My Wife, My Rules – 23. chapter

After returning home, as he passed the salon, something seemed off to Aiden. He was not certain. Had he heard something? He took a few steps back and went inside.

Tess was inside. His brow lifted in astonishment. She traced the back of the sofa with her fingertips, slowly, as if examining it. She had not noticed him. She was clearly lost somewhere deep in her thoughts. He remained silent and watched her. She moved to the grand piano, pressed a few keys. Birds chirped outside the window. She glanced that way, then stared far beyond the birds, far beyond the glass. She stayed like that for a long moment. Then she returned, played a few more notes, ran her hand over the glossy top of the instrument. She looked around the room and only then noticed Aiden. She flinched slightly, startled.

“Can you play the piano?” he asked softly.

“Oh, come on,” she shook her head. “Who would have taught me? And what for?”
The last question carried bitterness.

“What are you doing here, my kitty?” his voice softened.

“Um. I don’t know,” she answered, confused.

“For ‘I don’t know,’ this is much too far from your safe space, my love. Is something going on?”

“No, um.” She sat on the chair by the grand piano. “I’d only been here once before. How long ago was that? Two weeks?”

“About that,” he nodded.

“It’s hard to explain, but the Montellans were very kind to me.”

“They are very sincere people. Good people. I have known them since childhood. It is natural they would want to be gracious to my wife. I am glad it was with them that I had to confront you, because with Isadora you…” He cleared his throat, unwilling to return to it. “In any case, they are not exactly the crème de la crème of society. A bit too honest for what is fashionable. Elias is an aristocrat in the truest sense, but Isadora is a little crazy.” He smiled. Tess smiled too.

“She is a little lively,” Tess agreed.

“Yes. That was the downside of that introduction. I was surprised that only once did she come close to trying to make physical contact with you.”

“You stopped her.”

“I promised no one would touch you without permission. That right belongs only to me,” he said soothingly, with a beautiful, confident smile.

I love you, the thought crossed Tess’s mind, but she did not say it aloud. Instead, she returned to her point.

“I meant that they were kind. Just like our Mary, the gardener, the stableman.”

“You talk to our stableman?” Aiden asked, surprised.

“He prepares my horse almost every other day,” she smiled.

“I did not know that. Who else do you talk to?”

“I meant that it is different here than at my parents’ home. Here it is as if people… I don’t know. As if it doesn’t matter to them what I’m like. As if it doesn’t bother them.”

He stepped closer.

“Little cat, we already figured out our homes are entirely different worlds.”

“I don’t have a home,” she interrupted him. But before it could pierce his heart, she added, “I mean, I never really did. But now… it almost feels possible.” She shrugged.

“My God, you have no idea how much I would want that,” he breathed, with cautious excitement.

She smiled at him.

“I am not planning anything. It just crossed my mind. I didn’t expect you to be here. Did you come home early today?”

“Yes. And I think I will do so more often. Every time I do, I learn something new.” He smirked. She shook her head, amused.

“When will the Montellans come again?”

He hesitated.

“Do you want me to bring them here for you?”

“Not for me. For you. Since that evening, no one has been here. And you have not gone anywhere.”

“Mm.” His expression changed, and he stepped away from her.

“Aiden.” She stopped him. He paused reluctantly and turned just as reluctantly. She did not like the look on his face and weighed her words.

“Did you put your entire social life on hold because of me?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he replied politely, without hostility, but firmly. As he almost always did. Except this time, he met Tess’s very unexpected resistance.

“But you will,” she said. She could not have surprised him more.

“Will I?”

“I am your wife. You are obliged to care for my needs and wishes.” She used his own weapon against him.

He opened his mouth, ready to put her in her place at once, then stopped. After a few seconds, he nodded unwillingly.

“You are right.”

“About talking to me, or about stopping your entire social life for me?”

“Both.”

Tess held his gaze. In her eyes, pity alternated with an unexpected resolve.

“I don’t want you making such a sacrifice for me.”

“It is not a sacrifice. I simply love you more than society. I don’t want to return home afraid of what might have gone wrong in the meantime. What you might have imagined wrong, or what simply passed through your head. I don’t want to relive that.”

It hurt her. Rightfully so. She had caused it. But she could not allow this. She stood and stepped directly in front of him. Placed her small hands at his sides and looked up at him gently.

“Am I the only one who remembers the lesson I received afterward for that?” she whispered.

“Certainly not,” his defensive tone vanished, love returning to his eyes.

“Then you must remember that I will make damn sure I don’t have to repeat it.”

He thought about it.

“Yes. That was the point,” he admitted slowly.

“So? Go out. Enjoy yourself!”

He shook his head immediately.

“I don’t want to.”

“But you will. Even tonight.”

She surprised him again.

“Won’t you?” she softened her unusual tone.

“What do I get in return?” he surrendered. “Will you consider joining me next time I invite the Montellans? Just consider it. It’s not a trade. I’ll go out for a drink tonight, and you don’t have to receive them. Just think about it.”

She smiled, satisfied.

“All right.”

She rose onto her toes and pressed a kiss to his lips.

“Now go get dressed,” she took his hand and pulled him from the salon.

“You are wicked,” he declared in defeat, but let himself be led to the room.

“Did you eat today?” he asked as they climbed the stairs.

“Yes. Mary never forgets. But I even went to see her in the kitchen.”

A day full of surprises. His brow lifted again.

——————————————————–

Tess was still seated in the armchair, reading, when Aiden returned.

“You weren’t gone long. Didn’t you feel well?” she greeted him.

He bent down, planted a kiss on her, and only then began to undress.

“I fulfilled my wife’s wish. I went. That was enough.”

“I am still glad. You must not lose the things you love because of me.”

“I disagree,” he muttered into the house shirt he pulled on.

Tess set the book aside and folded her hands on her skirt. She rubbed her fingers together nervously for a moment.

“Aiden?” she said so softly she almost doubted she had spoken.

“Yes, my kitty?”

“Will you teach me how to do that with my mouth for you?”

He froze. He hardened instantly, arousal clenching his stomach so sharply it almost hurt. He turned to her.

“Sorry?” he whispered.

“Well.” She cleared her throat. “In that book.” She gestured nervously at the table. “It says that there. Is that something people do?”

She looked at him uncertainly, nervously, as if ready to take it back.

“They do,” he said, watching her shy expression, his rock-hard dick pressing painfully against his trousers. “My God.” He rubbed his face. “Yes. They do.”

She tilted her head slightly, blushing.

It was clearer than daylight this would be a very short lesson. He stepped toward her slowly, as if afraid to frighten a rare creature. Then another step. Her eyes followed him. She did not retreat. He bent down, placed his fingers under her chin, and made her look him in the eye.

“Are you sure?” he whispered.

She nodded silently. He unfastened his trousers slowly, deliberately. He felt every movement, every look she gave him. His hands on the buttons, the focus on her face so pure it nearly stole his breath. Tess did not move. She only watched. He took off his trousers and sat on the edge of the bed. He nodded. Tess moved forward. She knelt between his legs, placed her hands on his thighs. Carefully. Respectfully. Then she looked up. Aiden no longer smiled. Control left his face. Only desire remained. Tess leaned in. Carefully, but with resolve. First she kissed his lower abdomen, then moved lower and kissed him gently. Aiden did not move. He only closed his eyes and tensed fully. She took him in her hand, slowly, as if learning his shape. Aiden growled softly.

When she took him into her mouth, she heard almost nothing, only her own breath and the rare rustle of the sheet when he moved. She sucked him gently, focused and slow, as if noting every response. Her lips closed around him to the root, then she withdrew slightly, letting the tip of her tongue glide along him. She returned again, caressing him with her lips before taking him deeper. Between motions, she licked him along his length, from base to head, before drawing him back into her mouth. Her rhythm was slow but sure. She alternated suction with gentle pressure of her tongue, growing bolder each time.

“Love,” he rasped. “Does that book mention anything about coming in your mouth?”

He actually welcomed that she had to release him to answer. She thought about it, beautifully, naively, and sincerely.

“No. It doesn’t.”

“Then I will broaden your knowledge a little,” he breathed, all restraint gone. He slid his fingers into her hair, drew her back, and waited for her to take him again. Tess enclosed him with a quiet, focused breath. Aiden braced his hands on the edge of the bed and tilted his head back. Tension crushed him from within. He could not endure this. He did not want to. He pushed his hips forward slightly. And then he came hard into her mouth. The spurts were strong, hot, the orgasm taking over his entire being. Tess did not pull away. She did not hesitate. And then she swallowed. Aiden remained still for several seconds, only watching her. In his eyes was everything. Surprise. Gratitude. Desire.