Page 67 of Eight for Losing, One for Loving

Leo had been trying to make out if the plaster was falling off the ceiling in what appeared to be a formal salon, but he turned to see Vi disappearing through a small door in a walled part of the garden. Smiling, he followed her.

The intoxicating scent of roses enveloped him as he entered, and Leo gasped when he discovered what Vi had seen. It was a small square garden, intimate, with climbing roses scrambling madly up walls and over arches. A large fountain sat in the centre, dry and filled with debris now, but he could imagine the sound of the water falling, the sun sparkling upon it. There were benches on three sides around the fountain, but on the fourth was a small patch of green.

“It’s a chamomile lawn,” Vi said, bending to touch her hands to the little white flowers, rubbing them gently and raising her fingers to her nose to inhale the sweet, green scent. “A bit overgrown, but it’s still here.”

Leo walked over and shrugged off his coat, laying it on the springy green surface and sitting down. He held out his hand to her. “Join me?”

Vi did as he asked, settling herself on his coat.

“I can almost see the fountain, hear the water falling,” she said with a sigh, echoing his earlier thoughts.

Leo nodded. “It’s beautiful,” he said, turning to look at her. “I want to live here with you, Vi.”

The smile that dawned upon her beautiful face was as lovely as a sunrise and filled his heart with such emotion he wondered how his chest could contain it. Thank God she was his and thank the Reverend Harbottle for doing whatever he had done to change her mind. Leo could not imagine his life without her in it now, or what he might have done if she had not married him.

“Yes, please,” she said softly.

Leo reached for her and pulled her into his arms. “I want everything, Vi. I want it all. Now, and for every day to follow. I want to make you happy, to live here with you, to take you abroad and to places you’ve never been, places that will shock and surprise you and change the way you think about the world. I want every day, every hour, every moment with you, love.”

Vi blinked, her eyes rather too bright. “Is that all?” she said, sounding somewhat breathless.

“No,” Leo said gravely, easing her down to lie upon his coat. He stared down at her, happiness a warm weight in his chest. “Not even close,” he whispered, before pressing his lips to hers.

She reached up, arms coiling around his neck while he kissed her tenderly and then with growing passion as his hands slid over her slender curves. She was pliant beneath him, all eager willingness and Leo thought his heart might burst with an intoxicating mixture of love and desire. His hand closed over her breast and squeezed, but suddenly Vi shoved at him.

Startled, Leo moved back at once, wondering what he’d done wrong, only to find Vi pushing him down. Watching, open-mouthed, Leo regarded his new wife with fascinated awe as she hitched up her skirts and petticoats, giving him a splendid view of her stocking clad legs, before she climbed over him, straddling his hips.

“Vi!” he croaked, certain he meant to say something other than that but whatever it had been disappeared from his brain as she settled her weight upon him. His arousal twitched in anticipation as the warmth of her pressed firmly against him.

She shifted back, and he regretted the loss of contact until he saw her elegant fingers undoing the buttons on his trousers.

“Oh God,” he murmured, before adding silently, thank you, thank you, thank you God.

Leo watched the intent expression on his wife’s face as she released him from the confines of his trousers and small clothes and stroked. He swallowed a groan, throwing an arm over his eyes and praying for deliverance as she tortured him with slow, decadent strokes from her slender hands. When she finally moved back into place, easing him inside her body, where he was welcomed into her lush, feminine heat, Leo was ready to lose his mind.

“Love you,” he managed, his voice hoarse with a combination of desperation and adoration as he thrust into her.

Vi’s soft laughter tickled his ear as she bent down to kiss him. “Love you too,” she whispered, and they spent a good deal of time proving the words to each other, as the scent of the chamomile lawn and the rich perfume of the roses blended on the warm air of a perfect summer’s afternoon.