Captured by a Laird (12 page)

The walls she had erected to protect herself cracked and let in a thin ray of hope.

“For what it’s worth,” he said, “I didn’t feel I had a choice about this marriage either.”

She sighed inwardly. Men made decisions and pretended it was fate. Of course he could have let her go.

“But from the first moment I saw ye,” he said, “I wanted ye.”

Her skin grew hot as his dark gaze swept over her.

“I’ll seduce ye,” he said, and dragged his thumb across her bottom lip, “because pleasuring ye will give me pleasure.”

“I believe”—she paused to clear her throat—”that it is your pride that requires it.”

“That too,” he admitted, and a smile curved his full lips as he leaned closer.

That smile disarmed her and was quite unfair. But it was nothing to the kiss that followed. Instead of grabbing and prodding at her, he enfolded her in his arms and kissed her as if he wanted to do it forever.

She had never experienced anything as sensuous as his kisses. Though they remained unhurried, they grew deeper and longer, his tongue moving against hers in a magical rhythm. She felt as if she was falling into a dream—but she was abruptly awakened from it by his erection jutting against her thigh.

She broke the kiss and turned her head. Although the beginning was far more pleasant than with Blackadder, it would end the same.

She reminded herself that Wedderburn was using his slow kisses, gentle touches, and comforting embrace to win her compliance and assuage his guilt. The desire he evoked in her was as unwelcome as it was unexpected. It would only make the disappointment harder to bear.

“What is it, Alison?”

It almost made her weep to hear him say her name. Blackadder never did when he used her in bed.

Wedderburn kissed her forehead and held her close. “I didn’t mean to frighten ye again.”

“Ye didn’t.”

“Then tell me what is wrong,” he said. “One moment we’re in a fever, and the next ye lie stiff in my arms.”

She was not sure she could explain it—or if she should. But his continued silence told her he was waiting for an explanation.

“To Blackadder—” She felt him tense at the mention of the name and stopped speaking.

“Go on,” he said.

“To him, I was simply a body to slake his lust,” she said, feeling foolish. When Wedderburn did not laugh or chide her, more words tumbled out. “I was a possession he had a right to use, a woman with no feelings that mattered.”

Wedderburn still did not speak.

“I don’t want to feel like that again,” she said in a whisper.

Wedderburn’s eyes were dark with a violent emotion, but his hands were gentle as he held her face.

“You’ll never be just any woman to me,” he said. “I want to know you, Alison Douglas.”

***

David watched her face for signs of alarm as he pressed his lips to her palm. Despite what she said, he did not believe for a moment that she trusted him enough to tell him if he frightened her. He cursed himself for falling on her like an animal earlier. He would not forget himself again.

Besides being a betraying weasel and a royal arse-licker, Blackadder had been an utter fool when it came to this lass. Alison was as sweet and delicate as a ripe peach, and Blackadder had trod on her like a loose bull in the garden. David was determined not to make the same mistake. Though he wanted her past bearing, he must first persuade her that she had nothing to fear from him—at least not in bed.

He had a choice to make. If she were a virgin bride, it would be necessary to show blood on the sheets as proof that they were irrevocably wed. But she was a widow, and no man who looked at her would believe David had waited.

His gaze fell to her parted red lips, and his entire body ached with need. Lord above, he wanted her more than any lass he had ever wanted before. But he was a man who had learned to look beyond his immediate wants, to be patient and plan his moves carefully to gain the larger goal, to attain the greater success.

His cock was painfully hard, and he wanted her hand around it. Or better yet, to thrust it deep inside her. Instead, he drew in a deep breath and accepted that he would not have everything he wanted from her just yet.

“We’ll not consummate our marriage this night,” he said, his gaze fixed on hers, “but I shall make ye mine.”

“I don’t understand,” she stammered.

“Ye will, lass,” he said. “Ye will.”

CHAPTER 14

“I’m going to take my time,” Wedderburn said. “Ye will enjoy it.”

That sounded like a command. Did he really think she would take pleasure in this just because he ordered her to? The man’s arrogance was boundless.

He tugged on the tie at the top of her shift until the bow came loose and the shift fell open, revealing a narrow V of skin down the middle of her chest. He leaned over and blew on the bare skin in the gap, a surprisingly pleasant sensation that sent a shiver of awareness through her. When his lips followed, making a soft, tantalizing trail between her breasts, she began to suspect his arrogance was justified.

“You’re seducing me now?” she asked.

“Aye,” he said with a smile in his voice.

He continued pressing light kisses between her breasts, while running his hand up and down her side. His fingers brushed the side of her breast, and she waited, not breathing, for him to do it again. The next time, he covered her breast with his hand, and his breathing changed. She suspected this signaled that the gentle seduction was over.

Instead, he rubbed his thumb over her nipple, sending darts of pleasure through her. When she felt moist heat on her breast through her shift, she lifted her head and saw that his mouth had replaced his hand.
Heavens
. She let her head fall back. Whatever he was doing felt good.

When he stopped, she stifled a groan.

“Let’s slip this off,” he said, inching the hem of her nightgown up her thigh.

Her breathing grew shallow as his hand slid up her bare thigh, then hitched when he gripped her hip. He eased his hold at once and cast a worried glance at her face. What he saw there must have reassured him. She caught the satisfied glint in his eye before he pulled her up and gave her a long, lingering kiss.

The kiss distracter her, and the next thing she knew he’d pulled her shift over her head and she was naked. She saw him swallow hard as he stared at her. Without uttering a word, he eased her onto her back.

When she reached for the bedclothes to cover herself, he gripped her wrist and shook his head. She felt awkward as his eyes traveled slowly over her nakedness. But when his gaze returned to hers, the heat in his burned her embarrassment away like mist under the hot sun.

“Ach, you’re perfect,” he breathed.

He shuddered, and she sensed he was fighting a battle with himself. Wild, confusing emotions ran through her. Without knowing what she wanted from him, she reached out to him and said his name.

“David.”

He groaned and pressed her into the bed, bracing his weight on his elbows, and his mouth was on hers, hot and demanding, as if he wanted to devour her. He was holding her so tightly she could barely breathe. These kisses were not like the ones before, but hungry, open-mouthed kisses, full of darkness and danger.

She never wanted him to stop.

He broke away and abruptly rolled off her. Her skin prickled as the cold air hit it.

She starred up at the ceiling, too stunned to move, and waited for him to start shouting at her. She had no idea what she had done wrong.

***

Alison’s worried expression confirmed his fear that he had been too rough.

“I’m sorry.” Was he always going to be apologizing to her?

If he did not learn to control his passion, he would batter this fragile flower. She was so delicate-boned that, even naked, she looked refined. He thought of Gelis, his mistress back at Hume Castle, with her wide hips, full breasts, and strong legs. He had never worried about hurting her in bed. But it felt wrong to think of another woman while he was holding this angel in his arms.

He swallowed when he looked at Alison’s breasts. They were small and perfectly shaped, just like the rest of her. What had ever made him think he preferred large-breasted women? Her nipples were hard, begging to be touched.

He kissed her, taking care this time to hold his hunger in check, even when she slipped her hand around his neck. He gently played with her nipples until he drew little high-pitched sounds from her throat that were gratifying but tested his resolve.

He broke the kiss so he could look into her eyes while he dragged his fingers up the inside of her thigh. Her breathing grew shallow as he moved his hand in slow circles, each time drawing closer to his goal. When he brushed her curls, she startled. Then he cupped her, and her eyes went wide.

Oh Jesu
, she was already hot and wet for him. When he ran his finger over her damp heat, she sucked in a sharp breath.

“What are ye doing?” she asked.

“I want ye to find your release,” he said in her ear.

“My what?”

He thought about that for a long moment. “Have ye never found pleasure in a man’s arms before?”

She shook her head.

Was it possible? Ten years married, and not once? It pleased him that in this, at least, he would be her first.

When he began stroking her again, she tried to squirm away, but he held her in place and kissed her. The lass liked to be kissed, and he took full advantage of it. As their tongues moved together in a slow, sensuous dance, her resistance melted like butter in a hot pan. Before long, she sank her fingers into his hair and pulled him closer.

“Tell me this feels good to ye,” he said as he kissed the side of her face.

“Mmmm.” Her breathing was uneven, and her eyes unfocused.

She shivered when he kissed the peak of each breast. He circled and flicked his tongue, coaxing her nipple, until she arched her back in silent invitation. When he drew her breast into his mouth, he closed his eyes against a rising tide of desire that threatened to pull him under.

He felt her fingers, tentative and light, touch his hair, so far from the violent lust he felt for her. Wanting more from her, he scraped his teeth over her nipple and was rewarded when her hands fisted in his hair. He suckled her breast, relentless in his need, until she moaned and tossed her head side to side. His hand was still between her legs, stroking and circling, as he moved up to kiss her throat and her face.

She was unbearably beautiful like this, with her lips parted and her chest rising and falling in shallow breaths. Her nipples were rosy and taut. When he rubbed his rough thumb over one, she nearly came off the bed. She was close, so close.

“Do this for me, my pretty lass,” he whispered.

He clenched his jaw until it ached to keep himself from lying on top of her to share that exquisite moment, to feel her body clench around him as he plunged into her again and again.

“Please…please,” she murmured.

Despite the desperation in her voice, he sensed her resistance.

“Trust me, sweet Alison. Trust me.”

He buried his face in her neck as her body convulsed.

As her breathing gradually slowed, he wrapped her in his arms, wanting her so badly he shook. He squeezed his eyes shut as he imagined being enveloped in her liquid heat as she cried out his name. He knew if he entered her now, he could send her over the edge a second time. Aye, he could do it, and she would not resist.

But he had given her his word that he would not. He drew in ragged breaths until his heart stopped racing.

“Is this your way of bringing me under your power?” she asked, a sleepy smile curving her lips, which were still rosy from their kisses.

“Aye.”

She laughed, a light, musical sound that he had not heard before but already wanted to hear again. Then she looked at him with eyes that were soft and liquid, and his heart clenched.

Ach, he was the one in danger here, not her.

He made himself get out of the bed and leave her.

CHAPTER 15

David lay awake staring at the ceiling and wondering what kind of fool he was. He was lying on the hard floor of the former laird’s bed-less chamber, while the lass who drove him senseless with lust lay in their bed in the chamber above him. If that did not make him a fool, then believing she had never found pleasure with a man before probably did.

Had she lied to him about that? Women knew how to play on a man’s pride. He found it difficult to believe her when he remembered how she had kissed him back and how slick and hot she had been under his hand.
Ach
, he was hard as a rock again. He would never sleep.

Without even asking, she had somehow managed to persuade him not to take her on their damned wedding night. Was it all a farce to avoid the risk of conceiving a child before her Douglas clan could rescue her? Her brothers’ disgraceful letter should have convinced her to give up hope of that, but he understood that disloyalty was a bitter potion to swallow.

He recalled the last line of the letter:
Do not underestimate the power of a pretty and clever lass to bend a man’s will.
Was that what she had
done?

He was still awake when the gray light of pre-dawn filtered through the narrow window and someone knocked on the chamber door. Out of habit, he sprang to his feet with his dirk in his hand, then he lit the lamp and donned his breeks.

When he opened the door and saw Robbie and Alison, he swallowed a curse. What in the hell was Alison doing wandering around the castle in her nightclothes with his brother? She had a wrapped a plaid around her shoulders but her feet were bare. The lass could catch her death of cold. He stepped back to allow them to come in.

“I came looking for ye upstairs,” Robbie said, “but Lady Alison said ye weren’t with her.”

He looked at his wife again. By the saints, she was lovely with her hair loose and tangled from sleep. He could smell the faint scent of lavender on her skin from where he stood.

“Why are ye sleeping here?” Robbie asked, his gaze dropping to David’s plaid on the floor.