Page 37 of Tempted
“Will you save me a dance, my lady? I intend to give these younger men a run for their money.”
Farther down the hall, Ramsay Douglas praised his cousin Archibald in front of his father, the Earl of Angus, in hope of raising his uncle’s opinion of his own son. “That took both courage and diplomacy,” Ram said.
The rash Master of Douglas replied, “It felt good tae ha’ control of Argyll, even if only fer a few minutes.”
Ram made no comment but thought it showed a lack of self-control to display his lust for power quite so openly. Still, his father was so dominant, it was hard to get out from under his shadow. Though aging, Angus still ruled the whole Douglas clan, not just his son, with an iron fist. Ram smiled wryly. At least a dozen women had their eyes upon them as they stood talking, and he knew that if he spurned their offers, they would gladly settle for the powerful Earl of Angus, despite his age.
As the music started for the dancing, Ram said low to his cousin, “Here comes the queen. I would rather avoid her advances.”
“What do ye mean, man?” asked young Archie.
Ram cast him a cynically amused glance. “She seems tae have developed a craving for Douglas flesh.” Ram saw raw speculation come into his cousin’s eyes.
“By God, I’ll ha’ at her!” he said aggressively, and Ram suppressed a shudder, thinking it would take a great deal of either fortitude or ambition to ride that gray mare. He was cynical enough to wonder if his cousin acted on orders from his father; then his cynicism went one step further, and he wondered if Angus had pushed Janet into the king’s bed for his own devious purpose.
Patrick Hamilton led Valentina Kennedy onto the floor for the slow and sensual pavane. She concentrated on the gliding steps, carefully keeping pace with Patrick, who had obviously danced at court before. There were many elegantly gowned ladies dancing, and Tina did not wish to appear unsophisticated before that polished assembly.
As the slow measure advanced, she gained confidence and began to enjoy the music. Everyone changed partners as the men circled one way and the ladies the other. Valentina was shocked to find herself face to face with Black Ram Douglas. His pewter eyes went insolently up and down her person, as if he were measuring her with his own personal yardstick and found her lacking in every way.
Here was a very different Ramsay Douglas from the uncouth wretch in thigh boots and leathers. He wore a jeweled codpiece, begod! It drew her eyes, then she could have died when she felt herself blushing. Suddenly all her fine confidence dissolved. She felt young and awkward and very countrified. He was so damned elegant, so arrogant and utterly sure of himself. She remembered with deep humiliation how he had straddled her in the grass, and suddenly she could not bear the thought of his hands touching her again. She gathered all her courage, lifted first an elegant bare shoulder, then her chin, then deliberately walked off the dance floor.
Hotspur’s jaw clenched like a lump of iron at the insult. All Douglas males were blood-proud, but this particular Douglas was nine-tenths pride. He knew a murderous urge to pursue her, to put his hands about that slender neck below the pretty ruff and snap it. His rage blinded him to the open invitation of other women, and he left the hall and went alone to his bed that night.
Patrick Hamilton saw Valentina depart and hurried after her. He caught up with her outside in the chilly night air. “Tina, are ye feeling unwell?”
“I needed fresh air,” she temporized.
“The smoke from the candles is enough tae choke a strong man, but there’s a cold wind off the North Sea tonight.” He moved close to slip a warming arm about her shoulders.
“Patrick, I walked off the dance floor because my next partner was to be Ramsay Douglas.”
She felt his hands tighten into fists, and he demanded, “He hasn’t made advances toward ye, has he?”
“No, no. We cannot tolerate each other.” She shivered. He drew her against his body. “Let me warm ye,” he said thickly. Her scent stole to him, and the wind blew a tress of her hair against his cheek, arousing him instantly. His lips sought hers, and as their mouths fused, he lengthened and hardened with a dizzying need. “Tina, Tina, come tae my chamber. We can be snug up there.”
She pulled away from him. “Patrick, you know I cannot”
His raging desire made him ignore her refusal. He pressed her urgently. “We’ll soon be betrothed—let me love ye, Tina?” His insistent lips came down upon hers again, and his hands pulled her hips against his hard sex.
Valentina knew she must leave him before he lost control. She was not ready for this yet. The court might be amoral, but she was not “Patrick, let me go! We both know what would happen if I came to your chamber.”
Christ, he could see her in his bed, feel her beneath his hard body. Talking about what would happen sent the blood beating in his temples and his cock. She pried his hands from her hips and said, “In the morning I would hate myself, and I would hate you too. I must find Meggie Campbell and go up now.”
Patrick groaned. Donal Kennedy was likely fucking Meggie Campbell’s brains out at this moment, but of course he couldn’t say such a thing to Lady Valentina. He had to let her go back inside alone because it would be a few minutes before he could even walk.
Nan Howard saw Valentina Kennedy return to the hall without Patrick Hamilton. She took hold of her sister Kat’s hand and went outside to look for him. She didn’t have to go far before she saw his tall, slim figure in the shadows. She went forward to him, while Kat hovered behind her. She was shorter, plumper than Tina, but oh so much more willing. “Patrick,” she said in her little girl voice, “have you been avoiding me?”
“Of course not,” he said huskily. “Dancing bores me.”
She giggled prettily. “Kat and I are bored too. Why don’t we join you? I’m sure you can think of something to amuse us, Patrick.” She took both his hands in hers, and he raised first one and then the other to his lips and suggestively traced his tongue across her palms. He heard the quick intake of her breath that told him he had aroused her. He was most familiar with Nan Howard’s sensuality and imagined her naked, her soft pink flesh and blond curls spread invitingly for him.
He cleared his throat and wondered how they could rid themselves of Kat. He said low, “The game I have in mind is best played by two”
“Patrick, any game that two can play can be even more fun with three players, unless of course you are monkish by nature.”
Hamilton’s eyes widened in surprise. Christ, he knew the Howard daughters were exceeding sportive, but if he wasn’t mistaken, they were both asking for a taste of his prick, and in the state Tina Kennedy had left him, he was ready for them. “I just happen tae have a small cask of aqua vitae in my chamber that cries out to be tasted,” he invited with a wink.
The rooms in Edinburgh Castle were cheerless to say the least, but this night, in Patrick Hamilton’s bed, the trio couldn’t have been more cozy. The three of them rolled about as the girls playfully disrobed their willing victim. Patrick’s lust was such that he took Nan almost immediately, without preliminaries. When Kat saw how willing and able he was to perform, she pressed her nakedness to his humping back, crying, “Don’t be greedy, Nan! Save some for me.”
