Bryce slid the shift off her shoulders to land in a puddle of cream at her feet, and she stood naked before him. There was no hiding with Maren, no bashful attempt to cover herself and simper and act coy. Maren had a woman’s body, curvy and firm, all long slender legs and ripe flesh. She stared him out, challenging him with her beauty. A fierce desire burned in his loins, but this time, he was going to take things slowly and gain her trust.
They fell into bed, a tangle of blankets and limbs, and he slid his hand between her legs and his tongue inside her mouth. Soon, her soft moans filled the chamber, and as the sun blazed through the shutters, Bryce gently spread her legs wide and took his time sliding inside her welcoming body. Then it was just a matter of holding back with all he was worth and keeping Maren at the brink of ecstasy for as long as he could. When she clung to him and cried out his name, Bryce almost lost control and plunged deep inside her. Instead, with a curse, he rolled off her and spent his lust into his hand.
They lay side by side, panting at the ceiling as the sun grew stronger and the day warmed up. Soft words he longed to say hung between them like a cloud of midges on a summer’s day.
‘Does it spoil it for you, stopping, I mean?’ she said quietly into the silence.
‘A little, aye. But it is still the greatest pleasure a man can have in this life.’ He turned and favoured her with a smile. ‘Do not fash over it. You are right. I should not get you with child. We can have this and enjoy each other without that vexation.’
She put a hand to his forehead and swept back a lock of his hair. ‘While we are together.’
‘Aye,’ he breathed. ‘While we are together.’
His heart sank a little at her words, and the joy seeped out of the morning. Bryce wanted to ask, ‘How long will you be mine?’ but he would not show that weakness. Maren would not be held. Would he wake one day to find her gone and his heart in shreds? Bryce frowned and chided himself for his foolishness. How could he have let desire and tenderness disrupt his selfish life?
‘I must be up and about my business,’ he said suddenly, eager to be away from Maren’s intoxicating charms and to clear his head of his unwelcome infatuation.
‘Where are you going?’ she said.
‘To Raigmoor to talk to Callum. We must devise a plan to deal with the vermin preying on our tenants. I am heartily sick of this Baron fellow, and I mean to put an end to him.
Maren sat up, clutching the bed linen to her chest and watching while he got dressed. Did she like what she saw? Did he please her? He hoped so, for lying with Maren McEwen was the most delicious and lustful experience of his life. He craved her moist pink flesh to the point of obsession, and he almost took her back to bed.
‘You will take care, won’t you?’ she said. Her eyes were wide, and he fancied they were shining with unshed tears. Bryce had thought her sturdy and hard, but the finding of the corpse seemed to have affected her most grievously. No, he could not go back to bed. He had more pressing matters to deal with than sinking his cock between her smooth thighs.
‘If this Baron is the monster folk say he is, are you not in danger riding out alone?’ she said.
Guilt stabbed at him for taking advantage of Maren when she was fearful and shocked, but then didn’t he always go in for the kill at the scent of blood like the dog he was? There had been a certain sadness and despair in the way she clung to him, and he had taken advantage of it.
‘Oh, do not fash. I can look out for myself, lass, and I will be home soon enough. I am taking my father with me so you won’t have to watch what you say around him. So stay abed and rally your strength because, when I return, you will need it.’ He leaned over and kissed her on the top of the head and left the chamber before he could change his mind about having her again.
Once outside in the yard, under a bright sky, he found that his father had already left Penhallion early and was nowhere to be found. Bryce quickly saddled a horse and was halfway to Raigmoor before he realised he had forgotten to tell Maren that his father might return. Well, she had a nimble mind and a talent for lying. Maren could certainly handle one old man.
***
Maren stretched her arms above her head languidly like a cat, not quite knowing how to feel this rare, sunny morning. Her smug sense of satisfaction was tempered by the knowledge that danger lurked outside Penhallion’s walls waiting to gobble her up in its jaws. Well, to hell with it. She would not venture out. She would stay in her chamber, safe and cosy, in this bed still warm from Bryce’s lovemaking.
Well, perhaps not lovemaking. Lust, more like. She pressed the blankets to her nose. They still bore his manly, virile smell, and a stab of longing shot to her loins, making its drumbeat of lust thump between her legs. Goodness, Bryce was a beautiful man and having him inside her had been the pleasure of her life. Who knew that lying with a man could be such bittersweet bliss. Their first coupling had so passionate as to be almost violent. But the second time, when he had been slow and gentle, all stroking hands and coaxing lips, caressing, licking, teasing her at the edge of release for the longest time, Maren had sensed a joining of minds and souls. Deep down, she knew she had given part of herself away to him.
Dimwit. Bryce was not hers, and he did not love her. He was like one of the huge majestic stags who roamed the glens, holding court over his harem of hinds. She was just one of many, a diversion, a passing fancy, nothing more.
She smiled to herself. Aye, lying with Bryce Cullan could never be a surrender to affection and love on her part, more like a means to get her way and solidify her position. She had to keep Bryce on the hook to stay safe. Survival was all that mattered. It was the only thing that had ever mattered.
Worn out, Maren slipped back into a fitful sleep where her thoughts tumbled over one another – prison walls rank with damp, a ship surging over rough seas, the rasp of a beard against her chin and her legs falling open, her breath catching as Bryce’s body filled hers. And there was a pleasure so deep and full that she grabbed it desperately as it faded. But it rushed away, and in its place, a dark face rose before her, black-eyed, cunning and merciless. Then, it smiled, and there was nothing but a black gape, and everything went dark, and she was falling.
Maren woke with a start and an ache in her chest. When her breathing slowed, and her hands stopped shaking, she rose and took up a clean shift and pulled on a dress over it. Twirling her hair into an unruly bun, she stood before a mirror. The smoky glass reflected an image of a fine young lady clad in soft, rose pink linen with a solemn expression and dark rings beneath her eyes. That woman was a stranger.
Maren went downstairs in search of food and company. She had to see another soul before she went mad. Rushing along the corridor she barged straight into Jasper Cullan. He took hold of her.
‘What on earth is the matter, lass. Is someone chasing you?’
‘No,’ she said breathlessly with a smile. ‘I have come in search of breakfast.’
‘Well, you must have quite the appetite to be in such haste. Does my son not see you fed, lass?’
He smiled, and Maren relaxed a little at his teasing. Jasper Cullan had an air of ease and charm to spare, and after her nightmare, she was glad of his company, despite his not trusting her.
‘Where is Bryce?’ he continued. ‘I shall chide him on this matter.’
