Felicity's First Time
Title: Felicity's First Time
Oh come on, they have such silly titles. You have to take the piss...
Rating: NC17
Pairing: Felicity Merriman/Benjamin Davidson
Warning: Het
AN: Set about six years after the Felicity series, making her sixteen and Ben twenty-two. He has returned to complete his apprenticeship as promised in Felicity Saves the Day.
For dmb_dragonfly who betad it and was so very enthusiastic about the whole idea. And for anyone who has every played with dolls from or read books published by American Girl. As Darcy said: The Pleasant Company would be appalled!
Is anyone interested in making this a project? We could do all the different characters. Make a comm, even. American Girl porn.
The mud squelched under Felicity’s feet as she dropped from the window, and it splattered on her dress as she ran across the damp garden and around the side of the house. Once inside the stable she stopped the breathe, waiting silently for a sound that would betray the presence of any other. When none was forthcoming, she slipped a bridle off the rack and crossed to Penny’s stall.
The earthy smell of the horse reassured her and she spent a few precious minutes stroking Penny’s face and crooning to her. A sound at the door made her duck down out of sight as Ben, her father’s apprentice, entered.
“Come on then, boy. We’re off for a bit of a ride. Get you out into the spring air. That’ll be nice for both of us.” Felicity couldn’t help smile at hearing him speak to the horse. Patriot snuffled at Ben’s shoulder, then raised his head and looked at Felicity as she came out of hiding.
“Where are you going?” she asked. Ben turned in surprise.
“Out to Sweet Oaks to deliver some tools,” he replied. “Mr Jacobson is unwell and your father thought that rather than wait for some of his men to make the journey, that I might leave the store for a few hours. It’s very quiet today.”
“’Tis a nice day for a ride,” Felicity commented wistfully, turning back to Penny.
“Are you not expecting callers this afternoon?” Ben asked, rather sharply, making Felicity glance at him in surprise. She had not realised he had known.
“Aye,” then, with a conspiratorial smile, she continued, “It is for that reason I hide out here. Penny and I were going to … could we come with you?” Without waiting for his acquiescence, she led the mare from the stall.
Ben’s face teetered between a smile and a disapproving frown. “You cannot just leave, Felicity. What would they think of you?”
Her eyes were blazing hot across Penny’s back as she turned to him. “I do not wish to spend the afternoon discussing polite questions of general interest with young men who only court me for a share in father’s store.”
A smile hovered on Ben’s lips. “And so you think you can invite yourself along with me?” He made no pretence that he disapproved any longer, leading his horse into the street ahead of Felicity and Penny.
* * *
The world outside Williamsburg smelt of spring. The air was damp and the leaves were unfurling green and fresh. Tiny bursts of colour danced along the sides of the road where Felicity and Ben trotted.
Despite her increasing age, Penny still felt powerful beneath Felicity, cantering ahead of her son, then letting Patriot run ahead. At first Felicity and Ben let the horses have their heads, taking the journey as freely as they wished, then, as they approached the plantation, but a little outside the town, they reigned in their mounts and continued side by side.
They didn’t speak, Ben well aware of Felicity’s dislike of polite conversation and the constant reminder it brought of the fact that she was having to grow into a young gentlewoman. But there was no need of speech; after so many years, their silence was companionable.
All too soon they turned off onto the track that led to Sweet Oaks plantation. Felicity made Penny wait patiently while Ben dismounted, handed her Patriot’s reins, and went in search of the plantation manager. She tried not to think of the furore that would be waiting for her at home: her father’s rage, her mother’s disappointment. She knew they understood that Felicity had no desire to settle down and run a household of her own, but she also knew that this was still what they expected of her. Since she had turned sixteen there had been a not steady, but still considerable, number of young men who had come to call, and Felicity had endeavoured to be not at home at every instance.
Her sister Nan was benefiting, she supposed. While still considered too young to be marriageable, Nan was making a name for herself as a genteel hostess given the number of times she had to step in and entertain in Felicity’s stead.
Ben returned, mounting smoothly and smiling his thanks. Felicity held Penny back to a reluctant walk as they began the ride home.
Ben must have noticed because, with a quick glance over his shoulder, he took the left fork at the crossroads rather than the direct route back to Williamsburg.
“Where are we going?” Felicity asked curiously, bringing Penny to a trot to catch up.
“We’re taking a diverted route,” he replied, glancing at her but refusing to meet her eyes. “I, um, thought you might not be in too much of a hurry to return.”
She couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face and she leaned over impulsively to give him a one armed hug. His head dropped shyly and she saw a blush shimmer on his cheeks.
Their alternative route took them off the main road, riding through some sparse woodland, fording one stream and jumping another. Felicity’s hair pulled loose from its ties and her bonnet flew off to catch in a tree.
“Wait!” she called, breathless with laughter, dismounting to retrieve it. “Oh, how I wish I were a boy. I remember the freedom of wearing your breeches, of being able to run.” Ben’s laughter told her he also remembered the strange start to their friendship when Felicity had ‘borrowed’ his breeches to sneak out of the house in the early hours of the morning to visit Penny.
“I think you would make an admirable boy,” Ben replied, dismounting to hold Penny as Felicity moved to remount. “But I, for one, am glad you are not.”
Felicity’s stopped, her next loose remark caught in her throat. He was standing at her shoulder to hold the horse and when she turned, his eyes flickered away nervously before returning to hold hers. The world seemed entirely still, the sound of the horses moving restlessly, the gusts of wind in the leaves, all silent beneath the pounding beat of Felicity’s blood in her veins.
Then she rose up on his toes, on hand curling in the front of his shirt for support, and kissed him.
It was just a gentle press of lips on lips, his hand coming out to catch her waist, then she moved away, still looking up at him. His eyes crinkled in a smile and he bent to kiss her again. This time he stayed longer, his lips moving against hers and making shivers run through her. She reached up to curl her hand around his neck, to keep his mouth where it was, although it seemed he had no intention of stopping. The flutter of his tongue against her lips made her gasp in surprise and his tongue darted briefly into her mouth before withdrawing. Heat flooded through Felicity’s body, pooling at the secret place between her legs, and she moved closer, pressing her body against him, letting his arm wrap firmly around her waist and holding her to him.
When his tongue brushed her mouth for the second time, she reached out and touched it with her own, shivering against him at her body’s reaction, feeling his moan as a vibration against her chest.
The whinny of one of the horses brought them back to earth and they stepped apart, blinking. “I… um… I…” Ben began before Felicity’s smile silenced him. She mounted the horse, wordlessly, and waited while he sprung back atop Patriot.
“I should take you home,” he said, swallowing. “They’ll wonder where we’ve gone.”
“There is no point further delaying the inevitable,” Felicity agreed, although now she found it difficult to care.
* * *
The rubbed down the horses in the stable, sneaking not very surreptitious glances at one another, then Ben had to go back to the shop and Felicity had to go face her mother. “Well, I’ll see you at supper…” Ben murmured, rubbing his palms on his breeches.
“Aye.” He turned to go and she caught his hand, whirling him back before balancing on her tip toes to press a swift kiss to his lips.
* * *
Dinner was tense; Felicity’s parents unhappy with her and Ben uncomfortable speaking to Felicity in their company. The balance of their relationship had been altered and they had yet to find their feet in the new world they had discovered.
It was late when Felicity slipped from her bed, drew her cloak tightly around her shift and clambered the ladder to Ben’s room over the stable. He blinked sleepily at her when he opened the door, stepping back to let her in.
“Is there anything wrong?” he asked, moving towards his boots.
“No,” Felicity stopped him with a hand on his arm. In the past she had only ever woken him to drag him out on adventures. “No, I just wanted to see you.”
He smiled, fingers touching her cheek. She kissed his palm before tentatively moving closer. When their lips met Felicity couldn’t prevent the small sound of satisfaction that escaped on her exhalation and, hearing it, Ben grew in confidence. One hand cradled her head as his tongue danced exploratorily against hers, the other stroked up her back, strong through the layers of fabric.
“I don’t want…” Ben started as they separated to breathe, Felicity’s head resting on his shoulder, her arms tight around his waist. “I mean, we’re overstepping boundaries here.”
“Are we?” she asked, looking up brightly. “Your apprenticeship finishes before the end of the year and you are a free man. Surely you must be thinking about your future?”
He broke into a smile. “Felicity, as your father’s apprentice I have never dared voice the thought, but I have long wanted you in my future. My family is wealthy enough, as well settled as many of those whose calls you seek so desperately to avoid. And if we were to approach them, I am certain I would have your parents blessing. But it is perhaps too soon for that. I must at least finish my apprenticeship and you must have long enough to be sure of your heart.”
She didn’t argue, just brushed his mouth with hers, teasing his lower lip into her mouth. “Felicity, I meant it. This is not seemly.”
She stepped back, looking up at him. “When have I ever held to what was seemly?” she asked softly. “I have crept to the stable in my shift many times.”
His smile of remembrance warmed her and he sat on the bed, his back against the wall, and let her settle against him. “Felicity, you were nine years old. That is scarcely the same.”
“And why not?” she asked, her fingers stroking up the bare skin of his wrist inside the cuffs of his nightshirt.
He kissed the top of her head. “Shall we say my body would not have reacted in the same way to you cuddled against me at age nine?”
She lifted her head from his shoulder and looked up in bewilderment. He laughed softly. “See, Felicity, why it is unseemly that I let you come here? You do not even understand what it is you do.”
“Well then,” she said decisively. “You will have to teach me.”
He moved to kiss her, drawing her tongue into his mouth and sliding his fingers into her hair. Her breathing sped up and she wrapped her arms around him, feeling the ties of her cloak come unfastened but not caring; she was certainly warm enough.
His hand on her breast was a surprise and she broke the kiss to look at him. He moved his thumb gently, rubbing it across the cotton covering her nipple. It felt lovely, and she leaned forward to kiss the side of his mouth, his neck, the crease where his shoulder disappeared into the nightshirt.
“Felicity?” he murmured in her ear, his hand still stroking gently, making her writhe for more contact. “Do you know what happens between a man and a woman?”
She could feel her face flush red and she buried it against his throat, nodding.
“Then you see why it is unseemly for you to visit me in no more than your night-shift? It will appear to any who saw that…” She lifted her head and kissed him again, sure of herself.
“And if that were what I wanted?” she asked softly.
“Felicity, you don’t know what you are asking.”
She sat back on her heels. “Yes, Ben. I do. I am not afraid of new experiences. You have been my friend and, one day, I would like you to be my husband. I am fond of you in a way that I am fond of no one else. I… I want you to show me this.”
He shifted in the blankets, drawing her close so that she was sitting in his lap, her shift riding up her thighs. She could feel the warmth of his skin so close to hers. “You are a woman of breeding, Felicity. You should rightly wait until after you are wed.”
“But if I am to wed you then what difference does it make? When you touch me I just want more. I do not want to wait.”
“My ever patient Felicity!” His finger traced her lips. “I would like that so very much. But if your parents refused my suit? We have not even broached the subject with them. This is too fast.”
“Do you want me?”
“More than anything.” He answered in a heartbeat. “But I want you completely, legally, not just a quick night of pleasure.”
“Can I see you without your clothes?”
His surprise made her laugh. She placed her hands flat on his chest, savouring the warmth of his skin that came through the cloth. “I have seen you in the stable bare of your shirt. I have seen the way perspiration gathers across your shoulders. I had an irrational desire to touch you, but then I had no right. I think, perhaps, I do now.”
Wordlessly, he sat up enough to pull the nightshirt over his head, leaving his hair mussed and his torso bare to the white under breeches he wore. She smoothed her hands across his shoulders, touched the dusting of dark hair that gathered across his chest, then bent to touch her mouth to the dark coins of his nipples. His hips bucked underneath her and her fingers sunk into his upper arms. His hands settled on her waist, holding her steady, then stroked, unbearably teasing, downwards, curling around her hips and pulling her closer to him.
When she lifted her head to kiss him, it was messy and wet, heavy breaths into one another’s mouths. His fingers were grasping, clenching and curling in the cotton of her shift where it fell low across her thighs. The feeling was making her press against him, trying to make the warm glow that was spreading out from her centre increase. It was warm, very warm, and his skin was clammy where her hands rested, touching and learning, mapping out his chest and stomach.
He couldn’t sit still now, the muscles in his thighs flexing, lifting her against him rhythmically. “Felicity,” he murmured. “I need you to tell me now if you do not want to do this. I don’t have unlimited control.”
“I want to.” She put a hand to his cheek to make sure he was looking directly at her. “I want to, Ben.”
Slowly, he withdrew his hand from where it rested against her hip, burrowed it under the skirt of her shift, replacing at the same spot, his skin hot against hers. His kisses were lighter, his lips just brushing hers over and over. She was overwhelmingly aware of a bulge in his breeches, pressing against the inside of her thigh. Her fingers drifted across his chest and down to his stomach but, as yet, she lacked the bravery to move further.
Both his bare hands were on her naked skin, cupping her bottom and encouraging her closer. She gasped when she felt the touch of the soft fabric of his breeches against the private place between her legs. When she pressed against him, a rush of pleasure made her flush and she tightened her thighs around his hips.
“Yes?” he asked, tipping his hips up, rubbing the hard heat of his clothed erection against her. She whimpered agreement, swallowing, trying to gasp air with her dry mouth. The skin of his neck where she pressed her face was damp with sweat and her nostrils were filled with his musky scent. His fingers rubbed at her hips, sliding around to brush at the edge of where hair grew between her legs, his body setting up a rhythm against her. “Does that feel…?”
She clutched at his shoulders as one of his hands insinuated itself between their bodies, his careful fingers delving into the wetness her body was producing. “Oh, Ben,” she breathed, not able to think of words to express what she was feeling. She was lifting herself with her thighs now, giving him access to touch her. She could feel his index finger brush the entrance to her body, circling slowly, while his thumb continued to wring pleasure with each movement. At first she thought he was moving faster, then realised it was herself, that he was following the movement she was setting, rolling her hips desperately against him. There was a pressure building inside her, each stroke of his fingers stoking it more. She felt like she was racing, wild and fast, tumbling toward a destination she didn’t yet know. Her whole world was narrowed to the rhythmic press of his thumb and the circling touch of his finger, dipping into her, tantalising and shallow, before moving away again. She was hanging on a precipice, every muscle in her body tense and striving and then…
Something exploded deep inside her and her body gave in to the burst of pleasure that shook through her. She collapsed forward into Ben’s arms, gasping for breath, her whole body shivering.
He held her, pressing his lips to her temple, and she could feel his breath in her hair. His breeches, the front still swollen and pressing hot against her, were dark with moisture, his thighs enough apart that her body was between them, despite the fact that her legs were bent up across his hips and around his back. His kiss, when she tipped her face up to his, was soft, undemanding, and it was Felicity who opened her mouth. When their tongues touched she felt him shift involuntarily against her, an urgent movement pushing his hips up into her heat.
Hands braced on his chest, she sat back. He watched her with eyes so dark they were almost black. At first he didn’t see what she was doing, then suddenly his hands were everywhere, eagerly helping her peel the sweat-soaked cotton of her shift off her back and over her head. Dropping the garment off the side of the bed, he slid his arms around her, his hands broad and warm on her bare skin, rubbing up and down her back, wringing the last aching shudders from her body.
They interspersed their kisses with smiles, fingers touching and brushing at one another, shoulders, cheeks, nipples, stomachs. Felicity felt surprisingly unexposed, sitting naked against Ben, enjoying his attention. As his touches grew firmer, became proper caresses, she too grew bolder, watching her hands as they dropped to brush at the front of his breeches. He gasped, pressing forward into her touch before controlling himself to move away, leaving the decision to her.
She plucked at the laces of the breeches, looking up at him, but no help was forthcoming. He wasn’t going to pressure her. Once they were open, the soft fabric gave way under the strain of his erection, the head pushing itself free. Ben let out a sigh.
Tentatively, Felicity reached out, cupping the hot flesh with her palm. She could hear Ben’s harsh breathing. Her nervous, curious touches were keeping him excited, his cock moving of its own accord, twitching and stretching out toward her. Moisture from the tip clung in strings to her palm. She pulled at the sides of the cloth, burrowing her small hand inside to grasp him fully. He pulsed, hot in her hand.
“Will it really fit?” she asked with an embarrassed laugh. Ben’s chest was rising and falling quickly with his breathing.
“Aye. If you are sure you want to try. It will hurt, my sweet.”
She bit her lip, stroking her hand up his cock and watching the way his hips followed, watching the beading liquid at the head. “I do want. You will be gentle.” It was a confirmation, not a question.
He squirmed, wriggling the breeches down his legs, not meeting her eyes as she looked at him, moving back to give him space, then settling back on his lap. The skin of his inner thighs was damp with sweat, the hair that grew around his cock curled more than that on his head. When she touched it, it was coarse under her fingers. It was hot between his legs, his balls heavy when she touched them, stroking with her thumb before grasping his cock, more sure now, and stroking him. His hands on her wrists stilled her movement after a few seconds.
“That is enough.”
His hands on her hips lifted her and pulled her forward, his eyes darting between her eyes and her hand on his cock. She let herself sink, holding the head so that it nestled at the entrance to her body, her weight held on her knees either side of his hips.
The pressure made her wince, a low, dull burn of pain. She could see the concentration on Ben’s face as he kept very still, letting her adjust. He was part-way in and she could feel the stretch, and it hurt more. She tightened her fingers on his cock, reaching down between them, then gritted her teeth and pushed. “You have to help,” she whispered. He swallowed, took a deep breath and thrust upwards a tiny amount. She could feel something give within her; it wasn’t so much pain as surprise that made her cry out, then he was in.
Her arm was trembling where it rested braced on his shoulder, her other hand still touching where they joined. It was an odd feeling, not an entirely unpleasant one, but she wasn’t sure she liked it all the same. She shifted her hips, focus entirely on the feeling of him moving inside her. He withdrew slightly in response, before pushing back in. The friction did feel good, just tight, and she smiled at him. He moved again, his head tipping back and his eyes drifting shut. It hurt less each time he thrust, her body adjusting to the invasion.
When he kissed her she welcomed the distraction, sucking his tongue into her mouth, swallowing his sounds of pleasure. He stroked her neck with his thumb, sending shivers through her, his other hand resting on her waist, holding her still as he rocked up into her. At first she counted his thrusts, listening to the way his gasps got increasingly high pitched, then she stopped, focusing instead on his mouth where it touched her cheek, her neck, her throat, then back to her mouth, his tongue leaving a glistening trail that made her pant and begin to thrust back against him.
Then he was coming, his eyes screwed shut, fingers tight on her upper arms, as he pulsed inside her, flooding her with heat and liquid.
They sat still, molten together, as he tried to gather his breath. A shift of her weight and his flaccid cock slipped from her body, falling slick against his thigh. She pressed her face against his neck, his arms holding her close against him.
“Are you…?” he began.
“I am fine.” She kissed his neck. “It only hurt a little.”
His fingers under her chin lifted her face, made her look at him. “What now, Felicity?”
She smiled, brushing a kiss to his nose. “Now I must go back to my chamber before anyone notices I am missing. We will take tomorrow when it comes.”
He caught her wrist, preventing her from leaving as she reached back to find her shift where it had tumbled off the bed. “Tomorrow, may I speak to your father?”
She couldn’t help the hitch in her breath and the smile that instantly sprung to her face. “I… I should like that…” She stopped his answering smile with a kiss, moulding against his body, savouring the feeling of his bare skin against hers.
“Tomorrow then. Goodnight.” Extricating herself from his embrace she slipped on the shift and cloak before returning to claim one last brief kiss. “Goodnight.”
He came naked to the door, watched her clamber down the ladder to the stable floor. She looked back up at his silhouette with a wave.
“Tomorrow,” she heard him whisper.
***
Oh come on, they have such silly titles. You have to take the piss...
Rating: NC17
Pairing: Felicity Merriman/Benjamin Davidson
Warning: Het
AN: Set about six years after the Felicity series, making her sixteen and Ben twenty-two. He has returned to complete his apprenticeship as promised in Felicity Saves the Day.
For dmb_dragonfly who betad it and was so very enthusiastic about the whole idea. And for anyone who has every played with dolls from or read books published by American Girl. As Darcy said: The Pleasant Company would be appalled!
Is anyone interested in making this a project? We could do all the different characters. Make a comm, even. American Girl porn.
The mud squelched under Felicity’s feet as she dropped from the window, and it splattered on her dress as she ran across the damp garden and around the side of the house. Once inside the stable she stopped the breathe, waiting silently for a sound that would betray the presence of any other. When none was forthcoming, she slipped a bridle off the rack and crossed to Penny’s stall.
The earthy smell of the horse reassured her and she spent a few precious minutes stroking Penny’s face and crooning to her. A sound at the door made her duck down out of sight as Ben, her father’s apprentice, entered.
“Come on then, boy. We’re off for a bit of a ride. Get you out into the spring air. That’ll be nice for both of us.” Felicity couldn’t help smile at hearing him speak to the horse. Patriot snuffled at Ben’s shoulder, then raised his head and looked at Felicity as she came out of hiding.
“Where are you going?” she asked. Ben turned in surprise.
“Out to Sweet Oaks to deliver some tools,” he replied. “Mr Jacobson is unwell and your father thought that rather than wait for some of his men to make the journey, that I might leave the store for a few hours. It’s very quiet today.”
“’Tis a nice day for a ride,” Felicity commented wistfully, turning back to Penny.
“Are you not expecting callers this afternoon?” Ben asked, rather sharply, making Felicity glance at him in surprise. She had not realised he had known.
“Aye,” then, with a conspiratorial smile, she continued, “It is for that reason I hide out here. Penny and I were going to … could we come with you?” Without waiting for his acquiescence, she led the mare from the stall.
Ben’s face teetered between a smile and a disapproving frown. “You cannot just leave, Felicity. What would they think of you?”
Her eyes were blazing hot across Penny’s back as she turned to him. “I do not wish to spend the afternoon discussing polite questions of general interest with young men who only court me for a share in father’s store.”
A smile hovered on Ben’s lips. “And so you think you can invite yourself along with me?” He made no pretence that he disapproved any longer, leading his horse into the street ahead of Felicity and Penny.
* * *
The world outside Williamsburg smelt of spring. The air was damp and the leaves were unfurling green and fresh. Tiny bursts of colour danced along the sides of the road where Felicity and Ben trotted.
Despite her increasing age, Penny still felt powerful beneath Felicity, cantering ahead of her son, then letting Patriot run ahead. At first Felicity and Ben let the horses have their heads, taking the journey as freely as they wished, then, as they approached the plantation, but a little outside the town, they reigned in their mounts and continued side by side.
They didn’t speak, Ben well aware of Felicity’s dislike of polite conversation and the constant reminder it brought of the fact that she was having to grow into a young gentlewoman. But there was no need of speech; after so many years, their silence was companionable.
All too soon they turned off onto the track that led to Sweet Oaks plantation. Felicity made Penny wait patiently while Ben dismounted, handed her Patriot’s reins, and went in search of the plantation manager. She tried not to think of the furore that would be waiting for her at home: her father’s rage, her mother’s disappointment. She knew they understood that Felicity had no desire to settle down and run a household of her own, but she also knew that this was still what they expected of her. Since she had turned sixteen there had been a not steady, but still considerable, number of young men who had come to call, and Felicity had endeavoured to be not at home at every instance.
Her sister Nan was benefiting, she supposed. While still considered too young to be marriageable, Nan was making a name for herself as a genteel hostess given the number of times she had to step in and entertain in Felicity’s stead.
Ben returned, mounting smoothly and smiling his thanks. Felicity held Penny back to a reluctant walk as they began the ride home.
Ben must have noticed because, with a quick glance over his shoulder, he took the left fork at the crossroads rather than the direct route back to Williamsburg.
“Where are we going?” Felicity asked curiously, bringing Penny to a trot to catch up.
“We’re taking a diverted route,” he replied, glancing at her but refusing to meet her eyes. “I, um, thought you might not be in too much of a hurry to return.”
She couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face and she leaned over impulsively to give him a one armed hug. His head dropped shyly and she saw a blush shimmer on his cheeks.
Their alternative route took them off the main road, riding through some sparse woodland, fording one stream and jumping another. Felicity’s hair pulled loose from its ties and her bonnet flew off to catch in a tree.
“Wait!” she called, breathless with laughter, dismounting to retrieve it. “Oh, how I wish I were a boy. I remember the freedom of wearing your breeches, of being able to run.” Ben’s laughter told her he also remembered the strange start to their friendship when Felicity had ‘borrowed’ his breeches to sneak out of the house in the early hours of the morning to visit Penny.
“I think you would make an admirable boy,” Ben replied, dismounting to hold Penny as Felicity moved to remount. “But I, for one, am glad you are not.”
Felicity’s stopped, her next loose remark caught in her throat. He was standing at her shoulder to hold the horse and when she turned, his eyes flickered away nervously before returning to hold hers. The world seemed entirely still, the sound of the horses moving restlessly, the gusts of wind in the leaves, all silent beneath the pounding beat of Felicity’s blood in her veins.
Then she rose up on his toes, on hand curling in the front of his shirt for support, and kissed him.
It was just a gentle press of lips on lips, his hand coming out to catch her waist, then she moved away, still looking up at him. His eyes crinkled in a smile and he bent to kiss her again. This time he stayed longer, his lips moving against hers and making shivers run through her. She reached up to curl her hand around his neck, to keep his mouth where it was, although it seemed he had no intention of stopping. The flutter of his tongue against her lips made her gasp in surprise and his tongue darted briefly into her mouth before withdrawing. Heat flooded through Felicity’s body, pooling at the secret place between her legs, and she moved closer, pressing her body against him, letting his arm wrap firmly around her waist and holding her to him.
When his tongue brushed her mouth for the second time, she reached out and touched it with her own, shivering against him at her body’s reaction, feeling his moan as a vibration against her chest.
The whinny of one of the horses brought them back to earth and they stepped apart, blinking. “I… um… I…” Ben began before Felicity’s smile silenced him. She mounted the horse, wordlessly, and waited while he sprung back atop Patriot.
“I should take you home,” he said, swallowing. “They’ll wonder where we’ve gone.”
“There is no point further delaying the inevitable,” Felicity agreed, although now she found it difficult to care.
* * *
The rubbed down the horses in the stable, sneaking not very surreptitious glances at one another, then Ben had to go back to the shop and Felicity had to go face her mother. “Well, I’ll see you at supper…” Ben murmured, rubbing his palms on his breeches.
“Aye.” He turned to go and she caught his hand, whirling him back before balancing on her tip toes to press a swift kiss to his lips.
* * *
Dinner was tense; Felicity’s parents unhappy with her and Ben uncomfortable speaking to Felicity in their company. The balance of their relationship had been altered and they had yet to find their feet in the new world they had discovered.
It was late when Felicity slipped from her bed, drew her cloak tightly around her shift and clambered the ladder to Ben’s room over the stable. He blinked sleepily at her when he opened the door, stepping back to let her in.
“Is there anything wrong?” he asked, moving towards his boots.
“No,” Felicity stopped him with a hand on his arm. In the past she had only ever woken him to drag him out on adventures. “No, I just wanted to see you.”
He smiled, fingers touching her cheek. She kissed his palm before tentatively moving closer. When their lips met Felicity couldn’t prevent the small sound of satisfaction that escaped on her exhalation and, hearing it, Ben grew in confidence. One hand cradled her head as his tongue danced exploratorily against hers, the other stroked up her back, strong through the layers of fabric.
“I don’t want…” Ben started as they separated to breathe, Felicity’s head resting on his shoulder, her arms tight around his waist. “I mean, we’re overstepping boundaries here.”
“Are we?” she asked, looking up brightly. “Your apprenticeship finishes before the end of the year and you are a free man. Surely you must be thinking about your future?”
He broke into a smile. “Felicity, as your father’s apprentice I have never dared voice the thought, but I have long wanted you in my future. My family is wealthy enough, as well settled as many of those whose calls you seek so desperately to avoid. And if we were to approach them, I am certain I would have your parents blessing. But it is perhaps too soon for that. I must at least finish my apprenticeship and you must have long enough to be sure of your heart.”
She didn’t argue, just brushed his mouth with hers, teasing his lower lip into her mouth. “Felicity, I meant it. This is not seemly.”
She stepped back, looking up at him. “When have I ever held to what was seemly?” she asked softly. “I have crept to the stable in my shift many times.”
His smile of remembrance warmed her and he sat on the bed, his back against the wall, and let her settle against him. “Felicity, you were nine years old. That is scarcely the same.”
“And why not?” she asked, her fingers stroking up the bare skin of his wrist inside the cuffs of his nightshirt.
He kissed the top of her head. “Shall we say my body would not have reacted in the same way to you cuddled against me at age nine?”
She lifted her head from his shoulder and looked up in bewilderment. He laughed softly. “See, Felicity, why it is unseemly that I let you come here? You do not even understand what it is you do.”
“Well then,” she said decisively. “You will have to teach me.”
He moved to kiss her, drawing her tongue into his mouth and sliding his fingers into her hair. Her breathing sped up and she wrapped her arms around him, feeling the ties of her cloak come unfastened but not caring; she was certainly warm enough.
His hand on her breast was a surprise and she broke the kiss to look at him. He moved his thumb gently, rubbing it across the cotton covering her nipple. It felt lovely, and she leaned forward to kiss the side of his mouth, his neck, the crease where his shoulder disappeared into the nightshirt.
“Felicity?” he murmured in her ear, his hand still stroking gently, making her writhe for more contact. “Do you know what happens between a man and a woman?”
She could feel her face flush red and she buried it against his throat, nodding.
“Then you see why it is unseemly for you to visit me in no more than your night-shift? It will appear to any who saw that…” She lifted her head and kissed him again, sure of herself.
“And if that were what I wanted?” she asked softly.
“Felicity, you don’t know what you are asking.”
She sat back on her heels. “Yes, Ben. I do. I am not afraid of new experiences. You have been my friend and, one day, I would like you to be my husband. I am fond of you in a way that I am fond of no one else. I… I want you to show me this.”
He shifted in the blankets, drawing her close so that she was sitting in his lap, her shift riding up her thighs. She could feel the warmth of his skin so close to hers. “You are a woman of breeding, Felicity. You should rightly wait until after you are wed.”
“But if I am to wed you then what difference does it make? When you touch me I just want more. I do not want to wait.”
“My ever patient Felicity!” His finger traced her lips. “I would like that so very much. But if your parents refused my suit? We have not even broached the subject with them. This is too fast.”
“Do you want me?”
“More than anything.” He answered in a heartbeat. “But I want you completely, legally, not just a quick night of pleasure.”
“Can I see you without your clothes?”
His surprise made her laugh. She placed her hands flat on his chest, savouring the warmth of his skin that came through the cloth. “I have seen you in the stable bare of your shirt. I have seen the way perspiration gathers across your shoulders. I had an irrational desire to touch you, but then I had no right. I think, perhaps, I do now.”
Wordlessly, he sat up enough to pull the nightshirt over his head, leaving his hair mussed and his torso bare to the white under breeches he wore. She smoothed her hands across his shoulders, touched the dusting of dark hair that gathered across his chest, then bent to touch her mouth to the dark coins of his nipples. His hips bucked underneath her and her fingers sunk into his upper arms. His hands settled on her waist, holding her steady, then stroked, unbearably teasing, downwards, curling around her hips and pulling her closer to him.
When she lifted her head to kiss him, it was messy and wet, heavy breaths into one another’s mouths. His fingers were grasping, clenching and curling in the cotton of her shift where it fell low across her thighs. The feeling was making her press against him, trying to make the warm glow that was spreading out from her centre increase. It was warm, very warm, and his skin was clammy where her hands rested, touching and learning, mapping out his chest and stomach.
He couldn’t sit still now, the muscles in his thighs flexing, lifting her against him rhythmically. “Felicity,” he murmured. “I need you to tell me now if you do not want to do this. I don’t have unlimited control.”
“I want to.” She put a hand to his cheek to make sure he was looking directly at her. “I want to, Ben.”
Slowly, he withdrew his hand from where it rested against her hip, burrowed it under the skirt of her shift, replacing at the same spot, his skin hot against hers. His kisses were lighter, his lips just brushing hers over and over. She was overwhelmingly aware of a bulge in his breeches, pressing against the inside of her thigh. Her fingers drifted across his chest and down to his stomach but, as yet, she lacked the bravery to move further.
Both his bare hands were on her naked skin, cupping her bottom and encouraging her closer. She gasped when she felt the touch of the soft fabric of his breeches against the private place between her legs. When she pressed against him, a rush of pleasure made her flush and she tightened her thighs around his hips.
“Yes?” he asked, tipping his hips up, rubbing the hard heat of his clothed erection against her. She whimpered agreement, swallowing, trying to gasp air with her dry mouth. The skin of his neck where she pressed her face was damp with sweat and her nostrils were filled with his musky scent. His fingers rubbed at her hips, sliding around to brush at the edge of where hair grew between her legs, his body setting up a rhythm against her. “Does that feel…?”
She clutched at his shoulders as one of his hands insinuated itself between their bodies, his careful fingers delving into the wetness her body was producing. “Oh, Ben,” she breathed, not able to think of words to express what she was feeling. She was lifting herself with her thighs now, giving him access to touch her. She could feel his index finger brush the entrance to her body, circling slowly, while his thumb continued to wring pleasure with each movement. At first she thought he was moving faster, then realised it was herself, that he was following the movement she was setting, rolling her hips desperately against him. There was a pressure building inside her, each stroke of his fingers stoking it more. She felt like she was racing, wild and fast, tumbling toward a destination she didn’t yet know. Her whole world was narrowed to the rhythmic press of his thumb and the circling touch of his finger, dipping into her, tantalising and shallow, before moving away again. She was hanging on a precipice, every muscle in her body tense and striving and then…
Something exploded deep inside her and her body gave in to the burst of pleasure that shook through her. She collapsed forward into Ben’s arms, gasping for breath, her whole body shivering.
He held her, pressing his lips to her temple, and she could feel his breath in her hair. His breeches, the front still swollen and pressing hot against her, were dark with moisture, his thighs enough apart that her body was between them, despite the fact that her legs were bent up across his hips and around his back. His kiss, when she tipped her face up to his, was soft, undemanding, and it was Felicity who opened her mouth. When their tongues touched she felt him shift involuntarily against her, an urgent movement pushing his hips up into her heat.
Hands braced on his chest, she sat back. He watched her with eyes so dark they were almost black. At first he didn’t see what she was doing, then suddenly his hands were everywhere, eagerly helping her peel the sweat-soaked cotton of her shift off her back and over her head. Dropping the garment off the side of the bed, he slid his arms around her, his hands broad and warm on her bare skin, rubbing up and down her back, wringing the last aching shudders from her body.
They interspersed their kisses with smiles, fingers touching and brushing at one another, shoulders, cheeks, nipples, stomachs. Felicity felt surprisingly unexposed, sitting naked against Ben, enjoying his attention. As his touches grew firmer, became proper caresses, she too grew bolder, watching her hands as they dropped to brush at the front of his breeches. He gasped, pressing forward into her touch before controlling himself to move away, leaving the decision to her.
She plucked at the laces of the breeches, looking up at him, but no help was forthcoming. He wasn’t going to pressure her. Once they were open, the soft fabric gave way under the strain of his erection, the head pushing itself free. Ben let out a sigh.
Tentatively, Felicity reached out, cupping the hot flesh with her palm. She could hear Ben’s harsh breathing. Her nervous, curious touches were keeping him excited, his cock moving of its own accord, twitching and stretching out toward her. Moisture from the tip clung in strings to her palm. She pulled at the sides of the cloth, burrowing her small hand inside to grasp him fully. He pulsed, hot in her hand.
“Will it really fit?” she asked with an embarrassed laugh. Ben’s chest was rising and falling quickly with his breathing.
“Aye. If you are sure you want to try. It will hurt, my sweet.”
She bit her lip, stroking her hand up his cock and watching the way his hips followed, watching the beading liquid at the head. “I do want. You will be gentle.” It was a confirmation, not a question.
He squirmed, wriggling the breeches down his legs, not meeting her eyes as she looked at him, moving back to give him space, then settling back on his lap. The skin of his inner thighs was damp with sweat, the hair that grew around his cock curled more than that on his head. When she touched it, it was coarse under her fingers. It was hot between his legs, his balls heavy when she touched them, stroking with her thumb before grasping his cock, more sure now, and stroking him. His hands on her wrists stilled her movement after a few seconds.
“That is enough.”
His hands on her hips lifted her and pulled her forward, his eyes darting between her eyes and her hand on his cock. She let herself sink, holding the head so that it nestled at the entrance to her body, her weight held on her knees either side of his hips.
The pressure made her wince, a low, dull burn of pain. She could see the concentration on Ben’s face as he kept very still, letting her adjust. He was part-way in and she could feel the stretch, and it hurt more. She tightened her fingers on his cock, reaching down between them, then gritted her teeth and pushed. “You have to help,” she whispered. He swallowed, took a deep breath and thrust upwards a tiny amount. She could feel something give within her; it wasn’t so much pain as surprise that made her cry out, then he was in.
Her arm was trembling where it rested braced on his shoulder, her other hand still touching where they joined. It was an odd feeling, not an entirely unpleasant one, but she wasn’t sure she liked it all the same. She shifted her hips, focus entirely on the feeling of him moving inside her. He withdrew slightly in response, before pushing back in. The friction did feel good, just tight, and she smiled at him. He moved again, his head tipping back and his eyes drifting shut. It hurt less each time he thrust, her body adjusting to the invasion.
When he kissed her she welcomed the distraction, sucking his tongue into her mouth, swallowing his sounds of pleasure. He stroked her neck with his thumb, sending shivers through her, his other hand resting on her waist, holding her still as he rocked up into her. At first she counted his thrusts, listening to the way his gasps got increasingly high pitched, then she stopped, focusing instead on his mouth where it touched her cheek, her neck, her throat, then back to her mouth, his tongue leaving a glistening trail that made her pant and begin to thrust back against him.
Then he was coming, his eyes screwed shut, fingers tight on her upper arms, as he pulsed inside her, flooding her with heat and liquid.
They sat still, molten together, as he tried to gather his breath. A shift of her weight and his flaccid cock slipped from her body, falling slick against his thigh. She pressed her face against his neck, his arms holding her close against him.
“Are you…?” he began.
“I am fine.” She kissed his neck. “It only hurt a little.”
His fingers under her chin lifted her face, made her look at him. “What now, Felicity?”
She smiled, brushing a kiss to his nose. “Now I must go back to my chamber before anyone notices I am missing. We will take tomorrow when it comes.”
He caught her wrist, preventing her from leaving as she reached back to find her shift where it had tumbled off the bed. “Tomorrow, may I speak to your father?”
She couldn’t help the hitch in her breath and the smile that instantly sprung to her face. “I… I should like that…” She stopped his answering smile with a kiss, moulding against his body, savouring the feeling of his bare skin against hers.
“Tomorrow then. Goodnight.” Extricating herself from his embrace she slipped on the shift and cloak before returning to claim one last brief kiss. “Goodnight.”
He came naked to the door, watched her clamber down the ladder to the stable floor. She looked back up at his silhouette with a wave.
“Tomorrow,” she heard him whisper.
***