Chapter 27

Olivia should object and hail a hackney now instead of stepping into his home, but she didn’t want to leave Xavier’s side.

He loved her! He had confessed his heart and wanted to marry her.

Oh, how she had missed him and soon they would wed and she’d not need to leave again.

Xavier stepped onto the street then waited for Olivia. She did not indicate she needed assistance, nor did he offer it as one would a lady, and she suspected that it was because she was dressed as a man and there were others about.

“I have a fine brandy that I do believe you will enjoy, Mr. Brook, while we discuss your latest findings.”

Olivia nearly snorted when he addressed her as such, but at least her disguise allowed her to enter his bachelor home without her reputation being ruined.

The butler opened the door before they reached it and Xavier allowed Olivia to enter first.

She stood in the entry and took in the marble floors and wide staircase leading to the first floor. Off to the side was a parlor across from a dining room. Many of the homes were the same and there was likely a library behind the small parlor.

“We will be adjourning upstairs to my library,” Xavier told the butler. “I will need no servants this evening and will show Mr. Brook out when he is ready to leave.”

The butler nodded and quit his station.

“Shall we?” Xavier indicated to the stairs.

Olivia nodded. She did not dare speak for fear that her voice would betray her disguise. In fact, other than when she was within Westbrook House, she never spoke while dressed as a man.

Xavier followed her up the stairs and when she paused, not certain which direction she should turn, he led her to the left and into a library with a wall of book-filled shelves and a desk piled with documents.

This was probably not wise given eventually she would have to travel to Westbrook House, if only to change so that she could return home, except she wasn’t ready to leave Xavier yet. They’d been apart for a fortnight.

“Do you have any idea how enticing your bum is in trousers?”

Her face heated.

“It was all I could do not to carry you off to the bedchamber.”

His words heated her blood, as did his presence as he drew near and pulled her into his arms. All coherent thoughts then fled when his lips touched hers. The passion nearly set her on fire when she opened for him and he delved. Her legs grew weak and all she could do was hold on and return his kisses.

He broke the kiss and pulled back. “I need you, Olivia.”

“And I need you.”

He made quick work of her clothing by first untying her cravat as she did the same to him, then they each pushed the suitcoat from the other’s shoulders, breaking apart only long enough to slip their arms free then set to work on the buttons of each other’s waistcoat until they were both standing in shirtsleeves, trousers and boots.

“While you are quite fetching, I prefer dresses for they allow easier access.” He slid his hand up the inside of her thigh before he cupped her most private area. Olivia would like to do the same to him but was not as comfortable with such familiarity yet, though she could tell by the bulge in his trousers that he was fully aroused. Would Xavier like it if she touched him?

He then pulled her shirt up and over her head then she did the same. His chest was left bare while she wore a short chemise.

“That is unfair,” he ground out before he pulled it also from her body, leaving both of them naked from the waist up.

Olivia thought that he would then work on loosening her pants as she was prepared to do to him, except Xavier bent and lifted one nipple to his lips while his hand caressed the other breast. Her knees nearly gave way and she had to grasp onto his shoulders.

“Must we stand?” she whispered.

She could feel him grin against her breast right before he swept her into his arms and deposited her onto the settee. Olivia had expected him to come down on her. Instead, he sat and removed her boots and tossed them aside and then did the same to his own. As she grew cold, she hugged herself, covering her exposed breasts.

His attention then turned to her trousers as he unfastened them slowly and slid them down her body until she was fully naked. Without his hands or lips on her body, Olivia grew even more chilled and vulnerable and reached for the blanket on the back of the settee.

Xavier grasped her hand and shook his head right before kissing her again, first starting at her lips, then her cheek, neck and once again her breasts. His hands caressed her stomach and lower until his fingers were within her folds and his thumb found the most sensitive spot on her being.

He continued to kiss, and caress, as the pressure and pleasure built, wave after wave, until it all crashed in a magnificent release that sent her soaring and her pulse pounding. Only then did Xavier withdraw from her and stand. She feared that he might leave her, but instead, unfastened his trousers and slid them over his hips until his manhood sprung free.

Olivia gulped because she hadn’t really seen it previously. She’d felt it but hadn’t gotten a good glimpse and was glad that she hadn’t. How had he even fit that inside her.

He tossed his trousers aside and then came down on her. She parted for him, though the settee was a little narrower than she would have liked.

“You are not comfortable,” he said with a grin.

“I am fine.”

“I am not comfortable. This settee is too short for me.”

It was an odd time to giggle but she could not help herself.

Xavier sat up then pulled her to him. Olivia wasn’t certain what he intended and assumed they would end up on the floor again. Instead, he grasped her waist and lifted until she was straddling his lap.

Was it possible to make love in this manner.

“Do I need to retrieve a French letter?” he asked.

Again, she laughed. “No. If we are to be wed then there is no concern.”

“We are to be wed as soon as it is possible.” He then lifted her and she felt his manhood at her entrance.

“Lower yourself Olivia.”

Her eyes met his and she started to do as he asked, not certain if she was doing it correctly or not.

“You will not hurt me.”

“Are you certain?”

“My agony comes from not being in you right now.”

She bit her bottom lip and settled onto him, taking him all the way into her body and they moaned in unison.

“Yes, that is it.”

He then guided her hips to lift and come back down and soon she was caught up in the same rhythm as the last time they were together. Once again, the pleasure within built, especially when he teased the sensitive spot within her folds. The more he teased, the faster she moved, his hips coming up from the settee to join her then back again. As he thickened within, her release struck with such intensity that she cried out. Xavier held her tight and then filled her over and over until he too groaned and held deep within her until he relaxed. Olivia nearly fell onto his chest.

“I had no idea that was even possible.”

The chuckle from his chest rumbled in her ear. “There are many ways to love and I will teach them all to you.”

Which was something she truly looked forward to learning.

He was fully sated and the last thing Xavier wanted to do was get dressed to see her home.

After they had loved, he’d wrapped Olivia in a blanket then poured a glass of brandy for both of them. He then joined her under the blanket and they shared kisses and dreams for their future.

Of all his brothers, Xavier had believed he would be the last to marry, if he ever married, but he would be the first. Not that he minded because he had found the perfect woman for him.