Jumping in Puddles (18 page)

Ellie rocked against his erection, and he caught hold of her hips.

“I’m too far gone for playing. Maybe when we’ve done this eighty times, I’ll have better control.”

She changed the angle of her hips so she caught the crest of his cock against her sex and rubbed gently.

“Make that eight hundred.” He groaned, and Ellie slid down until she’d taken all of him into her body.

“Oh fuck, fuck, fuck,” Jago panted.

His hands settled on her hips, and she began to ride him.

SHE’D BEWITCHED HIM. He was in her thrall. Under her thumb. At her mercy. Her slave for eternity. Jago bucked up into her as she pressed down on him, and the pleasure from being wrapped in the tight, silken glove of her sex overpowered the discomfort of lying on a stone floor. She gasped when he gasped, groaned when he groaned, and laughed when he laughed. They were so perfectly in tune, it almost scared him.

“Jaaaagoooo…” She exhaled his name, and it was as if she’d caressed his soul, her soft voice sliding through his senses to send him even harder.

He pulled her down for a kiss and grasped her butt as he bucked into her. Tongue and cock worked in unison, and fires exploded into life all over his body as orgasm simmered. She gasped into his mouth as he thrust deeper into her. He kissed her lips, her cheeks, her throat, and then pushed her up again to make her ride him harder.

Everything wound him tighter, each thrust into her heat, and every withdrawal when she clenched around him so that the pressure on his cock made his toes curl. Her breathing grew choppier, as did his. Ellie was part lost on her own journey, her eyes wild as she looked down at him. She changed the angle again, twisted as she took his cock inside her, and propelled him toward the edge of the waterfall with no way to swim back, his long, deep, driving thrusts an involuntary expression of his desperation to come.

She came and dragged him with her, the contractions of her body yanking the orgasm out of him, cum spurting from his cock, filling her as he jerked and cried his way to satiated bliss. He had only enough energy to pull her to lie on his chest. He listened to her ragged gasps and pounding heart in tune with his as they floated down from the high.

“Oh God,” he whispered. “How come it keeps getting better and better?”

“You just need more practice. You’ll get the hang of it eventually.”

He growled and nipped her chin. Ellie laughed and snuggled against him.

“People used to do this in here,” he said. “They all lived in this one room. They must have had to fuck in here too.”

“I wonder if they tried to keep quiet or didn’t bother.”

“What would you have done?”

“In those days, whatever my husband told me to do.”

He laughed and took a deep breath before he asked his next question. “How come you hadn’t been with a guy before?”

“I had. I’d just never gone all the way.”

Jago swallowed hard. “Why did you with me?”

She tensed and then relaxed. “It felt right. You feel right.”

“Only right?”

“Good.”

He gave a dramatic sigh. “Only good?”

Ellie pinched the back of his neck. “Stop fishing. You know you’re fantastic, wonderful, stupendous. The best I’ve ever had. Well, you will be when you’ve practiced a bit more.”

“Here’s the—” Henry’s voice rang out in the hall, and the pair of them froze. “Ah, we’ll come back later.”

A door slammed, and he and Ellie burst out laughing.

* * * *

Ellie sneaked out of Jago’s bed at sunrise, showered, dressed, and headed for the scullery. Her eye color restored, she had energy again, which was just as well. She needed to hull and wash the strawberries before anyone turned up to help; otherwise, she’d have to work at normal speed, and they’d never get it done. At some point today, while everyone was busy, she’d lever up the stone in the baron’s hall. Seeing what was there might help her decide what to do.

When she’d finished and went back to check on Jago, he was still sleeping. He looked sweet, younger, much less troubled. Since she’d met him, worry had rarely left the face of this dark, unreadable Lord of the Manor. To Ellie he was a man with the weight of heavy responsibility on his shoulders, a man not living the life he should be. His hair was ruffled, his mouth slightly open, and she wanted to smooth his hair down and kiss him. She loved his eyelashes, loved the feel of them on her skin. The bruise around his eye was almost gone, and as she touched it with her finger to make it disappear completely, he blinked himself awake.

“Morning,” he mumbled and then frowned. “You’re dressed, and I had plans.”

“And did it involve sword play?”

He chuckled. “Might have.”

“Big day today. Lots to do. You need to get up. I have to go and check everything’s ready.”

She gave him a quick kiss on the lips and headed for the door.

“What about what
I
need you to do?”

“You could always deal with that yourself.”

“Nooo. I need you now. You’ve ruined me. I hate my hand. Darn it, I’ll have to struggle and use my mouth.”

Ellie tripped and nearly fell. She turned and stared at him. “You can’t be that flexible.”

“Want to see?”

“Later.” She laughed and skipped out of the room.

One foot outside the hall into sunshine, and she gasped. At the far left hand side of the lawn Henry stood in front of a partially inflated blue-and-yellow bouncy castle.

She ran down to him, remembering halfway there the last time she’d seen him. Or rather he’d seen her. No point pretending it hadn’t happened. She came to a halt at his side, smiled at him, and didn’t get the answering smile she’d expected. Her shoulders slumped.

“Where did this come from?” she asked.

“Diane’s brother. He had a cancellation, so he’s letting us have it for free.”

“I hope you gave her a kiss.”

Henry raised his eyebrows.

“What was that?” A guy in his early forties appeared from round the back of the castle, wiping his hands on a rag.

“Diane’s brother Mark,” Henry said. “This is Ellie.”

“This is so great.” Ellie shook his hand. “Can adults use it?”

“Yes, but you can’t have both on together. My son and I will look after it. You want us to charge?”

She looked at Henry. “What do you think?”

“I’d say no. Let’s not be greedy.”

“Okay. I just need to tinker with the generator. Nice to meet you, Ellie.”

When the man was out of earshot, Henry turned to her. “Don’t hurt Jago. He’s already got too much to deal with for you to use him too. I trust you’ve not said anything to him about your ridiculous theory that he and Denzel are my sons.”

“No.”
Shit
. Was everything she’d done through magic going to go into reverse? Ellie had a sudden vision of the strawberries reappearing on the plants, Jago’s room becoming untidy again. But maybe the memory reverse had never worked to begin with.

“Wastebins,” Ellie said. “I’d forgotten about those.”

“I’ve some old dustbins that would do. I’ll pop bin liners inside.”

He turned to go, and Ellie caught his arm. “Please don’t be mad with me, Henry.”

“I’m not. I’m just worried about Jago.”

Ellie chewed her lip as he walked away. Her mobile vibrated in her pocket.

“Ellie Norwood?”

“Yes.”

“It’s Billy the balloon man.”

“Oh hi.”

“I’m really sorry, but I’m not going to be able to make it. My lad’s broken his leg and been taken to the hospital. I feel bad letting you down.”

Ellie chomped back her groan. “I’m sorry to hear about your son. You couldn’t by any chance drop off the balloons and pump, could you? I’ll have a go.”

“It’s not as easy as all that.”

She heard the defensive tone in his voice. “I’m sure it isn’t, but I could make snakes, couldn’t I? Just twist as you blow them up?”

He sighed. “Okay. I’ll drop them off on the way to the hospital.”

“Thank you. If you leave them at the door of the gatehouse, that would be great.”

Ellie put the phone away and unlocked the door. At least that had saved fifty pounds she didn’t have.

She showered, changed into a white dress covered in red poppies, and put her hair in a loose bun at the back of her head. The ring went into her pocket, and she pushed a couple of tissues on top to keep it safe.

By the time she emerged, the garden in front of Sharwood was a hive of activity. Ellie made her way to the open-sided marquee where cups and saucers were being laid out. A photographer was snapping away.

“Hi, Ellie,” Diane called.

When Ellie looked up, Diane winked at her. “Everyone, this is Ellie, who’s done most of the organizing.”

Ellie waved her hellos and blinked when the photographer shoved his camera in front of her face.

“Where did all these cakes come from?” Ellie edged away to Diane.

“We made them. Not everyone’s going to like strawberries. Where are they, by the way? Do they need hulling?”

“They’re done. Has the cream arrived?”

“Yep. The churn’s in the corner. It’s a refrigerated unit, which is brilliant. I bought a lot of ice pops I froze overnight. They’re in that cool box.”

Ellie hugged her. “Wow, Diane. Thank goodness for you.”

“Oh, you’ve no idea how happy I am.” She bent to whisper in Ellie’s ear. “I’ve wasted years because I was too scared to make the first move. You pushed him to make it, and I’ve never been so happy.” Diane let her go and smiled. “You look pretty happy too. Pretty
and
happy.”

“I’m not sure Henry thinks I’m right for Jago. I’m probably not.” But Ellie didn’t want to talk about it. She’d made things complicated by falling for him. “Bad news on the entertainment front. The balloon man canceled. The good news is he’s bringing his balloons, so I’m going to do it. As long as no one asks for anything other than a snake, I’ll be fine.”

Diane laughed. “We’d better bring the strawberries down. Where are they?”

“In the scullery.”

Diane beckoned to the group of women. “Come on everyone. We need all hands.” She caught hold of Ellie’s arm. “Though you’re such a fast worker you could probably do it all yourself. You were a blur on my phone.”

Oh shit.

Ellie’s heart thumped.
Careless.

Chapter Fourteen

Jago rubbed his finger under his eye as he stared into the mirror. He was surprised the bruise had gone so fast. At least he looked respectable now. He towel-dried his hair and slipped back to his room to dress in gray chinos and a white cotton shirt. He didn’t remember ever managing to get this shirt so clean. Ellie had pressed it beautifully too.

Oh Christ
. Even thinking about her made his heart beat faster, but there was something going on that he didn’t understand. Not the sex. He understood that, but the rest… Though he still had a hard time getting his head around the fact that she’d been a virgin. She was so fantastic at the rest of it. But then if you never let a guy fuck you, maybe you learned a lot on the way.

But that wasn’t it.

He hoped the fainting
had
been vasovagal and not an indication of something more serious. He ought to persuade her to go for more tests.

That wasn’t it either.

Jago made his way downstairs. He veered away from the entrance and headed down the corridor. The door to the baron’s hall should be locked. He tried it and it was. Ellie and this room…

He’d talk to her later.

Jago gasped in shock when he stepped outside. Sharwood had been invaded. Apart from the marquee, there was a large inflatable castle on the front lawn. People scurried everywhere, and he felt guilty he’d not done more to help.

He thanked everyone he met, humbled by the amount of effort they’d made. At the gate, two teenagers and an older man were taking money and accepting tickets, handing out Ellie’s maps and instructing people where to park. Gavin walked up with his parents.

“Good morning, Lord Carlyle,” said Gavin’s father.

“Good morning.” Jago smiled. “The gardens look wonderful, Gavin. You’ve done a good job.”

“Thank you. I’m going to show my mum the herbs. She says there can’t be fifty-seven different herbs, but there are.”

“Fifty-seven? You have been busy.”

“We’re really pleased you’ve opened the gardens, Lord Carlyle.” Gavin’s mother gave him a shy smile. “Gavin’s been desperate to show us what he does.”

“You could have come at any time. We’re lucky to have Gavin.”

Her lip wobbled.
Oh God, don’t let her cry
. Jago excused himself and headed for the marquee. People were already sitting at the tables eating cake and strawberries and drinking tea.

Diane waved him over. “Drink? Cake? Strawberries?”

“I wouldn’t mind a cup of tea.”

“Coming right up.”

Jago thanked all the women who were helping and sat patiently while an old lady talked to him about his father, telling him how the man had changed over the years and how she hoped he didn’t turn out like him. So did he. He excused himself and headed for Henry, who stood near the castle. Kids were bouncing up and down and squealing.

“Where did that come from?” Jago asked.

“Diane’s brother. What a day. I can’t believe so many people are here already. I’ve had quite a few ask me if they could look in the house.”

“Not yet.”

“I know, though if we’d sorted the outer door on the baron’s hall, you could have given them a look at that.”

Jago raised his eyebrows, and Henry laughed. “You could have locked the bloody door. That wasn’t what I was expecting to show Diane. Could have scarred us for life.”

“Have you seen Ellie?”

“She’s in the summerhouse. The balloon guy couldn’t come, so she’s doing it.”

Henry put his hand on Jago’s arm as he turned away. “Jago…”

“Yes?”

“Sure you know what you’re doing?”

He laughed. “I’ve never known what I was doing. But she’s…different. I like her.”

“You trust her now?”

“I want to.”
I really want to.

“And when she’s done her job and it’s time for her to leave?”

“Then I won’t let her finish her job.” He took a deep breath. “Do you not trust her?”