Page 77 of The Seductive Love of a Lady
The night air felt cooler here, by the lake.
While she finished undressing, he picked up her dress, folded it carefully and lay it on his coat.
‘My hair…’ It was ornately styled, held in place with many small pearl-headed pins.
‘I shall take out the pins, and you can plait it.’
‘I cannot swim,’ she confessed.
‘I will hold you up,’ he said as he pulled off his shirt. He threw that on the ground, kicked off his shoes and released the buttons at the waist of his trousers. ‘You do not realise how beautiful you are, even now, do you? You are head to toe perfect. Flawless.’ He stripped off his trousers, underwear and stockings in one swift movement, and left them in a small heap. ‘Your skin is luminous in the moonlight.’ He smiled. ‘It draws my eyes to that mound of dark hair at your womanhood, and it pleases me that you are not trying to cover yourself.’
When she turned her back to him, so he could begin removing pins, one cheek of her bottom brushed his hip. Desire pulsed, but she ignored the urge to lie down with him.
She shivered in the breeze sweeping up from the lake. Her arms crossed over her breasts, rubbing her upper arms. ‘We should have fetched a blanket before coming out here.’
He placed the cupped hand full of pearl-headed pins into a pocket of his coat.
She released the clasp of her pearl necklace and handed it to him.
As he slipped the necklace into another pocket, her fingers wove her long dark hair into a braid.
‘I shall dive in from that branch,’ he said. ‘Then you can jump in after me and I will catch you.’
She was not convinced she could do it.
He pulled her close and kissed her briefly, before leading her to the willow tree that had a thick branch stretching out over the water.
When he dived, Andrew slipped into the shining jet-black water like an arrow, fracturing its surface and leaving only a ring of ripples as he disappeared beneath. A moment later, he reappeared a few yards from the bank, shaking the water from his hair. That devil-may-care grin on his lips.
‘Jump in!’ he called. ‘Be brave, darling! I will catch you!’
The dark water shimmered with the reflected light of the moon and stars.
She had watched her brothers swimming with her father but she had never swum.
‘Come on!’
If she was to trust him now, then she should trust him in everything.
She walked along the branch he had dived from, holding the smaller branches above her head. Then before she could renege, she jumped in, feet first. The water consumed her in a cold grip and her feet kicked at a tangle of weeds. Her arms flailed, her heart pounding.
Then a solid band caught about her middle, below her breasts, and pulled her to the surface.
‘Relax, I have you.’
She rested her body back against his chest as he floated up beneath her, his legs kicking at the water.
‘Don’t let me go.’
‘I would not, darling. I do not want to lose you. Now, I will hold your hands, but I want you to lie flat on your back, floating, with your arms and legs wide as though you were lying on a bed. Let every muscle slacken, as if you were falling asleep on a bed of water.’
Mary looked up at the stars, and felt her body rise as his hold slipped to her hands. Her feet bobbed up on the water, and it lapped at her breasts that her pregnancy had increased. Her stomach touched the surface too, and the sway of the water was a gentle caress on her naked skin.
‘There, stay just so. I will let you go and you will not sink if you stay relaxed. I shall be here, just behind you.’
Her heart thumped, as he released her hands, and her bottom sank a little, but she did float. For a moment it was wonderful as she stared at the stars and felt like she was in the heavens with them. But then her feet started sinking, and she forgot how to be weightless. He grabbed her arm and stopped her sinking further.
‘Put your arms about my neck and I will swim for us.’
