A Lady of Leisure & Pleasure Ch. 05

The breeze was a divinity, warm and pleasant upon my skin, a deep and sensuous sigh from a God bewitched by the beauty of the paradise he'd created, and at times it angled in such a way that I felt one of the naughtier deities was attempting to lift my delicate summer dress and chuckle at my blushes. I thwarted most of his attempts by the quickness of my hands, but feel sure he peeked as the fluttering material swished now and then to display all that hid beneath.

Usually I remain close to the house, straying not far from the patio, but that morning I strolled beyond the gazebo and the lily pond, past the dove cote and the rowans, and continued on into the lower end of the garden. It seemed rather unkempt compared to the immaculate area immediate to the house, and behind the cover of the oaks and horse chestnuts the grass was long and the weeds high. The lush green fronds tickled my legs as I strolled through, holding out my hands to swish their hung heads and wake them from their napping. I hadn't been to the limits of the garden for several seasons and decided now to visit the oldest of the oaks, the mighty tree which had stood sentinel at the foot of our ancestral estate for hundreds of years, treading a careful zigzag course around fallen branches and rotted boughs to reach it.

As I neared I heard tuneful whistling and found myself drawn to the sound without regard of who I might find making it. Beyond the gnarled and twisted trunk of the great Goliath I caught glimpse of a young man, no doubt one of the apprentice gardeners. Stealthily, I tiptoed closer and peered around the bark at him. Raising an axe above his head he brought the darkened metal down upon a defenceless section of log, positioned perfectly upon an age old stump. The wood split asunder and each half raced off in either direction as the young fellow exhaled a deep grunt of exertion.

I hid myself behind the trunk and a moment later heard him whistling again as he moved here and there to collect the pieces. Seconds later 'clink clunk' went the halves as he threw them to the wood pile. I peered round again. He stood as before, poised to shatter another section of limb from one of Nature's giants. He was only steps from my tree, and as his arms lifted and his back flexed I noted every muscle and ripple in his torso. I judged him a year or two older than myself, and admired him in secret as the sweat glistened upon his back. Here in the depths of the garden the sunlight worked with equal strength to penetrate the slowly shifting cover of leaves, and in the bright shafts of gold sieved through the foliage tiny insects could be seen dancing in the air. The gardener's boy was bronzed across back and side as one who enjoys the constant pressing of the sun upon their skin. I watched him with surreptitious glances.

He raised his axe again and held my eyes to his muscular arms, they glistened in the filtered light as though dusted with silver. He wore just shorts and boots without shirt or socks, and each preparatory stance tensed the muscles of his thighs into rigidity. I noted with some amusement the tunes he was whistling were sweet nursery rhymes, and he emphasized his actions with the occasional word or two from the songs. I put my hand to my mouth as I watched for fear of giggling and alerting him to my clandestine vigil. His axe came down once more and I moved a fraction to the side.

"Oh bother!" I exclaimed as a twig cracked beneath my foot. As I lifted it to my hands and began to teeter over I saw my woodsman look over in alarm, his eyes widening as he saw me. I hopped sideways in an effort to retain my balance and felt rather foolish for not leaning into the tree. I was sure to fall over and embarrass myself before the youth, but with laudable speed and admirable dexterity he stepped once and pounced forth and I found myself a moment later caught in his arms.

Still holding my foot I looked from his hand grasped firmly to my upper thigh to his face. Oh my! What flutterings my heart felt as I looked up into his bright blue eyes. He was handsome as he was strong.

"Are you alright, missy?" he asked, releasing my thigh from his grasp.

"Thank you, yes," I said, and tenderly placed my foot to the ground again, only to lift to my toes again as I feigned injurious pain to my sole. "Though I fear without you I would have taken quite a tumble," I said, looking up into his eyes again. He smiled down at me without a hint of bashfulness at holding a young girl in his arms.

His hand still held to the small of my back, it felt comforting through the thin material of my dress. Though I looked up into his beautiful blue eyes they seemed intent on inspecting every little part of me as they drew down and up my form, betraying more than a passing admiration for my curvatures. Seemingly happy with all he beheld he looked once more into my eyes. I felt my heart quicken anew as he smiled.

He tilted his head to the side as he put his bottom lip out to one corner and blew his breath up over his face. The thick golden-brown curls that hung half wetted with sweat and half dried with the heat swished a little and dropped back into the exact same place. "Hmph," he murmured. I giggled at him a moment before wincing as I attempted to once more lower my foot.

"Looks like you've hurt yourself," he said with astonishing perception, and before I could utter a word I gasped as I felt myself lifted from the ground. His motions were too quick to caution him to desist as he leaned and slipped his arm behind my knees, and a moment later I was scooped up in his strong, muscular arms and carried to his wood pile.

"Where are you taking me?" I demanded, but receiving no answer I was Instead offered the loveliest smile and felt certain his aim was to care for rather than to assault me.

"Can you just hop here a moment?" he asked as he set me down beside the cut and split logs.

"I think so, yes," I said and leant on the tallest part of the pile, wondering what he would do next.

"Good. Won't be a moment, missy," he said and proceeded to arrange the logs into a familiar configuration. "Let's get you somewhere to sit."

I laughed as I watched him. "You're building me a chair?" I asked.

"Well, not quite a chair," he said. "But the finest seat I can sort right now for the finest girl I've ever seen."

His words made me blush, but I thought him especially lovely as he toiled to show me comfort. "Oh come, the finest girl? Surely you've seen finer?" I coyly asked.

"Never before in my life, missy. P'raps my sister was as beautiful as you. How about you and her are the finest?" he said with a grin and held out an arm to draw my eyes back to the seat within the log pile.

"Agreed," I said with a chuckle. He stepped to me and, without so much as a nod for permission, scooped me again in his arms. I lay cradled against his broad chest. My eyes flicked to his skin, it mirrored the golden-brown of his long, curly hair. He had a smell of exertion, but not of corruption, it was earthy and manly and I found myself comparing him to John.

"Here we go," he said and placed me upon my seat. "Pardon my familiar-ness, missy," he added as I settled and crossed one leg over the other.

As he winked, grinning most attractively, I laughed at his funny attempt at propriety. "Consider yourself pardoned," I said, feeling rather like Titania as she flirted with her common labourer while Oberon caused mayhem elsewhere in the forest.

His eyes danced about my form and he seemed most entranced by the fullness of my breast and smoothness of my legs. When he looked up into my eyes again I glanced at his axe, dropped to the floor when he rushed so chivalrously to my aid.

I looked back to him expectantly and as he began to move I reached out and took his hand in mine. He offered no resistance as I gave a little tug and drew him back again. I wonder if he knew my game, for he stumbled back towards me and had to put a hand to the logs to prevent himself falling. His balance was surely as attuned as his muscles were toned, and in letting a slight young girl pull him so he ended the perfect distance from me to be kissed.

I tilted back my head as I leaned forward and pecked a little kiss to his full lips then sat quickly back, with lowered face and raised eyes I gifted him a coquettish smile and lightly fluttering lashes. His returning smile was his most handsome yet and his eyes burned within mine as he remained in place, perhaps wondering if I might kiss him again.

It was he in fact who kissed me. I knew I was to be kissed, for his actions were neither quick nor furtive as those of a thief might be. Instead he slowly lifted a hand to my cheek, holding gently to my soft skin while holding my gaze in his beautiful azure eyes. I had time to deny him, to slap away his hand and protest impropriety, but in the subtleties of my acquiescence he sensed equal desire to be lip to lip with him in a more than brief way.

He slowly leaned close and I let the merest of sighs escape my lips just as he brought his to mine. He kissed with sensuality and with feeling, with care and attentiveness. His concern was as much for my pleasure as for his own, and as our tongues curled and rolled in a seductive ballet I felt as though we had practised each a thousand times to reach this perfection.

I expected his hand upon my thigh or breast, and was prepared to uncross my legs or arch my back for him in which ever manner he chose to enjoy me. But instead he broke his lips from mine, kissed them once more and stood. I sat near breathless on my throne of wood as my bronzed saviour smiled down with eyes of brightest blue. "You have a very lovely kiss," he said as he stepped back and took up his axe once more.

"Thank you, so do you," I said, feeling heat within my cheeks. He seemed not to know who I was, and I wondered if he might ask. As he worked he glanced often at me, his smile always handsome as he observed each part of me in differing quantities. I crossed my right leg over my left, drawing his gaze down my shin to my toes, and laid my hands out to each side. The seat, I noted, was big enough for two, and I wondered if his plan was to seat himself beside me.

"Is your foot alright, missy?" he asked, eyeing it as I held it out and wriggled my toes.

"No," I replied. "I fear I may not make it to the house on my own, and even should I survive that far there is still the quackery of carpenter-doctors to avoid." I hadn't meant for my reply to amuse him, it was rather an attempt to spur him into offering to carry me home, but instead he chuckled, though warmly and not at me.

"Why don't you take a break?" I suggested.

"Can't, missy. Mulligan says this has to be done by mid-after, and by my reckoning that gives me just enough time to finish." He swung his axe and split asunder another log. I glanced about me.

"Is it really necessary to chop so much wood? The fires need not be lit, and the boilers and ovens surely require far less than you have already prepared." I could in fact have watched him chop logs for the entire afternoon as I sat upon my pauper's throne. His bronzed torso held my eyes with an intensity not lost upon him. He knew my looks and glances, and made all effort to proudly display himself to my scrutinies.

"It's not really about the logs, missy," he explained, pausing to lean on his axe after letting the head drop to the trodden down grass. " Although the garden needs to be kept tidy. It's about Mulligan being a.." he stopped, his eyes raised up as though searching for an acceptable term. I slowly nodded, implying I knew his thoughts. He shrugged and swung his axe again. "I only just started here, don't really know my way around yet and I get all the tough jobs."

"I am sorry to hear that," I said without a trace of regret. His bronzed torso shone with each catching of the sun shards that broke through the leaves. Much excitement stirred within me. The abruptness with which I had cancelled John's enjoyment may have left me giggling at his torment, but flames, whether they be of ported ships or carnal lust, travelled quickly from one vessel to another and I had fires of passion raging within me. I decided now to deceive and delight my delicious woodsman.

"Perhaps I might have a word with the butler, have him persuade this Mulligan to go a little easier on you," I offered as I languidly swayed my foot. He stopped his labours, looking along my leg and up to my eyes.

"How are you going to do that?" he asked with a slight frown, then set a chunk of wood upon the ancient stump and picked up his axe. "I doubt he'd listen to you, missy." He chuckled and brought the weapon squarely down upon the wood. "Thanks all the same though," he added.

"He will listen to me, I assure you. He is extremely fond of me," I said with a smile.

The wood chopper straightened and looked at me quizzically. "Who are you then?" he finally asked.

"It's customary for a gentleman to introduce himself before asking a lady her name," I said, considering this to be the longest conversation I'd had with someone whose name I did not yet know.

"A gentleman, huh?" he grinned. "Well, I'm not a gentleman, missy, I'm just a lad. But pleased to make your acquaintance all the same. I'm Brendan." He smiled most handsomely and drew his arm across his forehead, wiping the sweat from his brow.

"Hello, Brendan," said I with a smile of my own. "I'm pleased to make your acquaintance also. My name is Kitty, and I must offer you my sincerest gratitude for saving me just now from a fate worse than death. I may very well have fallen had you not dashed to save me." I swished my toes in the air, drawing his glance. "My kiss was a thank you," I added with a coy smile.

"Think nothing of it, missy. It was my pleasure." His smile turned to a grin as he said, "Mine was a you're welcome."

He and I shared a laugh together. I found him perfectly refreshing company. He was so different from John and Kitty and the other workers, he acted more like a friend and equal. My presence didn't seem to faze him at all as it did the others. Perhaps because even now he appeared not to know my identity or place within the household. I wondered what he thought of me, of who or what he thought I was.

"Kitty, huh?" he said as he tossed the split wood to the pile. I watched the pieces land several feet away then returned my eyes to his. "That's a very sweet and lovely name, I think it suits you just right."

"What a charmer you are, Brendan!" I giggled. "I bet you say such things to every girl you rescue."

"Only the pretty ones," he chuckled, and again brandished his chopper, smashing it down upon a helpless section of wood. Naughty thoughts pervaded my mind. Each ripple and flex of his well toned musculature held my gaze entranced. The sheen of his labours glistened in the dappled light of the lazy afternoon. And within his shorts I saw the outline of a tool equal in fortitude and power to that of his axe. I watched him a moment, noting the way his eyes beheld me, and imagined his exertions a result of pleasures I would gladly surrender to him.

He let down his axe again. For sitting so close and in so secluded a place with a man brandishing a weapon of such terrifying consequence should it be used for ill, I felt surprisingly secure with him. He viewed me curiously as I casually toyed with the hem of my dress. "What is it you do around here, Kitty?" he asked.

"I expect that to be a question with as many answers as people positioned adequately close for it to be put," I said with a smile. His confusion was adorable. Remaining silent he raised a hand to his hair and drew it through his thick, curly locks. They ruffled and bounced back into place. I could not quite tell if he was considering my response or merely admiring my form, for his sky-blue eyes drifted hither and thither about my person.

Whilst not as short of some of my more daring dresses the one I wore was certainly as slender and silky. As I fingered the hem I drew the wispy material up my thigh and made to stand. His eyes began to glow with a familiar fire as they sighted upon the action of my hand. My answer, and subsequent showing of leg had distracted him from his question, and now I began to my feet it was abandoned all together.

"Brendan, I insist you put down your axe and sit with me," I said. He looked torn. Clearly he wanted nothing more than to seat himself beside me, but alas too much significance is placed upon task and chore by those who lack the privilege to disregard life's trivialities, and Brendan would court consequence should he ignore the job entrusted to him. These lower orders did like to build their own miniature kingdoms, rife with hierarchy and governance, and the head gardener Mulligan ruled his little empire with a whip in his hand. I had a mind to not just elevate Brendan, but to topple the paper crown from atop Mulligan's head.

Besides, I rather think Brendan was enjoying showing himself off to me. He was wise to the way my eyes followed each and every tensing of his perfectly sculpted muscles as he proudly displayed them for me. I, of course, indulged my new peacock, and constantly flattered him not just with flirtatious smiles and prettied eyes but also with the occasional flicker of tongue across my bottom lip as I studied his masculine form.

Impatient to again test the firmness of his taut skin I stood and as I put my foot to the grass I feigned a magnitude of injury great enough to render me incapable of walking. With a gasp I let myself stumble forward, knowing my chivalrous woodsman would again leap to my rescue.

He did not disappoint, and once more I found myself held by arms capable of both tremendous might and exceptional tenderness. In the motion of collapse and salvation I contrived to slip my arms about his shoulders and as I pressed to his chest he held me to him. I swirled my fingers into his hair as I felt the fullness of his breaths and bulges. I sighed my saviours name and wrapped my arms ever tighter around him.

His hands lay first upon my hips, then spurred by the sensuality of my embrace and the scant-ness of my dress they slid first to the small of my back before one ventured to explore more southerly regions. I sighed against his chest as his hand petted the lightest of squeezes to my soft, round bottom. His scent filled my senses, his smooth chest was both soft and hardened simultaneously, and against my fluttering belly I felt the slowly extending bulge of his tool pressing against me. I leaned back my head and looked up into his eyes and saw passion and desire, lust and carnality. Yet too I saw deference, and felt even now he would make no move to take that which was not offered without equivocation.

"Would you like to kiss me again?" I softly purred. His hand moved down over my bottom onto my thigh, and as it drew back up again my dress slid silkily with it.

"More than I'd like to chop wood, missy," he said with a devilish grin and pulled me tighter to his body. I was up on my tiptoes as his lips dipped to meet mine. His kiss was like half-tamed lightning, and my tongue flicked across his lips and invited his into my mouth. I moved a hand to his chest and ran my fingertips over his breast muscles, and as his tongue swirled around mine my index finger traced similar patterns around his nipple. His hand slid to my bottom, fingers pressing into the crease where thigh meets cheek. He would find nothing but nakedness.

I drew my injured foot up his calf and slid my inner thigh up his leg. As it moved higher his other hand dropped to assist, and held my leg against his own while our lips pressed and kisses and tongues licked and lapped.

With my dress to my waist his fingers slipped first between my cheeks then moved round to glide teasingly for a moment between my legs and up over the curve of my moistening pussy. I whimpered against his lips as his fingers tickled over my erotically imbued clit. He ignored my sighed entreaties and continued his hand upwards, pushing up my dress until he had possession of my breasts. I was at his mercy and, whether I was myself or my handmaid, he could have all he wanted.