Page 96 of Courting Scandal With The Duke
Her hand was so small, so delicate, so soft in his. And no gloves to spoil the sensation. He liked the way her fingers curled around his palm. He raised her hand and kissed the back of it. She looked up at him and laughter danced in her eyes.
But she did not stop.
Halfway down the garden she turned to pass througha trellised arch with a bud covered rose bush clinging to it for support.
Beyond the arch was a hidden arbour surrounded by more roses twined around artfully placed trellises, and in the centre a seat, a statue and a small patch of sunlit grass on which someone had laid out a blanket and cushions.
‘I forgot about this arbour,’ he said.
‘I had no idea it existed. Someone pruned the roses since last we were at the cottage, otherwise I would not have noticed it.’
‘I have a gardener who looks after several of my properties.’ He looked at the blankets. ‘Are we having a picnic?’
She gave him a naughty sideways glance. ‘I suppose you could call it that?’
His breath caught in his throat. She could not mean what he thought she meant.
Could she?
The high hedges meant they could not be seen by the occupants either side of the cottage, although perhaps they were overlooked from the windows high in the eaves. He glanced back and up.
Here amid the roses, they were completely hidden from view.
‘You naughty minx!’
She sank onto the blanket cross-legged and leaned back on her hands, still laughing up at him.
He dropped to his knees facing her and, holding her face in his hands, kissedher lips briefly.
The brim of her bonnet got in his way. He untied the strings and cast it aside.
‘That’s better,’ he said, leaning forward to devour her lovely, delicious mouth.
Slowly, she sank back on the cushions taking him down with her until they lay prone and entangled, her arms around him, his thigh between hers, her breast soft beneath his palm, with only the finest lawn between them.
No stays, he realised with a start, drawing back.
She pulled at his cravat, freeing the ends. ‘Methinks you are wearing far too many clothes,’ she murmured softly.
God help him. He was.
Chapter Fifteen
Barbara wanted this last assignation of theirs to be lovely, delicious and very, very naughty.
It was why she had arrived early. She’d eyed the sofa and the rug before the fire, but neither had seemed enough.
Only when she had wandered out into the garden and discovered this hidden gem of a garden had her imagination been fired.
Xavier was gazing at her in astonishment, and yes, delight.
He wasn’t so stuffy as not to be able to see the possibilities. She flicked the ends of the cravat. ‘Do you need help?’
Apparently jolted from his surprise, he sat up and divested himself of his coats and necktie, shoes, stockings and breeches, in pretty short order.
She lay on her side, one elbow, propping her head in her hand. What a pleasure it was to watch such a gorgeous man disrobe.
She reached out to help him with his shirt buttons.
