“That’s the bacon fat,” said the woman with a smug smile. “Egg for shine, vinegar to clean and get rid of any nasties, herbal paste for scent. Rubbing with silk adds extra glow. Aye, your hair is clean as a mountain stream now. But leave your hood off until it has dried fully.”
Marjorie sat back on her heels. “I don’t know how to thank you.”
“The coin we earn is thanks enough. As is a kind mistress. You’ll tell Lady Janet you are pleased?”
“Oh yes,” she replied, nodding fervently. “When I see her in the solar.”
The two women helped her back into her kirtle and cream-colored gown before curtsying and gathering up their buckets and dishes. “Best go on, then, m’lady. Must be nearing noon.”
Her heart pounded with anticipation. Janet would be pleased at her obedience, and she could show off her newly beautiful hair. Best of all, it was time for her kissing lesson.
Hurrying to the solar as fast as she could, Marjorie halted in the doorway of the elegantly furnished space, overheated and panting a little. But her gaze raced over the tapestries, the embroidery frame, the harp and lute, and the low table with jugs of wine and sweetmeats atop it, for Janet sat cool and poised on a cushioned chaise in the center of the room.
“Am I late? Forgive me!”
Janet shook her head. “Not at all. I arrived early to inspect the room. We shall enjoy many happy hours here, I’m sure. Come in, my dear. Close the door behind you.”
Marjorie’s breath hitched as she obeyed the command. “I was getting my hair washed,” she said shyly, completing a turn that made her hair whip about her.
“Come and sit next to me so I might see better.”
“I rebelled at first,” she admitted, perching on the chaise. “The food, you see. I didn’t know about eggs and vinegar. Or bacon fat. I was only ever permitted lye soap at the convent. The women here were so kind. So skilled.”
“Rebellion?” said Janet, as she leaned forward and wound a lock of washed hair around one finger before tugging it gently. “How wicked.”
Marjorie shuddered at the light prickle on her scalp. How could that make other parts of her body feel warm and restless? But there was far more to come, as her guardian traced the outline of her closed lips. Softly at first, then more firmly, until they parted of their own accord. “Mmmmm.”
“You sound like a lass ready to learn. Are you?”
She nodded fervently, her breasts bobbing. “Show me. Please.”
Janet cradled her cheek, then leaned forward and brushed her lips against Marjorie’s. A gentle and delicate kiss, a slow glide of lip against lip.
So soft and sweet!
Yet not nearly enough.
With a frustrated whimper, Marjorie attempted to kiss her back. To her relief and delight, Janet firmed her lips and pressed harder. Soon she felt the flick of Janet’s tongue, once, twice. Demanding entry? Uncertain, she tentatively opened her mouth, and her reward was a much deeper and more intimate kiss with a pointed tongue that rubbed against her own, a kiss that sent jolts of hot sensation darting through her body and left her squirming on the chaise.
Overwhelmed, unable to catch her breath, she pulled away.
“Marjorie?” said Janet, he gaze concerned.
“I…I can’t breathe,” she whispered. “My gown bodice is too tight. May I…may I take it off?”
Her guardian nodded, her eyes glittering like emeralds. “Of course.”
…
Marjorie was so beautiful. So innocently sensual.
It was taking every bit of willpower she possessed to move slowly in the continuation of this virgin’s awakening, for a first kiss was equally important as a first release. Some might say she should have started her lessons with a kiss, but it was her firm opinion that a woman needed to know her own body, her own mind, before sharing it with another.
Pressing her thighs together against a fierce wave of arousal, Janet distracted herself by helping her ward remove her gown and kirtle so she wore only her stockings and shift. The linen garment might be modest, but it barely constrained Marjorie’s ample breasts, and her nipples jutted lewdly against the fabric, an unspoken plea to be sucked and bitten and stroked.
This time when Janet leaned in to kiss her, with merciless self-restraint she allowed her own breasts to briefly brush the younger woman’s, a tease of soft flesh and hard nipples that promised the world and yet delivered nothing more.
Marjorie moaned.
Stifling her raging lust, Janet feigned confusion. “Something the matter, dear one?”
“I…ah…”
“Tell me,” she said sternly.
“My nipples ache terribly. I want to touch them,” Marjorie mumbled.
“Touch them how? Stroke? Circle? Pinch?”
Her ward bit her kiss-swollen lip. “I’ve only stroked them. Never pinched.”
Janet nodded. “Depends entirely on the person. Some dislike having their nipples touched at all. Some prefer a light stroking. But others enjoy a hint of pain to heighten sensation and find a pinch very pleasurable.”
“Show me?”
“One moment, my dear,” said Janet as she sat back on the chaise. She was so unbearably aroused, a moment was needed to clear her head and regain control.
Taking a deep breath, she allowed the tranquility of the solar to drape around her like the softest quilt. It was already her favorite room in the manor, created solely for relaxation and privacy from the noise, the bustle, the purpose of the rooms on the ground floor. Today the solar would host a lesson in seduction, but the warmth of the sun shining through the large windows could never compete with the heat between her and Marjorie.
With Sir Lachlan, her lust had been fierce and absolute, a man and a woman who could indulge themselves and had done so because they were a bachelor and a widow with no real restrictions placed upon them. But once had not been enough, nor twice, and in truth she could not see herself willingly giving up her gruff, deadly, and yet delightfully yielding Highland Beast anytime soon. Nor could she
