The Dowager Countess (The Saga of Wolfbridge Manor Book 2) Sahara Kelly (book club recommendations TXT) 📖

She frowned. “Tenants who do not pay rent? That sounds unlikely…”

Gabriel rinsed her hair. “I’m told that bartering is the way it all works here at Wolfbridge. The tenants maintain fields and livestock, and Wolfbridge receives produce in the way of meats and all kinds of vegetables, along with things like Mrs Smart’s rose soap and of course the jam gets shared with everyone when the berries come in.”

“Hmm.”

“Well, if you think about it,” he gave her head a quick rub with a cloth, then walked around to the side of the tub, “it’s a sensible solution. Wolfbridge doesn’t have to hire workers to maintain the estate, since the tenant farmers take care of it. Nor do we have to spend vast amounts of money on food.”

“With so few residents, that probably wouldn’t happen,” said Gwyneth. “But I understand your point.”

He picked up the soap and a smaller cloth, wetting them both and working up a modest lather. And then, lifting her arm, he began to wash her.

“As I understand it, and please remember I haven’t been here very long at all, Wolfbridge is an estate based on the idea that people working together are stronger—and more fulfilled—than people who work separately.”

“I see,” Gwyneth nodded, letting her lids droop as Gabriel’s soapy cloth drifted over her breasts.

“It’s all about doing good, helping each other. A true demonstration of altruism at work.”

His voice lowered to a whisper as he delicately washed her, the abrasion of his hands and the soap bringing her nipples to life; taut buds formed within the bubbles and she sighed as he rubbed gently across the sensitive peaks.

“You are so beautiful,” he murmured, reaching for her other arm and tending to that as well, managing to keep up his gentle touches while doing so.

“Uhh…” She was close to moaning, her body responding slowly to his touch. It had been many years since she’d even considered the idea of physical pleasure; in fact, she’d all but closed that door completely.

But this moment, here in the soothing warmth of a bathtub, naked in front of a handsome and gentle man who was caressing her with a soapy cloth…nature was taking its course and reminding Gwyneth that she was still a woman, no matter what.

Relieved in some ways and yet uncomfortable in others, she shifted, knowing these delicate brushes to her skin were arousing more than just her nipples. Some of her long dead parts began to heat, to liquify, to recall a time when she welcomed such sensations.

When she’d been young and innocent and so in love…

Her thighs parted of their own volition, and Gabriel used that movement to continue his thorough cleansing, slipping his hand between them and rubbing the sweet-scented soap over places that swelled in response to his touch.

She could not stop her eyelids drooping as she let herself enjoy the burgeoning sensations, the tender soft throb of desire, the urge to raise her hips…she licked her lips and exhaled as his ministrations continued.

“Are you all right?” he whispered.

“Yes,” she moaned. “Gabriel…what you’re doing…it’s…”

“It’s what, my sweet lady?”

“It’s…wonderful,” she breathed deeply, opening herself to his caress.

“I cannot tell…I don’t know what will please you,” he murmured next to her ear, one arm around her shoulders, the other stretched out beneath the water. “Take my hand. Show me…?”

A thrill of shocking excitement rippled through her as she shifted, paused…then threw caution to the winds and did as he suggested.

She pulled away the cloth and put her hand over his, pushing his fingers into places that had slept for too long. Like a maiden bespelled for a thousand years, Gwyneth’s body awoke as Gabriel massaged her womanhood, and she pushed against him, the water softly lapping as he delved deep.

After so long, she’d forgotten the delicious tingle of awareness that threaded through her limbs and the bite of lust that swelled the folds of flesh Gabriel rubbed at her command. Nearer, higher, she let her head fall back, her mouth parting on a gasp as she guided his fingers into her heat.

His murmur next to her ear added to the fire and she urged him into a rhythm that brought an onrush of arousal, and a tension to her legs as the climb to the peak began.

“Gabriel,” she whispered. “Yes…oh yes…”

He must have felt her quivering, for he took over, moving on his own to those places that made her whimper.

Gripping the sides of the tub, Gwyneth's hips lifted toward that hand, those fingers. And with a shattering choking cry, she broke, plunging off the cliff of ecstasy into the first release she’d had in more years than she could remember.

Great spasms rocked her and her thighs clenched tight, holding Gabriel’s fingers right where they were. Every muscle, no matter how weak, tightened as she rode out the wave of magnificent pleasure.

And finally slumped down into the cooling water.

“That was so…beautiful,” breathed Gabriel. “I had no idea…”

She turned her head lazily, opened her eyes and looked at the awe on his face. “Thank you, I believe that was something my body needed.” She blinked at him. “Have you never helped a woman attain her peak in this manner?”

“I’ve never had a woman before. So no, I didn’t know it would be anything like this.”

She took a few moments to absorb the implications of that statement. “So…you’re a virgin?” How was that possible?

He looked away and applied his energies to washing her legs and feet. “Only as far as women are concerned.”

“Oh.” As explanations went, it was minimal. But the point was clear. Gwyneth understood exactly what he was talking about. “But you didn’t find this distasteful?”

“How could I?” He glanced up at her, his eyes wide. “It was the most beautiful thing to watch.”

“You do realise that