"Now that won't do." He pulled her flush against his frame, tight enough to feel his heart beating. His gaze settled onto her mouth as he slipped a hand up the back of her neck to hold her head. "It won't do at all. Kissing my new wife is something I'm nae in the mood to miss."
He touched his mouth to hers again, this time slowly. She twisted in his embrace, too many impulses shooting along her body to understand. The few kisses in her past had been stolen ones and brief. Brodick lingered over her mouth, gently tasting her lips before pressing her jaw to open for a deeper touch. His embrace imprisoned her but not painfully. He seemed to understand his strength perfectly, keeping her against him with exactly enough force, but stopping short of causing her pain.
She shivered as the tip of his tongued glided across her lower lip. Sensation rippled down her spine as she gasped in shock. Never once had she thought that a touch might be so intense. Her hands were flattened against his chest and her fingertips were alive with new desires. Touching him felt good. She opened her fingers wider, letting them smooth over the hard ridges of muscles that his open doublet had allowed her to see. Pleasure moved through her in a slow cloud that left a haze over her mind. Forming thoughts became slow and cumbersome as he teased her upper lip, tasting her.
"Much better."
His eyes were full of male enjoyment now. It was mesmerizing, so much so, she stared at him, forgetting that keeping him at arm's length was in her best interest.
"I see the pair of you dinnae seem to be interested in supper."
Cullen's voice was full of glee. Anne felt her eyes widen in horror. She pushed against the hard chest beneath her fingers. Brodick frowned, a dangerous look entering his eyes. His arms released her a moment later as he turned to glare at his brother.
"You don't look like my manservant."
Cullen smiled like a boy. "You don't have one."
"Oh, but I do, Cullen. Ye see, the man is wise enough to be invisible-like ye should be."
Cullen began walking toward them in spite of the growl in his brother's voice. He winked at her as he drew closer.
"Now is that any way to act in front of the English lass here? She'll be thinking we're uncivilized."
Brodick snorted. Anne stared at him, trying to decide if she'd really heard such a sound from an earl. "Most English think the word Scots means uncivilized."
The earl looked back at her, his words sounding like a challenge. His lips were set in an arrogant expression of enjoyment. The man wasn't sorry about stealing that kiss. Not one bit.
"No one might label you indecisive, that much is for certain." Anne glared at him, unsure if she should be annoyed at him for being so bold or herself for enjoying it.
Cullen laughed his amusement out loud against the darkening night. "Are ye sure ye want to keep her, Brother? I think I like her."
Brodick lifted one dark eyebrow as he clasped his arms over his chest. He looked more formidable than Goliath must have-a mountain of undefeatable muscle and brawn.
"I was working on getting to know her when ye so rudely interrupted."
"Och well, ye can let the lass have some supper before ye get around to consummating yer union ."
Shock slammed into her as she listened to the word "consummate."
"Surely not tonight!" She shook her head, wrapping her arms around her body. "Not here!"
Brodick returned to brooding, suspicion coating his features.
"What reason would ye have for denying me, Wife?"
She was in dangerous waters now, that place that she had fretted about all day. How did she put the man off when he held all the legal right to claim her? Brodick's gaze shifted to her mouth for a moment, and the tender skin on her lips tingled. Her hand rose to cover them as she tried to understand why his kiss had been so pleasurable.
"Ye didn't seem to be minding all that much when I was kissing ye." He stepped closer and she shivered, the damned impulse sending a ripple along her spine in spite of her need to think of a way to avoid his touch.
"Maybe the trail doesn't meet yer standards, my lady." His voice was full of mocking scorn now. The Scot in him was clearly offended that she didn't care for his country. "Perhaps it's too primitive."
"I find your country quite pleasing but there are standards expected and we must make sure to follow traditions." Her mind was working frantically as she held a hand out in front of her. "Yes, traditions."
"I heard ye the first time."
Taking a deep breath she forced her heart to stop racing while she considered her next words. "My lord, I meant no inconvenience; however, I have but one maidenhead and must be careful that it is intact for my husband."
"I am yer husband." He stepped toward her, his arms uncrossing.
Anne held her chin high, refusing to cower. Little David had felled Goliath after all.
"Yet, I have not been inspected and it is possible that after that task is seen to, you may wish to rethink our union ."
A smirk appeared on Brodick's face. "Well lass, that's exactly what I was getting to doing when my brother showed up. I'll be happy to inspect every bit of ye. Personally."
Cullen frowned, his face darkening. It almost looked as though he might be jealous.
"Now that is ludicrous."
"I disagree." The earl was back in full commanding form now. "I believe that inspecting my bride has full merit."
"I'll not be inspected by you."
"And why not?" He glared at her as formidable as she'd always heard Scotsmen were. This was not a man who would bend simply because she told him no.
Anne stiffened. "Because you are not a midwife. What could you possibly know about a woman's body?"
His lips twitched up again as his attention dropped to her chest. Heat snaked along her skin until it touched her breasts behind her stays. Her nipples actually tingled as her lips had done. A sudden picture of him kissing the tip of her breast blossomed inside her mind, sending a torrent of heat through her blood. It was heavy with dark temptation to allow him to do it, to discover if it felt as delightful as his kiss had against her lips.
"I assure ye I know a great deal about the gentle sex."
A flame of jealousy touched her as she listened to the mocking tone of his voice.
He has a mistress for sure …
Philipa's words rose from her memory as she raised her chin stubbornly, determined to not allow herself to be used without a struggle.
"Lust has no bearing on a woman's fertility. Inspection of a bride is done by a senior midwife and sometimes the groom's mother, but it is not something to be mocked, sir. I might spend tonight as your leman and find myself on my way back to my father at sunrise with no one to defend me."
She moved a few paces up the hillside, toward the camp and its many pairs of eyes to offer her sanctuary.
"Yer mother should have seen to having ye inspected."
"It is customary for the groom's family to choose the midwife. Everyone knows that. You could easily refute my mother's midwife." It was a tradition that went back for centuries. She should have recalled it sooner. When a woman was married by proxy, her dowry was legally in the hands of her husband's family. If he sent her back to her father, it might take years to fight through the legal system to regain the monies and lands. By the time the battle was over, the discarded bride was often too old to marry and ended her days a pauper, dependent upon her relatives for everything.
The tradition of inspection protected a woman because if a senior midwife pronounced her fertile and strong, there was no court that might annul the marriage. In a world run by men, it was a woman's saving grace when fate took babes to death early or worse still, a bride failed to conceive. Some midwives even boldly suggested that some men might be sterile. Such a charge was rejected among men of course but midwives still maintained their authority on the subject of whether or not a woman's hips and womb were correct for bearing children.
"Inspection before consummation is custom in both our countries."
Brodick's expression darkened. Clearly the man was not accustomed to having someone else upset his plans. Anne stood tall, facing his displeasure. It was something she was going to have to become familiar with. Becoming compliant would land her on her back in his bed.
"Now I know I like her." Cullen sounded gleeful, exactly like a younger brother teasing his older sibling. The only thing missing was a governess chasing after him, to tug on his ear.
"With family like ye, I dinnae need enemies."
Cullen didn't flinch under the force of Brodick's words, instead he grinned. But the earl stared at her, trying to buckle her under his fierce displeasure.