Page 35 of A Spinster for the Rakish Duke (Notorious Sisters of London #3)
“ G osh, it is so much bigger when you are standing right in front of it,” Emma remarked with a sense of impressed wonder.
“How big do you suppose it is?” Donovan asked.
“The mapped estimates put it somewhere around two hundred rods, give or take,” Emma said looking up towards the green and grey rocky summit. “Is the house where we are staying near here?”
“We are little ways up the road from here, staying on the shore of Bassenthwaite Lake. I had the driver drop us off here, so that we could get our first look at the mountain and enjoy the scenery and walk on the way to the house,” Donovan explained.
They both walked in silence for a little bit. The walk was easy. The road was packed flat and well-traveled considering how few people were around, and Emma took notice. “What is this road used for?”
“The sheepherders to the north use this road to transport their wool to the nearby towns. They come by infrequently enough not to disrupt the scenery but often enough to preserve the road. At least that's what the cabin owner told me,” Donovan explained.
“The cabin owner? Who is that?” Emma asked curiously.
“An Earl who is older and makes little use of it,” Donovan answered.
“Is that why he gave us permission to use it?” Emma asked curiously.
“Use it?” Donovan asked innocently as if the question didn’t make any sense.
“Yes,” Emma said cautiously. “We do have his welcome to use it don’t we?” Emma asked a bit more sternly.
“I assumed we no longer needed it once I purchased it from him,” Donovan said.
“You bought it?” Emma exclaimed excitedly.
“I know wedding gifts between the husband and wife are more than a tad unconventional, but, then again, our courtship as a whole has been unconventional,” Donovan remarked before taking both his wife’s hands in his and pulling her close.
“I wanted to give you a gift. A beautiful little house next to one of your favorite places in the whole world. I didn’t just buy the cabin.
I had it made up special just for you,” Donovan told her.
“Special?” Emma asked, curiosity and excitement intermingling in her voice.
“Go and see for yourself,” Donovan said and gestured down the road.
Emma moved forward at a bit of a faster pace as Donovan trailed close behind her.
She covered her mouth as it fell open at the sight of the beautiful little home, a small structure, surrounded on all sides by a lush garden filled with beautiful flowers and handsomely arranged rocks.
The house itself was a delicate buttercup yellow.
The outside walls all supported a trellis covered in flowers of green and blue to make the colors of the house really stand out.
“I have had craftsmen and gardeners working nonstop ever since you agreed to marry me. They only just finished the other day. I was worried it wouldn’t be done in time for our honeymoon, but fate has shown us favor once more.”
“Oh Donovan, it's the most wonderful gift I have ever received,” Emma exclaimed, and it was no exaggeration. She had truly never been gifted anything so great, neither in scope nor sentiment.
“Are you sure? You haven’t seen the inside yet,” he said and took her by the hand to lead her to see the other parts of her gift.
“Oh, Donovan!” Emma gasped again. She felt a bit silly, being able to say little more than that, but the nature of Donovan’s gift had left her just that speechless.
The inside of the little yellow house was just as beautiful as the outside.
There were two rooms, one that served as a living room, dining room, and kitchen and another that served as a bedroom.
All the fixtures and the furniture were made of polished wood and copper and shone with a gleam that filled the house when the sun struck it just right.
“The house also has hot and cold water piped inside, directly to it. A costly addition this far out, but no price is too high to pay for your comfort,” Donovan told her.
“An indoor tap? I never had such a thing before. You didn’t have to spoil me like that, my husband,” Emma told him, just a little embarrassed about the extravagance of the idea.
Emma had never been very wealthy, let alone having to consider the wealth of a Duke, so such things were almost too much for her.
“I can only spoil you if I give you more than you deserve, Emma. And I can assure you, I will be working hard to spoil you for a very long time, though I doubt I can accomplish it,” he confessed, and Emma blushed all the more.
“Such a tongue on you,” Emma said and laid her hands on his chest.
“Only you would know,” Donovan countered, and Emma blushed crimson this time.
“Is that a proposal?” she asked hopefully.
Donovan's smile widened. “Soon, if you are willing, but I have one more thing to show you,” he told her and offered his hand again for her to take.
The Duke of Lowe led the Duchess to the small pier that sat along the western side of the house, jutting into Bassenthwaite Lake. It was beautifully crafted and painted to match the house, along with a bench affixed into it so the couple could watch the sunset over the water each night.
That, though lovely, wasn’t the most wonderful thing about the pier.
The most wonderful thing was the affixed brass telescope that was mounted at the end.
“Here, above the water, the cloud cover should lessen, and you have a perfect view of the whole range of mountains and hills, Skiddaw chief amongst them. “
“You’ve thought about absolutely everything, haven’t you?” she asked Donovan, voice filled with wonder.
“I tried my hardest to make sure I did,” Donovan admitted proudly.
“It is going to make it difficult to give you gifts in return, when the standard of comparison is so high, my love,” Emma tutted.
“But this is already a return gift to match the greatness of the one you gave me,” Donovan scoffed at her.
“What are you talking about? What gift?” she laughed.
“I told you, this was a wedding present,” Donovan explained. “It is in exchange for marrying me.”
“Your Grace, Duke Lowe, why are you trying to butter me up? I already married you; what more could you want of me?” she asked coyly.
“If you would like to return to our new little house, I can show you in the bedroom,” Donovan assured her.
“Oh, my heaven, Donovan, don’t stop!” Emma’s new favorite thing about this house, she decided as she lay flat on her back, naked in the wide downy bed, was the fact that she could be as loud as she wanted.
This was the first time this big soft bed had ever been used, and although it wasn’t being used for sleeping, Emma still relished how comfortable it was, despite her mind being on other things.
Donovan fulfilling his promise to use his mouth on her someplace more comfortable than a carriage was certainly more than just distracting.
Her hands ran through his lush head of hair and encouraged him to continue.
She wasn’t in love with Donovan because he spoiled her or treated her like she was heaven-sent, nor did she love him because he was able to turn her body and mind soft and malleable with the pleasure that he gave her.
Neither of these facts had ever hurt her opinion of Donovan though.
Emma gripped her husband's hair firmly, fixing it tightly between her knuckles as she came over the top of the apex of pleasure that Donovan was good at pulling her to.
It always came fast and hard and shoved her over the edge, so that she felt like she was free falling, then the rush would leave her feeling warm and sleepy by the time it ebbed away. This time was no different.
Emma curled up against her husband in the big soft bed, contently pushing herself under his arm and kissing his chest. “My dearest Donovan, you continue to outdo yourself. I hope you are keeping some surprises for other occasions, or I’m not sure what I’ll do the first time you fail to impress me.
I simply won’t be expecting it,” she admitted with a relaxed chuckle.
“Well, then, I guess I’ll have to make sure to keep impressing you,” Donovan told her confidently. “I haven’t done anything very different, to begin with, so I have a feeling I should be able to keep this pace up for at least a month or two.”
“Whatever will you do then?” Emma asked, playfully running her fingers along his chest, casually dipping lower each time she went. He was impressively large at the moment, excited from his attendance of her, and Emma had no intention of letting such a fine example of readiness go to waste.
“I am not an old enough dog that I can’t learn a new trick or two,” Donovan told her with a wink that made her laugh and lightly slap his chest. Then, without warning, she climbed on top of him, pinning his engorged member between herself and his stomach, lightly moving back and forth while kissing her husband's lips.
“If they are tricks, then I definitely want to see them all,” she told him, smiling but with a look in her eyes that said she was definitely eager to back the statement up with action to match.
“You may be still learning, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have a thing or two you could show me.” Donovan said, his voice confident but a bit subverted by the pleasure he was receiving. It was so much harder to tease when your mind was being drawn to other things.
“Is that so? Is there something, in particular, you’d like me to show you, Donovan?” Emma asked while still gliding back and forth on his stiff member, letting herself get more and more worked up while she could feel the same thing happening to her husband.
“Are you going to make me beg?” Donovan asked her.
“Maybe? Would it be so difficult to tell your wife what she wants to hear? Is that so taxing that a Duchess must make her husband beg?” Emma taunted while continuing to rub against him.
“What if the roles were reversed?” Donovan said with a small smile. “Would you want me to make you ask for it? Or would you just want me to do it?”