Page 74 of Tempted
“I only want tae kiss ye,” he promised, and the magic words did the trick. She turned over, and her golden eyes devoured him. His skin was smooth, tanned a dark, swarthy copper. A heavy black pelt covered his powerful chest. He reminded her of a satyr. She dared not glance at the upright evidence of his manhood and slipped her arms about his neck to bring his mouth down to hers.
He could deny his hunger no longer. His kisses were not leisurely now—they were hot and demanding, taking not giving. They were ravenous, smoldering, and savage. Her own kisses grew in intensity. They were wicked and scandalous, erotic, yearning, yielding.
His tongue plunged in to take all her sweetness, and she opened to him, allowing him to plunder her mouth, ravishing her as surely as he had before, only this time he had her consent. They were both lost to reason. She lay trembling in the furs, sensual and ripe.
He did as his dark, sensual nature compelled him to do. He despised caution, thought it showed a miserly attitude to life. The head of his shaft glistened with the sheer drops of his body’s lubrication. He opened the tiny folds between her legs, took hold of his manroot and rubbed her cleft to moisten it, then he plunged in and saw her eyes dilate with pleasure-pain. When one jumps across a deep chasm, it is better to do it in one bold leap than two.
For one agonizing moment she thought he had done it to her again, but by sheer force of will she gave herself up to him. He branded her insides so erotically, she screamed from excitement. Together they were like fire and ice, love and hate, life and death. Deep spiraling sensations blotted out all words, all thoughts for both of them. He made love like a whirlwind, like a storm raging in the Atlantic.
Their senses reeled, built then shattered, over and over, like waves tossing high, before they pounded the shore. Their coming together was too intense, too consuming to be drawn out. Their cries and their mouths and their fulfillment mingled together in a feral explosion. His look was so fierce, she wondered if he hated her. The Douglas passion unleashed was devastating. Suddenly she burst into tears.
Instantly he was contrite, cradling her. “Honeylamb, did I hurt ye?”
“Yes … no,” she whispered.
He stroked her hair and her back tenderly. “I’m sorry. Was it still life’s greatest disappointment for ye?”
She lifted her face and sought his eyes. Her eyelashes were spiked with tears, and her hair tumbled in wild disarray. “No, it was like a revelation.”
He hugged her to him and began to laugh with relief. It was contagious. Suddenly Tina was laughing through her tears. She didn’t know why exactly, except perhaps in the game of war in which men and women engaged, she was no longer the victim, but the victor.
He was reluctant to part with her, so they lay curled together beneath the furs. She had a great curiosity about his body and its workings, but she would save her explorations for next time, when some of her shyness had vanished.
He dipped his head to kiss her good night and murmured, “Honeypot.” She stiffened, for he had hurled the promiscuous name at her with contempt in the past. His arms tightened. “My honeypot,” he emphasized. God help him, he already wanted to take her again. But he curbed his lust. She was in wonder over what had happened between them, and he would not spoil it for her for anything on earth. “Tomorrow we’ll ride tae Solway Firth, and I’ll make a sailor of ye.”
Chapter 22
When she awoke in the big bed, she was alone. She sat up and blinked in disbelief that it was morning. How could she have slept so soundly in the same bed with a strange man? And that man her enemy!
She was relieved that Ram Douglas was not there with his dark, intense eyes to watch her rise, yet at the same time she experienced a sense of loss. When she threw back the fur and swung her legs from the bed, she blushed to see that all she wore was one stocking. It felt even more scandalous than sleeping nude.
Ada was ready with her bath. She cast her an anxious glance. “Are you all right, Tina? I heard you screaming in the night, but I didn’t dare to come in.”
“Scream?” Tina repeated blankly, then her cheeks suffused with pink as she recalled how vocal both of them had been. The corners of her mouth lifted. “It must have been Douglas when I gave him the coup d’éclat.”
Ada knew it was when Ram had given her the coup d’épée, or swordthrust, but she decided the moment called for a little discretion.
As she stepped from the water, Tina said, “He said something about riding to the Solway. Probably wants to get a good look at the Kennedy land I’ve brought him along the River Dee and gloat over it.”
Gavin and Drummond Douglas had returned in the night. They had anchored in the Dee, not seven miles away. Tina breakfasted alone and hoped she kept Hotspur waiting, but when she finally emerged into the bailey, she saw that no sign of impatience marred his dark brow. When his eyes swept over her, she felt beautiful.
A man-at-arms held Indigo for her, and as she mounted and rode forward, she was amazed that her mare touched noses with Ruffian, who though beautiful was a vicious creature, untamed except to one man’s hand.
Ram felt the warmth of the radiant smile Valentina gave his brother Gavin like a twist in his gut. She steeled herself against Ram’s teasing, fully expecting him to banter and make her blush about what had taken place between them.
“Ye were right about yer French chef. I never tasted anything like that salmon before.”
She gave him a bewitching look from beneath her lashes and said, “I thought the dessert was spectacular.”
The look he gave her was so intense and forbidding, she realized that whatever had happened between them was absolutely inviolate. Whatever happened in the privacy of their bedchamber would never be referred to in public. Against her volition, her opinion of him rose a notch.
She cleared her throat and changed the subject. “My mare Indigo is suddenly accepting Ruffian.”
“When I had her in my possession, I hope he served her as stud. She could be in foal,” he speculated.
Suddenly she was blazing mad. His bloody stallion had spoiled her lovely Barbary, and he sounded damned pleased about it! Why did he think he could take whatever he fancied? He’d gotten possession of Indigo again through her, and now he’d own the colt too! She rode in angry silence then raised her eyes to look across the River Dee and saw the land he’d snatched from her. “Your Douglas land on the far side of the river is far superior to the Douglas land on this side.”
He cocked an eyebrow and corrected her. “Yonder is still Kennedy land. I hold it in yer name until we are wed.”
