Page 89 of Tempted
Tina glared at her. “You may well have hysterics. We are being sent home to Doon.”
Ada sobered immediately. The thought of being relegated to the ranks of Kirsty and being at the beck and call of Elizabeth and Beth was hard to swallow. “Men want a woman to be sweet, accommodating, pliant, and obedient,” Ada said with regret.
“But that’s begging for unhappiness. A woman must be able to have opinions and needs of her own. A real man would feel no threat,” Tina insisted.
“If you think Ram Douglas no real man, you are deluding yourself, Valentina.”
“I’m tired and filthy. I’ll need a bath before …” Her voice faltered. She had almost said “before he comes,” but she knew he would not come. Damnation—in bed she could make him do anything. Upon reflection she admitted that the opposite was also true: In bed he could make her do anything. She crushed down the empty feeling of loss that threatened to overwhelm her. “I’ll need a bath before we tackle the packing,” Tina said with dull resignation.
It was the Antigone that Tina and her ladies boarded in the early light of dawn. The Revenge was nowhere in sight, but six other vessels, all English prizes, accompanied them The weather was not promising—an early autumn gale threatened, and Ram knew he’d need eyes in the back of his head to assure that all the ships reached Ayr without damage.
Tina stood alone at the ship’s rail, holding her emerald velvet cloak close about her. She had plaited her hair and fashioned it into a flaming coronet and looked as regal and remote as a queen this morning. The screaming herring gulls set her nerves on edge, but she’d be damned if she’d go down to the confining cabin with Ada and Nell and her mountain of baggage.
She felt utterly alone, as if no soul on earth gave a tinker’s damn about her. Then she laughed at herself and lifted her face into the wind. There was nothing quite so pathetic as self-pity.
They were no sooner out into the Irish Sea than a squall blew up. Ram sent one of his men to order her below, but she sent him back to the bridge with a rude retort. Minutes later he was back. “Lord Douglas wants ye on the quarterdeck If ye willna go, I’ve orders tae carry ye below and lock ye in yer cabin.”
She could make her way on the tossing deck only by clinging to the ship’s ropes. By the time she reached him, they were both soaked to the skin. Ram did not trust himself to speak to her but gripped her firmly and pushed her into a somewhat sheltered alcove behind him, where it would be impossible for her to be swept overboard.
She watched in fascination as the storm took possession of him. Incredibly he looked as if he were enjoying himself. His dark face was running with water, and his clothes were plastered to his powerful body, showing clearly the bulge of his sex. She saw that he was in his element, at one with the sea. Both were wild, savage, and untamed. Ever restless. She had been able to lull him to calmness, but she could see that without her, he would be lonelier and wilder than ever.
The squall was soon over. It had swept down the North Channel from the Atlantic, then moved on to batter the coast of England.
With one hand still on the wheel, he turned and dragged her up to stand beside him. “Ye little bitch—ye enjoy defying me.”
“Aye,” she said defiantly, and he threw back his head and laughed. Exhilaration still gripped him, but now it was heightened by desire. His arm went about her like a band of steel to anchor her to his side, and he dipped his head to take possession of her mouth. His tongue soon mastered her. “Ye’ve no desire tae be a decent wife, ye much prefer playing mistress.”
“Not your mistress!” she spat.
His pewter eyes brimmed with amusement. “Do ye think I’ve never seen desire in a woman’s eyes before? Yer as hot for me as I am for you.” He spoke with the confidence of a man who is very sure of himself. “Since ye must remove yer wet clothes anyway, will ye hazard a toss wi’ me?”
She was outraged. “Profligate swine! You’ll slake your lust on me today, then pack me off to Doon tomorrow!”
“Doon?” he repeated. “I’ll never let ye go.” The amusement had left his eyes. He was deadly serious. He turned over the wheel to Jock and propelled her belowdecks.
Tina found herself in a tiny paneled cabin. The wardrobe was built in next to the narrow berth, and the only other thing there was room for was a table strewn with charts and instruments. He removed her soggy cloak and set to work on the fastenings of her gown.
“‘Tis ruined,” she said with a shiver.
“Never mind, I’ll keep ye in barbaric luxury,” he promised. Her gown and wet undergarments followed her cloak. She felt the excitement building within her. It was overlong since he’d made love to her, and she acknowledged to herself that she was longing for it.
Ram stripped then trapped her against the paneled wail of the cabin with an arm braced on either side when he saw she would elude him. “I’ve no time for games, just a quick tumble tae show ye who’s master.” He taunted her for the sheer pleasure of seeing her golden eyes blaze and smolder. Her body was chilled from the cold wet garments, and though she wanted to scream a denial, she longed for the touch of his hands, mouth, and body, which always scalded her.
His shaft stood out from his body like a lance, and she was in a fever of need as it nudged her belly, then jerked and bucked as it came into contact with her female flesh. For a man with little time to waste, he was making her wait for the impaling while he watched her pupils dilate and her mouth open with sensuality
She tongued his throat, then when he still did not give her what her body begged for, she bit his shoulders. Any moment she expected him to carry her to the berth, but he did not. His lips touched her ear. “I’m going to take ye standing up.” Her knees went so weak, they almost buckled. The head of his pulsing shaft teased her belly, yet still he did not begin making love to her His hot mouth again whispered into her ear: “Would ye like it right here?”
“Yes!” she cried
“Yes, what?”
“Yes, pleeease!” she begged. Tina could wait no longer. She climbed up his body. He bent his knees slightly so that she could stand on his thighs, then she grasped his marble shaft firmly in the position and angle she desired and slid down onto it until it was seated to the hilt. She cried out from the sheer bliss of the penetration. It felt like a sizzling-hot branding iron. His hands cupped her buttocks to support her as he lifted and plunged her onto his upthrust phallus. His mouth fused over hers, and his tongue thrust with the same rhythm as his sex organ. As his hands cupped her bottom, he was able to touch their bodies where they joined with the tips of his fingers, and the sensations he aroused were so wickedly thrilling, she screamed with excitement. He slowed, thinking he had hurt her, but she wrapped her legs about his back and urged, “Take me! Take me!” She knew not if he was her damnation or salvation. She felt no shame; since he had aroused her to madness, she opened wide so that he could satisfy her body’s needs.
As she rose and fell upon him, she exulted in his moans of helpless pleasure. They were like two savages. She sheathed and unsheathed him; he rammed her like a stallion. They both stiffened violently, their passion naked on their faces. She collapsed upon him as his silken seed filled her to overflowing. He covered her face with kisses before he set her feet to the floor. Then he opened the wardrobe and wrapped her in one of his shirts.
She leaned against the paneling for support, and as he dressed in dry clothes, he paused to kiss her lingeringly, his dark, triumphant, possessive eyes seeing everything, missing nothing. Inside, Tina felt her own triumph for the power she still had over him, that she feared she had lost.
When she joined Ada and Nell clad in only a shirt, she said simply, “We won’t be going to Doon after all.”
