The Magic of His Touch (May Day Mischief) Read Free

breasts and belly and long, shapely legs. And back again,
over and over, while he gazed, bewildered and transfixed. He hadn’t had a woman
for a while, but he realized, somewhere in the part of his rational mind that
was still functioning, that his fascination with this girl was far more powerful
than anything he’d felt before.
    She stopped to catch her breath, and her breasts, now dotted
with bits of grass, quivered invitingly. He longed to pick the grass off piece
by piece and bury his face in those sweet mounds. She closed her eyes, put her
hands together as if in prayer, then raised them over her head and rolled
again.
    A distant whinny jerked Alexis from his trance. Hell and
damnation! That must be Elderwood’s horse. He leaped to prevent his own mount’s
answering whinny; he mustn’t let his friend get a glimpse of this naked girl.
Elderwood wouldn’t force her if she didn’t want it—he wasn’t that sort of
man—but faced with such temptation, he could be very persuasive, and he would
doubtless offer her compensation...
    The very thought offended Alexis beyond belief. He dashed into
the meadow.
    * * *
    “Get up! Get dressed!”
    Peony froze in midroll. A strange man bounded toward her,
gesturing, his voice low but urgent. She scrambled to her feet, a shriek
catching in her throat.
    “I won’t hurt you,” he said, but he kept on coming. Her heart
clambering into her gullet, she tried to cover herself with her hands.
    “Who—What—” She couldn’t get a word out.
    “Don’t stand there like an idiot, girl! I already know what you
look like naked.” A blush crowded up her neck and burned her cheeks. “Get your
clothes on, and be quick about it.” With brisk, shooing motions he herded her
toward the hawthorn where she’d left her shift and gown.
    Anger swelled up, overcoming her fear. How dare he order her
about? “Go away,” she said, hating how her voice trembled as she fled before
him. “What are you doing here? You have no right.” A little way round the circle
of meadow, she spied a horse, cropping the grass at the edge of the wood.
    “You should be thankful I’m here,” he said, stopping several
feet away when she reached the hawthorn. “I don’t know what foolishness you’re
up to, but clearly your lover isn’t coming, and—”
    “No, because you spoiled everything,” she said. Her hair had
fallen out of its ribbon and stuck wetly to her face. She clawed it away,
wanting to hit him. Her chance at finding love was gone. “Go away !”
    He folded his arms and just stood there, scowling—and looking
at her as if, underneath that frown, he was enjoying himself. “Not until you put
your clothes on and be off home where you belong.”
    Another flush overwhelmed her, this time of shame and misery,
as she realized what he meant. He thought she’d come out here to tryst with some
likely village lad, as if she were a scullery maid. And who was he, anyway?
She’d never seen him before. He was dressed like a gentleman and spoke like one,
too, but he didn’t belong here.
    “Who gave you the right to order me about?” she demanded. “This
is private land.”
    His eyes widened. “You silly little fool, I’m trying to protect
you. I traveled here with a friend. To him, a naked woman is a blatant
invitation. You’re lucky it’s I who came upon you and not he.”
    She grabbed her shift and turned it right side out. “Stop
staring at me.”
    “You’re a beautiful girl without any clothes on,” he said. “I
wouldn’t be much of a man if I didn’t stare.”
    At that bold statement, she should have taken fright once
again, but...she didn’t. Instead, a rush of unexpected heat shimmered through
her from the tips of her nipples to the place between her thighs.
    Appalled at herself, she struggled to pull the shift over her
head. She was wet with dew, and bits of grass stuck to her everywhere, and so
did the shift.
    And she wasn’t beautiful, either—she was too tall and