The Duke Wants Her Curves: Taboo Historical BBW Forbidden Erotic Rubenesque Romance Read Free Page B

much happened. I saw little of Robert before leaving. We only met once, and even that seemed to be too much for my uncle, who warned against the meeting vehemently.
    ‘We both know that Rob loved you, Bri. Who knows what he’ll do when he sees you? We have to protect your maidenhood!’
    I didn’t quite follow what my uncle meant, but knew him to be overly cautious, and something of a curmudgeon, always seeing the worst in people. Robert wasn’t exactly jumping for joy when we met, and I did feel a little sad. His heart was obviously broken.
    ‘Just know, Bri,’ he said, as we made our final trip around the farm’s perimeter, ‘that if you ever need a friend, or someone to talk to, I’ll be here.’ He looked as handsome as ever in the early evening light. For a moment, I thought about leaning in, kissing him, giving him something to remember me by. But I knew that it would be much kinder to leave him without a token like that.
    ‘I’ll always think fondly of you, Robert,’ I said. Although it’s bad, I couldn’t help but feel as though I was on my way to a brand new, exciting life. I felt a little guilty, but knew that it hadn’t been my choice. If things had been different, maybe I would have ended up with Robert, and lived out my days as a shepherdess on a small-holding somewhere. But it was not to be.
    On the day of my trip to the Duke’s estate, which was in fact on the other side of Yorkshire, I was extremely nervous. Everything seemed to be going wrong. I’d woken up with a pounding headache, and no mater how vigorously I attacked it with the brush, my hair looked so thatched, messy and nest-like that it seemed like a bird might fly out of it at any moment.
    The only thing that was right was the dress, which fit me like a dream. It was shear and tight, and the white lace made me look very virginal and bride-like. I was amazed when I saw myself in the mirror. It was the swankiest and most beautiful I’d ever looked. I don’t know why, but the sudden memory of the Doctor’s hand on my private parts flashed suddenly through my head, and my cheeks reddened slightly as I looked at myself. Virginal indeed!
    Then, a few minutes after I’d gotten into my dress, there was another fly in the ointment. The carriageman arrived, holding a folded package. He explained to my uncle, as I stood nervously behind him, that he had an outfit with him, which the Duke had demanded I wear to meet him. My heart dropped. I’d been looking forward so much to impressing the Duke with my brand new dress, that the thought that I’d have to wear something else made me want to cry.
    ‘I’m not wearing it,’ I said. ‘I’ll look like a pig, trussed up for the spit!’
    My uncle turned to look at me imploringly. ‘Won’t you at least have a look, Bri.’ I obliged, and opened up the package. Inside was something which I can only really describe as a sort of belt or harness. It was strips of leather, with holes and buckles in them. There was, bizarrely, a diagram included as well, which showed a woman wearing the ridiculous thing. It barely covered her modesty.
    ‘There is no way on earth that I’m wearing that,’ I said. And I meant it. We argued for an hour or so, which meant that I would be seriously late to meet the Duke, and finally, after I had cried and screamed at my uncle, he relented.
    ‘Fine,’ he said, ‘but if you’re sent back to me because of this, and if I don’t get my money, you’re not going to be sleeping under my roof, do you understand?’
    When the carriage door closed, and I watched my uncle disappear into the distance, I hoped that I would never see him again.

 
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER SIX
     
     
    Although the Duke’s estate was still in the county of Yorkshire, it couldn’t have been any different from my uncle’s farm. Set in acres of level gardens, at the end of a long, poplar-lined avenue, stood a gigantic manor house. Built from austere local granite, the house was among the