Page 71 of Tempted
He arose from the desk. “I was hoping ye were woman enough tae draw my sting.” As their eyes met and held, the very air was charged with sexual tension. He drew close and lifted a flaming tendril. It curled wildly about his fingers. He lifted it to his nose to inhale its fragrance. “Honeysuckle,” he murmured, and she was surprised that he was knowledgeable about such feminine things.
He traced the tendril down his throat, and his look became so intense, she lowered her lashes. She was acutely aware of the dark shadow of his unshaven jaw and remembered the shockingly masuline feel of it against her skin.
“I’ll shave for ye,” he whispered, and her lashes flew up, wondering if he could read her every thought. He slid his hands about her neck and thumbed her velvet skin. Her golden eyes went liquid with apprehension. How simple a thing it would be for him to snap her neck if he wanted to rid himself of her. Instinctively, she moved her hand toward his wounded thigh, ready to claw at it if his hands tightened.
“My red vixen,” he whispered, covering her hand with his, rendering it useless as a weapon. He wanted that hand at his groin, feeling him swell to bursting when he kissed her, yet he longed for her to touch him of her own volition. He dipped his dark head, and his lips brushed her soft mouth. “Take supper here wi’ me tonight?” It was an invitation rather than an order, yet no less compelling. He whispered, “Early to bed, early to rise …”
For a moment Tina thought he would fill her hand with his “rising,” but he resisted the temptation to force her. His pewter eyes held a silent invitation that she intended to accept, despite her apprehension She gathered her courage. “Devil-eyed Douglas, how am I to resist you?” she purred.
His face was unreadable, but she could have sworn her words pleased him. When he departed, she sank to the bed on knees weak as water. “I shall always hate you.” She sighed, as softly and gently as a kiss.
Tina summoned Nell to strip the bed and freshen the chamber, then hurried off to the kitchens. “Mr. Burns, the lamb was exemplary last evening. I hope it was the rule rather than the exception, and I hope your culinary experience lends itself to other than mutton. If not, Mr. Burque will soon tutor you.”
Valentina drew the Frenchman aside for a private word, and Mr. Burns turned to his wife for a translation. “She’s no’ ready tae hoof ye in the sporran just yet,” then added silently, But she’s right about learning a few tricks from Mr. Burque!
“Mr. Burque, Lord Douglas and I will be dining privately tonight. I’d like something special.”
“How about the salmon you caught?”
“Oh yes, that should really please him, and don’t forget dessert.”
Mr. Burque nodded. “Most men have the—how you say?—sweet tooth.”
“If he has, it’s the only sweet thing about him,” Tina said, laughing.
Colin came into the kitchen looking quite drawn. “Was Ram wounded badly?”
“No, not really. It was an ugly enough gash that bled a lot, but it will heal quickly,” she assured him.
He asked a scullion for alkanet and inquired if there was any syrup of poppy.
“Were others wounded?” Tina asked him
He nodded “None fatally,” he assured her When he was told there was no syrup of poppy, he cursed. “There was plenty last time I was here Things are forever going missing”
“Perhaps it’s the ghosts,” Tina said lightly.
“Ghosts!” he scoffed “Grown men don’t believe in such.”
“Ramsay does,” she assured him. “He believes the spirit of Damaris lingers.”
“Wishful thinking,” Colin muttered. “He fancied himself in love with Damaris He and Alex came tae blows more than once” Colin’s mouth snapped shut as if he had said too much, and he immediately changed the subject. “Perhaps yer gifted Mr Burque can concoct somethin’ fer pain”
“He is a miracle man He once cured an agonizing toothache for me.” As she made her way back upstairs, her mind was busy. What was it Mad Malcolm had said when he insisted Alex hadn’t poisoned Damaris?” “ ‘Tis the other young swine,” he had said. How old had Ram been when the tragedy occurred? Seventeen or eighteen would certainly fit the description of young swine, she thought as a seed of suspicious horror took root.
Ada brought the sea-foam green negligee she had finished embroidering. “I think you should wear this tonight —with a velvet bedgown covering all, of course.”
Tina shook her head. “He’d have it off me in less than a minute and probably in shreds. I intend to be fully dressed from head to toe” She chose a gown of palest pink, and every last one of her undergarments matched down to her stockings, slippers, and garters. She even chose to wear a ruff and selected a pink and silver-tissue creation. The effect was quite dramatic in the pink and black room
Tina could hear him moving about in the adjoining chamber he used as a dressing and bathing room. She told Ada, “Leave me—he’ll be here any moment.”
She barely had time to touch her pulse with perfume, before he entered without knocking. Tina had not expected him to knock upon his own chamber door, however. Ram wore black, and she thought they must look like actors in a play, costumed for dramatic effect as they delivered their lines in the intimate setting. “How is the bleeding leg of Douglas?” She was ready to match wits with him, and he recognized it as a defensive strategy against him. He regretted that his actions had made her defensive. He had his work cut out for him tonight if he was to make her respond to him physically. “I’ll show ye mine, if ye’ll show me yours.” He hoped his banter would put her at ease.
“Ah, then I take it we are not to have a blackout tonight?”
Her words were provocative, and he was aroused immediately. She knew he had only taken a few hours of sleep, yet all his weariness had vanished. She could clearly see he burned with life. He moved purposefully to the fireplace, threw on a log, and settled it into place with his soft leather boot. Just so would he ruthlessly put his boot to an enemy’s ribs or temple, she thought. He would remove any obstacle in his path without pity. Perhaps he had removed Alexander? She banished the thought instantly. There was no way she could allow this man to make love to her if she dwelled upon him committing murder.
He turned from the fire and bent a look upon her that made her shudder. Tonight his eyes were the pewter of stormy seas. She reminded him of a forest creature. She looked ready to flee the hunter, yet he had no desire to hurt, only to capture and half-tame. “I had hoped ye would wear yer hair down for me.” His voice had a deep, husky quality about it that made her want to shiver, or was it his words?
