Page 68 of Tempted
“Well, we’d better wade down tae that quiet pool beneath the larch trees Ye’ll catch nothing here after floundering about like a demented mermaid”
“Me? What about you, Douglas?” she demanded.
“I blend into the shadows, while yer hair and deshabille scream so loudly, the only way you’ll catch anything is by fright!”
She smiled a secret smile. She was almost certain she had Black Ram Douglas hooked. All she needed to do now was land him, then before she was finished, she’d bone and fillet him.
As the pair of them entered the castle with the two large salmon, both were sober in dress and countenance Only the water streaming from sodden garments beneath her severe gray riding dress, leaving puddles wherever she trod, hinted at any impropriety
The great hall at Castle Douglas bulged at the seams. Every man, woman, and child crowded in to get a glimpse of Lady Valentina Kennedy, who was hand-fasted to their lord. Even the high windowsills were filled with squires and scullions The women’s eyes went from her face to her belly to see if he’d gotten her with child. The men’s eyes went from her face to her breasts, then undressed her with their eyes
Tina, in elegant yellow silk, made quite an entrance, and with head high she walked a direct path to Lord Douglas, who sat on the raised dais, his dark, shoulder-length hair contrasting vividly with the Bleeding Heart of Douglas on the banner behind him
Ah, my fine lord, your device is an omen, if you but knew it, she told herself
He arose the moment he saw her and came to meet her with all courtesy. As he helped her mount the step and held her carved chair, he murmured, “I would apologize that ye must be on display tonight if it weren’t fer the fact that I know ye relish being center stage.”
She smiled sweetly. “You enjoy the spot so much, it must gall you to be knocked from your pedestal.”
“Ye have a fine conceit o’ yerself,” he parried.
She gave him back his own words. “Aye, the Scots are like that. Perhaps we have more in common than we know.”
When the flagons were filled, he again stood and raised his arms for quiet. He did not use her title, nor even her Kennedy name, but there was not one soul there who did not know exactly who she was. “A toast. This is Valentina, my new lady. If she proves as fertile as she is beautiful, I may just keep her.”
Angry sparks flew from her golden eyes. She said low, “You swine, Douglas! I’ll propose my own toast and tell them that if you prove impotent, I may not keep you!”
“If ye dare stand and say that, I shall strike ye.” His words came at her like steel-tipped arrows, and his black eyes blazed their fury.
She stood and lifted her goblet. “A toast.”
Ramsay’s jaw clenched like a lump of iron.
“This is Douglas, my new lord. If he proves as chivalrous as he is valiant, I may just keep him.”
As cheers rolled around the hall, she glanced at him and saw his eyes were narrowed against laughter. He had said she was his new lady. She wondered just how many women had sat here beside him in the past and felt a stab of— surely not jealousy—contempt for his womanizing. Well, one thing was certain: These arrogant Douglases may not like her, but by God, they would never forget her, and that went double for Hotspur!
When the meat was served, a whole rack of lamb was set before Ramsay for him to carve. It was cooked to a turn, crisp on the outside and pink on the inside, and Tina knew Mr Burns had outdone himself. While she ate, Ram never took his dark eyes from her They lingered on her face, staring boldly into her golden eyes when she raised them to his, then they would drop to her mouth to gaze at her full underlip She felt warm under his close scrutiny His eyes lingered upon her mouth as if he were making love to it, and suddenly she knew what he had meant when he said even kissing had its foreplay.
She knew the roses bloomed and faded in her cheeks He radiated sexual hunger with every glance His eyes dropped still lower, and he indulged in imagining her naked That was a mistake He had been semihard yet comfortable, but now he was hard and throbbing, and he felt his blood beat in his throat and the palms of his hands He picked up his tankard of ale to cool his hands.
“Are you quite finished staring?” she demanded
He shook his head “I’ll never have enough The light from the torches makes ye all gold and shadow. Yer hair is burnished flame”
So the wooing has begun, she mused, not a little apprehensive that she had agreed to share his chamber His eyes touched her everywhere intimately, and slowly she realized that a feeling of excitement was growing inside her. His dark glances promised forbidden delights and tempted her to recklessness His blood grew ever warmer from the sight of her, and she knew it She could feel his raw desire reach out to touch her. Golden devils danced beneath her dark lashes “Why do you look at me so … intimately?” she asked, innocent as an angel.
“I’m trying to picture what undergarments ye chose to wear beneath the yellow silk”
“You are the most infuriating man I’ve ever known”
“I certainly hope so,” he said with relish, and a feeling of exultation surged within him that he had taken the prize from beneath Patrick Hamilton’s nose. In fact, if Hamilton ever dared touch her, they wouldn’t be able to identify him.
He had promised to leave her in peace so she might sleep this first night, yet not for a moment did she believe he would keep that promise.
Ram had made up his mind to take her upstairs as soon as his erection was not quite so evident. Suddenly two men rushed into the hall and raised the alarm. “The signal fires are blazing!”
Ram Douglas was on his feet instantly, running for his mail shirt and broadsword. He never glanced back.
