‘I have my spies everywhere, and I watch you, Lowri. You must know that.’
The thought of Butcher spying on her made her skin crawl. Had he seen Cullen taking her in the fields, or by that church, the last time they were in Larne?
‘Do not fear me, lass. I watch you only because I want you. I see you, lass, and not just your beauty, but that wild soul,yearning to be free, your passion for life, which is only matched by your unhappiness. It is a torment not having you, a tearing kind of desire that I will do anything to satisfy. Can you not see it in my eyes? They speak the truth.’
Indeed, there was a longing there which seemed sincere.
‘I know Cullen has a terrible hold over you, but what he doesn’t know can’t wound him, or harm your cause to find your freedom. What does it matter who gets you with child as long as it frees you? And it will be our secret. You will always know what he does not.’
‘And will you keep that secret?’
‘Of course. I can be relied upon to keep my mouth shut.’
The sincerity in Butcher’s eyes hardened to desire. ‘Just lie down with me. I can put a bairn in your belly to satisfy Griffin Macaulay.’
‘I’m not in the business of satisfying him.’
‘Then satisfy me instead, lass,’ he said seductively, pulling Lowri against him.
‘Cullen no longer has a hold over me,’ said Lowri, knowing she was encouraging Butcher, but Cullen’s deception about Donnan filled her heart with hate.
‘So you no longer care about your friends?’
She did not answer him. ‘I can do as I please, Butcher. Leave this place if I want to. I just need someone to take me back to Scotland.’
‘Ah, you don’t want to be doing that. Why not stay and keep me company and get your revenge on Cullen for all the weeks he’s kept you a prisoner of your conscience?’
‘Yet I fear you don’t have a conscience.’
‘I am not so burdened. You are right. It is the only way to live this life, free, sucking in my fill of pleasure and adventure. Don’t you want that too, lass?’
She could do this and pay Cullen back for his treachery. There was no longer any need for a bairn to come to free her so-called friends. Her only purpose in letting Butcher have her was to hurt Cullen, and once she let Butcher inside her body, Cullen would never forgive her. And Butcher was sure to tell him, to humiliate him and prove he had the upper hand. The man was a sight to behold. It would be no chore, and why should she not?
Butcher’s full mouth inched towards hers. Lowri’s heart fluttered at the smell of him, the heat coming off his body where it pressed to her belly. He did not break his gaze as his strong arms gripped tighter.
‘Butcher, I need money for the crossing to Scotland and a horse when I get there,’ she said.’
‘And what will you do for me in return, beautiful one?’ he growled, leaning in.
‘My brother will pay you back, tenfold, when I am home safe.’
‘That’s not nearly enough.’
His lips met hers. Butcher’s kiss was unexpectedly gentle, his lips gliding over Lowri’s in a smooth, practised way, his arousal evident in the iron bar pressing into her. He moaned his lust into her mouth. But she felt nothing, just mild embarrassment. Lowri tried to hang on to her resentment of Cullen. She slid her hands up Butcher’s arms and around his neck, pulling him in, but she felt like a whore going through the motions of passion. With Cullen, that passion bubbled up inside her like a fountain, uncontrollable and natural. It was a hunger, a scorching need.
Butcher deepened his kiss, steering her over to the bed, hands roaming into her bodice – hurried, grasping, pinching her nipples. ‘Does that rouse you? Do you like it rough or gentle? You are so beautiful, Lowri. I have wanted you for so long,’ he breathed.
But he was all rush – greedy, grabbing. Butcher didn’t smell right, his mouth was all wrong, his touch mechanical. She was a doll in his hands, to be posed and played with. Lowri pushed him back. ‘Why do you want me?’
‘Why does any man want a woman? I feel my desire for you deep in my loins. Your soul calls to mine, for it is wild like mine.’
‘I want your word, you will take me home.’
‘I’ll take you anywhere and any way you like.’
Lowri wanted to laugh at the absurdity of his words, his utter lack of sincerity, so she kissed him back to cover it up. His mouth went to her neck. When Cullen kissed her there, her skin stiffened with goosebumps, and her loins flooded with heat. With this man, there was nothing, just mild impatience and revulsion at the wet streak his lips left.
Butcher’s practised charm was not stirring. It was grating. Cullen didn’t say sweet things. He just did them. He didn’t tell her she was beautiful, because he didn’t have to. He just made her feel that way. He may grunt at her instead of spouting flattery, but they communicated in other ways, sensual ways.
