Page 13 of The Lady
When she didn’t immediately reply, he tilted his head down at her. “D’ya need somethin’?”
Her stomach growled, prompting her to finally speak, although her voice was even more timid than had become her usual under Lady Felton’s care.
“Supper?”
The man nodded. “Stay ‘ere.”
The door closed, and he was gone. Delilah scrambled back to the bed, her muscles protesting all the way until she could huddle safely in the center, hidden under all the pillows and blankets she could pull atop herself. When the man came back with food, she was going to ask for a new dress.
* * *
The Tramp
The hour was late,but the night was young, at least for the men still coming into the Tramp’s Den, eagerly looking to fill their pockets. It always amused the Tramp how many of them were so certain they would win, no matter that they’d often left with empty purses before.
Watching from the balcony overlooking the entire floor, Henry smiled. Perhaps he was imagining it, due to his own satisfaction, but there was a good hum in the air tonight. Laughter and smoke filled the air, the gentlemen were in fine spirits, and so far, there had been no trouble. Not that trouble came to his doorstep very often anymore.
Movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention, and he turned to see Butch joining him.
“The lady is awake and hungry,” Butch said, without any preamble.
Nodding, Henry cast one more look over the crowd. “Keep an eye on things.”
A quick stop by the kitchen for a tray and Henry was on his way back up to his rooms, somewhat bemused to be in a serving position rather than being served. It had been years since he’d served anyone but himself. Although doing so was far from humbling. After all, should he not care for what was his? And she was his now.
Pure satisfaction laced through him, quickening his steps.
When he came through the door, he frowned when he did not immediately see her, then nearly laughed aloud when he realized how she had hidden herself away.
“Come out and play, little pet.” He kept his voice coaxing as he carried the tray to the table near the fireplace. There was no fire, of course, as the evening was far too warm, but it was the only area in the room suitable for his intentions. The rug beneath the table was thick and soft, and the table was large enough to bear the weight of the tray.
Two eyes blinked owlishly, then Delilah slowly began to emerge from the pile of bed linens—except for the one she wrapped around herself. When she put her feet on the floor and winced, Henry frowned.
“Are you hurt?”
“My feet are sore,” she admitted softly. “From running. And my legs…” She blushed, and Henry chuckled because they both knew her legs were sore from more than running.
“Get down and crawl to me, then,” he said. “And leave the sheet there.”
More blinking, eyes wide before she finally found her voice again.
“What?”
“Leave the sheet,” he ordered firmly. “And crawl. I do not want you to hurt your feet.”
“Can’t... can’t you come get me?” There was pleading in her voice, but Henry shook his head. He could not carry her everywhere.
The ideas that had been forming in the back of his mind... well, many of them involved her crawling. It was not her humiliation he craved so much as her submission, but he could not deny, knowing she would be suffering through embarrassment to please him greatly appealed to him.
“No, pet,” he said, almost gently. “I want to see you crawl. Naked.”
So badly,his cock was already hardening in anticipation.
* * *
Lady Delilah Darling
Swallowing hard,Delilah stared at the man standing across the room from her, but there was nothing in his demeanor to indicate he was joking—she so wanted to believe he was. The longer the silence stretched between them, the more anxious she became, but he did not change his mind. He just looked back at her, food beside him, waiting patiently.
