Love's Misadventure (The Mason Siblings Series Book 1) (12 page)

Within a matter of moments, a group of burly footmen entered with a large brass bathing tub. The Swan Inn must do very fine indeed to be able to bear the expense of such a fine tub.

“At the foot of the bed,” the innkeeper’s wife directed the footmen. “That’s it. No, Harrison, just a mite to the left. Yes, there.” She smiled with satisfaction.

The footmen bowed before retreating, the innkeeper’s wife following in their wake.

Lane sat on one of the overstuffed cerulean armchairs, stretching out his legs and crossing his ankles one over the other. His body ached…in more than one sense.

Damnation
. Had that kiss truly happened? He had never felt so deeply involved in a kiss. Never felt such a burning need to continue. Could Anna be the cure to his
problem
?

The footmen returned with buckets of steaming water, the innkeeper’s wife following with towels and soap. The
splosh
of water in the tub was enough to make Lane’s eyes roll backward. The air filled with humidity, steam curling alluringly above the bathwater’s surface.

“Here y’are, Mr. Roberts. Nice and hot, fresh from the fire.” The innkeeper’s wife smiled kindly at him. “Ring the bell if you feel hungry. If not, the morning meal is prepared at seven of the clock.”

Lane stood and took two steps toward the woman. “Thank you very much, madam. This is lovely.”

She beamed at him, her round, wrinkled face positively bursting with pride.

Soon she made her exit, closing the door after her. Lane slid the bolt into place, the
snick
echoing through the room over the crackles from the fire and Anna’s soft, even breathing.

His eagerness to be in the heat of the tub overruled any notion of behaving with the proper decorum. He flung his clothes off, tossing them negligently to the chair. Hopping on one foot, he removed his boot and stocking, then did the same for the other.

Finally nude, Lane stepped into the tub. He hissed his breath out as his skin tingled from the heat of the water. He inhaled deeply, sinking fully into the tub, careful to keep his bandage above the water as he allowed his body to adjust to the temperature.

He rested his head against the rim of the tub, closing his eyes and silently encouraging his muscles to relax.

Anna shifted on the bed, drawing his thoughts toward her. Could she be the woman that would change everything? That kiss had certainly
felt
different.

Lane cast a regretful glance downward, where his overly fervent cock stood proudly in the hot water. It was clear that he wanted Anna. But would she accept his proposal of marriage?

Seemingly without conscious thought, his hand crept downward, gripping his stiffness beneath the water. Slowly his hand began to move. But he let it happen. He was exhausted, his body worn from the past days of misadventure. He needed a release from his built-up restless energy.

Lane tilted his head back, resting it once more on the rim of the tub, his eyes closed.

* * *

Anna awoke to a gentle, rhythmic sloshing. Her body begged her to return to sleep, but her mind focused on the fact that she was lying on the comforting softness of a bed, her body engulfed in the warmth of thick bedclothes.

She opened her eyes. Warm, flickering firelight wavered about the room. The air was humid from steam and smelled of soap and burning coals. She inhaled longingly. She would very much enjoy a bath.

The sloshing continued, and Anna’s gaze was drawn to the foot of the bed. Her eyes widened, immediately riveted by a very obviously
nude
Lane reclined in a tub at the foot of the bed.

But what…what is he doing?
Her mouth dropped open on a silent gasp as awareness dawned. His eyes were closed, his head back, and his arm was moving beneath the water’s surface. He appeared to be enjoying himself immensely.

Goodness!
She had never thought… But then, if she had explored what was beneath her restrictive clothing, she could only assume that others had done so, as well.
But this is Lane
.
Lane
was touching himself intimately!

An answering throb began in her
mons
, spreading liquid heat to her womanly core.
What would he do if I joined him
? Oh goodness, what a thought! Could she? Should she?
Dare
she?

Lane moaned softly, and her decision was made for her. She wanted him. He’d already proposed marriage, for heaven’s sake. She could easily accept his proposal and marry him upon returning to London. Surely making love to your intended before marriage was not so terrible a thing.

A quick, naughty grin quirked her lips. She pushed aside the bedclothes and rose to a seated position.

Abruptly, Lane sputtered. He sat up, his arms flailing to grab for purchase. “
Blazes
, Anna! What do you mean to startle a man like that?”

Anna felt rooted in place. What could she say? Her bravery of a moment before threatened to dissipate, but she couldn’t allow it. She wanted Lane. She wanted this.

Without replying, Anna reached for the ties of her front-fastening gown. Lane blinked, seemingly at a loss for words. Feeling emboldened, she allowed the frock to slide down her arms and pool at her feet.

“Anna—” Lane croaked.

Her stomach knotted, her heart sped. She was anxious to touch him…to
bathe
with him. Her fingers fumbled with the ties and fastenings of her undergarments, but she made quick work of them nonetheless.

Within moments she was standing nude before him, her skin heated with the flush of anticipation.

Lane’s heavy-lidded gaze travelled down her person, pausing over her breasts, her waist, and the thatch of curls at the apex of her thighs.

“Sweet Jesus,” he breathed.

A tingle travelled down her spine, his aroused gaze sending a thrill through her.

“May I join you?” she inquired.

His jaw dropped before he caught it. “Of,” he croaked, then cleared his throat. “Of course.”

She lifted her foot over the tub’s edge, earning another groan from Lane, then brought her other foot in and sat in the hot bath water.

What do I do now?

Anna extended her hand for the soap. “May I?”

His throat bobbed, but he handed her the soap.

Anna resisted the urge to stare at him through the water. She knew his upper body was sculpted from boxing at Gentleman Jackson’s and riding his horse, but, she wondered, was his bottom half just as muscular? What did his
man part
look like? She urged her impatience to ease. She would see him when they left the bath.

Despite her boldness, her stomach fluttered with nervousness. What she was about to do would change her life forevermore. She would be irrevocably and truly ruined.

She shook herself internally. She was likely ruined in the eyes of society anyway, and if her abduction concluded with an engagement to Lane, society would forgive her.

Anna rubbed the soap between her palms and washed herself. She spread the suds over the column of her neck, her collar, and around each breast. Her nipples puckered and her stomach quivered under Lane’s penetrating scrutiny.

He put his hands on her waist, the tips of his fingers digging lightly into her flesh. The intensity in his gaze both intrigued and mystified her. She knew that his seeing her naked body would be arousing, but could washing herself be exciting him, as well?

His groan emboldened her further as she slid her soapy hand downward below the water’s surface. Lane shifted agitatedly, his eyes following each of her movements.
Fascinating!
She washed swiftly between her feminine folds, her gaze on Lane’s tense features.

“Anna…”

A flush flamed her cheeks at her own, decidedly lascivious behaviour. She was shocked at her own daring.

Her gaze roamed over his body; she could no longer hold herself back. She watched his eyes carefully. “May I?” She gestured toward his chest.

Lane’s throat bobbed captivatingly, but he nodded. “Please.”

Finally able to give in to her keen desires, Anna lathered the soap in her hands once more, pressing her frothy palms to Lane’s chest. She worked her fingers into his muscles, using suds and water to get him clean
,
careful to avoid the bandage on his arm. Lane’s eyelids grew heavy and a low groan escaped him, his chest rising and falling with his rapid breaths.

Her stomach gave another nervous kick as her hands delved below the water’s surface. While she might not know what he liked, his response to her touch was certainly encouraging, and there was no better way to learn than to try.

The muscles over Lane’s abdomen quivered as she felt along the hard, muscular ridges. She ought to go slowly to prolong their enjoyment, but if she did not continue quickly, she might very well lose her courage.

Her hands reached his hips, and Lane’s jaw clenched tightly, his fingertips digging subtly deeper into the skin of her hips. She pushed herself through the water, aligning herself between his spread knees, until her stomach lay flush against his. The ridge of his arousal pressed insistently against her, stirring her own desire to greater heights.

His brown gaze caught hers; deep, though hesitant…and, she thought, somehow anxious.

Anna leaned in closer, their lips a breath apart.

“Anna…” he ground out, his fingertips digging yet deeper.

She pressed her lips firmly to his. The kiss started slow but built in intensity. Soon their tongues tangled, their breath coming rapidly.

“Oh.” Anna broke their kiss. “Your bandage will become wet.”

“I don’t care,” he growled, catching her lips once more with his.

Then his hands roamed. He felt along her ribcage, the sides of her breasts, and then moved downward. His hands slowed as they reached her hips, as though he were unsure of her reaction.

Anna pressed her hips against his erection, and his breath hitched. He cupped her bottom with his large hands, pressing her further against him. Unbidden, a soft moan escaped her. He squeezed, his fingertips digging into her
derriere
.

Then his hands were gone. Anna whimpered in protest, but then his firm grip was on her waist once more. She gasped and water sloshed to the floor as he flipped her. Her bottom pressed against his erection, and her back lay against his chest, her head comfortably on one of his muscular shoulders.

His arms extended above them, lathering up the soap.

“I want a turn,” his voice rumbled beneath her, sending a shiver of delight down her spine.

He set the soap aside and lowered one hand to her breasts.

Her gasp filled the room, and she instinctively arched her spine. He palmed first one breast and then the other, the soap creating a slippery barrier between her skin and his.

Anna’s eyes slid closed. His ministrations were exciting…
arousing
. His fingers circled one nipple before he pinched it between forefinger and thumb. The pleasure-pain sizzled through her body, her nerve endings taught with want.

Anna’s body twitched at the sudden contact to her
mons.
While he’d distracted her with the playful flick of his fingers on her breasts, he slid his other hand beneath the water’s surface to tangle with the hair at the apex of her thighs. Slowly he edged closer, and yet closer, until the tips of his fingers reached her folds.

Oh heavenly day!
Could she be dreaming? She’d most certainly never imagined anything like
this
, even when exploring her own body in the dark of night.

Then his soap-covered fingers delved inside.

Anna’s body was alight with sensation as Lane explored. To have
Lane
touch her so intimately… It was a fantasy come true.

His hands worked in tandem; one swirling around the soft flesh of her
mons
, and the other plucking nimbly at her breasts.

She began to pant, entirely out of her control. Her pelvis lifted of its own accord, urging him on.

“Anna…” Lane groaned.

Her eyes still closed, she turned her head to meet his kiss. His movements became more insistent, more urgent, their kiss more passionate.

Something was building within her. Something that started in her toes and worked its way up her legs while simultaneously fluttering in her stomach. Something…

“Lane, I…” she gasped.

“Shh-shh,” he rumbled. “Let it come, Annabel.” He moved his fingers faster. “You cannot know what you do to me. I feel positively mad with desire…”

His words faded from her consciousness as an explosion began.

It started slow, but built quickly. Light burst behind her eyelids, her body shaking with wave after wave of pure pleasure. A cry was pulled from her lips as she arched away from Lane’s chest.

Distantly, she heard Lane curse before she was lifted bodily from the bath. She was dimly aware of their movement as Lane placed her, sopping wet, upon the bed’s coverlet.

Her body still throbbed with the delightful aftereffects of…whatever it was the
explosion
was truly called.

She watched in anticipation as Lane joined her on the bed, his muscles flexing as he braced himself over her.

Then she caught sight of
it
. His magnificent appendage jutted impressively erect from a thatch of dark-blonde curls that beaded with bathwater. It visibly throbbed with the beat of his heart. It was covered with blue veins that disappeared beneath its head. It looked strong…and
enormous
.
Would it even fit?
As quickly as the doubt appeared, she brushed it away. Men and women were meant to fit together, no matter how impossible it might seem.

Her hand moved before she’d consciously thought of the action. Her first finger extended as she touched the ruddy tip of his erection. It bobbed away from her finger, and she turned her questioning gaze upward to meet his.

The stark desire burning in the dark depths of his eyes was mesmerizing. Anna knew what was coming next. As painful as she had been warned that it would be, Anna was immeasurably pleased that it was Lane who would take her maidenhead.