Page 65 of An Unlikely Debutante

She continued with the ties of her dress, eventually loosening it enough to be able to push it down over her hips and step out of the heavy material. The chemise and petticoats she wore, normally a brilliant white, were now almost transparent and stuck to her skin scandalously.

Quickly Lina glanced up. Alex was in the process of unfastening his trousers, something that made her pause herself. He looked at her, unable to stop his eyes falling to her body, and even in the darkness Lina knew it was as if he were looking at her naked.

Five seconds passed, and then ten, before eventually, with what must have taken iron-strong self-control, Alex turned around, leaving her to take off her underclothes in private. At the same time he took off his trousers and Lina had to resist the very primal urge to go and wrap her body around his.

Trying to remember all the reasons why dallying with Alex was a bad idea, Lina quickly peeled off her chemise and petticoats and wrapped herself in the blanket Alex had given her.

You’re from different worlds, she told herself. Once he gets bored of you, he’ll move on and you’ll be heartbroken. Mistresses are disposable. It’s not an equal relationship. You’ll be ruined and all for a few weeks of pleasure.

Right now a few weeks of pleasure sounded like heaven, but Lina had to acknowledge that she was developing deeper feelings for Alex and so the pain when he moved on to another women would be too much to bear.

‘Let me look at your arm,’ Lina said. Stepping closer to Alex was probably not the best idea, but she couldn’t let him bleed to death just because she didn’t trust herself to keep her hands off him.

He held out the injured arm and carefully Lina peeled the makeshift bandage off, noticing how Alex gritted his teeth to stop from wincing. The wound had stopped bleeding, but still looked red and raw, a half-inch-deep gash across his biceps.

‘Can you move it?’

Slowly Alex flexed the biceps, his face contorting with pain, but he managed to complete the movement.

‘I think you’ll heal just fine. We can get the doctor to look at it when we get home.’

Within a few minutes Lina had bound the wound again, knowing it was important to keep it fully covered to try to prevent infection.

‘You’re icy cold,’ Alex said, his fingers gripping her own.

It was an effort to keep her teeth from chattering and her feet felt like blocks of ice, but it was hardly surprising seeing as they’d spent the past hour drenched to the bone with dirty ditchwater and rain.

‘We need to get you warm.’

Lina had visions of thick, luxurious blankets and a crackling fire to warm her toes by.

Instead she watched as Alex rearranged the hay in the loft.

‘We need to share body heat.’

‘How?’

‘I’ll lay the blanket I’m wrapped in on top of the hay and we will both lie on top of it, covering ourselves with your blanket. We can pull some of the loose hay on the blanket as well to give us extra insulation.’

‘We’re both naked.’

‘I think we can both be adults about this. It’s for survival, not any amorous purpose.’

Lina nodded, her eyes widening as Alex dropped his blanket from around his waist and laid it on the hay. It was dark in the barn and she couldn’t make out much, but her eyes sought out the contours of his body all the same.

‘Lie down,’ he instructed.

Loosening the blanket wrapped around her body, Lina lay down, feeling Alex’s fingers pulling at the material as she did so. By the time she was comfortable and supine, the blanket had been spread to cover her with a space left directly next to her for Alex.

Lina realised she was holding her breath as he slipped under the blanket. For a moment he busied himself pulling clumps of hay on top of them to add another layer of insulation, but after a short while he stilled, and there was just the sound of their breathing and the hammering of the rain on the roof of the barn.

‘Your teeth are chattering,’ Alex observed.

‘I’m still cold.’

‘Come here.’

Gently he turned her so she was facing away from him, looped an arm around her waist and pressed his body against hers. Lina stiffened. She could feel all of him and she wanted nothing more than to roll over and welcome him into her body.