a door shifted open in the side of the house.
‘You’ve got to be kidding me!’ exclaimed Willow, her desire forgotten for a moment.
‘Nope. Secret passage,’ said Merritt, and he pulled her into the tunnel. The door closed behind them. It was completely dark, and Willow stood scared for a moment till Merritt’s calloused hand took hers again.
‘This way,’ he said, and in the darkness she followed him, tripping on the rough granite, but Merritt caught her arm and held her up.
He stopped and pushed on a door with all his body weight while Willow stood there waiting, and suddenly they were in a bedroom.
‘Where are we?’ she asked, looking around the room. It seemed to be untouched: heavy wood furniture and a four-poster bed with a blue silk counterpane. Surprisingly, the room wasn’t dusty. ‘Why’s it so clean?’ she asked Merritt suspiciously.
‘The film production crew cleaned the whole house in case Harold wanted to shoot here.’
Willow felt nervous and silly in her dress in the old-fashioned room. She stood in front of the stone fireplace, her hands clasped in front of her.
Merritt stepped forward. ‘It’s my turn to speak now.’ He held his hand up to Willow’s mouth to stop her speaking.
‘I’m not famous or rich. I am the marrying kind. I was married once, but she cheated on me in a most spectacular fashion. It broke my heart. That’s why I travel. I haven’t ever found anyone that I wanted to stick around for. Till now.’
As Merritt spoke, he pulled at the pearl buttons that ran up her back till the dress fell open, and he slipped it off her shoulders. He kissed her collarbones and his tongue gently flickered on her throat. ‘What I feel is more than desire, and you can do what you want with that statement. I knew as soon as I saw you walking down the stairs as though you owned the place that you were exactly what I needed.’
Willow stood in her petticoat and slip and Merritt moved away from her and walked to the bed, pulling at his tie and undoing his waistcoat. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he pulled off his jacket and sat in his shirtsleeves, part of his chest showing. Willow felt exposed and vulnerable.
‘Undress,’ commanded Merritt.
‘Pardon?’ asked Willow, her eyes widening.
‘Take off your clothes,’ said Merritt, leaning back languidly on an elbow.
Willow looked at Merritt as though he was a new man. Gone was the angry, bullying gardener. Gone was the opinionated man she had first met, and the gentle listening giant that had held her hand on the stone bench. Instead here was the sexiest man she had ever seen, in Victorian costume, in a room where time had stopped.
Willow smiled at him and pulled at the ribbons on the petticoats. They fell to the floor. Now she stood in Victorian bloomers and a camisole with a corset over the top.
Merritt’s eyes flickered over her and despite all her coverings, Willow felt naked.
She walked towards him and turned her back. ‘Unlace me,’ she said, and Merritt did as she asked. Taking it slow he pulled at each lace, gradually releasing her. Willow felt her ribcage expanding again.
Pulling off the corset, she stepped out of the bloomers and the camisole and stood naked before him, in nothing but the beaded headdress.
‘Jesus you’re beautiful,’ he said, and pulled her towards him onto the bed.
Pulling off his shirt while they kissed passionately, she ran her hands over his chest. He had the body of a man who knew what real work was, tanned and with chest hair and muscles that rippled under her slim hands.
They kissed again, and this time it was slower. Merritt worked his way down her body, kissing her breasts and stomach and between her thighs. Willow arched her back towards him and Merritt slipped out of his trousers and lay next to her.
‘How do you want it?’ he asked her.
‘What do you mean?’ she asked, her face worried.
‘You tell me what you want and I will do it. There are no strings, no expectations, so tell me. I don’t know you, you don’t know me. Let go.’
Willow lay still. She had never had this offered to her before, and she was unsure what to do with the proposition.
Merritt rolled towards her and leaned above her. ‘You tell me what you want. Do you want me to kiss you here?’ he asked and he kissed her left breast.
‘Yes,’ she murmured as he sucked her left