Page 9 of Pretty in Plaid
“Is that so?” he chuckled, the soft sound scraping deliciously along the shell of her ear.
“Aye.”
Sorley grunted and plucked the laces of her stays playfully. “Are ye leaving your stays on, or shall I remove these too?”
Kenna nodded, then realized he couldn’t see her do so in the dark. “Aye. Probably best to leave it.” Being bound up in the contraption might remind her of propriety, or at the very least, keep the hardening of her nipples from being evident should they ever reach the light.
“I’ve finished,” he said, his fingers still there, singeing her skin.
“Thank ye.” Regrettably, she stepped away and out of her gown.
“I’ve never—” He stopped himself from speaking.
“Ye’ve never what?”
He chuckled quietly. “I’ve never been in a situation quite like this.”
“And I can assure ye that neither have I.” She softly laughed because it made her feel better to find some humor in such a terrifying situation.
Kenna untied her petticoats and hoop, pushing them onto the shelves along with her gown, so she didn’t trip over them, standing there now only in her drawers, chemise and stays. There was no point in removing her hose, and she rather thought the breeches might be easy to tug on over her boots.
She jerked on the breeches, realizing too late that while they did fit over her boots, they did not fit right over the garments—chemise, draws, stays—she’d kept on. Now wasn’t this bloody rich? She’d have to strip practically nude or manage to stuff all this extra fabric into the clothes, which would only make her look more suspicious. She needed to remove her chemise at least, which happened to be tucked tightly underneath her stays.
She stood silently, listening for sounds in the house but only managing to hear her pounding heart and the swish of Sorley putting on a new shirt.
“I’m afraid I need your help again.” Her face felt ready to burst into flame.
“If ye need me to pull on your breeches, I’m afraid I’ll have to draw the line there, lass. I’m only a man, after all.”
Kenna let out a short laugh at his teasing, but the image of him pulling on her breeches, touching her thighs, her hips, her arse, only made heat flame hotter in her cheeks and on other places on her body she’d not thought about before.
“As it turns out, sir, I can put on my breeches. However, I canna stuff all this fabric inside, so I must remove my stays, and I canna reach the top where it is laced.”
All was quiet for a moment, and then he gruffly said, “Turn around.”
She did so, waiting for what felt like an interminable amount of time for him to come closer, and finally, his fingers were at her back. She tugged her hair over her shoulder and held her breath as he worked the laces, the resistance against her ribs loosening with each tug.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“Dinna be sorry, lass. ’Tis a torment I shall remember for quite some time.”
“Torment?” Her breath hitched.
“Aye.” He didn’t explain, and she didn’t need him too, for she felt that torment well enough about now.
At last, the stays fell loose, and she sucked in a heady breath, turning around. She couldn’t see him, but she sensed him only an inch or two away.
“Thank ye.”
He was silent in front of her, and if she wasn’t mistaken, his breathing was coming a little harder than before. Did he feel what she did? This wound-up sensation inside her body that longed to spring free?
“Ye’re welcome,” he said at last. “Ye should finish getting dressed afore I remove something else.”
Kenna drew in a heady breath, picturing him removing the rest of her garments, and oh dear heavens... She stepped backward before she took a step forward, closing the distance between them.
She was not normally so wanton. Aye, she’d kissed a few lads, even let one of them touch her breasts behind the barn, but those sensations she’d had with fumbling stable hands were nothing compared to the breathless headiness she experienced right now with Sorley. Was it the thrill of imminent danger that was making her senses so much more potent?
She hurried to toss her stays to the ground, her chemise coming next, and then she was standing in front of him practically nude. Only her drawers blocked the very core of her.
