Chapter Text
“Take me somewhere.” She whispered.
“What?”
“Anywhere, just not here.”
“Taggie, we… I…”
“Please.” She almost cringed at the pain in her voice. The plea and need to be with him, anywhere but here. She watched the confused and tired expression on his face alter to one of protection, of certainty. He took the hand that rested on his chest and pressed a firm kiss to her knuckles.
“Okay.” He nodded. She smiled with shaky breaths and tears finally escaping down her cheeks. Like ripping of a bandage she moved quickly and forced her body to leave the closeness of his. But he didn’t let go of her hand. He let her pull him out through the back and into the cold icy evening air.
She counted the seconds as she walked them towards his car. When their palms separated she was at 12. As she landed on the seat she was at 15. When he turned on the engine she had reached 20. And by the time the tires had stopped dancing with pebbles and met the smoothing tarmac road, she was at 50. Her breath released as she looked behind her and saw nothing but trees and road. She silently stared at the large hands that had just been wrapped around her body. They now clung to the steering wheel of his car like his life depended on it. She had begged him to take her away, anywhere, just away. Now what?
Seeing his house up close felt oddly comforting. She’d never been inside but she knew which window was the one to his bedroom. She’d seen the golden light radiating from it most nights, before he switched it off at the house went still. Looking up, she wondered if she would find herself in that room. The car settled and the rumbling of the engine went still. Rupert sighed heavily, looking over at her with silent questions. She mirrored his breath before unbuckling her seatbelt and leaving the car. She didn’t turn around the watch him follow, she heard the door close and the crunching of his footsteps behind her. She saw his shadow creep from behind her as she quietly stepped aside. Unlocking the door to his house, he went still. He pushed the door open but remained planted at the threshold. She stepped in.
Another deep exhale as he watched her blue dress float past him, hair gliding down her back, and her brown cowboy boots meeting the floorboards of his hallway. He watched her take careful and mindful steps. Her eyes wandering and meeting every picture and bookcase he had mindfully placed on the walls. Her form moving so calmly and elegantly that he wondered if she felt any nerves at all. He fought back a chuckle as he observed how she walked, as if wandering through a museum. Observing all the displays and artefacts on offer. The artefacts of his life. His dogs, his children, his horses and accomplishment. His failings. She reached a fork in the road. Continue up the path towards the kitchens and garden, or turn right down another hallway. She stopped and looked behind her. It was as if someone had slowed down time. Her eyes managing to sparkle in the cold lifeless house, no lights to illuminate her. Yet he could make out every detail of her face, her freckles and frowning brows. Her worried lips and fidgeting fingers. He stepped over the threshold of his house and closed the door behind him, an echo announcing the decisions they had silently made. He retraced her steps, moving just as slowly as she had. When they met, his hand reached for hers, lightly testing the waters. She allowed him to take it, allowed him to pull her down the hallways, past the bookcases and into one of the many living rooms this house provided.
Large windows flooded the room with cold moonlight. It was dark and they were hidden from the house across the valley. Her hands slipped from his as she continued her visit into the room. He stood by the wall, content in watching as she familiarised herself with her surroundings. Her fingertips brushed over expensive furniture, skimmed over the dust of old pictures and landed on the cold glass of the window. She was a dark silhouette he failed to believe was truly in front of him. She looked across the gardens before frowning and turning to him.
“I thought you had dogs?” She asked, noting the dog bed but no sound of panting or scampering feet.
“Sleeping.” He explained. “At the back of the house.” She nodded, apparently happy with this answer. She turned back to the window, her heavy sigh fogging up the glass. His footsteps were light, but vibrated loudly against the walls of the quiet and still manner. He moved slowly, not to scare her, and paused just behind her. Locks of her hair had managed to stray from her neatly placed pins, falling and restricting his view of her neck. Too tempted, his hands rose from his sides. Taggie saw his reflection in the glass, but still felt her skin shiver as his fingers brushed the hair away from her neck. She watched him through the window, watched how his eyes bore into her, stared at her skin as if it was the most previous jewel on this earth. He stepped closer, like he had had done moments ago in her kitchen. Only this time she didn’t turn around. She let his hands skim down her shoulders, down her arms. One hand gently cupped her hip whilst the other glided her hair to the other shoulder. Her eyes fluttered closed as he leaned down and skimmed his lips up and down the length of her exposed neck. Not yet kissing, but exploring. A gasp escaped her when he finally placed a sing kiss below her ear. A quiet moan as he dipped his head forward and kissed her pulse point, lips lingering to feel the blood racing through her body. His grip tightened on her hip as he felt her lean back into him, heard her breathy sighs. Both of his hands began to roam her hips, sliding up and down. Every kiss of his lips paired with a small squeeze of his palm. Slowly Tagged turned in his embrace, her hands lacing up into his hair and pulling his lips to meet hers. It was relief to feel their mouths dancing against one another again. She relished in the taste of his cigarettes and old whiskey lingering on his tongue. They had been moving slow, unsure and unsteady. But kissing him again, she felt the clarity she felt before. She had waited and yearned for too long. She wanted him.
Her hands dived down his neck, fingers beginning to loosen the knot of his tie. When Rupert felt the weight around his neck slacken, he forced his lips to release from Taggie’s. He watched her focused hands carry on in blissfully disbelief. He had hoped, God he had hoped, that this was what she had wanted. She had wanted him to take her away from The Priory so they could truly be together. To stop pretending and stop dancing along the line of what was and wasn’t allowed. He’d prayed she had wanted him as much as he had wanted her. With his neck freed from the slip of fabric, it fell to the floor with a silent brush of the air. Taggie didn’t stop to see his Adams apple gulp in nervousness. Too busy loosening one button after another. His hands froze still on her hips, still unsure if he was awake? Perhaps he had hit his head on one of the many low beams in The Priory. This was all a cruel blissful dream. The cool air hit his chest as Taggie pulled his opened shirt from his trousers. She looked up at him with her large doe eyes. The chill of her hands was a welcomed shiver to his skin. Sliding her hands under his shirt and up his shoulders, she pushed the shirt to the floor. Freeing his arms and chest to the elements. Staring deeply at one another, Rupert’s hands begin to rise from the base of Taggie’s dress She felt the tickle of his skin as he brushed the neckline of her dress, dancing with the zip on the back of her neck. Eyes locked, and ready for her to push him away any second, the zip loosened and began to glide down Taggie’s back. The fabric around her chest went slack. As he retreated his hands away, the dress fell from her shoulders and pooled around her hips. Taggie felt a heat rush across her neck as she took in Rupert’s gaze. A heavy stare across her bare chest. Her breasts were small, nipples perked in the cold, but still a welcomed swell across her body. Another gulp as Rupert fought back the urge to release his self control. Instead he watched as Taggie’s cheeks blushed and pushed the rest of the skirt down to the her ankles. Stepping out from the pool of fabric, she looked away with an embarrassed chuckle. She was left in nothing but cowboy boots and white fabric underwear. Nothing expensive, nothing elegant. Just soft cotton shielding what modesty she had left.
“Have you had his dream too?” She chuckled quietly, thinking back to the last time he’d seen her legs so bare. That stupid maids dress that Valerie had made her wear. That was when it all truly started. When she’d captured his full attention, made him want her and then devastated him with her glare.
“I don’t think my mind could ever have come up with something as sublime as this.” He whispered down to her.
Rupert took her by the hand and guided her to the arm chair by his side. She followed silent instructions and sat softly. Rupert knelt down on the plush carpet, kneeling at her feet and her beauty. She watched as he took one of her legs in hand, lifting her booted foot into his lap. As delicately as the leather would allow, he pulled, freed her from its grasps. Placing the boot down on the floor before lifting her leg up, leaning down and pressing a firm kiss to her ankle. Taggie held back a whimpering cry that built in her chest as he moved to the other leg. She’d seen the gentler side of him, the softer and caring nature he hid away. She’d seen him laugh and relax, put his bravado in a box for the others. But the way his hands shook as he skimmed his palm up her calf, was too endearing to handle. He handled her like the most delicate and precious of porcelain. With her legs finally free, Rupert let his hands explore and wander around Taggie’s skin. Gliding up calfs and roaming around thighs. He looked hypnotised, engulfed and distracted to anything else happening around him. Taggie began to heat as his eyes lifted from her legs and landed firmly on the white cotton pants hiding her final layer. She never doubted he wanted her, he had made it obnoxiously clear when she first met him. But the way his eyes were burning into her skin, she realised that he didn’t just want her, he yearned for her. He ached for her. He looked up at her and silently begged with his eyes. Please, please let me have you. She replied with the lifting of her hips. Together they pulled the fabric away from her hips and slid it down her legs, unhooking at her ankles. Knees still together, she braced herself as Rupert placed a slow hand on one knee. Another beat before he placed his other palm on her remaining knee. He looked intently as he parted her knees and revealed the parts of her body only one other had seen. Taggie didn’t know what the be insecure about. She hadn’t had much experience in what the intimate parts of her body should appear as. She’d read magazine and gossip articles about shaving and female hygiene. She’d heard her mother bang on about the wonders but pain of waxing.
“Men want to see all of you darling! Not to battle their way through mounds of hair. They don’t like the effort.”
Taggie cringed and squirmed under the memory of her mother’s words. She had shaved all of her hair off when she knew her and Ralphie were going to have sex. She certainly hadn’t put much effort in since. She certainly hadn’t expected tonight to have ended the way it had. Worried fled her mind. Rupert was experienced, had bedded much older and more experienced women who had a routine. A regular waxing schedule. What must he be thinking looking down at her and seeing the small tuff of hair forming in-between her hips. She shaved regularly but found the effort not worth the outcome.
So distracted by her own thoughts she hadn’t noticed Rupert halting his movements, looking up at her firmly and waiting until she met his eye. When she did, he looked at her with soft caring. A firm convincing look across his brow. “You are beautiful.” He told her before pressing a sweet kiss on her inner thigh. “So beautiful.” He repeated, pressing another just an inch above. “So beautiful.” Another kiss, closer to the crease between pelvis and thigh. With every kiss she felt her mind and body relax. Eyes fluttering closed with the gentle brush of his lips along her skin. Just as she was familiarising herself the sensation, a jolt shot through her body.
“Oh.” She gasped, looking down and seeing Rupert, lips firmly latched around her clit. His hands scooped underneath her legs, firmly keeping her close. Her heart raced as waves of unknown pleasure erupted between her legs and into her stomach. “Oh…god.” She whispered as she felt his tongue flick and his mouth suck at her skin.
She tasted sweet underneath his tongue. He had used the self-restraint of a monk as he kissed along her thigh. He’d wanted to ease her into it, ensure she felt calm and relaxed. The other women he had been with had all been eager and desperate for something. They often endured years of mediocre sex where husbands didn’t even bother to go down on them. Didn’t bother to explore and figure out what made them squirm. By the time these women ended up with him, they were bored of being polite. Bored of hoping someone would find the path to their pleasure. And so they gave instructions. They gave directions and were thrilled to be listened to. But not Taggie. She was not yet ruined by years of disappointment. Yes, that Ralphie boy couldn’t have been much of an experienced or wonderful lover. If he didn’t have the mind to break up with Taggie like a real man, he hardly expected him to know his way around a clitorous. So he had wanted to let Taggie find her voice herself. Had wanted to move slowly and figure out what she liked together. But as soon as his tongue flicked over her clit, as soon as he had heard the gasp that left her lips, he grew greedy. Greedy for her taste, greedy for her pleasure. And so he let his tongue tease and play with the spot that had made her squirm. His lips pulsated over the spot that had made her whispered God’s name in pleasure. Her breathes grew ragged as she pushed up on her hands, holding herself like a tight coil and bending further into his mouth. Eyes wide open, she watched the way Rupert closed his and used the feel of her body guide him. Every time she would feel her body soften, Rupert would move his tongue in a new direction or squeeze her close towards him and add fuel to the fire within. He pulled her close and closer, finally looking up to meet her wide eyes and flushed cheeks. With her parted lips allowing hazy breathes to fall into the room, he felt a surge of something that could only have been sent by the devil. He released one hand from beneath and used two fingers to slide into her core. Instantly he felt her clench around him watched her eyes roll to the back of her head. She began to moan explanative she only used when mad. “Oh fuck,” she moaned, her head falling back and hair cascading down the white chair. Little gasps were becoming clear and loud moans from deep within her gut. With his tongue on her clit and his fingers inside her, stroking and teasing her walls, she felt the coil with in her tightening more. Her delicate nails reached out and dove into Rupert’s thick black hair. She danced with the curls on his head whilst keeping his mouth exactly where she needed it. “I…I can’t… I can’t hold on much longer.” She panted. When Rupert lifted his mouth from her, she wasn’t sure if it was hell on earth or a saving grace. Her eyes opened in confusion, looking down at his boring back at her.
“Then let go.” Taggie breathed in deeply, preparing her self for what she hoped would return. A hidden smile on his lips, Rupert curved his fingers within and placed his lips where they had just been. He let his tongue continued its dance with her tender flesh. Taggie closed her eyes and gave in to the pressure building up within her. Instead of fighting the tightening, she allowed it. Tighter and tighter. Building and building until finally.
“Ah,” the hand on the back of Rupert’s hair gripped harder. She pulled him into her and lurched forward in a desperate fold. Her orgasm hit her like a wave and crashed slowly. Rupert stilled his fingers and slowed his mouth until he felt the spasm of her legs on the sides of his face. His tongue retracted from her and he pulled his head as much as her firm grip would allow.
As her sight refocused and her heart began to slow, Taggie registered the hair in her hands - the skin her nails were digging into. “I’m sorry,” she panted, loosening her grip and stroking the scalp she hoped she hadn’t hurt. Rupert smiled, taking her hand in his and pressing a kiss to her palm.
“Never be sorry for that.” he praised her. Her eyelids fluttered lightly as she slid off the chair and kneeled in front of him. She gave him a beam of a smile that made him yearn more for her every time. The difference now, he could actually touch her. He could actually kiss her. He wrapped her up in his arms and pressed his mouth against hers. She accepted him readily, marvelling in the taste of herself mixed with his cigarette smoke and whiskey. Her hands became busy again, trailing down his chest and tangling within his belt buckle. She heard the clinking of metal, announcing she had successful undone his belt. Firm arms wrapped around her waist as he pressed her flushed against his chest. He delicately placed her down on her back, making sure she rested on the lush rug. Lazy and rushed kisses trailed along her neck as he retreated back. She lifted up onto her elbows and watched him carefully as he stood, kicking off his shoes before pushing his trousers down. She’d seen him naked before, it was her first image of him, yet the anticipation still began to build. When he removed his boxers, she was reunited with the bare sight of him. Only this time was different. This time he was hard and aroused, for her.
If she hadn’t known better, she would have thought he was nervous. He quickly kicked the pool of clothes beside and returned to the floor. On his knees beside her. His hand reached to cup the side of her face, stroking her freckled and flushed cheeks. His fingertips briefly stroked the underside of her chin before continuing their journey down her neck, across her collarbone and over the swelling of her breast. She expected him to stop there, to get a handful of what little breasts she had, but his hands kept going. They continued to skim across her stomach, over her pelvis and back to the skin he had just latched his lips upon. She moaned as his fingers slid through the slickness of her folds, before pressing deep circles around her clit. With her moans confirming he’d found the right stop, his eyes were glued to her face. Watching how her eyelids closed, her mouth gaped open as she released gasps and moans. How her cheeks flushed with strong shades of pink and hide the speckled orange of her freckles. She raised to lean on her hands, her back arching and chest panting heavily. Forcing her eyes to open, she was met with the heated gaze of Rupert. He was staring at her with such passions she almost expected flamed to erupt from his irises. He was fully committed and consumed by giving her pleasure, to making her cum. It wasn’t enough. She didn’t want to just feel good, she wanted to feel good with him.
Digging deep within her for courage, she pushed his hand away from her, quickly rolling onto her knees. Her heart thumping at his confused and worried face. She used her knees to nudge his legs open. Her long fingers, pushed him back to sitting, before she placed her knees on either side of him. Straddling him with her legs, she placed soft delicate hands on his shoulders, looking down at him with deep longing in her eyes. Silently he begged her to reconsider, to evaluate and risk assess her movements, her motives. She responded with a kiss to his lips, a small brush causing pain and pleasure. One hand slid down his chest and took him in hand. Another kiss to his chin as she lifted him to her opening. Another kiss to his neck as she slowly sunk down onto him, taking him fully inside her. His grip on her hips became vicelike as he hissed and forced himself not to yell out her name and cum right away. He held her still, not trusting his body to betray him before they even started. Just feeling her wrapped around him was more heated and more blissful than any other woman’s hands or mouth. They shared a longing look that was filled with every moment they had wanted to speak, to hold and touch, but were forced not to. When they were forced to stay at arm’s length and say nothing at all. Now they were locked together, bare and with no worries about the outside world. It was just them; together. They lurched their lips towards one another, crashing and kissing with the slow passion of every kiss they denied themselves. Without words, Taggie began to rise and fall, her hips beginning to rock - and Rupert didn’t stop her. After several thrusts, Taggie’s lips were pulled from Ruperts as ecstasy rippled through her body, making her head fall back and moan loudly. She rode him at a gentle pace, loving every inch of contact she could caress. Rupert fought the urge to roll her onto her back and thrust wildly within her, wanting this to last as long as possible. The sweet feeling of her walls contracting and releasing over him as she lifted and fell. As the waves continued to rise and fall. His face fell into her neck as bursts and bursts of pleasure began to explode with in him. He felt the beads of sweat falling down his back and happily soaked up the moisture of her body on his. Pulsating and thrusting his hips up into her, her nails dug into the skin of his shoulders, moans and gasps encouraging him to keep thrusting his hips as a certain angle. Her moans quickly became yells and groans, growing louder with every movement. He heard his own gruff voice begin to expel words of profanity as she landed on him at just the right angle and with the right pressure.
“Rupert, I…”
“Yes. Jesus Christ, yes!” Both of them picked up their pace, pounding into one enough with more vigour and urgency. As Rupert tore his face from her flesh, to gaze upon her heated beauty, she looked down. Heated eyes meeting and sending them both over into oblivion. Eyes stuck together, they both came in a shared orgasm and heavy moans on both their lips. Taggie’s eyes shut closed as the last thrust of Rupert went within her, her forehead falling to land on his and breathing him in deeply.
Moment passed as they both began to come down from their climax. Hearts beginning to slow, panting turning into slow thoughtful breaths. Taggie’s eyes opened and returned to their widened innocence. Slowly, Rupert rolled her over onto her back, mindfully slipping out of her in a slow movement, worried he might hurt her. She moaned lightly as she felt him exit her, a warm sensation floating through her body. Eyes heavy, she smiled sweetly as he reached over her, pulling blankets from the sofa and draping them over her body. He grabbed two cushions as well and placed one under her head. She lifted the blanket open, requesting him to join her. Dutifully he followed, pressing his stomach into her back and wrapping his arms tightly around her body. Her hands resting on his forearms, placing lazy patterns up and down his arm hair. She listened to the sound of his breathing as her body gave into exhaustion. Before she began falling into deep sleep. Rupert stayed awake a little longer, gazing into the window’s reflection and watching her sleeping face mirrored back at him. She was warm and soft in his arms. A weight he hadn’t realised had been missing all this time. He breathed in the scent of her hair before succumbing to his own heavenly sleep.
.
.
Night was slipping away and the sun was beginning to rise as Cameron Cook got out of her car and made her way to the front door. But it was not a glowing sunrise like the one they had shared in Spain. It was cold and blue announcing the sun would be peeking over the horizon in a matter of hours. She wasn’t sure who else to go to as the blood stained her crips white shirt. Her heels echoed loudly against the pavement as she strode beside the large windows. She was about to knock on the door, ring the doorbell, when movement caught her eye through the window. Perhaps he was already up? She stepped closer and studied the image laid out before her. On the living room floor was a pile of pillows and blankets. As she stepped closer the pile of fabric began to form into two sleeping bodies, entangled in one another’s arms. She could make out the deep black hair of Rupert, his sleeping face peaceful and in heavy dream. He took a heavy breath in his sleep, slightly disturbing the other sleeping body. The colours of the blanket and the woman’s orange hair began to separate. She turned her face, previously buried in Rupert’s chest, now resting gently against his shoulder. A wash of horrid realisation went through Cameron’s body. She and Rupert slept together, numerous times. She was beginning to trust it was no longer a plan of action to out smart Tony. She truly believed she’d joined his side and whatever was going on between them was becoming something solid, something real. But now, looking at the way he held the O’Hara girl, the silent fears of rumours she’d ignored and dismissed, were becoming reality. He’d never held her as she slept. He never looked as calm and tranquil as he did right now. His arms were wrapped around her as if scared she would escape in the night. He’d never held her. It had all been a lie.
Cameron turned back on her heels and in a quiet white rage returned to her car, driving away from her last lifeline in this country.
The sound of gravel against rubber made Taggie flinch, her body jolting Rupert awake with her.
“You okay?” He asked, sleep lacing his gruff voice.
“I heard a noise.” She explained, eyes frantically trying to adjust to the cold morning light. Sitting up, she tried to see further out the window. Searching for movement or light. Had her father finally sobered up and followed her here? Still laying on his back, Rupert tilted his head to follow the direction of Taggie’s gaze. He looked and saw nothing. Glancing back at her, he saw the tension in her jaw and panic in her eyes. Clutching the blanket across her chest and skin prickled with the cold. He moved to sitting, his lips pecking a small kiss to her shoulder before returning his arms around her body.
“It was probably the dogs.” He reasoned, pulling her close to him again. She nodded, laughing nervously at her paranoia. “Go back to sleep.” He cooed as they lay back down on the floor. He pulled the blanket up to cover her shoulders as she lay her head against his chest.
“Okay,” she sighed as her body relaxed into his and fell back to sleep.