Alys trailed her gaze down to the bucket next to Emily’s feet.
“Oh look,” Alys exclaimed dramatically. “I’m out of water. How absolutely dreadful. Why, I believe I needs go fetch more.” Alys scooped the bucket up and sauntered toward the trees. “Would milady care to join me?”
“You are incorrigible!” Emily shook her head.
She had a bad feeling about this, but by the look of her maid she knew Alys was not to be swayed.
“Hand me the bucket and I?—”
“Oh nay, milady!” Alys blinked her eyes in an exaggerated manner. “I could never allow you to fetch water. What would his lordship say?”
“Alys!”
Her manner instantly changed to her normal demeanor. “Now you’ve got my curiosity up, milady. I have to go with you, but I’ll only stay a minute.” Her face turned to pleading. “Just a quick glance?”
“We’ll both take one quick glance, then come straight back.”
“Both of us?”
“Both,” Emily repeated, then taking breath for courage, she joined Alys and the two of them made their way carefully through the woods.
It didn’t take long to find Draven. He’d already shed his clothes and was waist deep in the water. Emily’s face flamed as she and Alys squatted behind a large bush to watch him unobserved.
“Lord’s toes, lady,” Alys breathed. “But I’ve never seen the like.”
Neither had she. Emily’s throat was parched as she saw the deep, rippling muscles of his back. Tawny skin glistened with water and every part of him was well-muscled and strong. His broad shoulders tapered to a small waist.
And around his neck, he wore a small necklace that she couldn’t make out from her distance.
Water trailed over his flesh, pooling in the small hairs of his chest. Even from her distance, she could tell how solid his chest would be and too easily she remembered the feel of being held close to that rock-hard body of his. The feel of his lips on her own.
She bit her lip at the memory and wished she had the audacity to walk the short distance that separated them.
Draven bent down to wet his hair, giving her a peek of perfect buttocks. Emily’s entire body throbbed as she watched him reach up and lather his hair. His strong fingers stroked the sable locks, and the sight of him did the strangest things to her body.
“I could do me laundry on that stomach.” Alys nudged Emily with her elbow. “But you know what’s even better than laundry to rub on a man’s stomach?”
Before Emily could answer, she heard something rustling in the trees behind Alys.
Her eyes widened.
“I think we’ve been caught,” Emily whispered, indicating the direction of the sound with a tilt of her head.
Alys turned around to look at the same moment a wild boar broke through the hedge.
For an instant Emily couldn’t move.
Alys gave an ear-shattering scream as she bolted toward Draven. Emily didn’t realize she’d followed her maid into the stream until she felt the water splashing over her body.
Draven turned at the loud shrieks an instant before two women ran him over. He came up from the water, sputtering to find Emily and her maid jumping up and down, screaming at him, and gesturing wildly toward the bank.
“A boar, a boar, a boar!” the maid repeated.
“Women, please! Quiet! And for the sake of your lives, stop moving.”
To his amazement, they instantly obeyed him. Draven took a cautious step forward to place himself between the women and the boar. He slid his gaze over to where his sword lay useless a few feet from the panting boar. It pawed at the ground and eyed them fiercely.
“It’s going to charge us,” Emily said, her voice high-pitched.
