Preparing to tackle the mattress, Sorrell pushed her long sleeves up. She didn’t want to drag it along the earth floor and soil it, but the weight and size might not leave her any other choice. Though it was stuffed with straw and sprigs of lavender to give it a pleasant scent, it still had some weight to it.
Not one to ignore a challenge, Sorrell gave it some thought and decided if she could heft it over her head and keep it balanced there, she could get it to the bed without a problem. It took only a bit of a struggle, and a fall or two on her backside, but she finally got it on her head. Keeping it balanced there was the real challenge.
It was only a few steps to the bed and she wobbled with each one she took. When she got near enough, she gave the mattress a shove with her hands and push with her head, and the momentum carried her right along with the mattress.
She found herself caught up in the ropes with the mattress partially covering her. She went to push at the mattress to get it off her and found the rope had coiled around her arm.
“If you wanted in my bed that badly, lass, all you had to do was ask.”
Sorrell squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and stifled the angry groan that wanted to break free, hearing John’s teasing remark.
John walked over to the bed and squatted down beside it to shake his head. “Just when I think you can’t get yourself into any more difficult situations you prove me wrong.”
“I don’t need your help. I can free myself,” she snapped.
“Then I’ll just wait here while you do that.”
Sorrell turned her head away and gave a tug of her arm to dislodge the rope, but it got tighter, biting into her wrist. She went to move her other arm out from under the mattress and found it was stuck. She gave it a quick yank and the mattress toppled over on her.
It was lifted up quickly, John’s face peering down at her with a smile that looked ready to turn into a chuckle.
“Shall I rescue you now?”
She turned a scowl on him. “I don’t need to be rescued.”
“If you say so,” he said, that smile finally turning into a chuckle as he let go of the mattress.
Sorrell silently cursed the man as the mattress landed on her face. She struggled for only a few minutes more before the mattress was lifted off her.
“You are a stubborn woman,” John said, shaking his head and lifting his foot over the side board of the bed to plant his booted feet to either side of her waist and let the mattress fall on his broad back.
Sorrell squirmed, trying to free herself.
“Lie still or you’ll collapse this bed as well,” he ordered.
“I was not the only one who had caused the last bed to collapse,” she argued. “We collapsed it.”
He squatted down over her, reaching out to dislodge the rope around her arm. “Careful, lass, you don’t want anyone hearing you say that.”
“Why? It’s the truth and—” His wicked grin made her realize what he meant and her cheeks heated to a rosy red.
It also made her aware of how they must look with him crouched down over her, and her hands appearing as if she was tied to the bed. And damn if her mind didn’t conjure up images of them both naked, and him ready to plunge into her, and her all too willing to welcome him.
Their eyes met and she wondered if the heated desire that smoldered in his eyes were in hers as well.
He lowered his face near hers, his words meant for her alone. “You wouldn’t be tied to my bed. I’d want your hands free to touch me, to explore every part of me, to squeeze my swollen manhood and guide it inside you, and to feel your hands cling to me as you explode with pleasure.”
Sorrell responded out of instinct. Her head shot up and she captured his lips in a demanding kiss. His hands quickly cupped her face, holding it firm as he returned the kiss with a strength and desire that sent Sorrell’s passion swirling out of control.
She didn’t realize she was arching her back, pushing up against him until she felt his hard manhood poking between her legs.
He tore his mouth off hers and several oaths flew from it before he said, “This is why I leave. My manhood aches to be inside you.”
“John, are you here?”
“Snow,” Sorrell whispered a bit breathless as her sister stepped in the open doorway.
“I’m looking for Sorrell,” she said her eyes searching the room.
“I’m here,” Sorrell said.
“Where?” Snow squinted as if doing so would help her see better. “I can’t make out your shadow.”