Free The Duke Wants Her Curves: Taboo Historical BBW Forbidden Erotic Rubenesque Romance by Kimberley Clarke Page A

with curvaceous flesh. My uncle was loathe to buy me new clothes and so, I found my body would almost spill out of the tight fitting dresses and skirts I was forced to wear. The funny thing is, my new appearance didn’t seem to upset Robert. In fact, I began to notice that Robert had started to look at me a little different, and truth be told, I started to think about him a bit differently, too.
    On a hazy afternoon in late August, the two of us were strolling along the southern border of the farm’s biggest sheep paddock. The field was on a gentle slope, and I could see down into the valley across the stream, hear the gentle lapping sound of water, smell the almost-ripe cereal crop in the bordering field.
    ‘It’s a beautiful evening, ain’t it, Sunny,’ said Robert. He looked fresh and strong this evening, with his dungarees loosely over his shoulders and a sheaf of wheat bobbing as he clamped its end between his teeth.
    ‘That it is, Rob,’ I replied. Rob seemed a little more anxious than usual this evening. Around twenty minutes from home, he stopped walking and gave me this really funny look.
    ‘Briony,’ it was strange to hear him call me by my real name. I was so used to him calling me Sunny I didn’t realise for a moment that he was talking to me at all. ‘Briony, I know how fond of you I am, don’t you?’ I felt my cheeks redden with embarrassment.
    ‘I know, Robert,’ I said, looking down at the ground.
    ‘Well, there’s something I want to ask you. In fact, I think I’ve wanted to ask you it ever since we met.’
    I felt my pulse quicken in my heart, my chest rising and falling with large, anxious gulps. Robert slowly got down on one knee, and then, he looked me in the eye and opened his mouth to speak. But the voice that I heard next was not Robert’s.

     
     
     
     
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER TWO
     
     
    ‘And just what do the two of you think that you are doing?’ It was a harsh, cold voice, haughty and superior. I looked up to find its source and saw a dark figure on the back of a huge grey steed. The man was dressed in a travelling cloak and his face was pale. He had a large, bushy moustache, and in his right hand was a cruel-looking leather riding crop. Both Robert and I looked up at the man, dumbstruck, our surprise plain to see in our faces.
    ‘Well? Don’t you think an answer is in order? You are on my grounds after all. Young people should hardly be out canoodling in plain sight, don’t you think.’
    ‘Beggin’ your pardon sir,’ Robert said, rising to his feet and doffing his cap to the man, ‘I didn’t realise that the landlord would be out and about so late of an evening.’
    ‘Quite. I shouldn’t wonder that there are quite a few things that you don’t realise,’ he said, with a snort of derision. ‘You, woman, who are you?’ He pointed straight at me with the riding crop. I felt a strange chill as he turned his attention to me. It was almost as though I could feel the smooth leather of the crop against my quivering cheek.
    ‘Sorry sir, I mean, my lord,’ I said, bumbling over my words, ‘I’m Briony, farmer Norman’s niece, here just to work on the farm.’
    ‘Briony, eh?’ said the man. ‘How funny Norman didn’t tell me that he had a niece working on the farm. How funny. Particularly when she is such a pretty thing. Plump and thick like a beautiful heffer. Eh, Robert? Do you think she’s pretty?’
    I could feel Robert’s discomfort as the man sneered at the two of us. His eyes were the clearest, brightest blue I’d ever seen, and they were set above high cheekbones. His whole face was twisted into a grimace of cruel pleasure, as he watched Robert squirm.
    ‘Of course I,’ he started. He looked flustered. ‘I mean Briony’s a very old friend, she’s, she’s like a sister to me.’
    ‘Like a sister, eh? Didn’t look like you were about to do something particularly brotherly to me.’ I felt my cheeks begin to redden in the evening