Page 64 of Married to the Duke By Midnight

“I know, sweetheart, and you will have plenty of opportunities, I assure you,” Robert told her as he rose to kiss her, and even with what they had just done, Jo still colored at his words.

29

“Did you know that there is a tradition that the Duchess of Riddlesmarsh expands the garden at Riddlesmarsh Hall with her own project?” Robert asked Jo when they were standing in front of the Royal Pavilion ten days later.

It was the first time they had ventured into town since their reunion. Besides having luncheon in the garden or going to the beach, Jo had thought it would be good for them to leave the house for a couple of hours, but all Robert could think of was getting her back there and dragging her into the closest room where they could have some privacy.

Both of them had been insatiable after their talk in the small library. They would not leave bed until well into the afternoon and retire only a couple of hours later. Jo certainly did not care what their staff thought of their intimate relations anymore. Robert was delighted that she would initiate their encounters almost as frequently as him.

In between orgasms, they talked, laughed, ate in bed, and read beside each other – it turned out that the writer of The Orphan’s Ordeal had written another ten books, and Robert had ordered them all from the bookstore in town. With delivery, of course. He was not leaving Jo’s side and risking missing out on placing his hands or mouth on her. She was still not comfortable with sleeping with him, which was fine. Robert was certain she would tell him any day now.

In the meantime, he thoroughly enjoyed what they were doing. Especially when Jo, red as a lobster, had asked three days ago whether she could please him with her mouth as well. He could feel her overthinking it the first time, but when he had told her that she could do nothing wrong, despite biting him, she had relaxed more, and with the daily practice she was getting now, her confidence in the matter was improving fast.

Robert’s cock started to harden at the thought, but when he saw Jo’s horrified expression over the garden project, he could not help but laugh.

“Are you serious?” Jo asked almost breathlessly.

Robert grinned as he nodded.

“My mother created a rose garden.”

It was true. His great-grandmother had started by creating the garden for the newly built estate. Then his grandmother had added a labyrinth to it, when she married his grandfather, and his mother the rose garden. Three generations made a tradition for all he cared, and Robert liked the idea of Jo putting her own touch on the estate.

Jo sent him a look that told him she did not believe him, before she laced her arm with his and leaned slightly into his side. Robert liked how comfortable she had become with him physically. And how proud and possessive he felt when she was on his arm.

They had already greeted at least twenty people during the hour they had spent in town. It seemed that people’s curiosity over their hasty match had not died down yet and they openly stared at the way Jo was standing comfortably beside him and the ease that was between them. Robert could imagine how they would tell everyone how great a match it was. Which made him proud.

As long as no one called it a love match like Lady Clopton had. He did not want the rumor circulating that they were in love. He felt more comfortable showing Jo attention and affection now that he had told her what he wanted of their relationship and she had agreed to it. He would hate that it was ruined by a rumor of a love connection circulating and giving Jo ideas.

“Do you think we could afford a pavilion looking like this?” Jo asked beside him.

Robert sent his wife a sardonic look and found she was smiling teasingly, almost flirtatiously.

This was another unexpected gift of their shared intimacy: that they were able to tease each other the way friends did. Lucretia had never liked it; her humor had been more of a dry, scathing sarcasm that bordered on too much sometimes. This flirting, effortless teasing with Jo was priceless. It felt exactly as light as he had wanted their relationship to feel.

“We probably could, if you truly insist. Would you like to build a pavilion then?”

Jo turned to look at him. Her hand was still resting on his arm, but she was not pressed against his side any longer. Despite the heat, Robert wished she would step close to him again.

“Were you serious?” she asked as she studied his face.

Her face had become even more freckled and her hair more golden in the ten days they had been here and she had never been more beautiful. He fought the urge to lean forward and kiss her; part of his brain was still vaguely aware that they were in public.

“I was, actually,” Robert said and tried to avoid grinning again.

“Well, then,” Jo began and stepped close to him, pressing her side against his again, “In that case, I think I’d build a Greek-inspired one, like the one at the house. And add those pink blossom bushes around it too.”

Robert’s nostrils flared and he fought not to let his mind dwell too much on the other day when they had eaten a late luncheon in the pavilion together. When they had finished their meal, Robert had knelt in front of Jo and used his hands and mouth on her, while she was watching the ocean.

“I know the perfect spot for it, far away from the house,” Robert told her in a low purr. He was pleased to see the heat in Jo’s eyes. He could not wait to go home.

“Good, I look forward to seeing it,” Jo mumbled in a suggestive voice.

“We should start walking,” Robert told her and cleared his throat.

If they continued this train of thought, he would find himself in a terribly embarrassing situation very soon. Something he had not had to fear for the past ten years.

“Do you think there are architects who specialize in pavilions?” Jo mused after they had walked for a few minutes in silence.