Cw: infidelity, reader is verging on OC here, very light physical description (wears glasses, is shorter than soap)
Regency!AU where you’ve just entered an arranged marriage with John MacTavish, and you’ve already heard whispers from servants and nobles alike about the girls he’s entertaining on the side. You sigh, disappointed but not surprised.
He’s never shown any interest in you. Not during your debut, not in any courting season, and certainly not now that you’re married. Quiet, studious, with no interest in socializing beyond a small circle. If anything, you’ve only ever been an obstacle to him— your desire for quiet and to study the flowers has robbed many a late night garden tryst of its privacy at social galas.
Not to mention your spectacles. He’s never understood some men’s taste for those.
But your family was of no small renown (distantly related to the royal family, some gossiped), and his had connections overseas. The match made sense. Well, to anyone but the people who had met you both.
He’ll admit you’ve piqued his curiosity when you invite him to speak with you privately. You couldn’t mean to confront him regarding his dalliances, could you? Because it wouldn’t do you any good. He needs some kind of stimulation in this dull, countryside manor.
You smile at the maid as she departs, having just set down the silver tea tray and chatted with you for a spell while you awaited your lord husband— late as usual. He’s always found it strange how you keep such a closer rapport with servants of all people.
You stand to greet him as he enters the garden, smiling like you don’t have a care in the world. Sweetly. You tuck a strand of hair back into place. That is, right before you slap him across the face. Hard.
And the poor man, he’s reeling— feels as if the wind has been knocked out of him. Since when could you hit harder than some of his mates? That train of thought ends when you grab him by the lapels and yank him downward to eye level. The fury he sees cannot be overstated.
“You think I care that my man-whore of a husband wants to wet his cock? I don’t. But should you wish to keep your manhood, you’ll do so in private,” you grit out, teeth bared at him. “I’ll not be humiliated by you. I’ll not be the subject of pitying gossip. Do not provoke me. Am I clear?”
He nods hastily once he re-learns how to move his head. You let go, but not without a slight shove that he sheepishly struggles to recover from. “Good. Now leave me be.”
You proceed to arrange your skirt suitably and sit at the garden table, picking up a cup to sip from, opening a journal and perusing it as if he isn’t even there.
Johnny leaves the garden quietly, retreating to your (scarcely) shared chambers to catch his breath.
And for a week or two, no words reach your ears about his liaisons. It’s a blissful time, but your satisfaction doesn’t last for long.
Because your husband has suddenly become nauseatingly affectionate. Scarcely leaving your side when he has his way, prompting you to sneak him improper kisses, holding your hand so he can kiss his way up your wrist in a most unbecoming way.
More than once, you hear of his former paramours. Humiliated, snubbed by him seemingly out of nowhere when you’d only told him not stick his hands up their skirts in plain view of others. Now he seemingly only has eyes for you, calling you bonnie and darlin and all other manner of sickening pet names. He’s even taken to playfully plucking the spectacles from your face— sometimes to clean them when they fog up from a hot drink, other times to hold them behind his back for ransom while he demands a kiss in exchange for their safe return.
My god, and the vile things he whispers to you when you find yourselves alone. Begging you to let him lift your skirts, to see that cute little cunt and give it a good licking, telling you about how he stroked himself in the bath last night thinking about you, how you should join him tonight—
Worst of all, he’s asking all manner of inane questions. Namely, which room you want to become the nursery.
