An Earl’s Broken Heart by Ella Edon
Chapter Fourteen
Alexander’s face paled. He knew he remembered as well as her the times they had spent in the garden at Lichfield House. For them, the garden was a place of special significance. Perhaps if they spent some time in the garden, it would allow Alexander to find the warmth that he had once had for her.
“The garden?” he asked.
She nodded. “Yes, my Lord.”
He sighed. “Alright.”
They set course for the gardens and Isabel narrowed her eyes as she studied it. It was plain that the grounds had deteriorated in the recent past and that Alexander had been making efforts to restore it. The flowers were concentrated in particular areas where the Estate’s gardener had begun his rehabilitation work.
“I am having the gardener renovate the garden completely. When he is done, I would love to have flowers of every color here,” Alexander said.
“Including carnations?” she asked.
Alexander paled and did not answer.
Isabel smiled to herself. So, he remembers what carnations meant to us.
Alexander hastily changed the subject. “Come this way, let me show you the water bridge.”
He led them over to a small stone bridge which granted passage over the garden pond. As they crossed the bridge, he stopped and pointed down to the pink water lilies and dainty red poppies that bobbed across the pond face. “These flowers have never died all these years. They have survived.”
Isabel smiled to herself. I wonder if our love has survived.
She admired the scene. It was a temperate day and a gentle breeze brushed against her skin to great calming effect. Every so often, she cast a glance at Alexander and took the sight of him in with a secret smile. She was beginning to get the feeling that this place could one day be called home. Watching the water lilies dance across the water, she was struck with the sudden urge to dip her feet into the pond. She knew it would be regarded as a terribly unladylike thing to do but she felt liberated at that moment. She had nothing to prove to anyone but her husband. That he could trust her again and that they could rediscover the affection they had in their youth. How else was she to do that but to act with the freedom they had then?
She turned to him. “I hope you would not think it unseemly if I dipped my feet in the pond for a moment, my Lord.”
A surprised look passed across his face. For a moment, he looked more like the younger man she had known. His eyes glistened with wonder at her and everything she was.
“No, my Lady. I would not think less of you.”
The tone and timbre of his voice told her that he meant it. Perhaps, as she had hoped, it endeared her to him the more.
She continued across the bridge and lowered herself to the grass. To her surprise, Alexander took a seat beside her. She hiked her petticoat to the knee and dipped her feet into the pond. The liquid cool was delightful on her feet. She threw her head back and stared at the sky.
* * *
Alexander stared at Isabel as she feet fluttered in the pond. She was so free, so full of adventure. Just as she had been all those years ago. It was part of what had drawn him to her. His belief that in her all things were a possibility. She was not shackled by the wants and whims of the world; she was a free spirit. He swallowed and leaned back in the grass. He was beginning to warm to her again and that simply would not do. The prospect of being hurt by her again, after he had learned such a harsh lesson once before, was untenable.
He rose to his feet. “Perhaps we should return to the house,” he said.
She opened her eyes and stared up at him. The way she looked at him made his breath stop short in his throat.
“Are you sure, Alexander?” she asked in a sweet cajoling voice.
He gave a silent gasp, wanting nothing in that extended moment but to kiss her ever-soft lips. He steeled himself and looked away. “I am sure, my Lady.”
They returned to the house and Mr. Wilson immediately took their outer coats. Alexander slowly led her to the drawing room, arrested by the slow, inevitable truth that he, Lord Alexander Steward of Carter, still had great affection for Isabel Maxwell.
* * *
They passed by the music room and Isabel immediately noticed the pianoforte at the corner of the room. A magnificent instrument of long years, with a wing-shaped case. The sudden urge to play it crossed Isabel’s mind, but she knew Alexander was not in the mood to encourage the distraction.
They continued on to the drawing room together and took seats across from one another.
Alex nodded curtly. "I would be in my study most of the time and I shan't encourage intrusions as I shall be working."
Isabel nodded. She took note of that. Alexander did not want her coming to where he was, and he would be spending most of his time in the study. "Anything else?" Isabel asked.
"You may entertain yourself in the music room as you have a passion to play the pianoforte and–"
"You recall that I enjoy the comfort of the pianoforte," Isabel stated, excitement lacing her voice. She had not meant to state that out loud, but she had been surprised.
Alexander raised a brow and maintained his lack of expression. "I was only assuming.”
In spite of his refusal to show what he was feeling on his face, Isabel sensed that there was a spark within him as he recalled something about her, and given the fact that he had been staring at her so consciously which led to his discovery of her fingers, she could tell that he was curious about her life as she was of his. Isabel swore within her not to let the conversation die there. She wanted to make an effort and if he refused it, then so be it.
"Do you recall the first time you'd heard me playing?” She smiled, throwing the question lightly as her memory recalled.
Alexander was silent for a bit, and she feared that he would not respond, but she was wrong. He did. "I recall. You were wearing that beautiful blue dress I used to loved so much."
"The one with shimmers." Isabel grinned.
Alexander nodded, offering a slight smile. "My Great Uncle had taken me along to visit your father and I had wandered off on my own."
"I had composed that song, you know?"
"I remember." Alexander let out a short laugh and sat up. "You began to play that every time you sensed that I was near and somehow, it became ours."
Isabel cast her gaze towards him so that their eyes locked. She saw his eyes were moist and this made them gleam. He was so handsome, and in that moment, when his eyes were so blue, his features soft, and himself entirely vulnerable to the past, Isabel felt the need to make him relive what he remembered.
"For a long time, even during my service, I remembered that song and each day I'd hoped that you'd come to me playing it, Isabel."
Her heart skipped when she heard those words. His mind was going too far away from the good days, and she did not want that. She did not want the little laughter they had shared to just vanish. She made a bold move then, rising to her feet and placing a hand on her waist. She made a silly slow dance move and grinned.
Alexander's eyes widened and he burst into laughter. "That had been how I had walked into the music room while you played! Oh Isabel."
She laughed and moved close to him then held out her hand. "We never did get around sharing that dance together. I was always behind the pianoforte. You shan't mind that we share it now?"
Alexander swallowed hard and shook his head. “Isabel.”
She knew that he was trying to resist her, but she wondered why, given that he wanted her. She bit her lip and still held out her hand. “Alexander,” she said softly.
His resolve vanished and he placed his hand on hers. He did not rise until he drew her near him. The action left Isabel surprised but thrilled. He rose then and held on to her, his eyes searching hers. His lips were plump and puckered before her. The yearning within her was ignited when she watched his tongue slide against his lower lip. She envisioned hers doing that to his lips while his hands ventured to touch her bare skin and her already throbbing core.
Isabel swallowed and looked down. She was no longer in control of what she was saying because her body was only reacting to his and she wanted him to know this.
"You were my first kiss,” she whispered. "And the day we had shared that kiss had been the most precious day of my life. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever experienced."
Alexander’s breath on her skin was the only reaction she got from him after what she said, but that did not stop her from speaking. "Seeing you standing beneath that tree with the carnation had been beautiful. You always knew what made me happy."
Alexander caressed her face. He held her close to him and touched her slowly, rubbing his hands against her with such intensity that sent shivers running through her.
She wanted to express the thrill she was feeling inside through words because she felt a need to, but her words were cut short by Alexander pressing his lips against hers, making her feel so ecstatic. The feeling was warming but it did not quench all the sexual heat she was feeling, it made her melt inside and more neediness burst within her. She kissed him back with much passion. Just as she was about to do more than kiss him, he pulled away.
No. Isabel said within her.
She really did not want him to change and turn cold towards her again. It was their wedding day and she had envisioned a beautiful wedding night with him when she had been eighteen. She never stopped wishing for that, never. And now was the opportunity to finally have that with him. She was not going to let anything come in between them now, not when she was finally establishing this connection with him.
She moved forward and placed her hand around him. Alexander did not resist her, he instead stared into her eyes as he breathed with much effort. Isabel licked her lips before pressing it against his again. He opened up to her immediately and began to devour her. This time, the affection was more than before. It was so intense that Alexander began to touch her clothed breasts. Isabel sucked in a sharp breath at that contact but did not pull away from that kiss. The ecstasy she felt elevated, and her core throbbed uncontrollably.
Her hands went to his hair, and she weaved her fingers across it just as she had imagined when he had been standing by the door. She pressed her body fully against his, wanting to feel all of him. His lips soon left hers and trailed kisses from the side of her face to her neck. Isabel moaned, her eyes shut, and passion flooded her like a river. Alexander's strong arms captured her and directed her to the rose setter by the fireplace. Isabel plopped down on it and Alexander knelt before her, positioning himself between her legs. His lips found hers again and he devoured her.
While he did this, his hands began to move. They ventured to the hem of her dress and slipped beneath it, so that she could feel his palm on her thighs and her body jerked in response. His hands tingled against her skin and the feeling it brought within her was blissful. Isabel parted her legs even farther to grant him that access. Her hands touched his hair and leaned herself into him. It was as though she could not get enough of him.
Alexander's hands slid further inside, trailing past her thighs before finally reaching her center. Isabel let a sigh escape her lips, accompanied with Alexander's name. "Yes, Alexander, there."
Her words must have done it because the moment she said that, a finger touched her most sensitive area and she shuddered. Alexander then began to stroke her with his fingers, rubbing her with just the right amount of pleasure, stirring her inner desires.
Isabel began to whimper as his strokes grew in motion. His lips kissed her hungrily just to match the motions in her core. Isabel felt her knees going weak. The feeling of his hand brought about an unexplainable delectable emotion rising within her.
"Yes..." she moaned. Her eyes snapped close, and her lips parted. Alexander trailed down her neck, nibbling at a spot while his fingers moved to penetrate her.
The penetration threw Isabel off guard and sent her body relaxing against the chair in order to fully grant him access and allow the sweetness of it all to course through her body. The emotion she was feeling was elevating. She was unable to recall the last time she felt like a woman, felt desired, loved, cared for, and, above all, pleasured. Her moans expressed these feelings and she hoped that Alexander understood them.
Her hands moved through his hair, the softness encircling her fingers and adding to what she was already feeling. The more Alexander touched her, the more she felt the rise of that sweetness within her. Her whole body accepted it and soon enough it was approaching its zenith. Her knees began to shudder, and her moans turned into loud cries of satisfaction. Her body jerked just as the ecstasy washed over all of her with finality and she felt numb all over, a smile on her face. She had enjoyed every moment of that and, above all, she had made a wonderful discovery that she wanted to share with Alexander. After what had just transpired, there was no doubt that everything had changed between them. Their passion had been rekindled and they could start a fresh for their new beginning.