Her daughter turned uncertainly, the abruptness of Jeannie’s voice putting her on alert.
“I wasn’t doing anything,” Ella said automatically.
Jeannie took in the scene: her daughter sitting on the trunk with her feet tucked underneath her and Duncan relaxed, lying on the bed with his arms crossed behind his head—an indulgent look in his eye. For a moment her mind flashed to the loch. He’d lain just like that after…
Stop.She shook off the memory.
Feeling some of her fear subside, she forced a smile to her face as she addressed her daughter. “I know,” she said, conscious of Duncan’s eyes on her. Hands shaking, she carefully set the small wooden tray on the table. “But Duncan needs to get some rest. And it’s almost time for your lessons.”
Ella gave Duncan a glance of longing that made Jeannie’s blood chill. Had her daughter fallen into the same trap as she had, becoming immediately captivated by him?
“Do I have to?” she whined, giving her mother a much put upon look.
Jeannie nodded, not swayed by those big pleading blue eyes. “Gather the others; I’ll be down shortly.”
Ella hopped off the trunk and bounded out of the room, auburn curls dancing behind her. Only then did Jeannie breathe a sigh of relief. She turned back to Duncan. His gaze was as frosty as the snow tops of the Cairngorms.
He stood, seemingly unhampered by his injury. “You couldn’t actually think I’d hurt her?”
She straightened, not shying from his angry rebuke. But as he walked toward her, she felt the sudden urge to flee. She didn’t know where to look, uncomfortably aware of his powerful naked chest. Her body heated, flushing with awareness.
How was it possible that after ten years he could still make her feel so strongly? It didn’t make sense, she’d only known him for such a short time. Why after so many years did her body respond? Why did remembering still hurt? She’d almost half convinced herself that she’d never really loved him—that like her mother she’d gotten carried away by the moment.
Why couldn’t she be like him? Stony faced and indifferent. He looked at her with exactly the right amount of familiarity—as someone he’d known a long time ago who betrayed him. If he remembered their intimacy he did not show it—even when she’d been standing naked before him he hadn’t betrayed even a flicker of desire. A sharp contrast to the way his eyes used to smolder with heat at every glance. Now he looked at her the same way he did everyone else. If there had ever been anything special before, it was gone.
“I wasn’t sure,” she said, dropping her gaze.
It was a mistake. Her eyes fell on his shoulder at precisely the spot she’d used to love to bury her face against. She stood transfixed for a moment, her heart rising to her throat. Pain welled up from a forgotten place. Her breath was forced—hard and uneven. If she closed her eyes she could remember the warmth flooding over her as she’d pressed her cheek to his skin and curled into the curve of his body. The contentment. The security. The feeling that with him at her side nothing would ever hurt her again.
God, will I ever forget?
“Look at me, Jeannie.”
The hard clip of his voice snapped her out of it. Her mouth fell in a tight line, furious at her weakness. It was illusory. He hadn’t protected her. He hadn’t loved her. He’d left her.
“You know me better than that,” he said.
She met his gaze, feeling the strange urge to laugh in his face. “Do I?” She let the question hang between them. “Actually, I don’t know you at all. Ten years ago I thought I knew you, but it turns out two months isn’t long enough to know anyone.” Though it was long enough to have your heart broken. And the pain was still there, buried in a shallow grave that his return had unearthed. She couldn’t allow herself to forget it. “You weren’t half the man I thought you were.”
Her barb struck. His hand wrapped around her wrist and he swung her to him, the tips of her breasts skimming his chest. She gasped at the force of the connection. At the shock as her body exploded in sensation. Her pulse raced, her breath quickened, her blood rushed, and every nerve ending flared. Desire, hot and heavy, possessed her from head to toe.
“You knew me well enough,” he said, the husky burr in his voice seeping under her skin. “Well enough to give me your body.” His finger traced a path down the curve of her cheek to her chin. She was too stunned to move. Too overcome by sensation to turn away. Her heart tugged when his gaze met hers.
She wanted to kiss him, could almost feel the warmth of his lips on hers. The impulse came on with the force of a lightning bolt, but she fought it. She was no longer a girl to allow lust to cloud her judgment. But she couldn’t completely erase the desire from her eyes.
“What’s wrong, Jeannie? Remembering?” His hand slid down her throat. “Was some of it real after all?”
She heard the edge of mockery in his voice and tried to pull away. “Let go of me.” But his hand gripped her wrist like a steel manacle. Their eyes met and for the first time she saw an ember flickering in his gaze. He was not completely unaffected.
Jeannie fought to catch her breath. From somewhere buried deep inside her, she felt an old spark of recklessness, an impulsive urge to provoke him right back. Heedless of the danger, she shifted her body closer, nestling her hips to his and pressing her breasts to his chest. Their bodies slid together, locking together from memory. She felt the hard column of his erection against her stomach. Heat drenched her with the force of a tidal wave. She looked up at him, letting her eyes settle on his mouth. “I think ’tis you who are remembering. Is what you came back for? Is that it, Duncan? Do you still want me?”
Every muscle in his body tensed and Jeannie wondered if she’d made a mistake. She’d wanted to prove that he was not as indifferent as he pretended, but Duncan was not a man to toy with—he was the most feared warrior on the continent for heaven’s sake. The flare of heat in his eyes frightened her.Hefrightened her. She wasn’t a naïve girl anymore; she knew how dangerous it was to play with fire.
He released her as if she’d suddenly scalded him. He didn’t answer her question, but they both knew the answer. Instead, he returned to the original subject. “I would never harm a child, Jeannie,” he said quietly. “Then or now.”
A horrible thought crept into the back of her mind. She knew nothing about him. Nothing about what his life had been like the past ten years. What if she was not the only woman to fall prey to his undeniable masculine allure? “And you have plenty of experience with children?”
He gave her a hard look. “I’ve never married.”
