Devil in a Kilt by Sue-Ellen Welfonder

Chapter 29

“Well?” Duncan’s one-worded question yanked Linnet from her dreams, back into the ice-cold present. When she didn’t answer, he quirked a brow. “Will you accept my apology? Will you have me as I am?”

She hesitated for a moment. “Aye.”

Duncan smiled, then brought her hand to his lips for a kiss. “You will not regret this, I promise. Tonight, I shall love you until you are full-sated from passion and beg me to stop.”

Still clutching her hand, he added, “If it takes till first light, I shall repay you for the injury I caused last night.”

Linnet stiffened. “It is not payment I wish. What I want cannot be bought with coin nor replaced by physical fulfillment.”

A shadow passed over Duncan’s face, and he seemed to withdraw from her even though he still held her hand. “Dinnae turn sentimental, lady. I swear on all that’s holy, I will cherish and honor you all our days as man and wife. Let that satisfy you. Romantic love, as I believe you desire, does not exist.”

Letting go of her hand, he knelt to rebuild the fire. Over his shoulder, he continued, “You must accept me as I am. If you cannot, tell me true and I shall hie myself from this chamber and ne’er cross the threshold again.”

His task done, he stood. “It is not my wish to distress you. I ask you again, will my affection be enough?”

Resigning herself to the only option she had, Linnet nodded.

He rewarded her lie with a dashing smile. The rare kind she’d so seldom seen on his face.

Seeing it now, warmed her heart and sent a fluttery sensation straight to her belly despite the chill emptiness of what he was asking of her.

Looking pleased at her apparent agreement, he offered her his hand. “Then come, I will help you undress.”

The moment she placed her hand in his, his smile turned wicked, stealing her breath. “Perhaps I shall help you bathe as well,” he suggested, massaging her palm with his thumb.

And each round of his circling thumb stirred the cauldron of resistance bubbling deep inside her.

Clearly, he believed he need only gift her with a smile and a spot of tenderness and she’d crumple at his feet, eager to do his bidding.

“Your bath awaits you, my lady,” he said with a meaningful glance at the wooden tub. “Do we not want to remove your clothes before yon water grows cold?”

’Tis I who have grown cold, my lord seduce-me-not. Linnet kept the sharp words to herself. In truth, she wasn’t sure she could resist him. Already his deft fingers had maneuvered her out of her gown. But when he tried to remove her only remaining garment, her thin chemise, the words of protest poised on her tongue could no longer be contained.

“Is this some new form of entertainment, sir? Stripping me naked and watching me bathe?” She curled her fingers around his wrists in an attempt to pull his hands from her undergown. “Did I not make clear last night that I prefer to bathe unobserved?”

“God’s wounds!” As quickly as the oath left her husband’s lips, so did he break free of her grasp and have done with her chemise. Indeed, he divested her of its scant protection with such speed, she hardly noticed he’d drawn it over her head until she stood naked before him.

And as every time she’d done so before, it was a glorious feeling. Heady, potent, and much more powerful than the streak of rebellion that still glowed hot somewhere deep inside her.

Then he put his hands on her shoulders and began a slow and tender exploration of her body. Barely touching her, he smoothed his hands down her sides and up again, brought them around behind her and traced the length of her back, then cupped and felt along the curves of her lower buttocks. With the lightest of barely there strokes, he slipped his hands between her thighs and caressed her there as well.

The mastery of his touch made her womanhood throb with a tingling need, and her heart forget every shred of resistance she’d meant to display.

Unable to resist, she gave herself up to the sensations he stirred in her. As if he sensed the exact moment of her capitulation, he pulled her close and, gladly, she slid her arms around him in return.

It was such bliss simply being in his embrace, held close to his heart.

A heart she was determined to win.

Despite her pretense of accepting a life together on his loveless terms.

“Saints, but you tempt me,” he murmured against her hair as he gathered her into his arms, lifting her off her feet. Gently, he lowered her into the silky warm waters of the bath. “Ne’er in my life have I desired a woman more.”

Without taking his eyes off her, he lowered himself to his knees beside the tub. Holding her face between his hands, he leaned forward and softly brushed his lips back and forth over hers.

Lulled into contentment by the magic of his kisses and the soothing warmth of her bath, Linnet felt herself melting, her limbs turning as liquid as the scented water. She sighed, and her breath mingled with his – a heady sensation that swept her woman’s flesh with an intensely pleasurable feeling of warmth. Parting her lips, she begged him without words to deepen the kiss.

Duncan obliged, crushing her mouth beneath his, his lips and tongue taking heated possession of hers. When he let his hands glide down over her shoulders to caress her breasts, she could do nothing but give in to the feverish desires building inside her.

A tiny voice deep inside scolded her for being a wanton fool. A brazen piece willing to barter her pride for a man’s sensual touch, the feel of his lips melding with hers, his hands moving so exquisitely over her, and the earth-shattering release she’d found with him last night.

A shiver, unpleasant this time, rippled down her spine. In truth, she’d sunk lower than the most eager joy woman.

How could she think otherwise when she’d abandoned her good sense for the thrill of a few moments in the arms of a man who’d boldly stated he’d never love her?

“Duncan, wait,” she pleaded the moment he broke their kiss to feather lighter ones down the curve of her neck. “Please, I cannot do this after all.”

“Shhh,” he urged, “of course, you can. Hush, dinnae speak.” He placed two fingers over her lips, silencing her. “Just feel. Let me pleasure you, show you how much I desire you, love you until you are weak from our joining and beg for mercy.”

“But you do not-”

“I told you, we will not speak of love,” he said, as if he’d read her thoughts. Pushing to his feet, he yanked his tunic over his head, tossed it aside, then bent to remove his shoes.

“Dinnae do this,” she begged again. She tried in vain to tear her gaze from his bared chest, even as the sight of its hard contours made her heart hammer wildly. “It is not right,” she gasped, her voice a ragged whisper. “You do not love me.”

“Hush, sweeting,” Duncan protested, rolling his braies down his well-muscled legs as he spoke. He kicked them out of the way and stood facing her, hands braced on his hips, his arousal unmistakable. “I desire and ache with longing for you.”

Linnet’s pulse quickened at his words, her pride screaming at her to look away or at least close her eyes, but she couldn’t. The hot throbbing deep inside her feminine core refused to be denied. That needy part of her craved, no, demanded, she surrender herself to the unbearably sweet pleasures she knew he could give her.

As if he sensed her yielding, a slow, knowing smile stole over his lips, and he reached for her hand. A strange sound, raw and primitive, escaped her when his strong, warm fingers closed over hers.

His gaze locked on hers, he brought her hand to rest against the flat plane of his abdomen. He held her hand there, her fingers splayed over his hot skin for an excruciatingly long moment.

Then he began edging her hand downward.

Her blood raced, every nerve ignited, on fire, as he skimmed her hand lightly back and forth over the thick mat of dark hair at his groin.

With a deep-throated sound, feral enough to have been made by a wild beast and not a flesh-and-blood man, Duncan moved her hand to his maleness, closing her fingers tightly around the hot, pulsing shaft.

The feel of him, all searing heat and proud, rigid as steel yet satiny-smooth to the touch, sent a bolt of excitement shooting through her, stealing her breath and making her forget her cares.

Forget her worries about this loveless mating of their bodies.

Forget her pride.

She sighed, her fingers moving around the length of him. The man must be part-wizard, for surely it was not a small feat to whisk away her doubts and send her spiraling into a sea of such reckless longing she might soon perish from sheer glory of it?

Indeed, her husband’s caress, his kiss, touching him, even one glance from him was more powerful than the most potent mead.

More intoxicating than the headiest of wines.

As if she had the same effect on him, his eyes darkened, fair smoldering with passion. Whispering soft words of encouragement, he carefully unclasped her fingers, then leaned down and placed her hands about his neck.

Linnet clung to him as he slipped his arms around her back and under her knees and lifted her from the tub. Water ran in rivulets down her limbs and the brisk sea air coming in the opened windows brought gooseflesh to her skin, but she didn’t care. She was oblivious to all but the wondrous feel of being in her husband’s powerful arms.

He’d carried her but a scant three paces across the room when he stopped to claim her lips in a fiercely demanding kiss. Linnet melted against him, digging her hands into his hair, helpless to do anything but surrender to the wild fury of her own burning desire.

Then, at the very moment she was certain something would shatter and spill deep inside her, a loud rap on the closed door broke through the haze of their ardor.

“Damnation!” Duncan sent a furious glance toward the door.

Still clinging to him, Linnet buried her face against his neck and held back the sigh of pleasure she’d been about to release.

“Hush.” Duncan smoothed back her damp hair. “Whoever it is will leave when we do not answer.”

But the knocking came anew, persistent and unrelenting. “Lady? Are you in there?” a youth’s voice called between the raps.

“Damnation,” Duncan repeated, easing Linnet to her feet.

Snatching a large drying cloth off a chair, he thrust it at her, and she gratefully wrapped it around her shivering body.

Heart in her throat, she watched Duncan stride angrily across the room and jerk open the door.

His nude body blocked her view of whatever hapless soul sought to find her, but she heard a sharp intake of breath, then a young male voice stammer, “A good morrow to you, sir.”

“And a fine one it was till now,” Duncan said, folding his arms. “What brings you to my lady’s chamber at this early hour?”

“I didn’t know you’d be here, sir.” The lad shifted nervously from one foot to the other as he spoke, and Linnet caught a brief glimpse of him. Despite the high color staining his cheeks, she recognized him as her husband’s youngest squire. “Fergus sent me. He bid me to fetch Lady Linnet.”

“Fergus?” Duncan shot a quizzical glance at Linnet. “What does he want with her that could not wait until my lady wife finished her bath and made her own way belowstairs?”

The squire gulped noisily, then tried to explain. “He wishes to ask her blessing, my lord.”

“Her blessing?”

“Aye, sir,” the young man confirmed. “I believe he means to marry Lady Linnet’s woman servant.”

“Marry her?” Duncan’s jaw slipped, his tone incredulous. “Do you mean my wife’s old nurse? The one called Elspeth?”

“Aye, she is the one, sir.”

“Then tell Fergus my wife and I shall meet him in my former solar within the hour,” Duncan ordered. “Now be gone from here and do not disturb us again,” he added, already closing the door.

Turning, he leaned against the heavy oak panels of the door. “Did you hear that?” he asked, shaking his head. “Fergus wanting to marry? The old goat! He ne’er wanted aught to do with women, save his rare trips to the village to slake his – eh – needs.”

Linnet hugged the linen drying cloth tighter about her body. “I’ve noticed they seem fond of one another. I cannae say I’m surprised.”

“But marry her? Next, he’ll be claiming he’s fallen in love.”

“Perhaps he has?” Linnet smiled. “Perhaps they both have.”

“Bah!” Duncan snorted. “There’s no such thing. And if they think so, they’re both old fools.”

Linnet shrugged. “Whatever you say, my lord.”

But, in truth, she couldn’t disagree with him more.