Free Nightshade by Shea Godfrey

awkwardly discard her trousers, hopping as she lifted one leg and then the other. She was left only with short breeches that clung to her strong thighs and backside and a sleeveless homespun that reached her belly. Darrius sprinted into the shallows of the pond, sliced into the water with a flat dive, and disappeared beneath the surface.
    Jessa knelt beside the hedge and waited, her heart pounding as she spied the discarded clothes. Darrius came up for air in a splashing of water.
    She swam for a time, exploring the confines of the pool and laughing with simple pleasure. The sound caught against the water with a subtle echo. When she ducked beneath the surface once more Jessa stood up slowly, not wanting to lose sight of her.
    Darrius’s feet speared into the air and her legs wavered. Jessa smiled as Darrius walked on her hands beneath the water and tried to keep her balance. She tumbled over eventually and disappeared with a splash before surging to the surface and pushing smoothly toward the shore upon the southern edge.
    Jessa caught her breath as Darrius pushed her curls back and they slapped against her shoulders. Her clothes clung to her form, her breasts high beneath the homespun and firm in their shape, her nipples raised. Jessa’s chest filled with heat as she took in the rigid muscles of Darrius’s stomach and the clinging breeches, her tight backside utterly on display as she turned and pulled at the material.
    Stepping from the pond, Darrius grabbed her hair and wrung out the water with certain hands. Her breeches slipped low on her slim hips but she let them be, taking a few more steps and glancing about.
    Jessa held her breath as Darrius stood very still and stared across the distance between them. Radha’s words about being careless swept through Jessa’s thoughts and she put more strength into the spell, feeling it pull at her blood as if it were an insistent hand on her arm.
    Darrius turned again and sat on the grass, then lay down with her hands behind her head as her legs stretched out, her feet but inches from the water. The sky was becoming light as the sun rose higher.
    Jessa took one careful step and then another, watching Darrius’s prone form and seeing no reaction. She moved then, making for the nearest opening in the hedge and trying not to rush her escape. She was wary, though the Veil of Shadows would mask her movements. Perhaps she would be a breeze in the leaves of the hedge, or a ripple on the water, though either way she would not be the intruder that she actually was.
    “I can hear you.”
    Jessa stood absolutely still, closing her eyes as she let out a slow breath.
    “Are you planning to scold me for not being proper?” There was amusement in Darrius’s voice. “No one likes a nag, you know.”
    Jessa turned smoothly and let the Veil of Shadows slip away. Darrius had not moved from where she lay, her thoughts still within the sky. If Jessa walked away after being acknowledged she might give insult, and yet if she approached it would…
it would what? She’s the one who’s running about half naked and jumping into ponds as if she were something wild and…something wild and beautiful.
    Jessa squared her shoulders and walked into the clearing, trying to decide how the rules of etiquette applied to the situation.
    “I don’t know why you didn’t come in.” Darrius sighed. “The water’s nice and cool.”
    Jessa stopped at Darrius’s discarded tunic and considered the ease of the words and her familiar tone. She picked up the shirt, giving it a shake.
And who do you think I might be, that your current state of undress is of no concern?
    “You used to come in.”
    Jessa picked up the trousers as well, still approaching. Her heart was pounding but she felt the innocent misunderstanding with a touch of enjoyment.
    “I remember when you’d throw off everything,” Darrius said, grinning as she closed her eyes to the brightening morning. “And in you went like a bloody