JanesPrize by Margrett Dawson Read Free Book Online

pillowcases and bedcovers were stacked in dusty
piles. One section held carefully folded towels. “Here we are.” He grabbed a
couple of yellowed bath sheets and pulled them out. Two tiny brown shapes
leaped from the shelf and disappeared behind the adjoining stack. Jane jumped
back with a squeak of alarm and clamped her hands on Pierce’s arm.
    Pierce dropped the bundle he was holding.
Each towel was shredded in the center, leaving sparse strands of cotton
dangling in the air. He put an arm ‘round her shoulders. “Nothing to worry
about. We disturbed a homemaking activity.”
    Jane shuddered. She wasn’t particularly
squeamish but the two little mice had given her a shock. She laughed. “I guess
we leave them to it. I have a towel in my pack.”
    “We’ll pick it up on the way.”
    He led her up the stairs to a room that
looked over the back of the house, where the kitchen garden and stables had
once been. A wide bed with a dusty red cover occupied most of the space. The
windows were hung with heavy drapes.
    “This was my room. Not much has changed.”
Pierce ran his fingers over an oak chest. “The bathroom is through here.”
    He opened a door on a wall next to the
window and showed her into a bathroom that might have featured in a New York
home decorating magazine aimed at the retro look.
    A large white china jug and basin, both
decorated with swirls of blue flowers, stood on a washstand under the window.
Sunlight streamed directly onto a huge claw-foot tub that sat in the middle of
the floor. It had curved sides and a high back, like something from a Wild West
movie.
    “Big enough for two, do you think?” Pierce
turned oversized faucets inlaid with ceramic discs that announced Hot and Cold.
    The water gushed out, brown and foaming.
“Yuck!” Jane sprang back.
    “Let it run for a while. The pipes are all
cast iron.” He put his arm ‘round her and drew her close, his eyes on the
rushing stream.
    Sure enough after a few minutes the color
faded. Pierce released her and shoved a rubber plug into the drain. He mixed
the water to a comfortable temperature and straightened.
    “I get to see you naked again. Come here.”
He took her hand and drew her toward him. “Let me do it.” He stood behind her
and unbuttoned her blouse, pushing it back from her shoulders. She hadn’t
bothered with a bra. He bent his head and kissed the tender spot under her ear
then cupped her right breast with his left hand, holding it as if weighing it
in his palm.
    “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything more
beautiful. You are so lovely.”
    Jane shook her head. “I’m very ordinary.”
But her heart swelled with pleasure at the thought he found her beautiful.
    “No, your hair is the most perfect shade of
honey. I love the way it curls around your ears.” As he spoke his free hand
drifted over her head, down to her neck.
    “Your eyes are the best kind of blue. Not
too dark, not pale like some. Just like the summer sky outside the window. Your
skin is so soft I could stroke it all day.
    “Your ears are set exactly right, your
throat is a delight.” She swallowed under his caress.
    “I have no words to describe the perfection
of your breasts.” He squeezed each one gently so that the nipples puckered.
    She stood unmoving, her breath caught in
her throat, as he unfastened her pants and drew them down to the floor. She
wore a wisp of lace no larger than a thong. It was already soaked with the
moisture seeping from her.
    “We’ll get rid of this.” He pulled her panties
down, exposing her mound and vulva to the warm air of the room. He placed his
curved palm over the curls at the base of her belly.
    Steam rose from the bathtub, the warm, damp
tendrils curling around them like a magic mist. Pierce reached out with one
hand to turn off the faucets.
    “Ready when you are.”
    Fortunately he kept an arm around her as he
guided her to the tub. His wandering hands and seductive words, and knowing
what he would do in a few