When he deepened his kiss, that warmth spread within her, destroying her ability to deny him and feeding her own desire.Melissande was aware of every fiber of her being; she tingled from head to toe; she burned for more of whatever he might give.She found herself pressing herself against his strength, her eyes closed in pleasure.His fingers fanned out against the back of her waist, holding her captive to the pleasure he was determined to give.When her own fingers slid into his hair, pulling him closer, she realized her folly.
He was trying to disarm her.
He succeeded with great haste.
She would be valued for her beauty and her womb, for her ability to give him sons—if indeed she could—while her wits and skill would be ignored.
He would train her, claim all she possessed, and discard her.
Then he would sacrifice Annossy to Sayerne.
“Nay!”Melissande tore her lips from Quinn’s and laid her hands flat on his chest to push him away.
He obediently retreated, though he watched her closely.
“We are not wed yet, sir,” she repeated, hearing the tremble in her voice.She felt rumpled and flustered as she never had before.Her skin was flushed and she knew that her cheeks were stained crimson.Her lips throbbed and she felt a new heat in the depths of her belly.
“Yet I find more promise in our union than earlier,” he replied, his voice a low rumble.His eyes glinted and again, she was treacherously close to be being beguiled.
Melissande shook her head, her fear rising.How could she forget what she knew of his kin?She wagged one finger at him.“You will beat me, as your father beat his women.”
Quinn shook his head with reassuring resolve and propped his hands on his hips.“I told you that we two were different,” he said with such conviction that even she was tempted to believe him.There was something about this man that made his pledges weighty.“I will never lay a hand upon you in violence.I will never compel you to welcome me to your bed.”
Did he speak the truth, or was she a fool to give his words any credit at all?
He was resolute, to be sure.
What did she know for certain?That he loved Sayerne as much as she loved Annossy.And in that was the trouble.Melissande did not wager that Quinn’s objectives would be readily put aside, for any reason.
“Even if I deny you this night?”
“I hope you will not,” he said solemnly, his gaze locked with hers.“For it will cost us both dearly.”
Melissande exhaled at the truth in that.
Then he smiled crookedly and reached to brush a finger gently across her cheek.“Be warned, my lady.I reserve the right to attempt to convince you to welcome me.”
Again, there was a playfulness in his manner, one that disarmed her for its unexpectedness.And that intimate rumble of his voice when he murmured.God in Heaven, the sound heated her to her toes!Melissande struggled against the sense that she could rely upon Quinn, knowing full well that he was manipulating her.
And with ease.
She was a fool.Surely she could not abandon her suspicions that he was behind the raids on Annossy as readily as that?She would not have put it past Jerome to have arranged such attacks in order to see his goal achieved.
What of his son?
A year’s ride from Palestine?What if he had been returned for a month or two, yet had not declared his presence before?
“Nay, you will not,” she said.“Indeed, I must have your pledge before we wed this day.”
“What pledge?”he asked warily.
“I may be compelled to marry you, and I may be compelled to welcome you this night, but after this night, you will come to my bed only if you are invited.You said yourself that you would not force yourself upon me.”
Quinn’s voice dropped and already Melissande knew him well enough to be warned that his temper was thinning.“I do not intend to lose my estate,” he said.“Remember that Annossy also hangs in the balance, my lady.”
“I have already agreed to the consummation of our match, but that will be the sum of our intimacy, until I so choose.”
“Ever after you would deny me?”
