Chapter Three
Hollyhock Lodge
Berkshire, England
It had been a long day, indeed, what with arriving at the hunting lodge around noon and meeting the guests who had arrived ahead of them. Then, she and Nicholas were settled into a room. They enjoyed a welcome tea, and a few hours later, the lavish dinner had exhausted her.
Now, in the drawing room, Mia covered a yawn with her hand. How soon would it be before she could retire to bed? Oh, what was Gideon doing in this moment? Was he sleeping? Was he aware his parents were missing?
“Did you enjoy dinner?”
She glanced at Nicholas as he joined her at the side of the room.
“I did. The food was quite sumptuous, which surprised me for dining at a hunting lodge.” That had surprised her as well, for the earl’s hunting lodge was a luxurious manor-style house with at least fifteen bedrooms on rolling lawns, complete with glorious flowerbeds at the rear, blooming with a riot of autumn flowers and shrubberies.
“Well, Marcus’ brother spared no expense. He’s keen on showing society he’s a different sort of earl than his father was.” When he took her arm, he winked. “Would you care to stroll the grounds with me and take in some fresh air?”
“I would adore that.” It was time to forgive him, for their disagreement over leaving their son had dragged on far too long.
Gideon would be right as rain with her mother and sister until she and Nicholas returned.
And they did need time alone. She’d missed dressing in pretty gowns, since they usually took dinner apart due to Gideon’s feeding schedule and her being tired early in the evening.
“That way I can wear this gown a bit longer.”
“It’s a beautiful hue, especially with your hair.” His gaze roved up and down her person despite them being in a room full of people. “The blue makes your eyes glow, but I would adore that gown even more in a heap on the grass somewhere,” he said with a wink.
“Do stop, Wycliffe.” Heat went into her cheeks. “I wish to know if you remember how to be romantic.”
His low chuckle sent skitters of need down her spine. “I’ll show you that I’m still quite potent in all the ways that matter. Just wait until we’re outside in the moonlight.”
As they made their way through the crowded drawing room, her husband paused to speak with a few acquaintances and friends. Introductions were given, but all she wished to do was gain the peace of the outdoors, for it was quite stifling inside.
Once they gained the gardens at the back of the house, the feel of the cooler air on her overheated skin was most welcome. “Goodness, look at that moon.” It was almost as if she could reach out and touch it. Nearly full, it was uncommonly bright. “It’s gorgeous.”
“Not as gorgeous as you, love.”
She smiled, for he was truly trying, to say nothing of the fact that he was devastatingly handsome in his dark evening attire, including a tailcoat.
The silver thread on his black satin waistcoat glimmered in the moonlight.
Was there ever a more captivating sight than a man dressed formally?
“Charming as ever, but you also look stunning tonight.”
“I look as I always have.” When his gaze alighted on her, a play of emotions went over his face, but the affection in his eyes was unmistakable.
“Yes, and good enough to eat.” She could scarcely breathe; his presence was far too large even out in the gardens, and it seemed as if he filled every portion of it.
“That can be arranged.” There was no mistaking the intent in his tone.
“So very tempting.” They hadn’t been naughty in any capacity for quite some time.
“Tonight is for indulging in any fantasy you have.” As if he had all the time in the world, he tugged her further into the garden.
Deep in the overgrowth that marked the rear boundary, they came upon a crumbling wall of a folly long forgotten.
Then he divested himself of his gloves and tossed them to the ground. “Does that interest you?”
“Mmm, it certainly can.”
“Good.” When he rested a palm on the wall at her head, he leaned his body into hers, effectively trapping her, and she didn’t mind in the least. “I’ve waited long for this moment.
” Each whispered word sent heated breath sailing along her cheek.
Though the desire in his dark eyes was all too clear, concern lined his face.
“We haven’t lost our spark together, have we? ”
“Of course not.” A few flutters went through her heart to think they’d drifted apart. As she tipped back her head, he dipped his down, and their lips nearly touched. “We are merely out of step at this time in our lives.”
“Then let us fix that.” Nicholas put his free hand to the small of her back, pulled her closer still, then eased his hand downward to rest at the curve of her arse in a move that was quite possessive and sent frissons of need twisting up her spine.
“I want to reaffirm our love for each other, to reassure you that all is well.”
“I would like that, and in this moment, I quite agree.” Before Mia could say anything further, he claimed her lips in a searing kiss that made every portion of her body feel alive.
Those fires in her blood he’d ignited became molten rivers of need, and she gasped at the intensity of desire sparking between them.
It was almost as it had been before she’d become pregnant with Gideon.
Enchanted, she looped her arms about his shoulders and clung to him without a shred of decency or decorum as she returned that embrace with the hope of more to come.
“You have never stopped being my secret siren,” he whispered while taking her more comfortably in his arms and teasing her—torturing her—with intense kisses that hinted at exactly what he wished to do next.
“And you are still the devil, I think.” Uncaring that they were essentially in a public area, she dragged her lips beneath the sharp line of his jaw, licked a path down the strong column of his throat merely to tease him.
“This whole day, watching you, being at your side, I’ve thought of nothing more than having you to myself. ”
A groan issued from him as he drew his palms up her sides to cup her breasts.
“Then by all means, let me indulge that need.” Nicholas held her breasts, squeezed them, teased her nipples through the fabric of her gown until she whimpered with anticipation.
“Rather desperate, aren’t you?” he whispered when she arched her back.
“God help me, yes. It has been an age since we did this,” she said on the heels of a gasp while he yanked the bodice of her gown down to bare her breasts.
When he stimulated those aching buds, intense sensations streaked to her core.
“Touch me. Please.” Should a happily married woman plead like that?
“I adore your begging,” he murmured, and gave her nipples a quick pinch. When a sound that was a mix of a gasp and a moan escaped her, he chuckled.
Mia’s head lolled onto her shoulder. “Where you are concerned, I apparently have no shame.” A shiver racked her being while he continued to manipulate those aching tips.
“Good, because this is only the start of our holiday together,” he whispered into her ear and followed the words with a light nip to her lobe.
Once he’d urged her arms above her head, he caught her wrists in one hand and cupped a breast with the other.
“Would there was time to see you naked.” He nibbled a path along the column of her throat, licked and nipped her breasts, teased her with his hot breath on her skin.
“There is time enough for that…” She expelled a soft moan when he teased her nipple with his tongue and teeth. “I need you inside me.”
“Convince me of that need.” With a wink, he released her wrists and then grinned—a pure devil in the moonlight. “You know what I want.”
“Why must you prove an arse?”
“Because it’s fun to tease you.”
“You are so not a gentleman.”
“I never claimed I was, but I think you know this.”
“I do.” And she loved him for it. Mia dropped to her knees before him, being certain not to soil her gown.
Quickly, she divested herself of her gloves, let them fall to the ground.
Only then did she reach for the buttons of his evening breeches.
Before he could protest, she’d opened his frontfalls and eased his rampant shaft from the fabric. “Mmm…”
“Missed that, did you?” he asked with a wriggle of his hips.
She huffed. “So arrogant.” The length of him that bobbed near her head stole her breath, and as she wrapped her fingers around that appendage, the heat of him had a wave of intense awareness washing over her. “But simply wonderful. I have missed it. Missed you.”
“Amelia.” A warning growl propelled her name from his throat. The breath hissed from him the first moment she touched her tongue to his cockhead.
“Hush, Nicholas. Indulge me in this.” She smiled up at him and then applied herself to the act.
Forgetting about her own need for the moment, she teased the skin just beneath the tip of his gloriously hard shaft, and when she was done, she licked the silky skin.
Though they’d shared this act numerous times, his half-stifled sounds of encouragement pleased her, and she took as much of his length into her mouth as she could.
“Oh, God.” Nicholas held her head in his hands, and the longer she bobbed on his rigid member, the more he thrust into her mouth. His eyes shuttered closed, and his head thrown back, his breathing ragged.
It was a crime for any man to look so beautiful during such wicked play, but Mia hummed her approval.
Once she found a rhythm, she sucked at his length while moving upon it.
She fondled his stones as she worked, she imagined his shaft moving inside her, for it had been a long time.
From experience, she knew how to work him over, so she employed her tongue or fingers in the ways that pleased him, and was rewarded by his soft moans.
It was far too heady and nearly saw her undone right there in the shadows.