Page 37 of Ladybird

“Well, I’ve decided differently,” said Regina. “Now put your boots back on and follow me please. It is getting late and there is much to do.”

“Of course, my lady.” Hunter didn’t understand what was going on, but decided just to follow orders and not even ask right now. He shoved his feet back into his boots.

“I will have your garments as well as the boy’s ready for you later today,” William called out to him.“You can try them on in your chamber later for a last fitting.”

“Thank you,” said Hunter, whisking past the ladies, following Regina to the door. When he got in front of Lady Gertrude, he felt a sharp prick on his behind. “Ouch!” He jumped and held his hand to his buttocks. Turning around, he saw all three ladies looking like lionesses on the hunt, wanting to eat him.

“Oops. So sorry about that, Lord Hunter,” said Lady Gertrude. “I lost control of my needle.” She held up the needle and grinned.

“Ladies, back to work,” called out Sage. “Please leave Lord Hunter alone.”

“Yes, please do,” he mumbled hurrying out the door and pulling it closed behind him.

Regina stood there trying to hold back a laugh if he wasn’t mistaken.

“Those ladies are hyenas,” he told her, still rubbing the sting on his ass.

“Well, what did you expect? They’ve all heard that you like to be naked and wanted to see more. I am sure they enjoyed the show you put on for them.”

He groaned again. “Well, I promise that from now on the only woman I get naked in front of is you.”

It was his turn to hold back his laughter as he walked away leaving Regina with her mouth hanging open.

“Well, why did you call me here?” asked Hunter, following Regina into the mews. “It sounded important.”

“It is,” she said, looking around the mews and calling out. “Cassian? Roger? Are you here?” When there came no answer, she released the breath she’d been holding. Thankfully, neither Cassian or Roger were here at the moment and that was exactly what she wanted. She needed to be alone with Hunter to tell him she had feelings for him. This was her perfect opportunity to do so.

“Go on,” he said.

She turned to face him. “I wanted to add to our conversation from yesterday.”

“Our…conversation?”

“Yes. The one we had while on our outing.”

“Add to it? I don’t understand. What does that mean?”

“You said you had feelings for me.”

“Oh, that. I’d rather not revisit that conversation again, my lady, since we both know it is naught but a dead end.”

She wanted to tell him that it wasn’t a dead end. That she reciprocated the feelings too. She wanted to tell him that she didn’t care that he was a commoner because she had never felt so strongly attracted to any man before in her life. But then her thoughts seemed to get muddled in her head. Her tongue suddenly felt three sizes too big for her mouth. Regina was about to express her affection to a man she barely knew and it was making her so hot and heady that she wanted to rip her clothes off just to cool down and not combust.

“Oh, here comes Roger now across the courtyard,” he said, stretching his neck to see out the door from their position in the mews.

“What?” She looked up to see it was true. Damn. This isn’t at all what she wanted. If Roger came in now, she couldn’t express her affection for Hunter. She wasn’t sure when she’d have another opportunity to do so. Panicked, she grabbed Hunter’s arm and spun him around, doing the only thing she could think of that would get her message across quickly. She reached up and kissed Hunter hard on the mouth.

“Mmmph,” mumbled Hunter, taken by surprise. His hands went around her waist and he pulled her closer, reciprocating by kissing her back. “Mmmmm,” he moaned in pleasure.

Regina could see the door of the mews from the corner of her eyes. Roger was quickly approaching. She shoved Hunter’s hands away and stepped back with a jerk.

“Huh? What was that all about?” he asked, blinking in confusion. “And why did you pull away?”

“I wanted to tell you that I have feelings for you as well,” she said hurriedly and in a soft voice. “But I didn’t have time to say it so I just kissed you, not knowing if we’d ever be alone again.”

“Regina, really?” he asked, sounding pleased by her confession.

“Yes, but don’t say another word about it. And be sure not to stand too close to me. Here comes Roger now.”