“There is no reason for anyone to know what just happened,” she said softly.
His jaw clenched angrily, his eyes darkening to midnight. He ground out each word. “I will know.” His eyes scanned over her as if he were remembering every moment. An unmistakable thrill spread over her skin. “You gave yourself to me, Margaret, and if you think I’ll pretend it didn’t happen, you don’t know me very well.”
She didn’t. That was part of the problem.
The dangerous glint in his eye made her shudder. Had she not been backed against a wall already, she might have taken a step back. But she wouldn’t let him intimidate her. “You do not need to fall on your sword for the sake of my reputation, Eoin. I’m afraid it’s rather too late for that. Marrying me won’t change what they think.”
His eyes narrowed. Holy cross, he could look menacing!
“That isn’t what I’m doing.”
“Isn’t it? I’m strong enough to weather the storm; I will not let them defeat me so easily. I don’t care what they say. I know the truth.” She gave him a wry smile. “Believe it or not, at home people actuallylikeme.”
He held her gaze for so long she didn’t think he was going to say anything. But as usual, his expression held no hint of his thoughts. “I believe it. And that’s why I want to marry you.”
It took her a moment to realize what he meant. When she finally did, it felt like the sun had just broken out from behind a cloud. “You care for me.”
He drew her up against him. “Aye, I care about you, lass.”
The deep, rough huskiness of his voice sent tiny shivers racing across her skin. She looped her hands around his neck as if they belonged there. “I care about you, too.”
As his hands already were moving possessively over her body, clearly he’d guessed as much.
“Good. Now, if you are finished with your questions, you have about five seconds to give me an answer before I carry you over to that bed. You can be my wife the second time I’m inside you or the third, but either way, I will be inside you, and you will be my wife.”
Her eyes widened. This was a fierce, primitive side of him she’d never seen before, and something about it made her pulse quicken and her blood heat. Or maybe that was the feeling of him hard against her.
She arched a brow. “Is that the way of it, then?”
“It is.” His hand was on her breast. She sucked in her breath as his thumb circled over the crest of her nipple. When he’d made it hard, he drew it between his fingers and gently pinched. She gasped as pleasure flooded her senses—and flooded somewhere else as well. She trembled with pleasure.
“And, Maggie?” His mouth was by her ear, his warm breath and silky tongue making her shudder.
She was in such a sensual daze it took her a moment to realize he was talking to her. “What?”
He lifted her up into his arms. “Your five seconds are over.”
9
EOIN DIDN’T KNOWwhat had come over him, except that he knew he wasn’t going to leave here without Margaret MacDowell as his wife.
The lass did something to him—besides turning him into a lust-crazed lad, that is. She brought out a fierce, possessive side of himself that he’d never exhibited before. He wasn’t sure he liked it, and it sure as hell wasn’t very civilized, but there was no denying that he was carrying her to the bed with every intention of ravishing her—again.
He held her gaze as he crossed the few steps to the small bed. He had to put her down to pick up the plaid he’d shoved off her shoulders and lay it down over the straw “mattress.” Next time there would be feathers and silk bed linens, but for now this would have to do. At least it was an improvement over a wall.
With any other woman he wouldn’t have considered asking what he did next. But Margaret was different. She was bold and confident, and not easily shocked. “I want to see you,a leanbh.Allof you.”
It took her a moment to understand what he meant. Her eyes widened ever so slightly before meeting his with a challenge. “And if I should wish the same?”
He grinned. He was hoping she’d say that. He was realizing there were some good things about a wife who couldn’t resist a challenge. “I could hardly refuse.”
“You first,” she said, her voice a little breathy.
He’d taken his clothes off in front of more than one woman, but never had he been so aware of the effect his nakedness had on another. She watched his every movement with the rapt attention of a hawk, not missing any detail as he quickly divested himself of his clothing.
With every inch of skin he revealed, her breath would catch then quicken, until eventually he pulled off the linen tunic to reveal his chest, and it stopped altogether. If the way her eyes seemed to devour his arms and stomach were any indication, she was one of those lasses who liked a lot of muscle.
As if the breathy sounds of her arousal weren’t enough, he swore he could also feel her growing hotter. And that in turn made him hotter.
