Series: Willow Winters
Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 72146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 361(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 361(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
I take another cloth from a low table on the side of the tub and watch as it becomes waterlogged and sinks beneath the surface.
My heart races right away.
Do I dare?
I glance at the closed door. Alice will not be back for several minutes. She has already washed my hair, and it is held up in a cloth made to encourage it drying faster. A larger towel has been laid on the lip of the tub in case I need to rest my neck.
That is something I do often enough.
I settle into the tub and tip my head back, letting the towel support my neck.
I have done nothing out of the ordinary. I might only be thinking of my plans for the day. I could write letters. There are two or three birthday messages I have not yet responded to as well as requests from those in the village. I may practice my harp so that the lessons my mother gave me as a child don’t fall away from my memory. I might take one of the horses for a ride on the grounds. If I do that, I would need to return with enough time left to bathe and be dressed for dinner. It will be a smaller affair tonight—my father and I and perhaps a few select members of court—but I’ll be dressed to match my station.
I stare at the blue sky outside the window and almost manage to convince myself that I’ve done it. That I’ve forgotten the way I moaned into my own pillow last night.
But then I sweep the bathing cloth into my hand under the water, almost as if I am not thinking about it. I lift it toward the surface, then let it float down until the cloth lands between my legs.
Then it is only a simple matter of touching myself. I start at one of my breasts, circling it as if I am only rinsing soap away, then slide my hand down until it meets the cloth.
It is a different sensation than touching myself with bare fingertips. The cloth is slightly rougher, and it takes even less pressure on that bundle of nerves. I let my legs fall open so my knees rest on the side of the tub and draw circles on my clit.
I breathe slowly and deeply, as if I am meditating. I keep the rest of my body relaxed, as if I am half asleep. I move my fingers only enough to get the pressure I need. I don’t create a single splash in the water.
It does not take long to bring myself to the peak. A minute or maybe less. I remind myself not to cry out at the last second, and sigh instead. I am certain it could be mistaken for a sigh of enjoyment. Of the hot water, not my hand between my legs.
When the waves have ended, I gather the cloth in my hand, bring it above the surface of the water, and squeeze out the excess.
I wait a minute more to be sure I am recovered. That my body is not giving any sign that I pleasured myself. One thing I know for certain now, I enjoy the act. Thoroughly. And I am curious to discover more.
I wait until I am sure that I will not seem satisfied, or giddy, because I have gotten away with taking pleasure in a place I have never taken it before.
The day proceeds as I expected it would.
It’s not until dinner that I feel someone watching. The prick at the back of my neck and the burning feeling of being hunted are consuming.
I try not to be obvious about searching for him, which unfortunately comes to a halt when I’m asked to tend to court for a moment. I carry on a conversation with a duke who is at least my father’s age about the fallow fields nearest his manor house, so it takes longer than I would like to find him.
But as I’m being escorted to dinner, I do. My heart races. I recognize his posture, his stance. In the shadows, in a room off the great hall—the third in a series of rooms that all connect. As the hall is not crowded, there is no need for it to be well lit. Still, my body knows his. There’s a heated pulse that runs through me.
The man leans against the doorway, his face mostly hidden once again. With Alice by my side, I cannot go to him, and given her expression, I straighten my own.
When dinner is finished, I take a long route away from the great hall, then tell Alice and Blanche to meet me in my rooms.
“I will be going to bed early tonight,” I tell them. “I need more time to rest. I will be up shortly.”