Page 59 of Beyond Dreams

His answering smile, sleepy though it seemed, was a beautiful sight to behold.

“There’s the hand you want to learn by, lass,” he remarked. “Red Moll kens everything about Thallane. Sometimes I suspect she dinna really need me, or Roland, and certainly nae Doirin. I ken she only puts up with us.”

A dash of humor lifted one corner of Holly’s mouth. “Yes, she basically said as much.”

She should have felt shy, or at least unsettled by his stare and her nudity. But she didn’t. Duncan’s steady, appreciative gaze actually made her feel pretty secure. Also, knowing that sitting in the tub would not see her kissed or touched, she marveled at her own boldness as she rose from the bath.

Duncan moved as she did, reaching for the oversized cotton towel as she stepped one foot and then the other outside of the bath. He stepped forward, holding out the towel, swallowing visibly as his gaze roved leisurely over her and with so much devotion she felt as if he had already touched her. She believed herself beautiful in that moment, or at least seductive, and there was a boatload of emotion tied to that, what he was able to make her feel with just his eyes.

His arms and the towel enveloped her, wrapping her up in the soft cotton and his warm embrace. Holly closed her eyes and laid her head against his chest, happy to be right here, right now.

Duncan hands were gentle as he began to rub over her shoulders and down her arms, leaving stray kisses in her hair and on her forehead. Against her hair, he said, “Turn around. Before I become enamored and busied with your front, I should dry your back.”

Holly smiled at this, her stomach fluttering at his words, and planted a kiss against his solid chest before she turned. She felt a little more self-conscious about her backside, wondering if the flickering flames would highlight shadows and imperfections.

Almost immediately, Duncan hissed in a breath.

Before uneasiness assailed her for that noise that sounded seriously upset, he clarified his shock. “Jesu, love. What have you done to your back?”

“My back?” The still-breathing insecure woman in her immediately knew relief. He wasn’t pointing out any cellulite or the shape or size of her ass or anything like that. But... “What’s wrong with my back?”

“’Tis all discolored,” he rasped, clearly unnerved. With the utmost tenderness he caressed his fingers over the small of her back. “Blue and black and purple—bluidy hell, did I do this? Was I—?”

“Oh, no, no, no,” she was quick to correct him, just realizing what he was looking at and speaking of. “No, Duncan. That’s not from you. That’s from when the horse threw me the other day. I landed against a tree.” It was sore and she hadn’t entirely forgotten about it, but similar to her sore wrist, she was mostly reminded of either of her bruises when she did something to bring attention to them, turned the wrong way or lifted something too heavy.

“But you dinna say anything,” he accused, sounding as angry as he did concerned.

“I told you the horse threw me,” she defended. Over her shoulder, she watched as Duncan went onto his knees and gently stroked the towel over the bruise on her back, and then lower, drying her ass and her thighs. “It’s sore, same as your arm and leg and head must be,” she said absently, her voice husky, her body reacting to his touch. “But...it’s just a bruise. It’ll be gone in a few days.”

She closed her eyes when the towel no longer stood between him and her, when his fingers lightly gripped her hips. He pulled her against him and put his mouth to her bruised back, his tenderness divine. He kissed her there and then lower, trailing his lips over the cheeks of her butt while one hand slid between her legs, unerringly finding its target.

She breathed out an aroused sigh and let her head fall back, so quickly lost in his caress. “I’m going to throw myself against another tree tomorrow, Duncan. I’m going to have a nice big bruise all over my front.”

“Dinna you dare,” he commanded softly. “I’ll get around to the front eventually, you ken.”

“God, I hope so.”

Oh, and he did.

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