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Lavinia gulped. “Well, I am. And I would prefer it if you didn’t look while I was undressing, either.”
“Why not take this opportunity to study the male form? We are going to lie together, eventually. You might as well prepare yourself for what’s to come.”
“You speak of it so casually,” Lavinia noted. “But perhaps we are not going to marry.”
“Ah! Devil take it!”
Lavinia turned around at Sebastian’s loud cursing.
He stood with his back to her, knees deep in the stream as he splashed water on his arms. His beautifully shaped buttocks and the wide expanse of his back were covered in goosebumps.
He was obviously uncomfortable with the cold water, but all Lavinia could think of was how gorgeous he was. She just wanted to walk up to him and plaster her body to his.
He looked so strong… She wanted to know what his skin felt like. Were those muscles as hard as they seemed? Were his buttocks soft or tight? Was he—
Splash.
Sebastian dived underwater and came up a moment later, his chest to her. He shook his head to dislodge the excess water and smiled. He looked so joyous at that moment that Lavinia couldn’t help but smile.
By the time she finished undressing down to her shift, he had already made his way out of the stream, shaking like a leaf.
He started drying himself immediately, groaning and hissing.
Lavinia stepped into the water and hissed, too. Lord, the water was freezing! How was she supposed to wash herself?
“Just jump in full body and wash yourself as quickly as you can,” Sebastian said from the bank. “Do not stop moving.”
Lavinia nodded and ran into the water. When she was waist deep, she sat down so that the stream covered her entire body. She broke the surface with a yelp, for it was impossibly cold, and then soaped her hair and torso, before plunging under the frigid water again to rinse off.
It must have taken her all of three minutes to wash her entire body, which normally would have taken her over half an hour in a warm bath, and she was running out of the stream like the devil’s hounds were on her tail.
The moment she reached the bank, Sebastian came up to her with the towel and wrapped it around her body. “We should have brought a blanket,” he said as he rubbed her body, trying to warm her.
Lavinia was not self-conscious anymore. Or at least it was not a priority in her mind. She just wanted to get warm. So she let him hold her in his arms and rub her body with his warm hands.
His hot breath on her neck sent goosebumps down her length and not from cold but from pleasure. She became languid and rested her back against him, feeding off his strength and his warmth.
They stood like that; she leaning against him, him holding her in his arms and rubbing her body to keep her warm.
Lavinia didn’t want that moment to end. It was so nice being held. When was the last time anyone had just held her like that? She couldn’t remember.
He kissed her lightly on her ear—barely a kiss, more of a nudge, and moved away from her. He bent down and picked up a clean shift and handed it to her. “Get dressed,” he said gently and turned around.
It took Lavinia a moment to realize what was happening. One moment she was wrapped up so safely in his arms and then the next, he was turning away from her, giving her privacy.
Part of her was glad that he’d remained a gentleman, but part of her was heating up from the inside and hoping against hope that he would kiss her again.
She couldn’t tell him that. If he didn’t find her enticing enough to kiss in her wet night shift, she was not about to beg him for it. So she ducked her head and hurried to get dressed before she froze.
* * *
It took Sebastian all his willpower not to devour Lavinia when he wrapped her in his arms. She was so soft, so lovely. He wanted to run his hands all over her body and study all her curves. He wanted to weigh her breasts in his hands, circle her belly, kiss her neck, her shoulders.
But she trusted him.
The shy, innocent young lady, who had asked him just a moment ago to turn around and not watch her undress, the woman who was frightened to even watch him bathe, the one who blushed at the sight of nude art, leaned her half-clad body against him. She relaxed in his arms, trusting him not to hurt her.
He could not abuse that trust. No matter how hard and aroused he was, no matter that all his blood traveled from his body to his cock, making him doubt he could recall his name. He could recall the fear in her voice when she’d asked him not to look at her.
