All his instincts were hammering now. Could it be possible? God, if it were true, it could be just what he needed.
“Do you remember anything about the smell?”
She gave him a puzzled look. “How strange that you should ask. I remember it smelled like rotting eggs.”
Damn. It was true. Sir Adam Gordon shared the same knowledge his nephew had. He knew how to make black powder.
Mary knew she had said too much. She was supposed to be guarding her heart, and here she was spilling all her secrets to him. But for such an outwardly hard and imposing man, he was surprisingly easy to talk to. He listened, and actually seemed interested in what she had to say, which was a novelty among men of his station. At least it was in her experience. But she was beginning to realize that her experience wasn’t theonlyexperience. Kenneth was right; he wasn’t Atholl.
But eventually his interest in her—in this game—would wane, and when it did, she wasn’t going to let him break her heart.
She was going to have to be careful, very careful. She could see how easy it would be to slip and let herself believe in faerie tales and happy endings.
He had married her, given their child a name, and promised not to do anything reckless that would put them in danger without telling her. It was enough. She would be content with what she had.
And the passion. Aye, he’d given her that. She was going to savor every minute of it, knowing that it wouldn’t last.
He was strangely contemplative after she’d told him about her sister. She finished eating the bun, forcing herself not to eat the second, and accepted the wine he offered her from a leather pouch to wash it down.
When she was finished, she handed the pouch back to him and reclined against one of the large stones where he’d set the plaid.
It was still warm, and the sun felt so good on her face, she felt her eyes fluttering.
“You aren’t going to fall asleep again, are you?”
She blinked. How had he moved so close without her realizing it? “Are you ready to leave?” Her heart was fluttering so fast, her words came out high-pitched and nervous.
One corner of his mouth curved in a very wicked smile. “Not quite yet.”
She thought about scooting away but knew it would be useless. He’d only catch her. And kiss her. And make her dissolve into a mindless bundle of sensation.
She tried to sound unaffected. “What else did you have planned?”
He leaned closer, his mouth achingly close. She could smell the wine on his breath and it was intoxicating.Hewas intoxicating. “Oh, I’m sure we can think of something.”
His mouth fell on hers with a groan that tore through her heart. It was only for a moment, but long enough to make her breathless and hungry for more. His mouth slid over her jaw, down her throat, to the bodice of her dress. He started to tug at it, when she stopped him. “We can’t. Not here.”
“Why not?”
Wasn’t it obvious? “It’s the middle of the day. Anyone could see.”
He grinned. “There isn’t anyone around. I won’t undress you.”
She eyed him skeptically, not trusting him. “I thought you offered to take me on a ride, not seduce me.”
A wicked glint appeared in his eye. He lifted her as if she weighed nothing and put her on his lap so that she was facing and straddling him. She gasped, feeling the hard swell of his erection against the intimate juncture between her thighs. “You’ll have your ride, Mary.”
He lifted her over him and showed her exactly what he meant. She muttered a protest, but only halfheartedly. She was hot and achy, her body already melting for him.
With a quick fumble of his breeches, he released himself, and then a frantic heartbeat later he surged inside her, impaling her on the long sword full hilt.
She cried out in pleasure. Wave after wave of delicious pleasure, as he showed her how to ride him. How to find the perfect rhythm. How to take him in deep circular strokes. How to take her pleasure.
In the warm afternoon sun, she took her pleasure over and over. She just had to remember that was all she should take.
Nineteen
Mary kept her eyes closed and tried to ignore the slight slam of the door as Kenneth left their chamber. She told herself she had nothing to feel guilty about, but she couldn’t quite convince herself of the fact.
