There had never been a more uneventful week in Rhys' life before, he was certain and one he'd had such high hopes for. But he felt as though he had made no leeway in the way Wendy acted around him and now it was any day that they expected her family to arrive. He had wanted to build his trust with her but the man who had all the right ideas and words in every other area of his life was at a complete loss when it came to getting this enchanting yet damaged woman to open up to him.
Rhys sat in his study, leaned back in his new high-backed chair as he rubbed at his temple. Sharing a room with his wife had been so far, not what he was expecting. Wendy was dressed for bed and sitting by the fire every night he arrived at their rooms and she was bathed and dressed for the day, seated demurely in their dining hall every morning he awoke. If he had thought that forcing her into the same room as him would bring them closer, he was mistaken it seemed. There was never a moment where she let her guard down and he felt it keenly, suddenly he felt he could not break the tension that choked them until no words escaped into the chilling silence.
Mary had even informed him, admittedly only after he had pressed for the information, that Wendy still bathed in her old rooms and Rhys had to grit his teeth to stop from finding his wife and confronting her. Was he so repulsive that she could not even stand sleeping in the same room as him?! He sighed heavily, he wanted to give up, this seemed to be the lot that life had cast him. To love a woman that he knew did not love him back, to hopelessly long for her tender glances and whispered words of passion. Though he could count on one hand the amount of deep conversations that had passed between them, he had fallen for her through every action, through every idea that spouted out of her before she had time to stop herself, through every brush of her hand against his as they walked to the dining table, through every passing glance she threw his way. He had not even realized that the night he caught her in his arms in his sisters gardens that she had stolen his heart.
"Faron!" He shouted, sighing deeply again as he stood from his desk, papers neatly piled away from the work he had barely managed to complete during the day. He had to wait only a moment before his trusted servant stepped through the door, ever ready to do his bidding.
"You shouted, Your Grace?" The older man drew out and if Rhys was not in such a sour mood the old man's sarcasm would have had him cracking a smile.
"I am retiring for the evening, tell the maids they won't need to set a place for me at dinner." Rhys did not pause in his stride as he gave the man his orders over his shoulder and made his way out of his study and towards the grand staircase leading up to his rooms.
"Your Grace..." Faron started to say something.
"Tomorrow, Faron.' Rhys cut him off with a wave of his hand through the air as he made his way up the stairs two at a time, he wanted to drink until he passed out and could no longer feel whatever was ripping his insides apart and all thoughts were nothing but jumbled incoherence, yet he did not trust himself to not seek Wendy out and demand answers for his somber questions, so he was going to settle for one drink and going to sleep.
As he had done thousands of times before, Rhys threw open the door to his rooms and stepped inside, slamming the door behind him with a kick of his booted foot and began to tug at the strings keeping the simple shirt he had dawned that day without much thought across his chest.
The sound of a startled gasp and water splashing against the floors caused him to look up suddenly and what he saw had him stopping in his tracks, rooted to his spot by the door as he felt his heart rate increase tenfold. Wendy sat in a tub of water in the middle of the room, a soaked, practically see-through shift clinging to her body, a dusky pink with smooth tanned skin showing through the wet fabric, with her wet curls sleeked around her head, she quickly wrapped her arms around her chest in an attempt to protect her modesty.
The air felt thick, so thick Rhys was sure he was not actually breathing as he took in the Goddess sat in his tub, in his room, in his house, all his.
Wendy felt as though her heart was going to beat out of her chest as they stared at one and other, for a week she had been doing her very best to stay out of Rhys' way, going through great pains to not bother him and above all so that he would not see her bare. The night they had shared had been beautiful for her, especially because he had failed to notice the scars littering her body. She had gone to great lengths to skirt around the man she now shared a bed with and it had all come crashing down in one moment.
She cursed herself, she had been foolish, giving in to Mary and Faron as they convinced her to soak in the warm water in the large tub offered in his rooms to help her sore body after all the work she had been putting in at the estate to avoid her husband, the same husband who was standing at the entrance of said rooms, hands paused halfway through undressing himself as she sat in his tub, just a glimpse of a tanned, muscular chest for her eyes to dip towards even in her panic.
"Your Grace!" Wendy gasped out as she shot up in the tub, setting off in motion a domino of events. The water sloshed all around the edges of the suddenly not as large tub, splashing in puddles against the floors, Wendy's hands flew to the sides of the tub to steady herself as she felt her feet begin to slip out from under her. Rhys was across the room grabbing her body before she could kiss the wet floors at her feet and pulled her to his warm torso in what she felt like was the blink of an eye.
Rhys felt all of the welcoming curves of his wife's body and his grip on her upper arm and around her waist tightened as a pained groan slipped out of his suddenly too-tight throat at the thought of kissing her senseless. No, she had made it clear she did not want him like that, he would never disrespect that. The line, to him, was clear and unless she showed him otherwise it would stay there.
Wendy's heart was beating a tattoo against her chest at his sound of pain. Had she hurt him? Quickly she righted herself and stepped out of his grip to assess him, her hands instantly running down his arms from his broad shoulders to his wrists. "Did I hurt you, Your Grace?" She stammered out "I...I did not mean, I mean I should not have been in here." She dropped her hands after she realized she was still holding onto him, a blush rushing up her neck to light her face ablaze. "I have a tub, or that is to say, I did have one. Not that they are mine! Everything here is yours, I know!" Wendy wanted to shake herself, could she not shut her mouth?! She was working herself into a panic, a deeply rooted part of her that ran on instinct told her that at any moment she may displease him in a way that would have his temper flying at her violently, while her brain argued the logic that he had never once, even in such moments where it might have been justified, shown her any side of himself capable of such behavior. Her mind trapped in a hellish past while her body was fighting to stay in a heavenly present.
Rhys watched the nervous behavior of his wife, she went from a comely blush to a ghostly white and back to cherry red before Rhys could even process her rushed words. He zoned out her nervous speech and watched the way she tugged the ends of her hair at her waist, the waist that dipped so nicely, Rhys wanted to stay in bed and dedicate a day to tracing into memory his wife's stunning frame.
With a heavy sigh, that cut through Wendy's chatter and had her harshly pinching her lips together, Rhys sank into the large cushioned settee by the fire, he propped his elbow along the back as he ran his finger over his bottom lip and his eyes lazily danced over Wendy, her face once again going from a pale hue to the most enthralling shade of pink. His body felt more tired from fighting the feelings he had for this small woman in front of him than when he fought any battle he had been in throughout his life.
"Come here, Wendy." Those three words wrapped around Wendy's head and choked her, whispering in her ear promises that the air would willingly be returned if she just obeyed, her feet moving on their own accord as they took her to the place directly in front of him, she was almost standing in between his muscular thighs. So close she could see the cords of muscles straining against the soft fabric there, she blushed brighter and went to step back but his hands grabbing her hips had her gasping as heat shot through her.
His fingertips were digging into her flesh, she did not doubt that there would be marks as proof on her soft skin later and yet she let him, she indulged in his touch. He seemed to be wrestling something inside of his soul as he leaned his forehead against her stomach and his shoulders and back tensed stiffly.
Rhys was fighting the strong urge to tug her beautiful hips into his lap and know his wife in a way as he'd only had the pleasure to know her once before, her supple curves calling out to him to worship. Minutes ticked by, and just as Rhys had convinced himself to not react in a way that would scare his skittish wife, her delicate and gentle touch barreled through his core as she stroked her fingers through his hair as though she was trying to comfort him.
Wendy's heart went out to Rhys, whatever he was working through in his head seemed to really have him stressed, she had seen the tension settled deep in his face before he had noticed her in his rooms. In the same way she used to comfort the twins when they would cry as children, Wendy wound her fingers through the silky, inky strands of his hair in a soothing manner, finding a lock at the nape to wrap slightly around her finger and stroke down his tense neck and towards his shoulders where she rested her hands.
The string of tension inside of Rhys snapped and he wrenched Wendy forward as he leaned back on the settee and groaned again as soon as she was seated in his lap. "Wendy, my darling" Rhys murmured into her hair as his grip slipped down her hips to her thighs and he squeezed again. "Please, release me from this torment." He grabbed her chin and lifted her face to look at him.
He wasn't prepared for the look of want clear as day on her face, her skin flushed and still dewy from her bath, her hair hung around them like a curtain. Beginning to dry in curls like a halo around her, her pupils were blown wide enough that the blue was disappearing and her lips were wet from her tongue as she parted them slightly to let out a shuttered breath.
"God, woman" He groaned as he slid his hand around to the back of her head and wound her hair around his fist, moving her head back to whisper his words against the soft skin of her neck "You must have bewitched me, why else would it be that since the moment you stepped into my sight I have wanted you." He moved down her neck, open mouthed kisses following in his path as Wendy began to gasp for air.
"Please, Your Grace" She started but was cut off by the grunt of disapproval coming from him before she resumed "Your Grace, I...I don't know how to...." No other words could come from her as he suddenly flipped them and he was on top of her, his weight pressing her into the settee in such a comfortable way she wished she could always feel this safe.
"Rhys, Woman." He whispered above her as his hands started to lift the shift up her thighs all the while tracing distracting patterns on her skin. "Rhys." He mumbled against her lips as he stole her lips in a kiss.
"Rhys!" She gasped out, her hand flying to catch his wrist before he took both of her hands in his other and held them above her head, pinned to the cushions . Quickly he was driving her to a point she had not come to since the night she had first kissed him, his tongue and lips began to shower her with affection and she cried out as she fought against his hold, a sudden urgency building.
"No, Wendy" He whispered in her ear "Relax, my darling. Let yourself feel, feel how I can make you feel." He growled as he sucked at the skin on her neck again, the pain mixing with the pleasure in an addicting way "Only I have the privilege to make you feel, only I will bask in this beauty, only I am honored to shower you in affection." He whispered darkly to her, his words were sweet with a possessive tone coating them thickly "You should be painted so I can hang it in my office."
Fire spread across Wendy's face and down her chest at the words coming out of her proper husband. Her titled, wealthy, mature husband was whispering words she would sin to hear from him as he played with her mind like it was his favorite instrument, a ball was forming in her, without thinking her legs were wrapping around his trim waist.
Rhys could not stop the tortured sound that strangled his throat as he felt her begin to relax under him and lose herself in the moment as he released her arms and they draped around his neck, he went to dive in for pleasure as he had known only once, suddenly there was a hesitant yet sharp knock at the door.