They got less done with the field that day, but it was still progress. Anne's dress was covered in mud and it would take quite a bit of effort to get in clean again, but that could wait until they were through with the plowing. Her head had ached when she'd woken that morning, but it had started to dissipate.
Anne lingered outside once they had stabled the cow and provided it with hay. Shortly after the midday meal, Mr. Turner had come by and given them a bacon hock, which Lisle was now excitedly preparing for their supper. He'd assured Anne that there was a good chance they would have a calf running around the fields by summer. Then for a few minutes, he'd stood with crossed arms and shaking his head as he considered her plowing efforts. "Done a champion's job there. Looks like the arse end of a donkey."
"Well, thank you for your kind words of encouragement."
He looked at her as if she were insane. "You might be better off doing the pulling and let the cow do the driving."
Anne smiled tightly, remembering that he had been kind and brought them a bacon hock. Manners were obviously pointless in Mr. Turner's book.
The kitchen smelled delicious as Anne walked in, the fragrant smell of the bacon making her mouth water.
"It was nice of Mr. Turner to bring it," Anne said. "Nice in deed, but rarely in words."
"Not the only one. Funny that, isn't it? Although people seem unable to stop their true nature once dead."
Anne stopped cleaning her hands and looked up. "I suppose they have little incentive to hide what they are." She wondered if Lisle was speaking of Alfie, who seemed to have shown a much darker personality since his death. But Anne was glad to observe that it seemed to discourage Lisle from being with him. "You don't think he would try to harm you by keeping you there with them?" Staying with them for any time did their bodies harm, which might explain the way Anne had felt that morning.
"Elizabeth will always see me right."
"Of course," Anne said. She hadn't even thought of that. All those threats that she wouldn't be returned, when she could always find someone else to do it. Anne couldn't see Elizabeth refusing; she'd also seen her stand up to her father when he'd been bent on vengeance.
They discussed how they were running low on flour and decided Lisle would make her way to the village the next day, then they ate in silence and Anne turned her thoughts to the man upstairs. How would he be tonight? Would he stay clear of her?
She felt nervous as she stood in front of the door to the master's bedroom. The dark wood looked firm and solid, almost forbidding. She was scared to go inside—not scared of him exactly, more scared of how he'd react. Did he think less of her? All she needed now was a disdainful ghost.
Taking a breath, she opened the door. It was his world on the other side and she saw him sitting by the fire. "Were you waiting for me?"
He looked over but didn't say anything. Anne bit her lip and closed the door behind her, walking to take the seat opposite. "It hurts me to be here."
"Yes," he said. "You cannot live here and thrive. You will sicken."
She nodded, confirming what she already knew. "Men are always bad for you," she smiled.
His dark eyes glittered in the firelight. There was challenge in them. "Yet, I feel as if it was I that was ravaged last night."
Anne's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Then I must apologize."
"I refuse to accept."
Biting her lip again, she couldn't stop her eyes from wandering, down his torso, the firm hips and powerful thighs covered in black cloth. Heat licked her insides, recalled their illicit activities the previous night. "Will you keep me here even if it harms me?"
He sobered slightly. "I want to." Butterflies took off in her stomach, but it wasn't fear. Then he softened again. "But I'm not sure you would forgive me if I did."
The truth was that she didn't exactly want to go, to be alone.
"I look dreadful," she said, looking down her dress, which had splotches of mud along the hem.
"Yes, you are dragging mud all over the carpet."
Looking at it, she saw dry mud crumbles where she had walked. He had carpet; she didn't. In fact, his version of the room was much more cozy, even warmer.
"You should take that off," he suggested.
"I have no screen."
"Will it make you feel better if you don't see me?"
"Yes." It was true; she was too nervous to undress in front of him, but still, she wanted to be undressed.
"As you wish," he said and the room shifted into darkness. Getting up, she walked behind the screen and drew breath as she undid the first button. The air moved and she knew he was there, standing behind her. Fingertips ran along the top of her spine and her skin contracted in painful goose bumps. Her nipples hardened impossibly and his body pressed to hers, his hand snaking around her waist. She couldn't see him, but she could feel every part of him. Her core pulsed with want as lips descended on her shoulder and large hands cupped her breasts.
Anne lost track of what she was doing, could only reach her hands back to touch him, wanting those lips on hers. His hardness pressed into her backside, and she pressed back. She ached to have him inside her.
Gently, he pushed the dress along her shoulders and further until only her chemise was left. "No impediments," he said, lifting it over her head. The feel of his hands on her bare breasts was utterly divine. They were warm now, which meant they were together again. She moaned as fingertips gently teased the swollen nubs and her head lay back on his shoulder. This was utterly divine and right now she didn't care if her head would ache in the morning. "Please," she begged.
Spinning her around, he lifted her to him, her legs wrapping around his waist as he carried her to the bed. At that point, she didn't exactly care if she never made it back; this was all that mattered, the hard length against her aching entrance. She was utterly wanton, needed this more than she needed air.
"Your passion humbles me," he whispered and placed her down. As she watched, he undressed, and she loved every second of it, watching more and more of him being revealed. He was utterly beautiful.
The mattress shifted as his knee came down on it, and his hand ran across her belly and across the mounds of her breasts.
"I think I must let you ride me tonight," he said, pulling her above him as he lay down. She couldn't wait to have that firm length buried inside her and shifted herself above him, sinking down slowly until she was impaled. She rose and sunk as her need required, watching as every part of his body tightened. His eyes were glassy with wonder and pleasure. Pleasure radiated out to every part of her body and she had to savor it so as to not rush through this too quickly. This was too good to rush.
She kept rising and sinking, even as consciousness of what she was doing had left her. The pleasure took over entirely as his hands ground her to him. He arched into her and her world convulsed around her, waves of exquisiteness flowing through every part of her.
By the time some semblance of consciousness returned, she lay on his chest and he was stroking her hair. Exhaling deeply, she enjoyed the feeling of being together, just the two of them.
"I might not let you leave," he said through strained breath.
The idea didn't sound half bad at that moment, she thought. Placing kisses on his shoulder, she reveled in the taste of him. She loved the way he tasted. She loved that he was still inside her and neither of them was rushing to part. "What if I promise I'll be back?"
"Then grudgingly, I will let you sleep. I might stare at you all night."
"I might dream of the things you do to me."
"Then I would definitely wake you. I am not letting you do this without me."
She smiled, feeling the exhaustion steal all her strength. It would be so nice to slip away into sleep right there on top of him, feel his arms around her, the firmness of his body beneath her. But instead, he rolled her over and withdrew from her. "Good night, sweet Anne," he said and disappeared.
Anne let sleep claim her. Her body felt sated and every niggling pain from sore muscles or sore hands had lifted. She was safe and she would stay that way. There was nothing to worry about.