The Greatest Escape [MrAdam]

[MrAdam]

The rest of the world had ceased to exist. For Robert, there was just the two of them. Lips temporarily apart, but liable to be drawn together at any moment by a desire that could not be resisted or denied, but merely held in check. Their eyes were locked... he was looking at her the same way that she was looking at him because he was looking the same way at her as she was looking at him. Everything was circling inevitability, and the circles were decreasing in size as they approached the singularity.

"I do mean that" he answered, his voice a whisper. He kissed her again, because he couldn't not kiss her... the pull was too strong for him to resist, even if he had a mind to. But only for a few moments, which were enough to sustain him for a few more moments of not kissing her.

How easy it would be to just leave it at that. To let everything else be left unsaid, implied, unspoken... with any missing detail or misunderstandings to be dealt with later, when he was more able to marshal his thoughts beyond his immediate desire for her. But no. He must be honest with her, about who he was now, and what responsibilities that entailed. Open-ended promises had a habit of ending badly, and the thought of hurting or disappointing or misleading Estelle was serious enough to cut through even a mind befuddled by the sensations of her bare breasts against his surprisingly muscular chest, and, and... just the sheer sound of her voice, familiar and yet transformed.

"Robin will promise you whatever you want promising. But Duke Robert... he's a Duke. You remember your Machiavelli, I'm sure. The Prince should keep his word, but should never give it lightly, and be willing to break it should it become necessary. Don't trust the word of a Duke. You can trust Robin, though... and the Duke will listen to Robin except in extreme and largely improbable circumstances."

"Robin kept a little notebook" he continued, "I still have it somewhere. He titled it 'Things to Do When I'm Duke'. The first few pages are a mixture of petty prattling, preposterous projects, and purple prose. The first sensible suggestion is just three words, written in bigger letters and with greater emphasis than anything else in the book. Three words, Leafy."

"Get. Estelle. Back"

"I wrote that after they told me you'd gone. Robin knew what he was talking about. And although he'd probably be disgusted by...... all this kissing. I, on the other hand, am delighted."

 

[Fairess]

Estelle whined when Robert had the nerve to bring up Machiavelli while in bed with her. It was an annoyingly familiar sound, not unlike when young Robin had insisted that she let him finish another essay before playing with her. Now that she was in his arms again, promising to keep her close, she didn't want any infringement from reality. His ducal responsibilities, the inevitable disgust and disappointment she'd foster by mingling with his family — hadn't she already spent far too long fussing over them?

Alas, Robert was too clever. She could kiss and tease and massage him to his heart's content, but he would not compromise that frustratingly sensible character of his. Even if they were in a fit of passion, where illogical declarations of love could be made, he still wouldn't let his judgment be fogged up by desire. Too much was riding on his responsibilities, that precarious balance between devotion to a lover and dedication toward everything else.

Before she could give him too hard a time, however, he had to go and bring up his notebook. It was strange, really, just how strong a reaction a few words from the past could tear from her. Get Estelle Back. To think, he really had missed her, that all her longing for him had at one time been reciprocated despite everything!

Slowly, Estelle's pout melted into something softer. With a sigh, she slumped forward against him, curling her arms around his back while her breath tickled his bare shoulder. "Are you worried that I'll be the one to leave again? Are you already fussing over how you're going to explain someone like me to your family? You've seen how I've changed, but maybe… no. I can't blame you for being cautious when it's clear I've lost any kind of status within the court."

Estelle squeezed him closer, hating the words that insisted on spilling out from her mouth. "I was always a half-breed, Robin. Perhaps it really was in my nature from the beginning, to want more than I deserved and get punished for it. I know my place now, better than I ever did. I won't ask you to do something that will hurt your family. I just… right now, I don't want to be separated from you. No matter what you need me to be, I'll become it, if it means I can stay right here with you."

 

[MrAdam]

There was a longer discussion to be had. About the past, and about the future. About what had happened when Leafy had left, and what had happened between then and now. Between then and turning up here, with someone as awful as Baron Lineham. She'd talked about wanting more than she deserved and being punished for it... whether she meant by fate, or the gods, or by people in general or people in particular he didn't yet know. There would be time. There would be time to find out, time to discuss. But her story was her own... she could tell him or not, as she chose.

And tonight... now... what she said she wanted most was to stay with him. And what he wanted most was... her. And she was deliciously distractingly gloriously naked, and not only could he barely resist her a moment longer, he had no wish to resist her a moment longer. He wanted to make good on his promises.

"Let me make one thing crystal clear", said Robert, his tone serious, but enough of a raise of one eyebrow to undercut the full force of his ducal intonations. He laid his hands firmly on Estelle's bare shoulders. A gesture both reassuring and possessive. Reassuringly possessive. Or possessively reassuring.

"Your place now...." he continued, suddenly rolling and half-manoeuvring, half-wrestling her onto her back, with him kneeling astride her, supporting his weight with his forearms.
"... is wherever I say it is, if you want that too. There's lots I can't do, Leafy, not without cost and consequences, but I'm still Duke, and if I want to take a lover, I can. If I want to employ a terrible maid, I can. If I want to ensure that you never, ever have to go back to the likes of... him. I can. I don't think you're a halfbreed, Leafy, but if others do, well, that makes it easier in a way because you're not a threat to anyone."

"And...." he continued, feasting his hungry eyes on her, "you don't look like a halfbreed."

 

[Fairess]

Something about that tone, too warm to be despotic yet too firm to be mistaken for gentleness, did strange things to Estelle. The first time she'd ever heard anything approximately close to it was when he'd caught her trying to pilfer an apple away from his neglected picnic with his sisters. When he'd 'ordered' her to share his goodies with her, however, that had been experimental. He'd still been a boy who didn't yet know the full weight of his father's mantle, who still cowed his head to his parents because that was the right thing for a young, would-be duke to do.

There was nothing that wavered in Robin's voice now. His gaze had a steeliness to it that made her believe that he really could carve out a place for her, even if it was met with disapproval. Certainly, his mother would not be at all pleased — regardless of Estelle's station in life, after all, she was ultimately a distraction away from Robert's marital duties.

Other important details about Duke Robert very quickly became apparent when he all but pinned her down on his bed. It wasn't difficult to throw her off balance, given how shamelessly she'd spread herself over him, but this duke, this knave had learned how to make a woman fall exactly as he liked. The warm spread of his hand over the back of her neck, the playful mockery he made of her thin wrists by holding her fast with ease — this was new in every way that was good.

Despite having put up no real resistance, Estelle still found herself breathless once she was all but pinned on top of the mattress. With wide, hopelessly vulnerable eyes, she listened to what could only be described as his orders. Being his lover, his maid, his ward, all of it was more than she deserved.

Of course that didn't mean he'd escape any teasing. Estelle frowned at the sound of "halfbreed" on his lips, then slowly raised her hand up against his chest. She hadn't forgotten where young Robin's ticklish patch along the side of his ribs was, and that particular technique of feathering her fingers across it had only been perfected over time. In the space of a breath, she slipped her fingertips over his ribs and grinned. "I like it when you're bossy, Your Grace. Still… would you really say I'm not a threat just because I'm prettier?"

 

[MrAdam]

Estelle took him by surprise, and so did the response of his own body. Robert had been luxuriating in the look in Leafy's eyes and the look on her face after he'd rolled her. Told her what her place (or places) would be, and reminded her of the power that he possessed. He was sure it wasn't just the sudden movement that had caused her to catch her breath like that. She was his now... his triumph utterly complete, though quite who that triumph was over was less clear... probably over whatever forces or fates had separated them. Over anyone who would disapprove of Estelle lying naked in his bed.

So focused was he on her expression, he saw her hands move only very late. He realised her intent later still... perhaps it was the hint of a smirk that tugged at the corner of her lips, or a glint of devilment in her eye ahead of any movement of her hand. But even then, it took him a moment or two longer to remember that he had been ticklish there. Once. But he wasn't now, or at least he didn't think he was. He was already starting to think about how he would respond to her failed attempt. He'd tensed a little in anticipation, but he was expecting to resist her attack comfortably with barely a response.

He was entirely wrong. A sudden bark of laughter. His eyes widened in surprise and pained pleasure, faux-utraged by her temerity but delighted by her newfound skill. Surprised at his own weakness and the betrayal of his own body. He laughed again at his own weakness and his own reaction, joining in the joke, letting her have her triumph for a moment. But only for a moment.

"Right!" he said, grinning, "Right, that's it!". He shifted position, putting his knee between her legs in order to sit up, so he no longer had to rest on his forearms, which made him much more vulnerable. Both arms now free, he tried to grab her wrists, one in each hand, scrambling and almost fishing for them. Once he'd caught both of them, he gripped her slender wrists in his strong hands and pinned them to the mattress, just higher than her head.

"You're more a threat than I realised, my pretty" he said. He realised that although he had her wrists pinned, it cost him the use of his own hands to do it. "I am trying to give you pleasure beyond your wildest erotic imaginings, Leafy. Am I going to have to use my cravat to stop you from trying to tickle me while I do it?"

 

[Fairess]

Ah, the sound of his laughter! Not that polite nonsense, perfectly tempered so as not to be offensive, but the proper bark of a man teased by his own weakness. She adored it, unable to keep from laughing herself even as he shifted about and caught up her wrists in his hands. He'd definitely grown much stronger, faster, wiser to her wiles — but she'd spent time developing more than a few curves, too. Part of her wanted to test him, to see just how many times a wily, circus-raised brat could escape his grasp.

But this new sort of game between them, the one that had her blood rushing to her cheeks when his knee found that forbidden place once again? It wasn't one she wanted to win. There was bright affection in those pale blue eyes as he pinned her hands against the mattress, and her chin tilted cheekily upward, as if inviting him to try going for her vulnerable, exposed neck.

"Oh no, Your Grace! Mercy, I beg you. Anything but the cravat! You know it's only appropriate with the permission of the ladies present, and only on a warm night or after a 'particularly energetic' dance." Estelle's smile grew wider and more wicked still, always challenging him to break the rules just that little bit more.

"The way I see it, however, you're woefully unprepared. My hands you may tie, but then you've got nothing to muffle me saying that 'my pretty' is among the worst tripe I've heard, even for a novice playing a bandit onstage. If I don't tickle you for the crime, however will you learn?"

 

[MrAdam]

Robert didn't answer at first. Her neck, almost proffered to him, was just too tempting. Without letting go of her wrists, he leant forward, nuzzling and kissing her bare neck. And if that movement shifted his knee a little, well... that was just an unforeseen consequence. His lips and his tongue on her neck were light and playful, tickling, grazing and teasing. After a few moments he resurfaced again, his breathing a little heavier, her wrists still pinned.

"You can't criticise me for hack pantomime villain stage dialogue when you've just said 'mercy, I beg you' with something approaching a straight face. And anyway... even if my crimes against literature are greater than yours... a point I am not quite ready to concede... surely your response shouldn't be to try to tickle me, but to try to improve my writing. You want to make yourself useful to me, Leafy, as more than just a terrible maid and a quite spectacular piece of eye candy...."

He paused for a moment, his gaze running over her. A silence falling. He found he was holding his breath. Perhaps she was too. Still he held her wrists.
"You tell me what I ought to be saying" he said, quietly, seriously, "when I've got my childhood friend, now all gloriously grown up, naked in my bed and completely at my mercy. With her wrists pinned to my mattress, mere moments from the silky, seductive embrace of my cravat."

"What do I say then, Leafy? Or do I just bind your wrists and pleasure you until you cum again?"