gunter’s.”

“You would require driving lessons. However, I don’t see a reason you couldn’t take the cabriolet if you’d like to go for a drive.” Stone sipped the brandy that he had all but forgotten while suffering through reading that ridiculous pamphlet.

“Lessons are not required. I’ve driven my parents’ country wagon, as well as a phaeton or two in my time.” Her lips tipped up at the edges in the hint of a smile as her eyes sparkled with the glitter of confidence.

“Nonetheless, before I trust my vehicle and cattle to you I shall see you handle them.” He stared at his wife and considered just how besotted he’d become. Without a doubt, she would drive too fast if she didn’t end up out-and-out racing. “On second thought—”

“No. You’ve made the offer, and I accept. When might I display my driving skills for you?” She leaned forward, earnest as ever.

Stone sighed. Resigned to what he knew would come, he gave in. “We can go for a drive tomorrow afternoon in Hyde Park.”

“Hyde Park?” She made a little moue of disappointment.

“Yes, Hyde Park.” He stood his ground.

“But I thought you wanted to see me handle the reins? I could fall asleep and the cattle would simply follow the parade of other carriages. There’s no skill in managing them there.”

While her pout was adorable, the petulance he found less so. “Pet, do we need to discuss this in a different manner?”

Her eyes widened as a flare of lust lit her gaze. She hesitated, as though considering her options.

“Theo, if you wish to be spanked, you need only ask,” he offered casually.

“Hyde Park would be lovely.” She nodded and eased back in her seat.

He chuckled. “Come, pet. I believe it is time to retire.”

Theo wetted her lips with a slow erotic slide of her tongue. Ah yes, she was as interested as he in indulging in some private time. And if they didn’t make it upstairs soon, he would be locking the library door and engaging where they were.

She tilted her flushed face up to him and focused her desire-darkened blue gaze on him. “Perhaps we could stay here, Master?”

Curiosity gripped his bollocks and squeezed. “Oh?”

“Please, Master.” She rose and sauntered closer to lay her hand on his chest and lowered her gaze. “I have a particular fantasy about your desk.”

The ache in his groin bloomed to a throb as he imagined her bent over his desk while he plunged into her. “My desk, eh?” He paused for effect. He had decided to stay the moment she suggested it. “I believe you should tidy things up a bit, then.”

He turned her around and patted her backside in encouragement. She moved to his desk, tucked the inkwell away, and straightened up the paperwork.

Stone eased up behind her, eschewing the safety of the locked door in favor of the thrill of possible discovery. Her hair remained up from the day, which exposed the delicious length of her neck. Unable to resist, he leaned in to nuzzle the soft skin. She arched into his lips and pressed her backside against his groin.

Wrapping his hands around her hips, he then slowly dragged them up her torso to trace over her ribs before snaking around to cup her breasts. She ground into him with a sensual rotation of her pelvis, and he bit her where her neck and shoulder joined. With a moan, she tried to push her breasts more firmly into his grip.

Good God, she was a hedonistic baggage, and he loved it.

“Master, was the study not properly dusted?” The rasp of her voice paired with her docile words pushed him closer to the edge.

“It was, in fact, not dusted to my satisfaction, in addition to the mess you made of my paperwork in the process.” He reached over and knocked the neat stack of pages onto the floor.

“Please, Master. I’ll do better, I shall.”

“Oh, we’ll see to that, pet. I am quite sure you will be clear on my expectations by the time we are through.” He reached up and roughly yanked on her bodice. The sound of rending fabric and pinging buttons made him wince. He’d pay for that later.

“M-master?” The pleading note in her voice spurred him on.

He said nothing as he reached into her corset and pulled out one of her breasts. Unable to resist the urge, he pinched her nipple and bit her neck again as he lifted her other breast free. Then he licked the column of flesh once, twice, before he latched on and sucked her neck. Her pebbled nipples plumped beneath his fingers as she whimpered under his touch. Desperate to be deep inside her, he released her breasts and pushed her chest flat against the desk.

With a jerk of the ends of his necktie, he had the neckcloth loose. Her breathing shifted to a labored sawing of air as he looped the fabric around her wrists at her lower back. Once she was securely bound and at his mercy, he rucked her skirts up until her creamy thighs and backside were exposed.

“Now, I do hope you will follow along, pet. When dusting my office, you will be more careful of the things placed on my desk. Please count each blow for me.”

---

Theo tried to regulate her breathing, but desire had the best of her. Her thighs were slick with her juices, and she waited, eager to feel the first blow. The bloody problem was that Stone had discovered how much she enjoyed a good spanking, and he would often draw out the first blows until she begged him to hit her.

He waited. And waited. And waited more.

Crack. His palm met the flesh of her bum, and she cried out. “One, Master.” Yes! She silently cheered as the heat bloomed in one cheek and sizzled straight to her clit.

“Please keep in mind that while I do not wish my things disturbed, I do not want to live in filth either.” He landed the next whack.

“Two, Master.” She struggled to breathe through the pleasure-pain as her body warmed and softened. She wiggled her fingers to keep the blood flowing and awaited the next strike.

“However, having a wanton baggage such as yourself on staff keeps me happy, so you will be spared dismissal without references.” He landed the next two blows in succession.

“Three and four, Master.” Her focus spun off, deserting her when she needed it most.

He rained more blows on her tingling arse, and she sputtered, unable to recall where she left off in the count.

He knew how difficult it became for her to concentrate. “I believe that was five and six, pet.”

“Y-yes. Five and six, Master,” she croaked out through her parched lips.

“Four more, pet, and then all will be forgiven.” He paddled her backside in four consecutive blows.

She had to breathe to control the orgasm that pounded at her core. Her thighs quivered, and drawing air became a chore. “Seven, eight, nine, and ten, Master.” She cried as he shoved his fingers—was that two or three?—deep into her cunny and stroked her.

There were times she swore someone had provided her husband a map of her body. He seemed to always know exactly where to stroke and how hard to push her. No man could ever make her feel as he did.

He withdrew his fingers, released his trousers, and shoved his cock into her wet heat in a single pulse-pounding stroke. She couldn’t muffle her cry of satisfaction as he tunneled deep inside her.

He wrenched her arms up a bit as he took hold of her bound wrists and levered her against the flat surface. Wordlessly, he hammered into her until she could hear nothing but the slap of his thighs against hers and feel nothing but the slide of his prick deep into her swollen flesh.

Her hips banged against the desk with every stroke as he groaned behind her. Then the crest of erotic delight broke over her with the force of a speeding train. She screamed her release until her throat grew raw and her legs could no longer support her weight. Had she not been pinned between her husband’s loins and the desk, she would have slithered to the floor in a boneless mass of skin and muscle.

“Theo, you delicious wench.” The rumbled words tripped across her heart as he lost himself in her. He swiveled his hips and lunged into her until he shook with the intensity of his climax. “God, yes!” His cry of completion released a series of shivers up her spine that were pure pleasure.

---

Stone lay slumped over her as he returned to awareness. “Christ,” he muttered, and eased up from her lush form, where she lay squashed against the desk.

His wife patiently waited while he let his softened cock slide from her heat. It was shameful that he wanted her again already. Shameful and unrealistic.

He released her arms and rubbed them a bit to get the blood flowing again. “Are you well, Theo?” Worry always nagged at him after a particularly rough bout of lovemaking. Somehow, his resilient little wife always came up smiling and ready for more.

“Mmmm…better than well. Amazing comes to mind, Master.” She smiled as she settled her skirts in place.

He kissed her, trying not to swallow her whole while he expressed exactly how satisfied he was with their life. Suddenly, the door swung open and one of the maids burst into the room.

Theo gasped.

“Oh! Milord, milady.” The girl bowed and curtsied and attempted to back out of the room.

Theo stepped away from the circle of her husband’s arms but remained in front of him in an effort to preserve his modesty, even as she held her ripped bodice together. “What did you need, Katarina?”

“The coals, milady.” She waved the coal bucket wildly, sloshing the briquettes about in the metal container.

Theo stilled her face into a mask of calm. “Please.” She waved the girl on even as he muttered a curse behind her and pinched her bottom in retaliation.

It was but a moment of noise and fuss before the girl scurried from the room. As the door closed behind the poor wretch, the pair of them dissolved into laughter. Stone tucked his penis away and Theo scooted out of reach. He imagined her bottom was plenty warm as it was.

“You are an evil wench to leave me literally dangling while the coals were replenished.” Stone glowered as he moved around the desk to return to his original seat.

Theo laughed. “It served you right for leaving the door unlocked.” She aimed a gimlet eye at him.

“I plead innocence. Had you not tempted me so greatly, I would have remembered to lock the door.” He could no longer claim sleep deprivation. Since he’d installed his wife in his bed, his nightmares had faded. Most nights, he slept soundly with her tucked snugly against him, though he’d neglected to discuss either the nightmares or their abatement. After all, it might be momentous to think of himself as a whole man again, but he could not share such important news without first shaming himself by revealing the aforementioned weakness to the woman who should feel nothing but safe and protected with him.

“Pish. You chose not to turn the lock. You had plenty of time to do so.” Theo’s amusement bubbled over her efforts at control.

“Very well. I’m caught out. But you must admit, it was all great fun.” He grinned like a little boy on Christmas. He could not have imagined being so happy with one woman, let alone one of his own social standing.

---

Theo picked up the reins and urged the horses forward into a sedate walk. As they rounded Queen’s Gate onto Rotten Row, she quickened the pace to a tame trot. She worked hard to control the urge to give the horses their heads and let them run. They were as antsy as she.

An interminable hour of trotting only to stop and chat with another passing rig or some dandy who tried to make walking fashionable had her on edge. Her driving skills had been earned in the country where it was de rigueur to let the cattle run as they would like.

As they returned home, Theo ventured a conversation. “So, did I pass muster, Stone?”

“Quite satisfactory, Theo. Though I am sure as soon as I leave you alone, you shall go tearing down Bond Street and cause a horrid scandal.” He grinned, unrepentant.

“Do you think me so low? Bond Street? Why, I shall go tearing down St. James’s Street in an affront to all masculinity, or do nothing at all.” Her declaration had him doubled over in laughter.

As he recovered from his mirth, he straightened up. “In all seriousness, Theo, if I hear of reckless behavior at the reins, you will be punished.”

His stern tone sent shivers spiraling down her spine. How was it she reacted so readily to him? The merest hint of his command had her sitting at attention and ready to please. That was, unless she wished to earn a punishment. “Yes, Stone.”

Her imagination roamed to more licentious ideas as they pulled around to the mews. Over the weeks, they had discussed the various things she had witnessed at The Market the night he learned exactly how deep her wantonness ran. Still, the image of the woman and two men remained with her, taunted her in the dark of night when she allowed her deepest fantasies to roam free.

Despite having voiced her curiosity to her husband, she could never ask for such a thing.

How did one tell a man who had given her so much pleasure that she might wish for something more? That the idea of a cock in her pussy as she swallowed another sent her into paroxysms of ecstasy? And still, a concern nagged. Was the idea more appealing than the reality? While she had seen the woman’s enjoyment, a niggling doubt lingered. Would she enjoy such a thing? More importantly, would her husband?

“By the by, I’ve invited the Earl of Brougham to dine with us tomorrow night.” The intrusion of the announcement was both a dash of cold water on her lusty thoughts and served to draw her back to the moment in which she was to be handling the vehicle.

They drew to a stop, and one of the stable hands grabbed the bridle while Stone dismounted from the cabriolet. With a sure-handed swiftness that stole her breath, he whisked her down from her perch. His gaze warmed as he let her slide along his chest and legs until her feet touched the cobblestones.

“Tomorrow? Stone, you should have told me sooner.”

“I meant to tell you last night, but something distracted me.” He winked at her and then ambled up the front steps.