Billionaire: Billionaire Romance: Billionaire Tiger (A Billionaire New Adult Shifter Contemporary Romance) by Loretta Devine Page B

Beth was glad to have had her eyes opened to such pleasure, but she could now clearly see it as it would have looked from the outside: two kitchen maids, writhing between the sheets like harlots.
     
    Emma laughed, “Our antics would certainly be no concern of Wolsey’s. He is a man of the cloth, the idea of two kitchen maids practicing how to give pleasure would not even occur to him,” she said as she laid a reassuring hand on Beth’s shoulder. “I can think of no reason why you should be in trouble, you have only just arrived at court for goodness sake. Perhaps he simply wants to welcome you to the Tudor Household,” Emma continued, but secretly she knew that a mere kitchen maid would not be offered an official welcome, especially not by one of the most powerful men in England.
    For the rest of the day, Beth struggled to focus on her work. She splashed some boiling water on her hand, which had caused a red and blistering burn. Beth’s first week at court had been going so well, she was settling into her new life, had made a friend, and felt excited by the news that Queen was with child. Now she could feel everything falling apart around her. She had briefly glimpsed Wolsey at the feast the previous night, his fat hands heavy with rings as he clapped the King on the back in congratulations. Of course, as a kitchen maid, she hadn’t exchanged a single word with Wolsey, so she couldn’t understand how she could possibly have displeased him. She found herself praying that despite their caution the previous night nobody had seen or heard Emma and Beth’s perhaps careless act. She had enjoyed it, and she was glad to know of the pleasures that awaited her once she found a husband, but she certainly would hate for it to be the cause of her dismissal from court. She wouldn’t be able to return to her previous job with the nuns after such a scandal, and would be out on the street with no income, no home, and no future.
    Emma could see the anxiety written across Beth’s face, and wished she could do something to help. It didn’t help that she herself could see no good coming of this assignation with Wolsey. She could see how Beth’s beauty, innocence and poise would attract a man, but she couldn’t image that Wolsey would want to embark on a love affair with a girl from court, that would be too reckless even for him. It was common knowledge that Wolsey had a long-term mistress, but she was kept far away from court. Emma suggested that Beth take a breath of fresh air outside, and offered to take over her work for a while. Beth attempted a grateful smile, but the anxiety on her face made the expression look more pained than anything else.
    The fresh air outside did make Beth feel a little better. The stuffiness of the kitchen was not helping matters when she was already feeling clammy and nervous. She perched on an upturned bucket around the corner from the entrance to the kitchen so as to have a brief reprieve from the curious stares of those in the kitchen. Taking a deep breath and trying to push her untameable hair away from her face, Beth tried to focus on a little bird pecking at the ground in an attempt to distract herself from her racing mind.
     
    “It is a jay.” The voice startled Beth as she had thought she was alone, and she turned around to see who was there, already wishing she could just be left in peace. However, when she saw the dark hair and handsome features of the messenger boy from the day before, she felt an unexpected jolt of excitement.
     
    “I didn’t mean to startle you, I am sorry. I was hoping to see you today, to apologize for my extremely uncivilized behavior yesterday. It is not normally my habit to whistle at any passing servant, but when you chose to flash your ankle right before my very eyes I reacted without thinking. It really is a most… what I saw was…my name is John.” Beth was amused to see that John had become very uncomfortable and was obviously trying to prevent himself