By the time Emily stirred from her deep sleep, Cole was already long gone. She twisted this way and that, trying to get the pain in her back to stop that was when she noticed the chambermaid who occasionally served as her Abigail standing by the window, and drawing the curtains open. Emily found a new thing to curse at as she pulled her arm to her eyes, protecting it from the offending sun. Then she looked around her and saw the tray of food and frowned as last night came rushing back in full force.
“Where is my husband?” She asked, throwing the covers off her body as she remembered how he had been writhing last night. His agony had been real, and he shouldn't be moving around anyhow. He should be sleeping! She thought. She was sure he barely got a decent sleep.
“Where is he?”
The chambermaid turned and faced her. Her task left behind. “We haven't seen him this morning, not since after ordering your food.”
That paus
MOONLIGHT poured from the sky, illuminating the cobbled stone path and the green grass ahead. It was nothing but a moon speckled darkness. As they cantered ahead on their various horses.They had been riding for over twenty minutes in silence now, and Cole hadn't said a thing to Emily. She was beginning to wonder if she should have declined his offer. He rather looked liked someone who wanted to be on his own, Emily observed from her horse.His side features heightened under the moon were focused. And so were his hands on the reins, relaxed. He looked so in lost in thought, an utter calmness around him. He might as well be riding on his own. His demeanour spoke it all. Emily thought, confused. But then he spoke, and she was glad to discover he hadn't entirely forgotten her.“What says you we increase our pace?” He said still looking forward.Sparing him a glance in the dark night, Emily mumbled, “Fine.”
Emily marvelled at how fast that had happened and stared at him in awe. He was looking at her equally and his breathing was intense over her. Raising a hand, Emily touched his thick black mane and felt him stiffen. His body held rigid over her. She thought she rather liked the sound of this.Outside their house, on these green grasses and below the crest of the moon. Cole leaned forward. His hazel eyes sensually caressing her soft lips before leaning down to do the business. He kissed her fiercely.Nibbling, biting, suckling, and then he was lifting her from the ground. Pressing their bodies together. Her pert breast arching on the velvety material of his waistcoat. Emily let out a moan at the contact. And he spread his legs wide and let her nestle in-between, hugging her lithe body. Emily could feel the heat of his body as it enveloped her and warmed her, bringing one arm wrapped around her left shoulder and the other cradling her head.
THE NEXT MORNING Emily woke up at first light and berates herself for falling asleep last night. What a thing she had missed. She sighed disappointedly. If someone had told her she would have fallen asleep at such a critical time, why, she would never have believed them. “Oh, dash it all.” Why did she have to fall asleep at such a crucial time? Emily groaned and hit her head on the pillow. From there, she stared at her husband's naked chest. A promise of what could have been.After that night in the inn where Cole had slept with only his breeches, he had taken great pains to always cover himself with his nightshirt. But not today, because he was wearing only his breeches, Emily noticed. She took it as a good sign. He must be letting his guards down around her, she thought.Leaning closer to him, she stared down at him. On impulse, she kissed his dark brows and let her lips linger there. Feeling his skin. Just when she was about to pull away, her eye
“What am I supposed to do?”Shrugging, Cole said, “How should I know? You said to let you have a go, and that's what I am doing. Just like you said.”Emily gritted her fine teeth and stared at the silver pistol, not knowing what to do. She had never held one up close.Lifting it, she tried to figure out how it works. It looked as complicated as ever. Now the prospect of shooting did no longer look as appealing to her. Frustrated. She turned and handed it back to him. Emily would have gone quietly, defeated as she was. Had she not heard that “I thought so, muttered slowly from her husband? She stiffened and turned. He lifted a brow at her as if to say I said that.Like an affronted mother Emily marched down to the picnic basket cursing angrily and scooped its contents. She couldn't exactly say what it was she picked, but she knew she saw strawberry somewhere. Marching back with the fruits in her hand, Emily pos
Two hours later they pulled up on a small hill which gave a dramatic view of the village and the cottages below. The cluster of houses with chimneys and gable roofs where were the tenants lived. Surrounded by a wide mass of lands, meadows and fields. A picturesque sight well within the boundaries of the estate.The tenants were surprised to see them and had come out their homes the moment they arrived perched high on their horses. Emily was the most ecstatic and couldn't wait to meet them. She dismounted from her horse before anyone could help her and did the introduction herself. While Cole hung back surprised at the number of tenants, he had there. A few of the children were playing in front of the houses chasing a chicken but had stopped to stare curiously at them at their arrival.One by one the older men came to meet Cole, murmuring their greetings as they approached him. It didn't take time for Cole to find the head tenant and went straight to
THE SKY grumbled, and the wind howled, taking small particles of sand and hurling them up in the air. Up ahead there were activities in the sky that suggested the heaven would be letting down rain soon.Galloping at top speed, they urged their horses faster. The wind became stronger, snatching leaves from trees and causing them to take small flight in the air.They hadn't gone far when suddenly there was a mutter from the blackened sky and rain poured down in a monotonous fashion, wetting their clothes.The last shelter which they had left behind was a mile ago which left them with no choice than to ride the remaining way home as they had nothing but wide plateau separating them from the shelter of the house.Emily was grinning sheepishly, and Cole was irked. Did anything ever faze this woman? She turned to him in the rain. Her clothes soaked to her body and shouted something Cole didn't hear.“What
IT WAS SMOOTH, WET AND SOFT. The friction of the cloth as it wiped round and round her sex. Emily writhed and moaned delicately, but his hand still found ways to move between her legs and trailed down one thigh till he got to her calf and raised it up in the air. Sending splashes of scented rose water to the ground as he did the same with the other leg.Putting one leg on his shoulder, he sat down on the edge of the tub and then with the cloth wiped the other leg slowly till he got to her upper thigh. The inner thigh. It was a sensual move. One that had Emily wondering if he was still trying to bathe her or something else was happening.His face was concentrated. But it was that muscled chest, well toned, so out of reach that sent her in a fit of madness.Without thinking, Emily snatched her legs from his shoulder and rose. Filling the space with her image. Slowly, he glanced up at her, boldly meeting those e
THE NEXT MORNING when Cole woke up, Emily was still sleeping. Ruffled against the bed, the cream bedsheet covering her arse and her back left open with nary a single thing to cover her. Cole smiled, a look of satisfaction pulling his lips back from his teeth, and folded his arms under his head. He took his time to access his feeling while he watched her sleep. He realized he was enjoying himself more than he ought to. More than he had a right to. He had been lonely almost his whole life. His parents having died when he was so young. Cole didn't know much about companionship and would like to think this was it. He felt happy. A kind of surging feeling he hadn't felt in years.Cole was a loner and had been like that for a long time. After the death of his parents, he had used the first seven years to learn about being an earl. He had no friends except for Sebastian. He only knew his horses, his stable, his land, the silence,