Page 60 of Tempted
His male vanity was piqued. He grasped her wrists with his hard hands, imprisoning her. “Do I have a saving grace?” he demanded, lust and anger suddenly blazing in his gut like banefire.
She searched his dark face and whispered, “I hope so, my lord. I pray for both our sakes that you have a sense of humor.”
He released her wrists. “We go to Castle Douglas day after tomorrow. Perhaps my bedchamber there will be more to yer taste.”
“Perhaps,” she murmured, allowing her lashes to sweep to her cheeks. God, they were like two scorpions circling each other, looking for the most vulnerable spot to leave their sting. “Perhaps I’ll stay here.”
“You, madam, will do as ye are told.” His words had a hard, challenging ring.
She laughed up into his face. “You do have a sense of humor!”
It was outright insolence. By Heaven and Hell, if he didn’t make her obey him, he knew he’d lose the whip hand! He took her chin between his strong fingers in a vicious grip. Her lashes flew up in time to see his head descend to take her mouth savagely. He slowed her very pulses. Once again she was determined to turn the tables on him. Her mouth softened and opened under his, allowing him to take what he wanted. When he finally lifted his mouth, she whispered, “Perhaps I’ll come after all, Douglas.”
She had an annoying habit of addressing him by his surname. He swore a vow he’d make her say Ram softly, pleadingly. He knew he would know no peace until he had had her.
She was aware of his excitement She was also aware of her own. She felt an unbelievable physical attraction for the brute.
Damn her to hellfire! She held him off with the simple device of luring him on. The minute she behaved like a wanton, he was repelled. “Yer food will be cold Ye may return tae yer chamber,” he dismissed.
She dropped him a curtsy, as if to thank him for his consideration. Then she cast him a wicked glance from beneath her lashes that promised him the earth if he was man enough to take it. Then she was gone.
He swore foully. He knew exactly what he needed He picked up his leather jack and made his way to the stables. The ride cooled his temper and his blood. When he arrived in the Valley of Galloway, however, he saw that the Gypsies were gone. He cursed again and went over the long list of women who would welcome him this starlit summer night. Unfortunately, none appealed The woman he really wanted to bury himself in was back at his own castle.
Tina sat abed, her knees drawn up beneath her chin “He actually said, ‘At Douglas, my word is law,’” she said laughing as Ada perched on the end of her bed. “At any moment I expected him to demand that I remove his boots!”
“Men think they like women to be subservient to them, but if you were, he’d be bored in a week,” Ada said.
“He wants to dominate me so badly, he can taste it. I think he’ll only play if he can be in control Just when he thinks he’s controlling me, I knock him off balance.”
“Women make the fatal mistake of loving a controlling man. The minute they fall in love, they are discarded like a bit of rubbish,” Ada told her “Those are exactly the rules I shall play by,” Tina said, laughing.
Damaris too sat upon the end of the bed, mesmerized by the conversation. She was so relieved that Tina had no intention of becoming a lamb to the slaughter. She seemed so wise to the ways of men, and what knowledge she lacked, Ada made up for.
“I’ve already discovered a secret. When I try to drive him away, he cannot resist me—but when I try to seduce him, it drives him away!”
“Once you are sexually intimate, that could easily change. Men, even aggressive ones, love it when the woman initiates sex occasionally. Probably the one single thing men hate most in bed is a woman who is unresponsive. Every man I’ve ever slept with has complained bitterly that his wife is like a corpse in bed. A lot of women are so passive, they might as well be asleep. A man always knows when a woman endures it and can’t wait for it to be over.”
Silently Tina wondered just exactly what “it” would be like. From what she had observed and overheard, it seemed men could not get enough. Sex was the one lode-stone that drew every single one of them between the age of fourteen and death. Women, on the other hand, all seemed to be different Some loved it and some hated it, and her own common sense told her there must be an infinite range of emotions between. By all indications, this deflowering was an earth-shattering, cataclysmic act that she both anticipated and dreaded
“Ada, when he kissed me tonight, I had a decidedly physical response that I had no control over. My mind hated him, yet my body reacted with pleasure.”
“Ah, that’s the essence of the thing exactly His physical response to you is something he cannot control, either. It’s a power each of you has. If you are clever, you will be able to gain control over him in all sorts of subtle ways. You must make the power of love greater than his love of power”
* * *
The hour was late when Ram rode back to Douglas, so he was surprised to see a light in her chamber. He’d watched it while he’d ridden the last two miles. It winked at him, teased him, beckoned him, lured him. It drew his eyes from the bailey, and it drew his eyes again when he came out of the stables. Should he go and demand his rights? The ache in his groin was almost unbearable. As he looked up at her window, the light went out. He bit his lip. She was so bloody vain, she thought herself irresistible. Well, he’d show her she wasn’t irresistible to him!
He made his way to the kitchens, which were deserted at this time of night, and was amazed to find everything spotless. He went into the pantry, then the larder, searching until he found some of the delicious soup Mr. Burque had concocted. The kitchen fires were banked low for the night so he decided to use the fire in his own chamber. He tucked a long French loaf under his arm, picked up the soup kettle, and stealthily made his way upstairs.
Chapter 19
“Nell, I do apologize for telling you to unpack when now you have to ready everything for Castle Douglas.”
“Och, my lady, dinna worry aboot me. It’s poor Mr. Burque I feel sorry fer,” her maid said with feeling.
Good heavens, was Nell yet another of his conquests? “I’ll wear the turquoise green gown today, and tomorrow I’ll ride to Douglas in the pale gray riding outfit trimmed with black braid. Pack everything else.”
Ada held the exquisitely embroidered white nightgown, as yet unused. “I’ll leave this on your pillow for one more night, just in case.”
