Page 64 of Tempted
Tina recalled her warning and transferred the animosity she felt toward Ada to the man she hated. She recalled, too, the rest of what Ada had said. “If you intend to gain the upper hand, you can only win by guile.”
“You were right, Tina. He believed you were experienced in these matters. What was his reaction when he saw he had deflowered you?”
Tina gulped back her tears. “He saw nothing. The candles were snuffed.”
“My love, if you want my advice …”
“I don’t, Ada. I want you to go back to bed,” she said firmly. “I shall see you tomorrow. Remember, we leave at dawn.”
Ada knew she had been dismissed. Like a wounded animal, Tina wished to nurse her hurt alone. But Tina knew exactly what she must do, exactly what she would say. No force on earth would stop her from taking her revenge. Revenge would be her raison d’etre, her reason to exist!
She threw back the sheet and took the bedgown from her empty wardrobe with shaking hands. She forced herself to breathe deeply and slowly to calm herself. She wanted to fly at him and scratch out his eyes—or better still, to take her knife and disembowel him. She schooled herself to patience. His physical strength would overpower her in seconds if she attacked him. She intended to be the victor in this battle of the sexes and so must mask her intent from her enemy and glove her weapons with velvet. She knew her victory would not be immediate, but it would be total and complete.
She tapped softly upon his chamber door and opened it quietly. She saw the look of surprise upon his dark face before he masked it. She came as a supplicant. Before he could question her, she spoke softly but firmly. “My Lord Douglas, I understand that I am free to withdraw from this union. I wish to do so. Tomorrow I shall return to Doon.”
“Ye’ll do no such thing. A hand-fasting is a trial marriage. We’ll try it for at least six months,” he stated flatly.
“My Lord Douglas,” she said softly, “I cannot endure it for six days.”
He stared at her in disbelief. The delicate hue of her pink robe was like a blush. She could have no notion of her breathstopping beauty at this moment, with her eyelashes spiked with tears.
“Neither of us can withdraw yet. ‘Tis ridiculous!” he growled.
Her legs had no strength. She sank onto the edge of his bed and lifted her eyes to his so she might impart something confidential. “My lord, I was told that when a man makes love to a woman, it is heavenly. With us, it is hellish. You spoke true when you said we were two totally incompatible personalities,” she whispered.
“Ye liked it not?” he asked, stung.
Her golden eyes widened. “It was the disappointment of a lifetime,” she said solemnly.
She was criticizing his expertise as a lover! He, who was called Hotspur and whoremaster because of his finesse in fucking!
Tina left him with his mouth open. By the time she reached her chamber he was only two steps behind her. She backed away from him toward the bed, where the bloodied sheets screamed their accusation.
Damaris said, “Thank God you had the presence of mind to make him return to the scene of his crime!”
His black eyes swept from the sheets to Tina’s face, wondering what trick she played. A feeling of horror began to wash over him, and his hands tore open the pale pink bedgown to reveal his suspicions.
Her white silk nightgown lay in shreds about her mons. Her thighs were smeared with blood.
“Why didn’t ye tell me ye were a maiden?” he thundered.
“You were so sure I was unchaste, you would have it no other way.”
Splendor of God, he had honestly thought her sexually experienced. She was a virgin! His brain tried to adjust to this revelation about Valentina Kennedy. His conscience smote him deeply. He had ravished her! What he had done in the dark to this lovely creature was akin to rape. No wonder she wished to flee from him. There were not many young women in this day and age who came to their marriage beds with their hymens intact. Valentina was a rare exception. She had too much pride, too much self-respect to be a trollop. He cursed himself for a vile lecher. He wanted above all to undo what he had done, but he knew that was impossible. He would try to heal her hurt. The first thing he must do was beg her forgiveness.
His eyes softened as he saw the anguish on her lovely face. “Tina, I humbly apologize for hurting ye.”
One small shoulder lifted in a half-shrug. “It wasn’t the first time you hurt me,” she said softly.
He remembered finding her lying in the rain and throwing her over his saddle like a sack of grain. He recalled vividly the blazing anger he’d felt the night he’d ridden to Doon, when he’d rolled her in the grass and longed to rub dirt in her face. At every meeting since, he’d done his utmost to humiliate her, and he had finally offered the ultimate humiliation to a nobly born lady—a hand-fasting instead of marriage! If he proposed now she would fling it in his face—and who could blame her? “I’m shamed of my insensitive behavior. I’m quite capable of showing tenderness toward a lass.”
She actually had him on the defensive, a position he was totally unused to, she thought with satisfaction. “Tenderness?” she echoed wistfully, compelling him to elaborate.
“Let me hold ye, let me take away the hurt,” he said gently, still struggling with his conscience.
Her head lifted pridefully. “That is completely unnecessary, my lord. I will survive in spite of you.”
He was filled with admiration for her courage.
