Page 81 of Tempted
They exploded together, and he spilled his delicious, white-hot seed into her, making her writhe and shudder convulsively. She savored his heaviness upon her before he withdrew. He certainly had the right name—he was as masculine as a battering ram.
This morning he felt alive again. He was filled with vigorous energy, and he knew it was all due to this incredible woman Valentina had restored and replenished him. As he kissed the softening peaks of her breasts, his keen ears picked up the reverberation of hoofbeats. He stepped out upon the parapet walk, then came back in to fling on his clothes.
“Angus is already here—I’ve dallied overlong I’ll take all the men he’s brought” He cast her an apologetic look. “Sorry, ye’ll have tae entertain Archibald. I’ll have tae leave immediately.” He looked at her wistfully, realizing she hadn’t wanted anything from him after all. “I’ll come tonight if I can manage it, but it will be very late again.”
“Would you like me to wait up for you?” she asked.
He shook his head and murmured huskily, “No, I want ye lying down.”
Only when he had departed did she allow thoughts of Damaris to intrude. Old Meg’s word could never be trusted—she would say whatever suited her purpose at any given moment. But Heath had told her Ram had procured the poison, and Heath would never lie to her. Malcolm had hinted the same thing, and she wasn’t convinced of his madness—he seemed more drunk than mad. She did not doubt for a moment that Douglas was capable of killing a woman. Women had little enough value in a man’s world, and if one stood in Ram’s path, he would remove her without pity. With poison? she asked herself shuddering. Though she did not want to acknowledge it, she knew he would use any instrument that offered itself.
She decided to find out what Angus knew of the past. Of course, he was far too loyal to Ramsay to betray him, even if Ram were guilty as sin. She’d have to be subtle about it. If she learned nothing from Archibald, she would set to work on Colin.
Chapter 24
She stood in her bedrobe on the castle parapet to watch Black Ram Douglas and his clansmen depart. It was a thrilling spectacle of dark, powerful men. They were not mounted on stallions but rode sturdy garrons, strengthened by wintering in the harsh Highlands. Almost seventy men, bound by blood, laughed, shouted, and cursed as they turned their weatherbeaten faces into the wind and rode into the borders. She saw that not one man wore a badge or a plaid that identified him as a Douglas, and she knew it was deliberate. This somehow lent them a sinister air.
She chose a pretty gown for the Earl of Angus, in sky blue. It was ruffled at the wrist and about the hem, but its neckline was deceptively plain, allowing her breasts to swell above it. Ada rolled her eyes when Tina threaded a girlish ribbon through her fiery curls. “Have a care, or he’ll be dangling you from his knee,” she mocked.
Archibald’s face lit at the sight of her. She stretched out her hands to welcome him. “Has the steward been looking after you, Angus? I’m sorry to be so late abed.”
He leered at her. “Like a stag in ruttin’ season, is he? Let’s hope the laddie has planted his seed deep enough. Ye look a right fecund female tae me.”
She blushed at his frank coarseness but laughed prettily. “You Douglas men are the very devil. I haven’t had a chance to see aught of Castle Douglas yet save the bedchamber.”
“Come, lass—I’ll give ye the grand tour,” he said, glad of the excuse to draw her to his side and place a proprietary arm about her. Of course, Tina already had an intimate knowledge of the kitchens and the outbuildings, but there was one place she hadn’t been. As Angus proudly led her into the chapel he pointed to the crypts that contained caskets bearing the hearts of all the Douglas forebears. The place was dimly lit and had a shadowed, eerie feel to it. As she watched Archibald, she wondered if that could possibly be a tear in his agate eye Softly, she asked, “Is Alexander’s heart buried here?”
He compressed his lips and shook his head. “Bloody priests wouldn’t allow it.” His look was so grim, Tina was sorry she had brought up the subject. “A suicide must be buried in unconsecrated ground—but I’m no’ so sure it was a suicide.”
“What do you mean?” she asked innocently.
“Come, lass—‘tis no fit place fer a bride, especially one who might be breeding.”
They emerged from the chapel, and Tina did not tell him she was not a bride and that she was not breeding. If it pleased Angus to think these things, she wasn’t about to contradict him. Angus thought the sun shone out of Ram’s arse, so who in the world did he suspect of murdering Alex?
They went into the dining hall and walked toward one of the great fireplaces. Tina bade a page, “Fetch my lord whisky, and I’ll have red wine.”
Angus was well pleased with a woman who didn’t pull her face over a man having a dram before the hour of noon. She pressed lightly, “I always wondered why the title went to Ram instead of Alexander’s brother, Colin.”
“Colin’s a by-blow,” he said without hesitation. “Ramsay was the legitimate heir.”
Tina realized she should have guessed the reason, and it struck her forcefully that Ram would have had a most compelling motivation for eliminating Alex fifteen years ago.
Angus said, “A damn good thing, as it turned out— Colin gettin’ himself crippled an’ all.”
Blood of God, had Angus and Ram conspired to make Hotspur the Lord of Douglas? Archibald’s reputation was such that there was no deed too foul for him to commit.
Colin came into the hall and limped toward them. Tina flushed uncontrollably, her heart going out to him. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here tae greet ye, my lord earl, but I’ve been tendin’ wounds since the middle o’ the night.”
“Successfully, I hope,” Angus growled.
Colin hesitated. “Fer the most part. One man succumbed tae a fatal wound a short time ago.”
“Whoreson bastards!” spat Angus. “When I patrolled that border, my favorite pastime was hangin’ the English. The trees in upper Teviotdale and Hawick bore a grim crop o’ fruit. Jamie is too bloody lenient! Foul fall the House o’ Tudor! Do ye know when I was about tae put Jamie on the throne, that dirty little dog turd, Henry VII, offered me a fortune in gold tae kidnap the laddie? Me do anything so dishonorable tae the rightful King o’ Scots?”
Tina hung upon his every word, wondering why his righteousness didn’t choke him, for he was rumored to be the man who had assassinated the previous King of Scotland for being a homosexual.
Ada came into the hall, and Angus cleared his throat and lifted his head like a wolf scenting prey. Tina could read him like an open book. Her golden eyes filled with amusement. “Could I persuade you to stay for dinner, my lord earl? I think we are having stuffed pheasant.”
