In Bed With A Stranger(48)

She did…

She wiggled as shock washed over her. It was the truth that she enjoyed the feel of his large body pressing against her.

“I warned ye once, Wife, keep me awake and ye’ll need to entertain me.” There was a hint of teasing in his voice now. His thumb brushed the nipple back and forth as his fingers cradled the soft mound. His cock thickened against her bottom, drawing a shaky breath from her. She tottered on the edge of bliss, not really wanting to think anymore. Especially not when her body felt so good.

Pandora’s box…

“But no more entertaining tonight. I’d be a demanding brute if I pushed ye for more so soon after taking yer innocence.”

She wasn’t so sure that he’d taken anything. He had been bold, entering her chamber in spite of her refusal, but in those moments after he’d joined her, she’d offered as much as he had demanded. Her face burned as she recalled exactly how much she had wanted to be taken. She wriggled, trying to gain some space.

“So now you believe that I am not loose.” Hurt edged her words. His embrace tightened, holding her against his body.

“Aye. It’s nae an uncommon way of proving the issue.”

There was no softness in his tone. But there was a ring of approval that she should have detested. Instead a small smile curved her lips because measuring up to his standards was something she did see the value of. Knowing that he was pleased stroked a portion of her heart, filling her with tender contentment. It was very tempting to lie back against him and savor the moment.

Oh, it was foolish to let the emotion wrap around her. But she couldn’t stop it. Her eyelashes fluttered as she drifted off into slumber, warmer and more content than she could recall. A memory of her mother’s face as she lay against her sire, filling her dreams. Sometime during the night, the face changed to Brodick’s and she snuggled against him, holding onto his arm where it draped across her chest.

A warm hand stroked her shoulder. She muttered in her sleep. It felt quite good, that petting. She lifted her eyelids to discover who was being so motherly towards her.

Her mind snapped to attention when she looked into a man’s eyes. For a second she was confused, stunned by the masculine face. His hair was tossed from the night and there wasn’t a stitch on him. Nothing to shield his body. The early dawn light washed over his hard chest, down across his belly and along his thighs. He stood up, stretching his arms. Her eyes were glued to the sight of his magnificent body. The church would condemn her fascination with his earthly form, but her gaze roamed over him, touching the firm skin.

The sight was magnificent.

He turned, considering her with his midnight eyes. Even in the light of morning they seemed forged out of the night.

“I enjoy the look of ye tumbled in my bed quite a bit.” His attention lowered to her breasts that were bare and uncovered. “Aye, I believe I’ll take to waking up beside ye often.”

She pulled the heavy bedcover over her nude body. He chuckled at her action. She expected him to tease her again but he bent down to retrieve his shirt where it lay on the floor. His kilt was draped over the foot of the bed and half onto the floor, the wide leather belt used for holding it around his waist lying a few feet from the bed. As he shrugged into the creamy linen shirt, she lowered her eyes to look at his cock. It stuck out from his body, the head slightly red. A deep chuckle jerked her attention back to his face. A grin decorated his lips.

“I’ll have to see about making sure ye get a chance to look yer fill at me later.” He shrugged his shoulders into the shirt. It slithered into place, the length of it falling to cover his cock.

“But nae now.”

He scooped up his kilt. Using the end of the bed, he laid it in even pleats over the belt. His hands were confident at the task, telling her that he was not a man who expected service. She might even forget he was a titled man while watching him lean back over the bed. He grasped the ends of the belt and secured it around his lean waist. When he stood, the kilt fell perfectly around his thighs. His self reliance drew her interest. She found him likeable and that frightened her. Fear laced her thoughts as she contemplated a man she could see her heart growing fond of. If he’d been anything like Philipa, she’d have ignored him easily.

“Good morning, mistress.”

Helen’s voice bounced off the chamber walls. She led a string of maids in through the door, not stopping until she was leaning in among the bed curtains. The maid beamed. Helen reached for the heavy bed coverings and tugged them clean to the foot of the bed. Slumber evaporated instantly as Anne grabbed at the edge of the comforter. She flopped over onto her belly as graceless as a newly caught fish, her eyes rounding when the morning air brushed her bare bottom.