him, as surely as they were threatening to destroy her.
“What are you thinking about so quietly?”
“I am thinking I am still naked and the air is growing chill. And that we have not eaten our picnic luncheon yet.”
Xander had no hesitation in disbelieving Emily’s attempt at teasing. Whatever she had been thinking about had not been anything as frivolous as that, but had made her tense and sigh wistfully as he held her in his arms.
So much of Emily was still an enigma to him. The past she refused to talk about. The marriage she also refused to talk about. He knew her age, and that her full name was Emily Anne Marsden, but only because she had revealed those things to him when she explained she had the same initials as her dead husband.
Had he gone too far today? Introduced Emily to intimacies that shocked her? Suggested other intimacies that shocked her even more?
She did not appear shocked at the time, or now, as she lay completely naked in his arms.
But that did not mean she was not regretting those intimacies. He very much doubted that Marsden had kissed and touched Emily in the places Xander had. Marsden had been so much older than Emily. Xander sincerely doubted the other man would have chosen to parade his naked body about in front of his young and lissome wife.
“Then we must rectify both those things immediately.” He released Emily before standing to collect his shirt from the ground and hand it to her. “Put this on for now, and I will finish serving the rest of our picnic.”
Emily hesitated to put on Xander’s shirt. It seemed somehow even more intimate to wear his clothing, still warm from his body, than the things they had done together previously.
But it did smell so good when she held it up to her face, of lemon and sandalwood and the musk she knew she would always associate with Xander in future.
It also swamped her once she had pulled it on. The shoulder seams fell halfway down her arms, the cuffs falling completely over her hands, the shirttails reaching almost to her knees, further emphasizing the vast difference in their size and height.
“Let me,” Xander teased as he took over turning up the vast amount of spare linen in the sleeves. “There.” He nodded once the material on both sleeves was turned back almost to her elbows. His eyes darkened. “You look very enticing in my shirt.”
Emily was learning to decipher Xander’s moods. She knew those dark eyes and the flush to his cheeks indicated he was becoming aroused again. “And you look very enticing out of your shirt.” She still could not get over the width of his muscular shoulders and chest.
Xander chuckled warmly. “I think I need to feed you before either of us becomes enticed again.”
It became easier after that to fall in with the lightness of Xander’s mood. Better for both of them if she did.
For now, Emily intended to enjoy the rest of their afternoon together. Plenty of time for regrets at a later date.
“So, siblings?” Xander prompted once they had satisfied their need for food, the still-cool wine very welcome too.
“No.”
“Me either. So, we have two things in common already,” he dismissed lightly. “No parents, no siblings,” he explained at her puzzled glance.
She smiled ruefully. “I am sure we have that in common with many other people.”
“But we are only discussing us, so they do not count.” Xander lay on his side on the blanket, leaning on his elbow. “Do you like the ballet? The theater?”
“Edmund did not like to go to London, and when he did, he had no time for attending such frivolities as the ballet or the theater.”
“How about reading? What sort of books do you like to read? Fusty old tomes? Or do you prefer the more lurid fiction?”
“I am partial to Jane Austen, although Edmund did not—”
Xander popped a grape into her mouth to stop her from finishing that sentence. “You will not say ‘Edmund this’ or ‘Edmund that’ for the rest of the day. Nor
“What are you thinking about so quietly?”
“I am thinking I am still naked and the air is growing chill. And that we have not eaten our picnic luncheon yet.”
Xander had no hesitation in disbelieving Emily’s attempt at teasing. Whatever she had been thinking about had not been anything as frivolous as that, but had made her tense and sigh wistfully as he held her in his arms.
So much of Emily was still an enigma to him. The past she refused to talk about. The marriage she also refused to talk about. He knew her age, and that her full name was Emily Anne Marsden, but only because she had revealed those things to him when she explained she had the same initials as her dead husband.
Had he gone too far today? Introduced Emily to intimacies that shocked her? Suggested other intimacies that shocked her even more?
She did not appear shocked at the time, or now, as she lay completely naked in his arms.
But that did not mean she was not regretting those intimacies. He very much doubted that Marsden had kissed and touched Emily in the places Xander had. Marsden had been so much older than Emily. Xander sincerely doubted the other man would have chosen to parade his naked body about in front of his young and lissome wife.
“Then we must rectify both those things immediately.” He released Emily before standing to collect his shirt from the ground and hand it to her. “Put this on for now, and I will finish serving the rest of our picnic.”
Emily hesitated to put on Xander’s shirt. It seemed somehow even more intimate to wear his clothing, still warm from his body, than the things they had done together previously.
But it did smell so good when she held it up to her face, of lemon and sandalwood and the musk she knew she would always associate with Xander in future.
It also swamped her once she had pulled it on. The shoulder seams fell halfway down her arms, the cuffs falling completely over her hands, the shirttails reaching almost to her knees, further emphasizing the vast difference in their size and height.
“Let me,” Xander teased as he took over turning up the vast amount of spare linen in the sleeves. “There.” He nodded once the material on both sleeves was turned back almost to her elbows. His eyes darkened. “You look very enticing in my shirt.”
Emily was learning to decipher Xander’s moods. She knew those dark eyes and the flush to his cheeks indicated he was becoming aroused again. “And you look very enticing out of your shirt.” She still could not get over the width of his muscular shoulders and chest.
Xander chuckled warmly. “I think I need to feed you before either of us becomes enticed again.”
It became easier after that to fall in with the lightness of Xander’s mood. Better for both of them if she did.
For now, Emily intended to enjoy the rest of their afternoon together. Plenty of time for regrets at a later date.
“So, siblings?” Xander prompted once they had satisfied their need for food, the still-cool wine very welcome too.
“No.”
“Me either. So, we have two things in common already,” he dismissed lightly. “No parents, no siblings,” he explained at her puzzled glance.
She smiled ruefully. “I am sure we have that in common with many other people.”
“But we are only discussing us, so they do not count.” Xander lay on his side on the blanket, leaning on his elbow. “Do you like the ballet? The theater?”
“Edmund did not like to go to London, and when he did, he had no time for attending such frivolities as the ballet or the theater.”
“How about reading? What sort of books do you like to read? Fusty old tomes? Or do you prefer the more lurid fiction?”
“I am partial to Jane Austen, although Edmund did not—”
Xander popped a grape into her mouth to stop her from finishing that sentence. “You will not say ‘Edmund this’ or ‘Edmund that’ for the rest of the day. Nor
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