My Wife, My Rules – 11. chapter

When Aiden opened his eyes that morning, he saw Tess struggling with a skirt in front of the mirror. In his opinion, Tess could not win that fight. A massive piece of heavy fabric could not be held around the waist and have its laces tied behind the back at the same time. He did not move to help her. Instead, he watched her in her short shirt and enjoyed the sight of her bare legs. More than once it had crossed his mind that he should keep her moving around near him as undressed as possible. So she would grow used to it. So he would. For now, he did not dare.

After several attempts, Tess managed to sit down in the skirt on the chair in such a way that the waist sat in place at the right height, freeing her hands to lace the back. Pity.

“You need a maid,” he said.

Without stopping her concentration on the lacing, she answered, “I would rather not.”

“Why?”

“I would have to choose her.”

“How did you choose the one at your parents’ house?”

“I did not. She was already there when I was born.”

“Why did we not bring her with us?”

Tess finished tying the laces and looked at Aiden.

“Because you were originally marrying a normal woman, not the mad one they foisted on you?”

He frowned.

“Not to mention,” Tess continued, “that they surely did not think you could afford my maid. Had they known you were wealthy, they would have given you Viktoria. I am sure of that.”

He frowned even more and decided to change the subject.

“Why do you wear these skirts, anyway? You have done that ever since we arrived. Why not your dresses? They must be easier to put on.”

“My mother says they are improper. I am meant to dress like a well bred respectable lady, not a free spirited girl. My future husband will certainly burn all my indecent things. After all, he will teach me!”

She whispered the last sentence.

He understood then that she had heard this threat often at home. His heart tightened. He was not sure whether it was more for the way her own family had treated her, or for the fact that they had actually been right. Had she married another man… He did not wish to think about it.

“What is in your trunks?” he asked.

“I don’t know. The servants and my mother packed me,” Tess replied indifferently.

“Do you have dresses there?” Aiden went on, and Tess grew uncertain.

“Well… Perhaps… It might have happened that I somehow accidentally shoved a few in there,” she searched for the words for an ambiguous answer.

“Show me,” Aiden told her. He did not understand why Tess was fidgeting, but it was clear to him that the dresses were in that luggage.

Without hesitation, Tess crossed to the trunks and only found the dresses in the second one. She immediately pictured them in flames, sighed, then rose and handed the light garment to Aiden. He did not take it. He only said, “Put those on.”

She lifted her brows in surprise, yet obeyed at once. Getting out of the skirt took a while, but after that it went quickly.

He looked her over and smiled.

“I have seen you in those before. They suit you.”

He did not wait for her reaction. He stepped close and wrapped his arms around her waist.

“I am guessing they told you at home that sex is unpleasant, but you have to give it to your husband, didn’t they?”

She stared at him for a moment, then nodded. He laughed.

“I have the feeling your parents imagined a completely different man for you than I am!”

“Well, yes, so far you are doing absolutely everything differently,” Tess nodded.

He smiled and shook his head.

“Would you like to go for a walk, or go riding?”

She overcame yet another surprise and chose the horses. From the doorway, Aiden called for the animals to be prepared and returned to the room.

“By the way, I have invited a few friends to supper. Does that bother you?”

Tess stiffened a little, swallowed, but answered, “Not at all.”

“That pleases me.”

“How many?”

“Only four. Don’t worry. We will not be loud.”

God, people! …All right. I have to endure it. For Aiden. He deserves it.

“Very well. I shall find something more suitable,” Tess said with resolve, glancing at her dress.

“Why?” Aiden asked, puzzled.

She gave him the same look, and it dawned on him.

“I don’t expect you to attend.”

“Why?”

“Because you don’t like it. Don’t misunderstand me, if you wished to join us, I would of course be glad. But I will not force you or expose you needlessly to the fear you have of people.”

“I am your wife. It is my duty to be a good hostess,” she objected, not very convincingly.

He smiled with confidence and declared firmly, “I decide what your duties are. And this is certainly not among them.”

She hesitated.

“Then why did you ask whether I minded?”

“As you said, you are my wife. Therefore, this is your home as well, and you have the right to decide what happens in it.”

“I see… So I cannot decide whether I want sex, but I may decide which strangers I don’t know and will not even see may walk through the house,” she assessed quietly, with irony.

He laughed.

“Yes, something like that. Why? Do you want sex?”

She had not planned to answer, and she did not mind when they came to announce that the horses were saddled and ready.

They went down, again without meeting any staff.

Several hours in the saddle and on foot, the horses beside them, the air soaked with the scent of horses and warmed grass. Tess relaxed. For the first time since… perhaps since they had met. Aiden felt it and enjoyed it in silence.