The new moon came slowly, even though it was only three nights. Isabelle had returned to her home in a new state of wretchedness β trying at once to put her passion for Peter aside, whilst wrestling with a yearning need to see him again.
Moving about the great house she felt sure that servants and visitors must see was had happened to her β that they could tell from a movement, a look, or perhaps a lingering smell that she had been lying on her back in the sand with a stranger buried deep between her legs.
She had managed to slip home unnoticed, though the state of her clothes drew the attention of her maid; however, rejoining her life seemed an impossibility. How could she behave like the lady she had once been, when she had lowered herself like that?
Suddenly she wasn't a lady any more β she cared nothing for the running of the house, for maintaining her reputation, for being a good wife. In every quiet moment her minds eye would stray to Peters visit to her bedchamber, or to their coupling on the sand beside the river. She could see the curve of his shaft in her hand, feel the rasp of his unshaven chin against her thigh, imagine the drive of his cock as it forced her walls to part.
She could no longer keep up the pretence of her former life when she spent her days wet between her legs, desperate to recapture the moments with him, and her private moments with fingers buried in her soft folds, trying to satisfy the gnawing urge.
So when the new moon was upon them, there was no decision to be made about whether to stay or whether to go β Isabelle was driven by something primitive and instinctive with no rational thought involved.
She packed a small bag and chose a simple gown in a deep red, dressing herself clumsily. Looking at herself in the glass above her chamber mantle she barely recognised herself. The dress, which she had barely worn as she had thought the colour too bold, seemed to fit a new fierceness and colour she could see in her face. There was a change in her features β something wilder that made her feel beautiful for the first time in many years.
She left no note and took almost nothing with her, leaving quietly into the darkness.
Peter had been waiting for some time when he heard footfalls. Experience of thievery had made his hearing keen and made him wary, so when she arrived at the riverside she saw no one. Only when he could be certain she was alone did he drop down from his vantage point in the tree.
She was startled, but her relief was tangible, reaching the spot and finding herself alone had been terrifying β as she imagined herself returning with no choice but to pick up her dropped faΓ§ade of respectability.
They looked at one another for a few long moments before he began to step towards her. His eyes glinted black in the profound darkness of an almost moonless night.
As he reached her she heard him let out a sound somewhere between a grunt and a sigh, and he opening his clothing to release himself. She made her own sound, something animal deep in her throat at the sight of his pale skin in the moonlight.
"Three nights you have had me wait," he spoke in a voice made rusty with lust. "Three nights when I have wanted to feel myself slip inside you β I cannot bear it another moment!"
Moving instinctively she dropped to her knees and without hesitation touched his shaft with her lips in a deep and heartfelt kiss. He groaned and she laid kiss after kiss against the hot, rippled skin of his shaft. She could smell close up the scent that had been lodged in her mind for days β a fresh musky odour which assailed her senses, touching primitive parts of her.
As she kissed the length of him she felt a smear of liquid and her tongue darted from her mouth to taste it. Her mind disengaged she opened her lips still wider and found his tip hot and salty against her tongue.
He moved his hands to her head, weaving his fingers amongst her hair and willed himself not to push deep into her mouth. The feel of her tongue slippery against him, and the gentle drag of her soft lips was maddening. He stopped her with the greatest reluctance; unable to hold himself in check and fearing he may end too early.