Chapter 4: Home

Ty helped Willow up onto the driver’s seat of the carriage.

He found his hands encircled her waist and had little difficulty lifting her up. He wasn’t, however, expecting the butt in his face. She had bent over to retrieve the reins that were slipping off the brake handle when she had grasped it.

Ty found his eyes glued to her very shapely butt as he watched her step forward and then turn to sit down. He climbed up, and she handed him the reins. She had moved over into the corner and gripped the rail.

Ty chucked to the horses and got them moving to circle around and follow the cart. They soon found the rutted road kept bouncing their butts to the bow in the middle of the seat. After the first half hour, Ty gave up trying to move his butt back to the side and stayed in the middle. It was easier on his arse and for guiding the horses.

Willow held on grimly to the side rail for the next ten minutes. Ty noticed she was getting tired. She had been through a lot, and he was amazed at how well she had hung in there. He couldn’t handle watching her trying to rearrange her seat anymore.

Gruffly, he said, “Come here.” He slid his arm around her waist and pulled her into his side. She shivered against him. “Silly bloody woman,” he said softly. He pulled his coat open and wrapped it around her, so she was snuggled up to his chest. He tried to concentrate back on the road.

Willow found herself enveloped in his warmth. If she weren’t so damn tired, she’d have put up more of a fight. She was exhausted after the long day and night, which had been filled with so much death, terror and sadness.

She breathed in through her nose, and his warm male scent invaded her consciousness. She liked his smell she decided. She liked being snuggled under his arm and in his coat with him. She felt safe. She wrapped her other arm around his waist, and under the coat. She sighed and dropped off to sleep.

Ty looked down onto the top of her head and felt the arm go around him. He felt her relax into him as sleep overtook her. Her lovely breasts were pressed into his chest and rubbed against him as they went over ruts in the road.

Ty couldn’t help himself, and he felt his cock rise. He hadn’t had a woman for a while, and this young lady was having a strong effect on him. He had to shift the reins to his other hand and rearrange the hardware, so it sat along his hip. He had just swapped the reins back when they hit the next bump.

He stiffened as a small hand now gripped his cock. He looked down, as the hand relaxed its hold on him. It stayed cupped over his cock. He determined that Willow was still asleep, so it hadn’t been deliberate. He left the hand where it lay. He knew he shouldn’t, but he liked her hand just where it was.

Ten minutes later, he was regretting his decision. The road was not in good repair, and every little bounce had her hand tightening and releasing his cock or sliding up and down it. It was a bloody, torturous pleasure. If she did it much longer, he was going to come in his pants.

Regrettably, he removed her hand, tucking it back down between them. It didn’t stay there long and soon found its way back to his cock. He spent the next hour retrieving the hand, which seemed to have a mind of its own.

He was just about ready to stop the carriage and just plonk her down on his cock for relief. At last, he saw the lights of a house ahead. It was now late afternoon. He retrieved her hand yet again, but this time, he squeezed it saying, “Wake up sleepy head you’re almost home.”

Willow became conscious of the fact that she was snuggled up to the chest of a man she barely knew. She ducked out from under his coat and sat up in alarm. “Oh goodness, I’m so sorry. That was very rude of me. I didn’t intend to be so familiar with your person, sir,” she said as she blushed. She started to straighten her clothes and hair.

Ty barked out a laugh. If she knew just how familiar she had been with his person, she would be mortified. He watched as her lovely breasts pushed the buttons of her blouse to their extremes, as she raised her hands behind her head to restrain the loose hair.

She had re-plaited her hair while he and Vincent had been gone, but his coat had made a mess of it again. She had long, thick hair and it curled from being in the plait. It had lost its lustre, but he was sure the red highlights in her dark brown hair would shine again.

She was a lot younger than the women he typically pursued, but she seemed to pull on him like a magnet. This woman wasn’t a play toy. She was the settle down and have babies with type. Something he was in no hurry to do again.

He didn’t need an heir as long as Vincent was around. He would do right by his daughter, Bethany, but being married again was not his desire. The grief caused by his first marriage was not something he wished to experience again.

They pulled the wagons up in the forecourt and tiredly got down. Willow allowed Ty to lift her off the seat and he placed her down gently. He was, however, reluctant to let her go. She searched his face to see why he still held her. He smiled gently, tucked her arm in his and escorted her to her house. He wouldn’t let her face the household alone.

Willow soon found herself embraced in Grace’s arms. She finally broke down, and the housekeeper shushed her sobs and wiped her tears. She guided her up to her room. She yelled to Carol to get the boiler going and for Hettie to get spare rooms made up for the Lords.

Morris, the butler, come whatever job was required, escorted the two men to the sitting room and immediately poured them a whisky. Ty informed him briefly of the Terrells misadventure with the rogues and that their bodies were in the carriage. He asked if there was anywhere to lock up the two prisoners.

Morris sniffed back a sob and stood straighter. He informed Ty that they had cells in the basement for that purpose. On occasion, they had a guest or two, until they could be sent to the prison in Bavindor. Earl Terville hadn’t been in residence for many years, so Baron Terrell had been appointed as the local magistrate.

Morris sent one of the stable boys to the town nearest them, called Terville, for a priest and a doctor to come back in the morning. Brain helped bring the prisoners in. He then helped the other men to move the dead to the chapel to be laid out.

Brain happily helped the stable boy deal with all the horses. His serene countenance had a calming effect on the other male servants. One of the serving girls later brought him out a platter with bread, butter, cheese and thick slices of ham. After he had eaten, he climbed into the loft and made himself at home. Vincent said they would find him a bed. Brain refused, saying that he had to be with the horses. So they let him be.

Grace had come back downstairs and escorted the cousins to their rooms. She opened a door between them and explained they shared a bathing-room. The men were surprised to see a very modern bathroom. A lot of the Gentry still hadn’t installed such fixtures due to the expense.

It contained a flushable privy, a very large tub with a shower spigot overhead, two sets of taps and a faucet for the bath. It also had a sink set in a long bench with taps and a faucet, and a large mirror for shaving.

Grace said, “There’s a boiler in the basement, and one of them newfangled motor-pump thingies. It pumps the water up to the third floor. It sure saves hauling water. Her ladyship, may God rest her soul, had the men put it all in three years ago before all the bad things started to happen.”

“The master could never say no to her. At least they went together. Either would have pined without the other.” She mopped the tears from her face. “I’ll go see to dinner, and you boys can come down when you’re ready. Thank you for bringing Willow back to us.”

Vincent took first dibs on the shower, and Ty went back into his room. The room was large with a four poster bed wide enough to fit three of him across. It was tastefully decorated in shades of blue and cream. Rugs were scattered across the highly polished wooden floor, and a large bay window looked out onto the drive.

The curtains were thick enough to block the morning sun, but not leave the room too dark. A small couch wide enough for two, with matching stools, sat in front of the fireplace. A cupboard and a dressing table were placed against the other wall. It wasn’t a fussy room, and Ty liked it.

He noticed Morris had placed a decanter on the small table beside the couch. He flopped onto the couch and poured a large drink. The fire was already lit, and he relaxed as he watched the flames. Next thing he knew, he was gently shaken awake by a vision of loveliness.

Without thinking, he pulled Willow down onto his lap and kissed her. He had been dreaming about kissing those lips. He held her head as he sucked on her lips and then worked his tongue between them, to explore her mouth.

He felt her tongue touch his tentatively and deepened the kiss. His other hand soon found the buttons on her blouse and undid enough of them to slip his hand in and cup her breast. He had spent hours with them rubbing his chest and wanted one in his hand.

Willow moaned into his mouth and pressed her breast into his hand. Her actions brought Ty to his senses, and he gently pushed her away as he removed his hand and mouth from her. “Sorry, I don’t know what the hell I was thinking,” he said.

He stood holding her around her back and supported her as her feet dropped back to the floor. He stepped away while running his hand, through his hair. She had turned away from him and was redoing the buttons on her blouse.

“My Lady I don’t generally behave so with someone I have just met. My apologies Lady Willow, it shan’t happen again.”

Willow still had her back to him. She was running her tongue across her lips. She had never been kissed so thoroughly and nicely before. Most young men in her acquaintance had only touched their lips to hers, or they slobbered on her. Her breasts ached from where his hand had been. She also throbbed between her legs. She hadn’t wanted him to stop.

Willow may be a virgin, but she was not ignorant of what when on between men and women. Just recently, she had seen Ben the stable lad happily thrusting his cock into Hettie. Fascinated she had watched as his backside tightened and relaxed as he flexed his hips and slid in and out of her. She had heard Hettie moan and encourage him to go harder.

She had almost giggled as he complied and his hips moved faster. She didn’t get to see the end because she heard Grace call out to Hettie to get her fanny inside. She had quickly walked off. She looked sideways at Ty and noticed the bulge in his trousers. It seemed she wasn’t the only one affected by their encounter.

Suddenly she thought of her parents. Her mother and father had a very healthy sex life and didn’t care who knew. She would never again see her mother give her father that look she gave him, that had him bounding up the stairs after her.

The tears welled, and the next thing she knew she was sobbing. She felt Ty’s arms go around her and she snuggled into his arms and bawled. “Shit Willow, I’m sorry. I’m a complete bastard,” he said.

She found herself back in his lap on the couch. He let her bawl all over him, and finally, he held out a hanky to her. She sat up, blew her nose and wiped her face while he rubbed her back. “I miss them,” she said.

“Sorry Kitten, but you will probably do that often over the months to come. I did when my mother and then my father died,” he told her gently. “Come; let me escort you back to your room so you can re-powder that big honker of yours.”

Willow looked at him horrified and touched her lovely nose. Ty couldn’t help himself. He leant forward and gently kissed the tip of her nose, and then he grinned at her. She smacked him on the arm and flounced off his lap, then out the door to her own room across the hall.