Page 79 of The Lyon and the Unicorn
“And me?” Murdo asked. “Do ye trust me?”
Ye fool! Ye need toshowher ye can be trusted, not demand her trust like a belligerent bairn.
She sighed and rose to her feet.
“Why don’t ye explore for a bit, lass?” he suggested.
“On my own?”
He nodded. “Then ye can discover the wonders of the place for yerself. But ye must promise to take care by the waterfall. The rocks are slippery by the water.”
She arched an eyebrow, and he raised his hand in appeasement.
“I know ye’re at home in the wild, lass, but it would break my heart if ye came to harm.”
Her expression softened, then she turned and circled the water’s edge, picking her way over the rocks that grew denser toward the waterfall.
“Buck, take care of yer mistress,” Murdo said, and the dog trotted after her.
Intelligent beast. Buck knew whom to trust, whom to fear…and who needed a friend.
By the timeClara returned, Murdo had set out the plaid blanket and the food he’d brought.
“Well, Buck,” she said, “we neither of us believed amancapable of preparing a meal.”
“I can feed myself, lass,” Murdo said, patting the blanket, his manhood stirring with want as she sat beside him. “And, if ye remember, I can feed ye also.”
He caught the curve of her lips.
“A smile!” he teased. “Buck, what do ye think yer mistress is telling us when she smiles? That she approves of her husband?”
She turned her gaze to the loch.
“Tell your master, Buck,” she said, “that he knows full well he has no need of his wife’s approval, given that she’s his to do with what he likes, whether she wishes it or not.”
Devil’s ballocks. Was there no pleasing her?
Aye, there was—she softened at the point of dissolution when he claimed her body in bed.
He rose to his feet and began undoing his belt.
“What are you doing?” she asked, eyes widening.
“Bathing,” he said. “Ye recall what I said about bathing in the loch?”
This time, her eyes flared with desire.
Aye, she remembered.
“Shouldn’t we eat first?”
“The loch’s so cold that the meal will lie heavy on ye,” he said. “We can take our meal as a reward for braving the water.”
She glanced at the water’s surface, the ripples flashing in the sunlight. “It looks warm enough.”
“Wait until ye dive in,” he said, pulling off his plaid, his body already tightening in anticipation of the feel of the water against his skin. Then he shed the rest of his garments until he stood, naked, before her.
His pride swelled at the raw desire in her eyes. Many a woman had admired his body, screamed with ecstasy as he took them. But he only wanted one woman now, the woman before him who exuded raw, primal desire, no matter how hard she tried to conceal it.
