Never Wager Against Love (Kellington Book Three) by Maureen Driscoll Read Free Book Online

her. 
Curious and nice.  Perhaps he had finally embarked on an adventure worthy of
his name. 
    *                    *                    *
    The sun , thought Arthur as he reluctantly pried his
eyelids apart a few hours later, needs to be shot.   If he’d been at home
and awakened at such an ungodly hour, he simply would’ve pulled his bed
hangings closer together.  But, of course, here there were no bed hangings. 
Only a scratchy blanket on the hard earth, with the early morning sun upon him.
    Upon him .  Arthur looked to what should have been the
space occupied by Vanessa, only to find it empty.  For a moment he panicked,
thinking she’d run out on him yet again.  But a quick look showed both horses
still tethered together.  Both eating apples.  Once again Merlin was being treated
better than he was.
    After taking care of his needs, he went off in search of
Vanessa.  He followed the sounds of a stream, walked around the hillside and
came up short.  There was Vanessa, naked, washing herself in the water.
    Her back was toward him, and it was an extraordinary sight. 
Her hair was piled on her head and the water sluiced down over her shoulders,
to the toned muscles of her upper back.  Her hands were above her head, so he
caught just a glimpse of the sides of her breasts.  Her back descended into a
V-shape at her narrow waist, then filled back out over the luscious curve of
her hips.  It made his mouth water to see her at just that angle.  Then some
benevolent spirit rewarded him for an unknown good deed by making her bend
forward, fully exposing the globes of her firm arse.
    He was in heaven.  Or hell.
    He took an involuntary step forward and that’s when she
heard him.  She sat bolt upright, still facing away from him.  She
instinctively covered her front, while still leaving her delicious backside
fully revealed.  Perhaps realizing that, she tried to make herself as small as
possible.
    “What are you doing?” she hissed over her shoulder. 
    “The normal things a person does first thing in the morning,
although today has started much better than the average.”
    “A gentleman would turn away.”
    “Only a dim-witted one.  It would be like turning away from
the sun.  Or, rather, the lovely moon.”  He was enjoying himself, despite the
growing ache of his loins which would most certainly go untended.
    “Lord Arthur, I must insist that you turn away and go. 
Preferably all the way back to London.”
    “I can’t do that, sweeting.  But, if you insist, I shall
make my way back to our camp and simply allow my mind to freely ponder the
magnificent view I was treated to.”
    “I rather wish you wouldn’t.”
    “I rather knew you’d feel that way.  If it’s any
consolation, I’m sure my imaginings will make things much more uncomfortable
for me than you, especially with another long day in the saddle ahead.”  He was
already quite uncomfortable enough.
    “The time would be better spent atoning for your sins – of
which there are many, I’m sure – rather than thinking about….” She waved her
hand about.  “This.”
    “Ah, but nothing, dear lady, would be time better spent than
what I shall be thinking about.  That, I guarantee.  Take your time with your
ablutions,” he said as he turned away and headed back to camp.  “I shall make
the horses ready.”
    He thought he heard her say “blasted man,” but couldn’t be
sure. 
    It was, indeed, another long day of travel.  He was
impressed by how well she rode and how little she complained.  Not wanting to
appear the dilettante, he kept most of his complaints to himself, but what he
wouldn’t have given for a Kellington travelling coach.  They took their midday
meal at an inn.  She’d wanted to simply eat from her seemingly unending supply
of cheese and rock-hard bread, but he’d insisted on stopping at a decent inn
and taking a private parlor. 
    Her breeches, combined with that