Desired by a Lord (Regency Unlaced 5) (9 page)

Which was not to say it was not damned uncomfortable having had a cock-stand for the past twenty-four hours. “I will instruct Clarke to ask Cook to prepare a picnic basket for the two of us, while you go upstairs and change into something pretty.” He rang for the butler. “I said something pretty, Emily,” he added sternly as she began to frown. “I refuse to sit with you in the sunshine wearing your unbecoming widow’s weeds.”

Her throat moved as she swallowed. “I don’t have anything pretty to wear…”

As Xander had thought, Marsden had deliberately kept his young wife’s beauty hidden beneath dowdy clothes and that unbecoming bun, whilst failing to appreciate her himself. “The prettiest gown you have, then,” he encouraged gently. He would have to make enquiries as to what gowns were available in Ashingdon. There was sure to be a seamstress of some description living in the village.

Her brow cleared. “I will not be long.”

Xander smiled at her eagerness as she hurried from the room. He had such plans for them today. Such delicious, wicked—

“My lord…?”

He gave a shake of his head to clear it of those erotic images. He had totally forgotten he had rung for Clarke. “Mrs. Marsden and I will need a picnic luncheon, Clarke. And several blankets to sit upon.” Except Xander did not intend for them to
sit
anywhere.

The elderly man nodded. “I will see to it immediately, my lord.”

“And Clarke…” He halted the other man as the butler would have left, recalling Emily’s words to him the previous evening.

The butler turned back with brows raised. “Yes, my lord?”

“I have no intention of making any changes within the household staff.”

A nerve twitched beneath the older man’s left eye. “I am gratified to hear it, my lord.”

Which, Xander surmised with some amusement, was the equivalent of the elderly man jumping up and down and shouting that gratitude.

“I will see to the preparation of your picnic immediately, my lord.” The butler bowed before departing.

Good God, had that almost been a smile on Clarke’s lips? And warmth in his tone?

If Xander had known that was all it took to infuse some geniality into the older man, then he would have offered Clarke these reassurances earlier. Even if they did go against his earlier decision.

He was used to dealing with the servants in his London home, most of them having been with him for years. The servants who did choose to leave usually did so to go to another position within the confines of the city. Emily was right, the servants at Whitney Park did not have that flexibility. Their families and homes were here. Fearing for the future of their positions at Whitney Park did not make for a happy household.

Perhaps in future—

“I am ready, my—Xander.”

Xander turned from staring out the window, eyes widening as he took in Emily’s appearance. Her hair was just as loosely styled as earlier, and she wore a gown of deep purple velvet, which should have clashed with her red hair but somehow only complemented the color. But what captured and held his gaze was the tight bodice of the gown as it scooped low over her breasts and revealed their full swell.

She looked more like a beautiful and desirable young lady today than the prim widow who had arrived at Whitney Park three days ago.

Emily shifted self-consciously under the intensity of Xander’s gaze on the tops of her bared breasts. “I removed the lace tucker,” she admitted, having thought long and hard before doing so. In the end, she’d decided Xander was arrogant and forceful enough to remove it himself if she did not.

Without that lace tucker covering her shoulders and the tops of her breasts, the purple gown took on a much more sensual appearance. She had also forgone wearing a corset, remembering how constricting it had been the previous evening. Her drawers, a relatively recent fashion, had met the same fate.

“Is it too much?” She felt uncertain of Xander’s lengthy silence.

“It is just perfect,” he assured her huskily as he crossed the room to her side. “Not that it matters particularly, as I fully intend to remove your gown completely the moment we are alone and private on the grounds.”

Emily was aware of the heat in her cheeks and the catch of her breath in her throat. “There is such a place?”

“Oh yes,” he assured her. “It is my favorite place in the garden. I used to hide there as a boy on sunny days such as this,” he confided. “Whenever my tutor attempted to make me sit and do a lesson I had no wish to do.”

It seemed strange to think of this totally confident—even arrogant—gentleman, as being a young boy hiding from his tutor. And yet Xander would have grown up here, within the safe confines of Whitney Park.

Emily’s own childhood home had not been as grand as this. But grand enough she remembered similarly thwarting her governess on hot summer days, and the freedom of running wild about the countryside.

Xander’s fingertips brushed lightly against her cheek. “You are not allowed to have unhappy thoughts today.”

She was saved from having to answer that remark, as Clarke appeared in the doorway. Besides, they had not been unhappy thoughts, merely wistful ones for the life she had taken completely for granted at the time, never having known any other, and which would never be brought back to her.

“Do you wish one of the footmen to carry your picnic basket out into the garden and then serve it for you, my lord?” Clarke enquired.

“No, I will carry it myself, thank you.” Xander dismissed the butler. He wished to have Emily completely to himself for the afternoon. His plans for the two of them did not include the intrusive gaze of a third party.

“I had no idea this was here.” Emily was enchanted to find that what she had assumed yesterday was a high hedge at the back of the house was actually a maze.

A maze which Xander had no trouble navigating as he took the two of them straight to the grassy center. Instead of an ornamental fountain, as might be expected at its midst, there was a huge oak tree spreading its limbs far and wide and further adding to the feeling they were the only two people in the world.

Xander turned from spreading out the blankets beneath the oak tree. “Do you like it?”

She nodded. “No wonder you loved it so as a boy—Xander…?” she questioned warily as he moved to stand behind her and began to unfasten the buttons on her gown.

“I believe I am going to enjoy it far more as an adult.” He finished unfastening the buttons. “You are wearing only your camisole today.”

She glanced at him over her shoulder. “I thought it would be easier…”

“Oh, much.” He traced light fingertips down the length of her spine. “You have such soft and silky skin,” he murmured admiringly before turning her to face him. “Would you like to undress me?” He lowered his arms to his sides.

Emily had occasionally helped Edmund on with his jacket. She did not recall ever helping him out of it. Or out of any of his clothing, come to that. She was not sure she knew where to start.

“My neckcloth.” Xander answered the question she had obviously asked out loud without realizing it. “Then my jacket. Followed by my shirt.”

Emily’s hands trembled as she removed the diamond pin and handed it to him. He was so much taller than her, she had to tilt her head back to see what she was doing, as she tackled the intricate knot of his neckcloth.

“Leave it,” Xander instructed hoarsely as Emily would have straightened her gown. He was thoroughly enjoying the sight of her naked breasts visible down the front of her gaping gown, his cock already standing at attention.

An engorged and throbbing cock he fully intended should receive its fair share of attention today.

He had to help Emily remove his tightly tailored jacket before once again standing unmoving in front of her as she unfastened the buttons of his shirt and then pulled it from the waistband of his black pantaloons.

Her earlier admission had led him to believe this would be the first time Emily had helped a gentleman to remove his clothes. Her hesitancy and the blush to her cheeks confirmed it.

Which further added to Xander’s disgust with her late husband. He was more sure than ever Marsden had been one of those gentlemen who visited his wife’s bedchamber in the dark and remained dressed in his nightshirt while silently taking his pleasure.

Xander intended to see every inch of Emily naked today, as he intended she should see every inch of him.

Emily drew her breath in sharply as she pulled Xander’s shirt over his head and then off completely before gazing at his naked torso. She had not realized, in those perfectly tailored clothes he wore, that Xander was as muscular as this. He had immensely wide shoulders, chest, and back; his waist was tapered and firmly muscled. A dusting of fine, dark hair encircled copper-colored nipples before veeing down to disappear beneath the waistband of his black pantaloons.

She quickly averted her gaze when she clearly saw the bulge tenting the front of those pantaloons. A bulge that looked in complete proportion to the rest of him. Such a monster would surely never fit inside her—

“We are exploring today, Emily.” Xander immediately put her mind at rest in that regard. “You will explore me, and I will explore you. Much as you no doubt did with the boys from the village when you were a— No?” he teased when she looked at him in alarm.

“No.” Emily had no trouble denying ever having done such a thing.

“Then perhaps a male cousin? Or two?”

“No.” As an adult, Emily knew the form and dimensions of the male body, but she had certainly never seen or touched one when she was growing up.

Xander gave a grin. “Then I must presume I was a very precocious young man, because I did both. With a female cousin, of course.”

“Oh, of course,” she echoed faintly.

“I was already more than familiar with my own body.” He nodded. “I pleasured myself so many times from the age of twelve to sixteen, I believe I was in danger of having my cock fall off from all that hard pumping.”

Emily was unsure whether she was embarrassed by the frankness of the conversation or relieved at knowing Xander had pleasured himself in the past, much as she had two nights ago. That she was perhaps even a little late in having discovered such ecstasy.

In the end, she decided she was neither of those things, and that curiosity remained her main emotion.

Xander smiled. “Once I discovered how much more pleasurable it was to have a woman do it for me with her hands and mouth, I lost all interest in the pastime.”

She drew in a shaky breath at the memory of having Xander’s hands and mouth on her. It
was
more enjoyable to have someone else give you pleasure. “Would you enjoy having
my
hands and mouth on you?”

“Very much.” His voice had lowered gruffly. “But first, I think we have to take off these infernal boots.” His smile became rueful as he sat down on the blanket to take off first one black Hessian and then the other. “Come and sit with me.” He patted the blanket beside him.

Emily still felt shy about what they were doing, but her curiosity far outweighed that shyness. She desperately wanted to see what Xander was like beneath those pantaloons. His shaft looked incredibly long and thick. That monster, she had called it in her head earlier.

“Closer,” he encouraged once she was seated next to him on the blanket, waiting until she had scooted nearer before slowly and methodically removing every one of the pins from her hair. “Better.” He nodded his satisfaction as the fiery length fell loose about her shoulders and down to her waist. “Unfasten my pantaloons now.” He leaned back on his hands to give her easier access.

Her bottom lips caught between her teeth, her fingers trembling, as she slipped each button through its fastening.

“I am not wearing undergarments either…”

Her eyes widened on that single flap of material that was the only thing hiding Xander’s shaft from her. Or his cock, as he chose to call it. It sounded so much naughtier to call it that, even inside her head. Cock.
Cock
. Yes, she liked the sound of that so much better than her own prim reference of shaft or male member, when she dared think of it at all.

Oh my God…

The moment Emily folded back that concealing material, Xander’s cock jutted free from a nest of dark curls. Wide and long, it curved up toward the flatness of his abdomen, as she had thought it might. There was a thick and pulsing vein running along its underside. The foreskin was pulled completely back, allowing the blood-red top to mushroom out, that tip moistened with a viscous fluid escaping from the slit at the top. And nestled below that turgid length was a heavy sac she also wished to explore.

“What would you like to do first, Emily?”

She gave Xander a glance and then looked quickly down again, her tongue running along her lips as she stared at that throbbing length. What did she want to do with it?

“Do you want to touch my cock? Lick it? Suck it?”

I want to do all of those things,
Emily realized a little dazedly.

She, who had never so much as thought of doing such a thing before, now ached with wanting to touch and kiss and suck that huge cock into the heat of her mouth. To hear Xander groan from the pleasure she was giving him.
She
, Emily Marsden, and not one of those sophisticated ladies he no doubt bedded when he was in London.

“Come kneel between my thighs,” Xander encouraged, spreading his legs wide apart before lying down completely, his head resting on his folded arms as he looked down the length of his body at her.

Emily felt emboldened without that dark blue gaze upon her, shameful in her eagerness as she moved so that she knelt between Xander’s thighs, the thick length of his cock bobbing temptingly in front of her.

She touched it, hesitantly at first, a thrill running through her as Xander made a soft moaning noise at her touch. The skin felt surprisingly silky, that thick vein pulsing beneath the soft pad of her thumb as she traced its path from root to tip. Bringing forth another of those low moans from Xander, and causing more of that viscous liquid to release from the slitted tip.