If He's Noble (Wherlocke Book 7) (Paranormal Historical Romance) by Hannah Howell Page B

sun. The look on her face told him she really wanted to complain but was biting her tongue. The touch of amusement that brought him was a welcome relief from the tight knot of desire he had suffered from for most of the night while thinking far too much about the kiss they had shared.
    “’Tis nearly midday,” he said, “and I would like to pause for a bite to eat.”
    Primrose tore her gaze from the cool temptation of the river she could see through the trees. “Oh, that would be lovely. Someplace in the shade. And I will take some time to wash off the dirt.”
    “What dirt? You look quite fetching. There is a pretty gloss to your skin from the sun.”
    “You mean the dew?”
    “The what?”
    “The dew. That is what my mother used to call it. She said women did not sweat, they became dewy. It will be nice to wash away the dew and the dust of the road with some cool river water.”
    “Huh. Dew. That is a very ladylike way of speaking of it. But, I am not sure you should go to the river. We are too close to your aunt’s trail, which appears to matching right along with ours. Might not be safe. River is not too safe, either.”
    He watched her out of the corner of his eyes as he spoke. She bit her lip and looked at the river. He was teasing her and it astonished him. It had been years since he had done any teasing, especially with a woman. Bened found that he was enjoying himself.
    “It is not dew,” she snapped as she dismounted the moment they halted beneath some trees. “It is sweat. I am sweating like a hard-run horse and I wish to wash it off. And my feet hurt. They feel as if they are twice the size they were when I put my boots on. I want to put them in that water. ’Tis calling to me.” She yanked a small towel and some fresh stockings from her bag. “I am going down to the river,” she added in a tone that practically begged him to argue with her.
    “Go then. Answer the call. Or, you could just allow your feet to answer it.”
    “Oh, hush,” she grumbled, suddenly realizing that he had been teasing her.
    It was difficult not to run to the river as fast as she could. The sun had felt so nice at the start of the day but had quickly grown to be a torment as the day grew warmer. Her feet hurt so much inside her boots she was surprised she could still walk. Shedding her boots and stockings as quickly as she could, she waded into the water and sighed with relief.
    Bliss, she thought. The cooling effect of the water quickly spread through her body. Since she had no intention of putting the same pair of stockings back on, Primrose grabbed one, soaked it in the water, and, as discreetly as possible, began to wash up.
    For a minute, she thought seriously about shedding all her clothes and sinking her whole body into the water. Then good sense prevailed. She was out in the open, at a river she had little knowledge of, and in an area that could be a lot more traveled than she knew. It would be beyond reckless to sit in the water naked as the day she was born. Anyone could come along. The fact that she would have even considered such a shocking action told her that she may have been traveling around by herself for far too long.
    Just as she was buttoning the front of her gown again, she saw a young maid holding a basket hurry down the hill to stand at the river’s edge. Thinking the girl had come to eat her lunch by the river, Primrose wondered if there was a chance she could buy whatever the maid had in the basket. Patting the skirts of her gown to see if she had any coins in her pocket, Primrose watched the maid open the basket, pull out something white and wriggling, draw her arm back, and hurl it into the river.
    It yelped as it hit the water and Primrose leapt to her feet. She did not think twice but plunged into the river and walked as quickly as she was able to in the water toward the animal that struggled to paddle back to shore. Then she felt the current. It was tugging hard at her feet. Keeping her