*I can’t,* she’d said. *Not like this.*
*You can,* he’d whispered in her ear, his breath hot, sending shivers down her spine. His lips had brushed her ear and she’d shuddered from the sheer pleasure, the closeness of it. *But you won’t let yourself. There’s a difference.*
His words played over and over in her head as she slipped her serving gown off her shoulders and slowly bathed in the steel basin by her bedside. She was the maiden of an important lady. He was the Lord’s stableboy. It wasn’t proper for them to spend time together, let alone for him to whisper such dark, delightful things in her ear…. Raven’s knuckles whitened around her shoulder as she paused. Warm, soapy water dripped from her fingers, sliding down over her skin and to her breasts. The feeling of his strong, callused hands on her shoulders, her neck, her face… she couldn’t be rid of them, despite how hard she tried. They cycled through her head, again and again.
*I wanted him to stop,* she told herself firmly. *It isn’t proper, he’s beneath my station, and…*