Free Dealing With Discipline by Golden Angel Page B

her! Guilt from the
other side suffused her.  What kind of flighty woman was she,
to forget her one true love just because another man was touching
her?
    True, no man had ever touched her bare skin
the way her husband just had, but that was certainly no
excuse. 
    Confused, Irene pushed her
feelings to the side and concentrated on what Hugh was telling her
about the estates.  At least she could appreciate his obvious
love for the country.  She was rather enjoying his
conversation, something else that she hadn’t entirely expected.
Irene had become rather used to keeping to herself ever since Alex
had gone to school; it was nice to have someone interested in what
she was thinking, to ask her questions and want to
converse.
    "I haven't had the pleasure of
seeing you truly ride," Hugh was saying, smiling at her with that
almost devilishly attractive smile of his.  If she hadn't been
in love with Alex, and if Hugh's touch didn't do such disturbing
things to her body, she might have been able to fall in love with
him for that smile alone.  He truly looked like an angel when
he smiled like that. "I'm looking forward to doing so once we're in
the country."
    Her returning smile was one of
pure pleasure and anticipation. "I do love to ride.  I enjoyed
exercising your horses through Hyde Park, but you're right, they
were not nearly as enjoyable as being in the country where I can
gallop."
    "Well then we will have to make
sure that we get our fill of riding before we must return to town,"
Hugh said with a laugh, squeezing her hand - and, it felt like, the
air out of her lungs again.
    ******
    Stonehaven was much larger than
any residence Irene had ever been to, even out in the country when
she’d attended a few house parties with her mother.  It fair
took her breath away, even if Hugh hadn't been doing that on a
regular basis throughout the entire carriage ride. He'd helped her
put her glove back on as they'd driven down the lane, but even so
his touch still burned when he helped to hand her down from the
coach.  The small smile on his face indicated his pleasure at
her delighted and amazed reaction to his family
home. 
    Indeed, the carriage ride had
served to make Irene look almost deliciously disheveled; softer,
with wisps of hair around her face that had escaped from her
coiffure. The wrinkles in her dress only made him wish that he’d
been responsible for some of them. While she looked less
sophisticated, she also looked much more approachable… less like a
model of what a proper young lady should look like and more like a
flushed, happy young woman. He’d like to make her look even more
flushed and happy.
    But he would not descend on his
wife like a ravening beast, even if he felt like one after
torturing himself the entire carriage ride by touching her the soft
skin of her hand, watching her soft, pink, tempting lips as she
spoke, and smelling the sweetness of her skin as it permeated the
small confines of the carriage.  Irene smelled like a dream
and he couldn’t wait to bury his face in her hair and
breasts.
    “Welcome to Stonehaven, dearest,”
he said, lifting her gloved hand to his lips. For once she didn’t
blush at the contact, she was too busy examining the house with
something akin to awe.
    It was beautiful, larger than any house she’d
ever been to before, and yet somehow as welcoming as it was
imposing. While she’d known the reputation of the house as being
made entirely of stone, she hadn’t expected the dappled appearance
of the walls. Most buildings she had seen that were made of stone
were done so in rocks of the same color.
    “Is it really all made of stone?”
she asked, blinking as she stared up at the impressive four stories
and the many windows that were set in rows. Curtains were visible
through all of them, although she couldn’t tell the exact color of
the highest row.
    “Hence the name,” Hugh said with a grin,
wrapping her hand around his arm as he began to lead her towards
the