Page 39

F reddie didn’t sleep; he couldn’t. His mind was racing, the enormity of what had happened too vast for him to even contemplate closing his eyes.

He was a married man. He’d married a competent, intelligent woman, but that didn’t mean he could sit idle.

He’d bought the place in which they lay as an investment, somewhere that he could develop his dreams and create an independent income, one that was separate to the Glanmore accounts.

He would lose the income from the heir’s estates as soon as Tobias had a boy and his own investments were not enough to give Emily the future she deserved.

The garden and its success had been a dream, something he had wanted for longer than he could remember, but now it had to be a reality too.

It had to be productive and provide them with another source of earnings.

His wife deserved the best of everything and he had to be the one to give it to her.

To do anything else would be to fail her and that was not a possibility.

He might not be the husband she would have chosen given another option but he was damn well going to be a husband worthy of her.

Or at least as worthy as he could possibly be.

He gazed down at her face, marvelling that such a woman could be his wife, his to look after for as long as they both lived.

He was going to do everything in his power to make sure she never regretted having to settle for him.

She had always been beautiful to him, but she was even more so as she lay there, her hair rumpled and all over the place, bits of grass tangled within the strands.

The tablecloth had unravelled slightly and his gaze travelled down the length of her body, snagging on her breasts, which were small and perfect. He took his fill of them, because he could. She was his wife now.

‘They are very small,’ came a quiet voice.

‘Huh?’ he said, his mind already hazy just from looking.

Emily poked the side of her breast. ‘These. They are small. Too small. It is one of the reasons I never took. No one really looked at me because I have no figure to speak of.’

That was her mother speaking, but Freddie did not want to bring Mrs Hawkins into this perfect setting.

‘Trust me, Emily, at least one man was looking.’ He was delighted to see the skin of her chest turn pink and the colour travelling up her neck towards her cheeks.

He cupped one of her breasts in his hand, his thumb brushing over the nipple, his body hardening as it puckered under his touch.

‘There is nothing to see,’ she said, reaching across and covering his hand with one of her own. ‘I am almost like a boy.’

He snorted. ‘To be clear, I was the man watching and at no time in our acquaintance have I thought you boy-like. These are utter perfection.’ To demonstrate just how much he admired them he pressed a gentle kiss to the side of the one nearest to him.

She stretched contentedly, the movement bringing them yet closer to his face. His tongue darted out, tasting one pert nipple. ‘Ooh,’ she gasped, her fingers sliding into his hair.

He lavished attention on her, moving from one breast to the other, loving the little sounds she made as he licked and stroked and lightly bit.

‘I did not know this was allowed,’ she breathed .

He smiled against her skin. ‘No? What did you think was permitted?’ He was holding on to his formality with everything that he had.

‘I did not know,’ she gasped, her fingers pressing against his scalp. ‘I only know about horses.’ He managed to bury his laughter against the skin of her stomach, but his shaking shoulders must have given him away because she tugged on his hair. ‘It is not funny. Nobody tells women anything.’

‘Do not worry. I will tell you everything I know, and what I do not, we can discover together.’ He continued on his journey down her delectable body. The slight smattering of freckles on her collarbone was matched with one near her belly button. He kissed it because he could.

‘Oh no, Freddie. I do not think you can kiss me there. It is not proper.’ She squeaked as he continued his journey, worshipping all of her until he reached her centre.

‘Freddie, I do not think this can be right. It… Oh…’ Despite her words, her hands held tight to his head, keeping it in place and her heels dug into the small of his back.

He couldn’t have moved away if he’d wanted to and he sure as hell didn’t want to.

‘Oh, is it quite proper to put your tongue there? Oh, your fingers as well. Oh, Freddie, it is very, very lovely. Quite scandalous but… ooh.’ He grinned against her, almost giddy from the joy coursing through him.

He loved her slightly shocked commentary, the way her body was responding to his despite her gentle scolding.

He hoped it would always be like this between them and knew that he would do all he could to make her adore him quite as much as he adored her.