Disclaimer: Not mine. The fact that I can even imagine this world at all, and feel so deeply enamored with it, is due to the marvelous Margaret Mitchell.

Author's Note: This is sometimes dark, particularly in this chapter and contains a lot of M rated material including Rhett sleeping with prostitutes.

"Do you want the children?"

Rhett flitted his eyes towards the attorney he was consulting and then stared out the window. It was Monday, December 1, 1873 and tomorrow it would be twelve weeks since he'd left the Peachtree mansion the evening after Melanie's funeral.

Rhett hadn't returned for the newfangled Thanksgiving holiday. He knew it wouldn't matter as no one really considered it a holiday. But now, now it was December and Christmas was fast approaching. Rhett knew he'd have to return to the Atlanta house for the Christmas holidays. As he sat in a large wing backed chair consulting a lawyer in Savannah about divorce, Rhett also knew returning was not a good idea.

As soon as he'd left the Peachtree mansion Rhett had wired his attorney in Charleston, Edgar Horton, about the possibility of divorcing Scarlett. Reconstructionists in South Carolina had enacted a divorce law in 1872 on the grounds of adultery and desertion. Horton had told Rhett in no uncertain terms that Scarlett would have grounds but Rhett would not and divorce was so loathed that Rhett would be unable to grease palms to get one. Besides even if he did Rhett could not divorce Scarlett in South Carolina unless he was willing to allow his mother and sister to be ostracized. Rhett knew he couldn't do that to his mother, his being divorced alone would be enough of a trial for her Rhett couldn't make it so that she wasn't received either.

Rhett had argued with himself for weeks about seeing a lawyer in Georgia. It increased the odds that word would travel to Atlanta, to Scarlett herself, and to the angry old dragons whose dagger tipped tongues loved to lash her. It had been a terrible moment when he'd realized he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to be free of his wife. For a time when he'd first sobered his blood quickened with rage whenever he thought about her. With no sodden stupor to dampen it, Rhett realized he was furious with Scarlett. He was furious she was too stupid and blind to realize he'd loved her forever and that Ashely had never loved her for a moment. She was too stupid to realize Ashley had been a childhood fantasy and she'd ruined both of their lives chasing that fantasy. He was enraged that she had blamed him for Bonnie's death. Even if it had been his fault, only a callous coldhearted bitch who had never had an ounce of warm feelings toward him would ever say such a thing. But as the weeks passed some of Rhett's rage had cooled.

Now he swung wildly between the extremes of hating her and wanting her. Rhett had moments he still wanted to rip his wife's head from her body for denying him all these years and for making a fool of him by chasing Ashley Wilkes in front of all of Atlanta. But he also had moments where he longed to take his wife over and over and over and have her be a willing and eager participant. Part of him longed to hear her tell him she loved him as he thrust into her body. Scarlett was a poison in Rhett's blood and Rhett knew it, so he decided to consult an attorney about obtaining a divorce in Georgia.

Rhett had intended to go to Charleston when he left Atlanta but the way Wade and Ella had clung to him, as if they'd known he was really leaving their mother, had made him too restless and angry to stay in Charleston and be with the old society he claimed he wanted. Instead, Rhett traveled to New York where he stayed for a few weeks before realizing he needed the peace of strangers and too many people knew him in New York. He packed his clothing back into the two trunks he was travelling with, boarded a westbound train and ended up in Chicago.

Rhett liked Chicago. It was newer than Charleston and Boston and New York, but not so new as Atlanta. Places that had just been or were still being rebuilt after the fire felt raw and edgy and suited Rhett's temperament. Even better between the fire and the recent banking crash there were plenty of opportunities to make money there. Rhett quickly got involved with the building of new refrigerated railroad cars and several building projects. A large portion of his wealth was in safe deposit boxes in London and Paris. His liquid money in Atlanta was safe, he owned a 70% share of the bank and after flurried telegrams back and forth it had become clear the bank would survive. Rhett had lost money at his New York and Charleston banks. But it hadn't been enough to really concern him. He'd closed his New York accounts and bought up over half of the shares of his Charleston bank cheap. Now his money in Charleston was safe. Rhett made a mental note to do the same in Chicago since he planned to return there after the holidays.

Something else Rhett loved about Chicago was its thriving red-light district. After a first disastrous night there Rhett had found the higher class and more exclusive Carrie Watson's house where he had sampled many girls and had two favorites. Rhett visited one, a dark haired, hazel eyed vixen called Mimi who was even younger than Scarlett, when his longing for Scarlett was too strong. The other was a blond haired, blue eyed, slightly plump woman in her 30s called Goldilocks who Rhett visited when he didn't want to think about Scarlett. Between his two favorites, occasional forays into new girls, the bowling alley, billiards tables, and numerous parlors, Rhett had begun spending most evenings at Carrie Watson's and after only a few days away missed the camaraderie and the girls.

But a lawyer friend in Chicago had told Rhett if he was serious about divorce he'd have to consult a lawyer in Georgia and now here Rhett was. The process was much longer and more complicated than Rhett wanted and there was no way to divorce Scarlett in secret. Now he was here, consulting with the friend of a friend who started their meeting by stating, "why don't we discuss what you'd like to get out of the divorce so I understand what you are aiming for and then we'll discuss the particulars of divorce."

"Captain Butler? Do you want to keep the children?" Mr. Blore asked again when Rhett had been silent for several minutes.

"They aren't mine," Rhett finally answered turning his eyes back to Blore.

"Ah. I see," Blore cleared his throat before continuing, "actually, sir, when you married their mother they became yours and you have the rights to them. If you so desire, you can keep them."

"And their mother?"

"Would be allowed to see them if you so choose, however, if you do not… well, you can certainly keep them away from her."

Rhett nodded. A part of him, a part he was sensible enough to be ashamed existed, wanted to leap from his seat and demand the attorney push through a divorce and give him Wade and Ella. He loved them more than Scarlett did. He knew them better than Scarlett. He deserved them. And she deserved to lose them. It would be a fitting penance for chasing Ashley in front of him and Miss Melanie for all those years.

But he also remembered how she'd fainted when Bonnie died and how Scarlett's crying and broken, defeated demeanor had grated on his nerves in the weeks after Bonnie's death until he'd sent Scarlett to Marietta because he'd been afraid if he was the one to leave he'd kill himself. He'd intended to send just Scarlett away and to keep the children close to him. He'd wanted to win their love from Scarlett the way he'd won Bonnie's, but when he'd told Scarlett he'd thought she needed time to grieve in peace away from Atlanta, Scarlett had said, "Yes, I think that might be nice for the children… to get away." So Rhett had chosen Marietta, close enough that he could reach the children in less than a day if he needed to, far enough he'd have to think it through before going to her, and not Tara, where Scarlett would have all of the advantages of home if he'd followed them.

"I understand," Rhett drawled smoothly, "If I choose to initiate proceedings, at what point would I need to determine if I would like to keep the children?"

"Immediately. If that's what you choose it must be part of your petition for divorce."

"I understand. And the same for my wife's business interests?"

"Yes. As we discussed, anything that isn't held in a trust became yours upon marriage. Her store and her saloon property are yours. You can choose to give them to her as part of the settlement if you so choose."

"What about her family home?"

"Does she own a share of her family home?"

"Probably, her father died soon after the war. He had only daughters and my wife is the oldest. As far as I know, no will was found and the sisters decided they each owned a third."

"Did they initiate probate proceedings?"

"Not that I'm aware of and my wife tells me everything, so I doubt it."

"I see. I'll have to look into if there is a will and if there are any transfers of deed."

Rhett nodded his understanding, "Can you have that complete by the time of my return? I plan to return at the start of the second week of January."

"Certainty, sir. If there are records I should be able to locate them by then. Now, moving on to the more complicated aspect of divorce, we need to discuss grounds. You must prove adultery or desertion in order to obtain a divorce."

"That shouldn't be a problem. I've done both."

"Unfortunately Captain Butler, only the wronged party may seek a divorce. Has your wife engaged in adultery or deserted you for a period of at least three years?"

"No."

"I see, well, those are the grounds that will provide for a divorce, but there is still the possibility of divorce if she is cruel or habitually intoxicated. In those instances a jury will decide whether to grant a divorce or to allow a divorce from bed and board, which is like a partial divorce. You would not be required to cohabitate or support your wife, and you can keep the children, but you would still be legally married and unable to marry someone else."

Rhett smiled, he could divorce Scarlett and at the same time prevent her from marrying her beloved Ashley. This sounded almost too good to be true. Scarlett would suffer all of the social stigma of Atlanta knowing he left her and then be forced to live the rest of her life alone.

"Is it possible to seek the latter kind intentionally?"

"Unfortunately no, it will be left in the hands of a jury."

"I understand." Alas it was too good to be true Rhett thought. He would have to bribe some jurors.

"How do I establish her continual intoxication?"

"With your testimony, and potentially that of her son, as well as that of the servants in the house." Rhett frowned, the servants were loyal to Scarlett. He might have to hire a new servant or two who could later testify on his behalf about Scarlett's nighttime brandy.

"I don't want Wade to testify," Rhett said with finality.

"Of course, your testimony and that of any servants who have cause to know of your wife's drinking should be more than sufficient."

§

After making another appointment for January 13th, Rhett left the attorney's office and headed out to find some release for his frustrations.

Rhett was too wound up to spend time looking for the perfect whore to relieve his frustrations. Instead he'd gone to the first house of ill repute he'd come upon and asked for someone dark haired and thin. He'd wanted someone who looked like Scarlett, but instead he found himself pounding into a girl who looked much too much like Melanie. She was short, thin, and had brown hair and eyes. If her face hadn't lacked a widow's peak and been so thin and drawn and so unlike Melanie's rounded, loving face Rhett wouldn't have been able to take her.

She reached up and ran her fingers through Rhett's hair. Rhett grabbed her wrist and lowered it to the bed.

"Stand up," he growled pulling out of her and standing himself.

She did. Rhett grabbed her shoulder and spun her to face the bed.

"Bend over," he commanded while pushing her back down.

She bent over the bed and braced herself on her arms as he slammed into her from behind. Rhett grabbed her hips and began to pound into her like a madman. He could feel his usual careful control slipping. He couldn't stop. He wanted to pound the apathy and the rage and the bitter evil demon that wanted to hurt Scarlett out of his chest and into whatever female body he used as a substitute.

Rhett didn't feel sated after the tiny brunette so he called for a blond to come and suck him off. He seated himself on the end of the bed so she'd have to kneel in front of him and he could look down at her bobbing head. He made her remove all of her hairpins and all of her clothing and while he watched he felt himself throb and ache for her tongue. Rhett reached down and pinched both of her nipples between his thumbs and forefingers and twisted them, not to please the woman on her knees, to please himself and to stop himself from grabbing the back of her head and holding her while he thrust himself down her throat. She'd reached up to play with his balls and he felt them finally start to tighten. When he could resist no longer he grabbed the back of her head and trust deep into her mouth emptying himself into her throat. He could feel her sputtering and her throat grasping at him but he held her head on him. He wouldn't let go until she swallowed it all and they both knew it.

When Rhett had left the whore house he'd gone directly to the station, collected the trunks he'd left earlier, and boarded the next train for Charleston. He decided he'd spend a little over a week visiting with his mother before heading to Atlanta to suffer through the holidays.

At the station in Charleston Rhett wired Scarlett to expect him on Wednesday the 17th and to have his room ready. There was no sense surprising her and he knew he'd have to be seen around town with her before the holiday to quell the gossip he was sure was all over town. Rhett didn't stop to ask himself why he was keeping this promise. He knew that it wasn't the children.

§§§

Rhett's mother was not happy to see him. Rhett had been shocked by this. When he'd come with Bonnie in 1871 she'd been thrilled and his stories of Scarlett staying in Atlanta for her mills hadn't been questioned outright. He'd known his mother thought he was lying but realized now she must have thought they were fighting and he'd needed to get away. While that was close to the truth…he couldn't explain the whole truth to his mother.

"Is Scarlett with you?" was the first question out of Eleanor Butler's mouth as she rose from her favorite parlor chair in front of the bay window to greet her son.

"Mother?" Rhett asked startled by the question and relieved that no one else was present.

"Supper will be served in ten minutes, Madam," stated Rosa, Rhett's mother's favorite maid, after following Rhett into the room. "Shall I set a second place?"

"Yes," Mrs. Butler said while eyeing her son.

When Rosa had stepped out of the room Eleanor continued, "you heard me."

When Rhett stated he was there alone, Eleanor released Rhett's arm and reseated herself with a huff, "I can't believe it's true. You've actually abandoned your wife."

"Mother," Rhett started as he seated himself on the chair opposite her.

His mother cut him off, "Rhett Butler, I am your mother and for your entire life I've defended you. I've maintained you are a good man, a man who is misunderstood, not a bad one. I've believed it too. Even when you refused to marry Elisa, even when you dueled her brother…I've always, always defended you. But this is too much. You cannot be the man I knew, or the boy I raised if you have left your wife on the day of her best friend's funeral. Rhett, how could you?"

"Mother," Rhett sighed, he'd not expected this at all. His mother had always defended him both to his father and to all of Charleston. Rhett had expected to be welcomed home with open arms. He also knew that as childish as it was for a man of 45, he'd expected his mother to console him.

"Mother," Rhett tried again, "you don't understand, you don't know all that happened."

"There is nothing that could have happened that justified your leaving that poor, broken woman, your wife, Rhett, your wife, the woman you chased and married and promised to protect, on the day she buried Mrs. Wilkes."

"She wasn't broken mother," Rhett started to defend himself.

"No?" his mother asked sharply.

"No, she's strong. She was coping with things. She was able to plan the funeral, even…" Rhett trailed off, telling his mother that he'd notified Scarlett he was leaving her just days before he left when she'd come home to tell him Melly had died was going to make this worse.

"Even, what?" Eleanor asked sharply.

"Even nothing."

Eleanor stared at her son with narrowed eyes. Finally she said, "Even when you did something more cruel? Or even when Bonnie died?"

Rhett clenched his jaw but didn't answer, he was afraid he'd lash out as his mother the way he'd often lashed out at Scarlett.

"Women break in different ways from men, Rhett. When I was there for Bonnie's funeral I saw a broken woman and a broken man. I'd hoped that whatever else was between you that you and Scarlett would have helped each other heal."

When Rhett continued to say nothing his mother continued, "So, what did she do, Rhett? What was so awful you walked out on the day she buried her best friend, and possibly her only friend from what I saw?"

"She loved another man for years, for the entire time we were married," Rhett said hotly.

"I know. More, you did too. You knew that when you married her. Did you think anything would change that?"

Rhett clenched his fists into his pockets and contemplated walking out on his mother. Damn Scarlett's gossiping aunts.

"Ah, you did. You thought if she married you she'd forget him and fall in love with you." Eleanor continued softly as she watched her son struggle against himself.

"So, then my son, after you married her what did you do to make Scarlett fall in love with you?"

"I gave her everything she wanted, mother, everything. I let her decorate that monstrosity of a house, I let her keep her businesses. I…," Rhett had begun yelling as his temper flared.

"Don't you raise your voice to me, young man," Eleanor Butler said with a surprising edge to her voice.

"I'm sorry, Mother." Rhett was sorry. Scarlett had turned him into the kind of man who would raise his voice to his own mother.

"Rhett, things aren't the way to any woman's heart. Surely you are wise enough to know that. Did you treat her with kindness?"

Rhett looked at his mother with the impassive face that had stymied Scarlett for years.

"Have you always treated her with the cruelty you showed when Bonnie died?"

"Mother!" Rhett gasped, "she accused me of killing my own baby!"

"Yes," Eleanor said slowly, "she sounded remarkably like you when I was there. I've never been as disappointed as when I realized that you had not only treated her with cruelty, but you taught her cruelty."

"I didn't teach her that."

"No, when she was a young widow here with her son she wasn't cruel. Even in the depths of grief with a new baby she never treated anyone with cruelty. She was distant and sad, yes, but not cruel. If something like that can't turn a young girl cruel not a lot will, my son."

Rhett stared past his mother to the wall. No, Scarlett had been cruel before, but a part of Rhett acknowledged that he'd encouraged her to speak her mind and to be free with criticism.

"Well," his mother continued seeing Rhett wasn't going to answer for his own behavior, "it doesn't matter if you taught her to be cruel. You have treated her with cruelty. Nothing, nothing will make that acceptable. Do you not recall raging against your own father's cruelty? Do you not recall what it was like to be on the receiving end of that sort of treatment? It tears a person down, Rhett. As you well know. It drove you away. But your wife is a woman, there is nowhere for her to go and keep her dignity no matter how cruelly you've treated her. You've broken that woman and then you abandoned her."

"Mother!"

"You abandoned her, Rhett. You left her to pick up the pieces and face the gossips alone. She didn't trick you, Rhett. Did she tell you she loved you when she loved someone else?"

"No."

"No. Yet you tried to buy her with trinkets instead of kindness. I think if you thought about how you treated her when you fell in love with her and how you treated her once you were married and she didn't fall immediately in love with you, you'd see where you went wrong."

"Mother," Rhett said, trying to control the temper boiling just below the surface, "I'm tired. I've had a long day of traveling. Don't you think we could discuss this tomorrow?"

"No, my son. I love you and I've stood by you through everything you've ever done, but I cannot abide this cruelty. You are not welcome in my home until you make amends to your wife and her children for your cruelty. I shall, of course, continue to receive you if you come to call, but you are not welcome to stay here."

"This is my house."

Eleanor raised her eyebrow at her son. Yes, he'd bought it and continued to pay for all of the household expenses. But he had given it to her. And Eleanor Butler wanted to teach her son something about obligations and cruelty.

"I'll leave in the morning," Rhett said his face bland. As she watched her son react with no reaction at all she knew how he'd driven his wife away. She frowned, this wasn't the time to tell him. That lesson would come later.

"That sounds fine, son. Now, let's go have supper and speak no more about this," Eleanor said as she stood and held out her arm for Rhett to take.

§§§

Several hours later Rhett tossed and turned in his bed in his room in his mother's house trying to formulate a plan. Rhett and Eleanor had gone into a delicious supper where they talked of Rhett's businesses in Chicago, Rhett's nieces and nephews, and the goings on in Eleanor's social circle. Any mention of Scarlett's aunts had been conspicuously absent. Rhett knew this was probably for the best.

After supper Rhett had retired to his office where he'd proceeded to mull over his mother's unexpected stance on this issue while drinking what had probably amounted to the vast majority of a fifth of whiskey.

Perhaps getting drunk after supper hadn't helped, Rhett realized because he couldn't decide where to go tomorrow. He would not stay in a hotel in Charleston. It was too humiliating to have his brother and sister know he wasn't welcome to stay in the house he'd bought his mother. He could go to Atlanta, it might be fun to shock Scarlett and appear before she was ready, but then he'd spend six weeks there. He knew he absolutely must stay until Wade's birthday on January 9th and didn't think he'd last that long in the same house with Scarlett without killing her or taking her over and over until he'd punished her enough for denying him her body. But if she loved him as she claimed, that would punish him too. He couldn't stay anywhere in Atlanta but the Peachtree mansion or people would talk and it would defeat the entire purpose of going to Atlanta. He could go to Savannah or Marietta, but too many people knew him in both of those places and would wonder why he wasn't with his wife. Maybe he should go north. Rhett's head swam and he groaned and turned on his back to stare at the ceiling.

On his first night in Chicago he'd realized how much he was drinking when a porter had delivered a second bottle of whiskey to his room with a raised eyebrow and a glance inside to see if Rhett had company. Earlier that evening Rhett had been thrown out of a whorehouse for the first time in his life. The little blond he'd been with had been called Ashely, initially this hadn't bothered Rhett, but as he'd been thrusting into her with one of her legs slung over his shoulder she'd asked, "Oh, handsome, doesn't Ashley make you feel good?" and Rhett had lost it. He'd leaped off of her and the bed and picked her up and slammed her into the wall. He'd been screaming "I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" as he slammed her into the wall twice before the room had flooded with security men and other girls. He'd paid handsomely for his loss of temper and retreated to his hotel to forget.

Curtailing his imbibing had been harder than Rhett had thought it would be. He often had to remind himself how he'd learned the fine art of drinking while keeping a clear head at the card tables as he set out to discipline himself. It had taken all of his strength and will power and the whole of the nine weeks he'd spent in Chicago, but he'd been able to stop himself before becoming drunk. Until tonight. As his mother's scornful words rattled repeatedly through his memory combined with thoughts of punishing Scarlett by taking her children and businesses away from her, he'd been unable to stop himself. He knew he'd be hung over in the morning. He also knew he'd proven he didn't have as much control over drink as he liked to think he did.

In the morning Rhett kissed his mother on the cheek and boarded a train for Washington. He didn't want to spend the time traveling all the way to Boston or New York for such a short stay. Besides Rhett knew plenty of people in Washington and there were excellent houses of ill repute given how many powerful men were trapped in the city most of the year.

§§§

Rhett had found her. The perfect substitute for Scarlett was in Washington at the house of ill repute down the street from his hotel. Her name was Cherry, which surprised Rhett because her hair wasn't red. It was light brown and curly. But she had Scarlett's green eyes, eyes that darkened to emerald when she was aroused. Her face was too round and her belly was full. Full enough that Rhett had fleetingly wondered if she was with child when he'd first demanded she strip off her dressing gown. But her eyes were almost exactly the same color as Scarlett's and Rhett could stare and them while he thrust into her and pretend.

"Who's Scarlett?" Cherry had asked softly after the third night in a row he'd been with her.

"My wife," Rhett answered.

Cherry sat up from where they were laying side by side after she'd slid off of him. "Did she die?"

"No."

Cherry's eyebrows drew together in confusion, but not sharply like Scarlett's did. Whenever Scarlett was confused she was also irritated.

"Most men don't pretend I'm their wives," she ventured softly and seeing no impending violence from Rhett she continued, "they pretend I'm anybody else."

Rhett also sat up. "I've had enough of that for a lifetime. How much do you want to dye your hair?"

Cherry thought quickly. If she asked for enough she'd be able to dye her hair and save some of the money. If she asked for too much she might lose this repeat customer who for some reason pleasured her when he took her. Noticing how Captain Butler was assessing her as she thought she decided to be forthright.

"The dye costs $7, but if you want me to dye my hair I'd like something on top of that for the inconvenience."

Rhett stood and grabbed his pants. Reaching into the pocket he pulled out his billfold and extracted a $20 bill. Cherry's eyes widened as he dropped it on the bed at her legs.

"Dye it black and straighten it. I'll be back tomorrow at 10. Be waiting and fully dressed." Rhett slid on his drawers and pants. As he buttoned his pants he added, "Have your hair straightened and styled too. Look like a lady when I arrive."

"I will," Cherry sat, naked, and watched as Rhett finished dressing and then stepped out of the room without another word.

§

Cherry stood nervously at the foot of the bed as the clock struck 10 the next night and she waited for Captain Butler to appear. Ironing her hair had taken almost two hours and her scalp ached from all of the pulling and then the further irritation of being styled and held with pins. Among the house they only had three ladylike dresses and Cherry was wearing the largest of them over an uncomfortable corset. A lot of men wanted her to leave a corset on while they took her. Being unable to take a deep breath made servicing a man much harder. Cherry fervently hoped this wouldn't be one of those nights.

Cherry shuddered when Rhett opened the door and stepped in.

"Good," he declared after looking her over.

"I'm glad to please you, Captain Butler," Cherry said coyly.

"Rhett," he corrected. She knew immediately that calling him by his name was part of the fantasy of the night. She briefly wondered if he'd ask her to call out she loved him when he took her later.

Rhett squinted at Cherry and then placed her hand on the buttons of his pants. He was already half hard and she knew what he wanted. Cherry folded the dress under her knees and knelt in front of him. She kissed him through his pants then with swift fingers she unbuttoned his pants and shoved them and his drawers down enough to pull him out. When his penis sprang free, Cherry licked it from base to tip and then swirled her tongue around the tip. She leaned down to gently suck one of his balls into her mouth and then licked up to his tip again.

Rhett didn't make a sound.

Cherry drew him into her mouth and began to suck, bobbing her head to slide him in and out of her mouth. Soon she felt his hips start jerking. She swirled her tongue and then took him as deep as she could without gagging. He grabbed her hair and began to thrust in and out of her mouth. Cherry closed her eyes so he wouldn't see her expression. If men weren't always doing exactly this sucking them off would be the best part of her job. It was by far the least hard on her body, but the vast majority of the time men wanted to be deep enough to choke her.

"Oh, god, Scarlett," Rhett groaned as he emptied himself into Cherry's mouth. Rhett released her hair and allowed her to take her mouth off him, but before she could turn and spit into the spittoon he commanded, "Swallow."

Cherry swallowed his seed and stood.

"Turn around."

She did and felt him undoing the fastenings on her dress. He slowly undressed her, caressing her skin and kissing her in all sorts of odd places like her shoulder blades and elbows. Cherry was profoundly grateful when he'd unlaced her corset and let it drop to the floor. When she was standing in just her chemise Rhett pulled her against his chest by reaching around her and grabbing her breasts. He tweaked her nipples and she could feel he was hard again already. Damn, Cherry thought, she'd been hoping it would take longer for him to get hard.

Rhett bit down on her neck, but not enough to injure her and then spun her around. He lifted Cherry's chemise and tossed it away.

"Undress me," he commanded in a gruff voice.

As Cherry did he tweaked her nipples and teased between her legs so she was wet and panting for him. As he fingered her, Cherry wondered why he was doing this. Then Rhett said, "Say my name, Scarlett," and Cherry understood. His wife didn't want him. His fantasy was a wife who wanted him. Cherry could do that.

"Oh, Rhett!" Cherry cried, leading forward to lick one of his nipples, "I want you. Please."

Rhett smirked and thrust two fingers inside her, "It does seem that you do, Scarlett," he answered shoving Cherry back onto the bed.

Rhett climbed on top of her and thrust himself into her in one long stroke. Cherry gasped. Rhett teased Cherry's nipples as he thrust into her then he rolled them over so Cherry was astride him.

Rhett leaned up to take one of her nipples into his mouth as she began to ride him.

"Oh, Rhett!" Cherry called out. She braced herself on his shoulders and rode him as hard and fast as she could until he sucked hard on her nipple, released it with a slurping sound, and then grabbed her hips. He thrust up into her several times with a force that Cherry thought would make her sore and bruised and then released his seed for the second time that night.

"Tomorrow," Rhett said as he dressed, "be naked and waiting on the bed with your hair down."

Cherry saw Rhett every night for ten nights in row. He took her from behind bent over the bed and against the wall. He made her suck him off and ride him. He teased her with his fingers and tongue. He actually made her orgasm on a few nights. And then Cherry never saw him again.

More Author's Note: Please read and review! I have the first 8 chapters done and am well on the way with several chapters after that. My point is, it's not all this dark and it is going somewhere.