Free The Obedient Wife (an erotic short story) by Delilah Devlin Page B

must head to town to buy new gowns. How can I greet my husband in these rags?”
    While giving him a distracting smile, she waved her hand behind her, confusing the old man. “Is there a fly bothering you?”
    She smiled wider and waved her hand behind her again. A sound like a wild boar crashing through the brush behind the cottage drew his attention from her strange behavior.
    Frowning, he said, “We needn’t bother with shopping. Your husband will take you as you are. I’ve arranged a wagon, and this day we will begin our journey back.”
    And so it was that the miller’s daughter traveled to the faraway village in the mountains. All along the way, her excitement grew. The lands they passed were rich and verdant, the village prosperous—stone houses with two to three floors above ground stretched upward; the square was lively and full of carts filled with silks of every color and exotic foods that made her mouth water. Surely a clever woman such as herself would find a way to escape her father’s arrangement and add to the fortune sewn into the hem of her heavy skirt.
    To her disappointment, they passed through the village and up a steep path, through a forest so thick the sunlight couldn’t penetrate its foliage. When at last they entered the bailey of a large keep, her heart thudded. The stone was as gray as dusk. The bailey, though grand, was empty, desolate. Dismay began to leach away her happy mood at the thoughts of her grand adventure.
    The miller warned her as they approached the great keep’s door. “Keep your words to yourself until he has paid.”
    The daughter smiled, nodding her assent, but she prepared a speech sure to wilt the lord’s enthusiasm for this bargain. If need be, she already had enough gold to see her way to the coast.
    The door swung open on creaking hinges, and every word she’d rehearsed flew from her mind, because a great hairy beast dressed in trousers and boots, and nothing more, filled up the door. “This be the girl?” the beast rumbled.
    The daughter shivered at the deep, warm sound, unsure whether it was pleasure or fear, and also unsure which excited her more.
    The miller smiled, pride lifting his chest. “This is the treasure I offer you.”
    The beast turned to the side. “Come in. I would see whether the rest of her is as lovely as her face.”
    The daughter stepped quickly inside, her heartbeats thudding against her chest. As the door closed behind her, she slowly drew the heavy gown over her head. Standing naked beneath the creature’s dark glare, for the first time in her life, she felt a curling heat settle in her belly and moisture slide down her thighs.
    With quick inhalations, the beast sniffed the air around her and trailed a claw along her shoulder. While he stood behind her, she could have sworn he licked her neck, and she trembled with the need for release from the sudden tightness of her quim.
    After a long, tense moment, the beast snorted and strode toward a chest from which he hefted a large bag of gold. He handed it to her father and ushered him to the door.
    “B-but I would stay for the wedding!” her father stammered, glancing backward.
    “Do you want the gold?” the beast asked, his voice deepening in warning.
    Her father gulped and clutched the bag to his chest and fled.
    Alone with her new husband, the miller’s daughter felt a thrilling desire war with sudden fear. Would he ravish her or eat her?
    The beast turned slowly, stepping onto her gown, his long talons tearing at the fabric. “Is the air warm enough for you, my dear?”
    Although she shivered, she nodded her head.
    “Then you will have no need for your gown.” He walked away toward a long, stone staircase that hugged the wall of the large, open hall.
    Although her fortune was lying in shreds on the floor, she was unwilling to be left in the drafty shadows below, so she scrambled after him.
    He paid her no heed as she wheezed, following him up and up to a tower room. Once inside,