Page 72 of Tempted
So her hair held a fascination for him. She would use it to render him mindless “I put it up so you could have the pleasure of taking it down,” she said softly.
It was his turn to shudder. She was fully clothed so he’d also have the pleasure of undressing her. The thought of her delicate undergarments went straight to his groin. He could not take his eyes from her. He drank her in like dry ground in a thunderstorm. “I should get Colin tae paint ye”
She wondered if he had asked Colin to paint Damaris, then pushed the disturbing thought away. As they looked at each other, they knew they were about to step off a precipice together Her blood slowed, and she felt an absolute languor.
Ram was the complete opposite. He almost burned and crackled with life and lust. She was the object of his desire, and he concentrated his total and complete attention upon her. She was compelling He was obsessed. She was incandescent He was consumed. Gently, he took her into his arms, stared down at her mouth until all her composure fled, then lowered his mouth to hers. The kiss was a prelude to what would come after. He touched and tasted her softly in a suggestive caress. He was closer than she had dreamed possible Their dark eyelashes brushed together, and their breaths caught and mingled.
A low knock upon the door effectively separated them. Tina was vastly relieved. He had evoked an odd sensation inside her, and she felt almost dizzy. He opened the chamber door somewhat impatiently, and there stood Mr Burque with their dinner. Ramsay bade the Frenchman enter in his own language, and Mr Burque replied in French.
“Un moment,” said Ram, picking up the table he used as a desk and setting it before the fire.
“Merci, seigneur,” murmured the chef, setting down the heavy tray with a bow. “Bon appétit”
“Grâce à vous,” replied Ram, nodding.
As he bent to bow, Mr Burque’s eyelid closed in a definite wink to Tina, and she rewarded him with a ravishing smile.
When Ram closed the door, she said, “I didn’t know you could speak French.”
“Can ye?” he asked.
She shook her head regretfully. “I have learned a few odd words … derrière, lingerie, déshabillé.”
He quirked an eyebrow. “Odd words indeed.” He drew two chairs to the table and reached his hand toward a silver cover. “What do we have?”
Tina’s hand slipped beneath his to lift the cover. “Allow me, Lord Douglas.” She presented the dish as a magician presents a rabbit. The aroma was so subtly tantalizing, he could not resist taking a deep breath as she said, “Salmon poached in samphire with white butter sauce.”
His eyes showed his pleasure. He was a man who appreciated fine food, though in his native land he seldom enjoyed anything but plain cooking. There were candied chestnuts and crudités. There was also a game bird stuffed with apples and raisins and garnished with chervil. Mr. Burque had chosen a light chablis for them, and though Ram preferred ale or whisky to wine, he knew the chablis had been chosen to complement the dinner and would be delicious upon the palate.
He held her chair and dropped a kiss upon her silken head, murmuring, “I thought my hunger was for other than food, but I must admit the Frenchman has tempted me.”
“Isn’t that what Eve said to Adam?”
He threw back his head and laughed. She gave him a sidelong glance from beneath her lashes “You don’t laugh often enough.”
“That isn’t because I’m not amused It’s from having learned tae mask my emotions.”
“You have great control,” she said.
“Over some things, yes; others, no.”
“Such as?” she asked, as he had hoped
“Arousal,” he admitted frankly. “I think I have it under control, then the whisper of yer silk gown, or the careless shrug of yer shoulder, or the fireshine on yer hair makes me ache with lust”
She wondered if these things were really true, or if they were the things a man always said to a woman when he wanted to bed her.
He put the last morsel of salmon smothered in its white butter sauce into his mouth and closed his eyes. “This food is absolutely decadent.”
“Mmmmm,” she sighed in ecstasy
“A woman who enjoys food usually takes deep satisfaction from all life’s sensual pleasures.”
She smiled at him. “Since you insist upon educating me, tell me more”
“The lessons would be better learned if I showed ye rather than told ye. Actions speak louder than words.”
“Give me the words as well, or I shall feel deprived.”
