Read Online Sin and Surrender by Julia Latham - Free Book Online

entered first, and two valets came behind, with a padded, wooden bathing tub between them. Juliana relaxed her tense stance and tried not to stare greedily at the tub. They made two more trips with water and clean linens, and then she was alone, stripping her garments off and sinking into the unbearably hot water.
    It was delicious, stinging and cleansing all at once. She groaned aloud, closing her eyes, wishing she could submerge herself all the way, but the tub was too small for that. And she couldn’t afford to take her time, either, for Paul would return soon enough.
    She silently blessed him while she scrubbed the day’s travel from her body. After lathering the soft soap intoher hair, she stood up and poured the last bucket of fresh water over her head, letting it sluice away all the soap. Regretfully, she stepped out of the tub and dried herself with the linens, donning a fresh night rail and the dressing gown. Soon her dirty garments were laundered and hung on chairs before the fire. It wasn’t a thorough cleaning, but it was better than washing them in a stream, as she might be doing soon enough. She even went through Paul’s bags and washed his laundry, too.
    When he returned, she smiled at him as he closed the door.
    “Your thoughtfulness was appreciated,” she said, from her place before the fire, where she combed through her hair to dry it.
    “Selfishness, you mean.” He set down the steaming bucket he’d carried in, then gave a shiver as he began to disrobe.
    “But the water is filthy. I even used it for laundry.”
    “It will still do for a quick wash.”
    “But you’re wealthy and arrogant. Simply send for more.”
    “I cannot do that. The wench’s back looked bowed enough.”
    His thoughtfulness for a servant warmed her. And then she thought of him undressing and bathing right in front of her. She came to her feet, trying not to betrayher concern by moving too quickly. “I’ll dress and leave you to—”
    “No need. Close your eyes if you wish.”
    Knowing she’d betray her nervousness and ignorance to him if she fled, she calmly sat back down, faced the fire, and resumed combing. She could hear his clothes hitting the floor, then the splash of water. He didn’t sigh with pleasure as she had, but the water was barely warm by this point. At least he’d brought a fresh bucket to rinse with.
    She tried to clear her mind, to calm herself and focus on nothing, but then she realized her fingers were trembling. What was she so worried about? He would hardly attack her.
    “You did not need to wash my things as well,” he said from just behind her.
    She started to turn, saw too much bare flesh as he toweled himself, and then turned back to the fire. “‘Twas not an imposition.”
    “So you’re my servant in every way?”
    “I imagine you wish so,” she said dryly.
    “You know men too well.”
    Not too well, nay, but she would not admit to that. And she didn’t know
him
well, because she’d thought he might apologize for putting his hands on her with such familiarity, but he made no mention of it. And hewasn’t the sort to let embarrassment render him mute.
    Perhaps he wasn’t sorry at all. Or perhaps it had been nothing to him, a tease, a way to fight boredom. The only thing she really knew of him was the kind of man she’d built him up to be in her youth. And that man had vanished. He was no saint, no great teacher, but a man without gratitude for what had been given him.
    When she knew he was decently clothed, and her hair was dry, she plaited it, then went to bed, setting her weapons carefully on the floor nearby.
    “Cover yourself against the chill,” he said. “I shall be there soon.”
    Again keeping her dressing gown on, she lay down. He hadn’t donned a shirt, she realized with a start—she’d been so busy trying not to look at him. Keeping her eyes closed proved too difficult, so at last, with great reluctance, she opened them enough so that she could look between her