“Really?” Angelina’s eyes widened with interest. “Would it not be better if we were both to remain undressed when you did that, Xander? Miss Bristow said that a little pain during lovemaking—only a little, you understand?—can heighten the senses and—”
“I believe Miss Bristow has said altogether too much!” He gave another aching groan.
Angel looked at him with concern. “Are you in pain, Xander? Can I do anything to help?”
‘Xander’ was in great pain! He was also in danger of completely embarrassing himself as visions of putting Angelina over his knee and spanking the bareness of her bottom threatened to tip him over the edge!
“My only need is for privacy, Angelina,” he declared gruffly. “Now!” he added with firm emphasis.
“As you wish, Xander.” And, as she had the night before, Angelina pouted her disappointment before turning and slowly walking to the door.
CHAPTER FIVE
“HAS IT NOT BEEN A happy day, Xander?” Angelina beamed across the small table at him as they dined alone together that evening.
Alexander’s gaze glowered over the rim of his glass of claret as he grudgingly acknowledged how lovely Angelina looked this evening in a gown of cream silk, with her golden hair curling onto her bare shoulders.
In fact, Alexander had found it a most frustrating day!
For one thing, it was proving far more difficult to relocate Angelina than he had initially thought.
Having promised Hawkins that he would see to Angelina’s future, Alexander could not just throw her out into the street to fend for herself. Neither could he send her to a hotel when she had no chaperone.
Instead, he had decided that perhaps his aunt Elizabeth might be persuaded into having the girl—as long as Angelina was cautioned first concerning any attempt on her part to discuss the finer points of her education with his aunt … Alexander had driven Angelina in his carriage to his aunt’s house in Grosvenor Square this morning, only to find his aged relative had unhelpfully taken herself off to the country for the day to visit her daughter, and was not expected back to town until much later this evening.
Alexander did not even entertain the idea of sending Angelina back to Brighton to the dubious guardianship of the overinformative Miss Bristow!
Consequently Angelina had now been at St. Claire House with him for almost twenty-four hours, during which time she had more than capably confirmed her claim to be able to deport herself with all the elegance and charm of a lady.
Andrews, Hopkins much younger replacement, had taken one look at Angelina this morning, when she strolled into Alexander’s study uninvited, and completely fallen under her spell, rendering the normally reserved young man virtually incapable of fulfilling his secretarial duties.
The household staff were falling over themselves to accommodate her. So much so that their meal this evening had consisted of Angelina’s favorite dishes.
All that was needed to complete the bedlam would have been a visit from one of his younger brothers, who no doubt would have become equally smitten with Angelina’s beauty and charm. Luckily Alexander had at least been spared that!
Still, despite keeping himself busy, it had hardly been a happy day as far as Alexander was concerned, and dinner alone with Angelina was making his head ache almost as much as another part of his anatomy had once again begun to do the moment he joined her.
“You are looking tense again, Xander,” Angel chided softly before rising to her feet. “I shall endeavor to help you feel better.”
Alexander could envisage several ways in which his tension might be eased, but he turned to eye her warily as she moved to stand behind him. “What are you doing?”
She smiled. “One of the girls at school suffered from severe headaches and I learned a way in which I might ease them. Just relax, Xander.” She turned him firmly to face forward, before placing her hands either side of his head so that her thumbs rested against his temples and her fingers over his brow. “There, does that not feel better?” she prompted huskily as she rested his head back against her breasts so that she might look down into his face as she continued to lightly massage his brow and temples.
Alexander gave a groan as he kept his eyes firmly closed, dark lashes resting against harshly chiseled cheeks, and his mouth thinned in a grim line.
“You really must try to relax, Xander,” Angel encouraged soothingly.
How could Alexander possibly relax when the back of his head was nestled between Angelina’s breasts?
He could not suffer this torment a moment longer …!
He had watched as Angelina charmed all about her all day. Listened as her tinkling laugh filled his normally austere and quiet household. All the time wishing that her charm was for him alone. Her delicate laugh for his ears only …!
Now, to have her touch him—!
Alexander jerked away from her caressing hands as he stood abruptly to turn and take Angelina in his arms, pulling her fiercely against him as his mouth captured hers in a kiss that owed nothing to gentleness and everything to the wild clamoring need he had to possess her.
Angel felt a thrill of excitement as Alexander pressed her body fiercely against his as his lips claimed hers, her arms moving up so that she could release the ribbon from his hair and entangle her fingers within his thick dark locks.
The initial fire of his hunger satisfied, Alexander began to flick his tongue lightly against her lips before surging hotly inside the heated cavern beneath, Angelina’s tongue meeting his in a duel of desire that could have only one outcome.
Her throat arched as Alexander broke the kiss to nuzzle and then bite the sensitive lobes of her ear before trailing his burning lips down the length of her throat to seek the swelling tops of her breasts.
“Oh, yes, Xander …!” she gasped encouragingly as he impatiently pushed aside the material of her gown so that his tongue might meet one roused nipple. “Please, do not stop …!” She moaned as she cradled the back of his head to hold him against her, her knees buckling slightly as Alexander began to suck oh-so-satisfyingly.
“You have far too many clothes on!” he growled disapprovingly as he raised his head slightly, his breath hot against the cool dampness of her breast.
“We both do,” she acknowledged breathlessly. “Lock the door, Xander, so that we shall not be disturbed.”
“Angelina—” Alexander’s protest arrested in his throat as she stepped back to unfasten half a dozen tiny—and conveniently placed—buttons at the back of her gown, before allowing it to slide down her arms to fall onto the carpeted floor.
Any chance Alexander might have had of putting an end to this dangerous situation fled completely as Angelina stood before him dressed only in her almost transparent chemise, which clearly outlined her firm breasts, and white stockings that stopped tantalisingly short of the nestle of dark blond curls now clearly visible between her thighs.
Until the advent of Angelina into his life, Alexander had always prided himself on his self-control, but he would have to be made of marble to be able to withstand the invitation Angelina’s seminakedness now represented.
“The door, Xander,” she reminded as she reached up to take the pins from her hair. The riotous golden curls fell down to her waist before she slipped the thin straps of her chemise down her arms to bare her lovely breasts and curvaceous hips, as she now wore only those tantalising white stockings held up with garters of blue ribbon the exact color of her eyes.
The darkness of Alexander’s gaze remained transfixed on all that wanton loveliness even as he moved to