‘So, she is a trophy,’ said Maren angrily.
‘No. Tara is kind and gentle, which Callum needs in his life. He has always been a man of simple pleasures, unlike me.’
‘You prefer unkind, ugly women then?’
‘No. I prefer you,’ said Bryce, and it was as if all the air had been sucked out of the chamber when Maren saw the look of desire burning in his eyes.
She tried to deflect him. ‘You must admire the lass, Bryce, for she is breathtaking.’
‘Do you think?’ He frowned. ‘I don’t suppose I ever thought about her in that way because Callum was fast in love with her from the first moment he met her.’
‘So are you saying that you stepped aside for the sake of friendship, Bryce?’
Bryce folded his arms and gave her a quizzical look. ‘My, you do ask a lot of questions about Tara Ross. One would almost think you were jealous, my love.’
‘And one might almost think you are hiding something, Bryce Cullan, and I am not your love.’ Maren squirmed inside. Bryce was right, and she was a fool.
He moved closer, invading her space and her attempt at indifference. ‘I hide nothing, Maren. I am fond of Tara. She has made my good friend the happiest of men. But I can assure you, she holds no appeal for me beyond friendship’
‘If she is gentle, beautiful and kind, she would appear to be a perfect woman in most men’s eyes.’
‘Aye, but not mine. I like a challenge, a woman who tests me.’
‘You like the chase, is all. You want to win and to come out on top.’
‘I don’t mind if the lass is on top now and again,’ he said in that smirking way of his. Maren glowered at him, but he winked at her, and she could not help but laugh at his sauciness.
‘Always led by your manhood, you fool. Have you not had your fill of pleasure, Bryce? Do you not yearn for love?’
‘Do I wish to throw my heart at some poor fool and promise to love her forever, thereby dooming her to a life of relentless disappointment?’ he scoffed. ‘No, I am kinder and more honest than that.’
‘I don’t think there is anything honest about you,’ said Maren. ‘Tell me about these sinful escapades Fenella referred to.’
Bryce’s face grew hard, and his hands fisted at his sides. All the good humour seeped from his voice. ‘Nothing to tell, so don’t go digging. Whatever I did is in the past, and I have atoned for it as best I can.’
The past. Had she atoned? Suddenly it was as if someone had stepped on her grave again, for a shudder ripped through her as if she were lying in that musty gloom beset by worms and crawling things, with no way out.
‘What is it?’ said Bryce.
‘I felt death. It stalks me, always. I am only ever one step ahead of it, Bryce.’
He grabbed her arms. ‘Hush. What is this? You had a fright today, lass. But I am here, and so you are safe.’
‘I am never safe. So many times, I thought I had a happy future stretching before me and I would rally and build a life. And each time, that life was taken away from me.’
‘Life is too short to think of the future. You must relish what you have now. Suck the marrow out of life before it is too late.’
His face changed, softening to the point where Maren almost believed he could be a saviour of sorts. Her heart almost opened to Bryce Cullan as he pulled her to him. She had no means of resisting his kiss when it came - gentle and tender and hopeful. Instead, she melted against his broad chest and coiled her fingers into the bright hair tangling over the nape of his neck. Maren breathed in his manly scent, revelled in the taste of his lips sliding so expertly over her own.
Expertly. There had been many before her, no doubt about it. Bryce’s kiss was delicious, practised, meant to ensnare a woman and leave her breathless with longing, the blood pounding hot in her veins, making her his for the taking. Who wouldn’t succumb when Bryce Cullan had his hands on them? Aye, many eager, naive lasses had come before her, and many would come after.
If she let him, Bryce Cullan would plunder her body and leave her heart in shreds, and he would do it with a smile so that she ran happily to her ruin and degradation.
‘No,’ she said, pushing him away. ‘I will not fall for your trickery - pretending to care for me when you do not.’
He caught her wrist as she walked off. ‘Tis no trick, lass. I am in earnest. I would protect you if you let me.’
‘For a while, perhaps.’
