Make Her Wish Come True Collection. Ann LethbridgeЧитать онлайн книгу.
nothing but lies.
Adam breezed through the door. His gaze sought her and when he found her already ensconced in the tub, he stilled. His face sported a grin. ‘Is it to your liking, my lady?’
Her heart stopped beating. How did he know?
His smile fled. ‘What is wrong?’
Oh, merciful saints, he was teasing her, not using her title. ‘Nothing is wrong. It is perfect. Heavenly.’ Only one thing would make it better. Her heart beat a rapid tattoo at the boldness of the thought that popped into her mind. ‘Why don’t you join me? You smell as bad as I did.’
Gah! That was hardly inviting or seductive. The shock on his face made her squirm. ‘We will have to be up early in the morning,’ she added in a rush. ‘I thought you might prefer not to wait, since you must be as tired as I am.’
Dash it, she was babbling. Making things worse. ‘I’ll be as quick as I can,’ she mumbled and grabbed for the soap.
All his erotic fantasies, every single one of them, had taken on lush female form. The skin on her face and shoulders had a lovely rosy glow, from embarrassment and the heat from the water. The arm rising above the rim of the tub was the most graceful limb he had ever seen and the thought of the rest of her naked below the surface of the water had him as hard as a rock. And… she was naked. It hadn’t taken him a second to spot the fine lawn chemise folded with her gown or to understand the meaning of those bare, elegantly sloped shoulders.
And now she was inviting him to join her.
He’d managed to walk away the previous evening, but tonight he did not have the strength and not just because the offer would never come again. Indeed, he was surprised she was giving him a second chance. He certainly wouldn’t have been so generous.
She had given him so much joy these past few days, far more than he deserved and she deserved that he return the favour, if she would allow it. ‘I would love to join you.’
He turned his back and stripped off, very much aware of her interested gaze. It reminded him of the first time he had undressed after his wedding. Only then there had been a whole lot of blushing by both parties and giggles. They’d been so young and innocent. Heedless.
The recollection seemed more like a distant memory than usual. Less painful. Something to be thought of fondly rather than avoided. He turned around.
Her gaze took him in with obvious interest. She licked her lips as if they’d dried, or, given the flush on her face and the intensity of her gaze, as if she’d seen something she might like to taste. He strode across tiles cold beneath the soles of his feet.
She shifted along the seat to give him room to step down, her gaze rising to his face, her lips curving in a smile of welcome. He blushed like a damned schoolboy and sank into the water. Their thighs touched beneath the water. This close, he could see the rise of her gloriously full breasts and the darker rose of their peaks. He had either landed in heaven or hell. It would be up to her to decide which.
With a sigh she leaned back, her head resting on the edge of the tub. ‘This is wonderful. One would never expect such decadency from the oldest knight in the county. I wonder how it works?’
A prosaic topic, likely deliberate so as to hide her modest blushes, though her use of the word decadent was inspiring all kinds of wicked thoughts in his head. ‘I haven’t quite worked out its exact workings, but gravity seems to have some part to play with the help of valves in strategic places and a constant supply of water from an underground stream.’
‘Fascinating.’
Whereas a débutante might have yawned the word to ensure no one took her for a bluestocking, Cassie appeared genuinely interested.
‘A local fellow put it together,’ he said. ‘I found his name and the bill for his services amidst Sir Josiah’s papers. I am thinking of asking him to come to Portmaine Court and investigate the feasibility of something similar there.’ He realised his error. ‘If the earl approves, that is.’
She didn’t seem to notice his hastily added amendment; lazily opening her eyes, she gave him a blindingly beautiful smile. ‘He needs only to try it to approve. He might even decide to move in here.’
He wanted her to move in. With him. He stretched out a hand and laced his fingers with hers, brought her hand to his lips. ‘It is too bad neither of us can stay.’
Her smile dimmed a fraction. ‘Then we should make the most of the time we have.’
Thank you, all the gods on Mount Olympus. ‘We should wash your hair.’ Her hair was a glorious golden mass, the ends floating on the top of the water like the trailing fronds of an exotic water plant. He loved the way it flowed around her in silky waves.
She cast him a glance aslant. ‘We?’
He leaned over the edge of the tub and held up a bucket. ‘If I fill this with clean warm water, I can tip it over you once you have lathered.’
‘Hence the “we”.’ She reached for the soap and sniffed at it. ‘Nice.’
He leaned over and inhaled. ‘Sir Josiah’s. I’m sorry it is all we have.’
‘I like it.’
It was what he had used on his hair and body earlier. And would again now. The idea of sharing something so personal was both arousing and endearing. A sweetly painful pull in the region of his chest made his breath catch.
She quickly worked up a lather in her palms before she handed him the sliver of soap and worked the suds into her hair.
‘Let me,’ he said, seeing she already needed more soap. He used the piece of soap directly on her hair, working it in, splashing up more water as needed.
‘You have done this before.’
‘I was married, once.’ And until now he had forgotten the pleasure of such intimate moments marriage brought with it. Or he hadn’t wanted to recall.
He used the tips of his fingers to massage in the soap, firmly enough to cause her to turn her back and give him better access. She sighed and leaned back languidly against his shoulder as he continue to work at her scalp. A small moan of bliss arrowed straight to his groin. His member gave a little pulse. Happy because she was pleased and more than happy because this was only the start. Or so he hoped.
An idea formed in his mind. Tenuous. Likely something which would not put him in good stead with the earl, but it made sense. It would solve his problem. At least he hoped she would agree, but he must not rush matters. He didn’t want to ruin his chances.
‘Lean back,’ he said softly in her ear, holding one arm beneath her shoulders. ‘Let us rinse off the worst of the soap.’
Without hesitation she complied and her magnificent breasts made a spectacular appearance, rising amid the bubbles now covering the surface of the water, causing him to become painfully hard. He forced himself to focus only on her hair, on running his fingers through the floating strands until they began to squeak. He lifted her back to sit on the ledge.
She beamed at him. ‘Oh, my. That was simply lovely.’
‘Let me finish the task, if you will.’
He picked up a small rag from the ledge and lathered it up. ‘You know, in the old days washing a guest was often the duty of the daughter of the house.’
She cast him a look askance, though there was a teasing smile on her lips. ‘Are you proposing I wash you?’
He raised his brows. ‘You may if you wish, but I was thinking of it the other way around, since I am your host.’
‘In the absence of your employer.’
His employer was very much in favour of the idea. He passed the cloth down her arm. Her eyes widened when he started at her throat and then worked down her chest and over her breasts. As he stroked the flannel across her delectable curves, he