‘Perhaps you would do well to remember what a bully I am, lass.’ As she struggled, he softened his grip, his mouth inches from hers. Would he kiss her again? He looked as if he wanted to.
‘Get your hands off me,’ she squealed. ‘I’ll not have you, Jasper Glendenning.’
‘I’ll not have a defiant wife.’
‘Then choose another.’
‘No. I choose you, lass, for you have cursed me with a terrible need. And remember that your father and brother must be punished for their disrespect.’
‘Punished? I am no loss to my father.’
He frowned. ‘Why not? You are bonnie.’ He seized her hand. It was rough and red, and she was ashamed. ‘He works you hard, I see. Why would he not feel your loss?’
‘He does not value women.’
‘I do,’ said Jasper, with all sorts of implications she did not want to think about.
Silence fell. Jasper’s heavy breathing filled Rowenna’s senses, and his blue glare duelled with hers. A vein pulsed in his temple. Morag’s words filled her head. ‘Bring him on, then repel him. It will give you power over a man.’
But she had no power as Jasper brought his lips to her and kissed her with surprising tenderness. His stubble rasped against her skin, and it was so male, so strange. Jasper groaned into her mouth, lifting his weight onto his elbows, but Rowenna could still feel the iron bar of his arousal through his braies, pressing into her soft parts. His mouth was warm, and his hair smelled of pine and wood smoke as if he had lain in the woods overnight.
Rowenna lost her mind, her thoughts whirling away from her under his touch, scorched by his mouth and the overwhelming force of his desire as he eased her legs apart with his knee, laying her open. Her limbs were frozen. She had never felt so helpless. Why could she not fight this man? Even when he released his grip on her arms, she did nothing. His hands roamed all over her, but it was as if she floated above her body, looking down on her own violation.
‘You taste so sweet, Rowenna. I am on fire for you, lass,’ he breathed.
‘Please. You should not,’ she whimpered.
‘Not go on, or not stop?’ he breathed.
Her words died in her throat.
‘Forgive me. I cannot help but touch you.’ Jasper buried his face in her hair and sucked in the scent like a dog. ‘God, I have such a need for you.’ His breathing quickened as he kissed herdesperately, frantically, and then he paused. ‘If you tell me to stop, I will, lass, but I would be gentle with you, I swear,’ He swept up her skirt and slid his hot fingers up her thigh.
Rowenna came to her senses. ‘Who is Brenna?’ she said, tearing her mouth from his hot kiss.
Jasper leapt off her as if she was on fire. ‘If you value your safety, never mention that name again.’
She scuttled across the bed away from him. ‘I look like her, which is why I was chosen.’
‘So, you have heard of my humiliation.’ His voice was ice.
‘A little.’
‘Well, here it is, in all its ugliness, so that you may gloat. I was to wed Brenna Curwen, and she spurned me.’
‘Why?’
‘She did not care for me, for I am not the best of men.’
‘You might have won her had you been kind and gentle.’
He sneered. ‘As I might win you?’
‘Aye, for love cannot be forced or bought, Jasper.’
‘Love. What is that but weakness? And there can be no love where there is no heart. Have you not already decided that mine has withered away?’
He outstared her, so Rowenna looked away. ‘She looked like me, didn’t she?’ she said with a pounding heart.
