Cora thought for a moment. “But why now?” she insisted. “Yesterday, you wanted me to help you get Loraine back. Why have you suddenly changed your mind?”
He stood up and paced to the window. “Loraine is never coming back to me,” he said heavily. “She has given herself body and soul to another man, and I must accept it. She will never have my children, but you might. We could both have what we want. I could have an heir, and you could have a husband to look after you. Just think, Cora. We are not changing anything but our intentions. Before, we intended to go our separate ways, but now, if you accept my proposal, we will merely do what we were pretending to do all along.”
Cora stared at him, not quite believing what she had just heard. Her blue eyes were almost black as her brows came down in a low frown. “So once more, this is about Loraine,” she growled. “Because Loraine will not come back, you have changed your mind and I must follow suit?”
“That is not what I meant!” he protested, spreading his hands as he begged her to understand.
“Tell me what you meant, then!” Cora demanded, standing with her arms akimbo, glowering at him.
Clyde had nowhere to go. He sighed and gave in. “Very well, then, Cora. That is what I meant.” Then he turned to her, and his eyes were pleading. “But I am not doing this for that reason only. I like you, Cora. You are intelligent and beautiful, and I think you could help me in handling my estate and my tenants, and we both want children, do we not? We could help each other in a hundred different ways.”
Cora was tired of fighting. “Please let me think about it for a while, Clyde,” she replied, sighing. She turned away and went to her bedroom, while Clyde watched her walk away.
He was beginning to lose hope. If there were no Loraine and no Cora, he would have to start his search for a wife all over again. He could not live alone, as he had threatened to do, and just as he had found the only woman he could tolerate apart from Loraine, he was sure that he had chased her away.
Once more, Cora was angry, but then, she always seemed to be angry these days. She had thought that she might be falling in love with Clyde, but she was no longer sure she could trust him. She had been able to manage her feelings as long as she was near him, and as long as she kept their ultimate goals in mind, she could cope with the thought of losing him. Now she was being offered marriage by the one man she wanted most in the world, but what kind of marriage would it be? Could she cope with a situation where she was desperately in love with him, and he was merely indifferent to her? Or would he make fun of her innocence?What if he kisses me and I can’t kiss back?she thought, panic-stricken.Or I make an absolute fool of myself in bed?
She thought for a long time. Perhaps she could make him fall in love with her. After all, she might never be asked again. She knocked on his study door, wondering if he would still be working. It was now June, when the days were very long, and the last traces of sunlight had left the sky, so it must be very late.
Clyde did not ask her to come in, but opened the door himself, almost filling the space with his bulk. He looked surprised to see her, but smiled at once. “Would you like a glass of wine?” he offered politely.
“No, thank you,” Cora replied. “I came to answer your question.” She sat down and met his eyes squarely with her own. “Even though it was the least romantic proposal ever, I am sure, I have decided that for both our sakes, it would be wise for me to accept.”
“Thank you, Cora,” he said softly. “You will not regret it, I promise. I will keep my vows to you as a husband...and a lover.” He had no idea why he said that, but he found that he suddenly wanted to kiss her very much. Then he reminded himself how long it had been since he had been with a woman, and he was starved for her touch. He smiled, and drew her to her feet. “A kiss to celebrate?” he suggested.
She nodded. “I have never been kissed before, so please forgive me if I do it wrongly.”
“Ah, virgin lips!” His eyes were twinkling with mischief. “I am honored to be the first to kiss them.”
Clyde was so big that if he had wanted to, he could have lifted Cora up with one hand, and she hugged herself as if for protection, even though she knew it would do no good. However, something inside her recognized his gentleness. He would never harm her, and they were going to be married, after all.
He gazed down at her frightened, wide-eyed face. Her full lips were parted slightly, and as he watched, she licked them with the very tip of her tongue. It was a provocative, but very innocent gesture; she honestly did not realize how desirable she looked.
“I am not going to hurt you,” he murmured as he took a step forward and reached out to touch her cheek, “but I do very much want to kiss you to seal our bargain.” He let his arm fall to his side again and gazed at her.
Slowly, she relaxed her stance and took one tentative step forward. He closed the gap between them, and for a moment, their lips were so close yet so far apart that she felt like screaming with frustration.
Then he touched his mouth to hers, and something magical happened. She had never imagined that a man’s lips could be so soft, especially ones like Clyde, a man who chopped wood and dug in the earth, a man’s man. His lips caressed hers with a touch as soft as rose petals, and when he swept his tongue over her lower lip and gently pushed the tip of it into her mouth, her knees became so weak that she would have fallen over had he not been holding her up.
The stubble of a day’s growth of beard rasped against her soft skin, a sensation that reminded her how quintessentially male he was. She felt moisture pooling in her secret place, a pleasant fluttering, and a sweet pulsing sensation. What was he doing to her?
Something hard was pushing against her belly, and it took a moment for her to realize what it was. Then, all of a sudden, she felt immensely powerful. She had this big strong man under her command, and the thought thrilled her.
Clyde, for the first time in his life, felt helpless. The thought of possessing Cora sent a shock of desire to every nerve in his body, but now that he was holding her, he felt as though he was not enough for her. He had treated her as if she was second-best to Loraine, and she was quite clearly not—merely different, and stronger. When he broke the kiss, he simply could not let go of her. He pressed her head against his chest so that she could feel his heartbeat, which had quickened because of her nearness.
Cora closed her eyes and savored the moment; the hardness of his body, his earthy scent, his big hand resting protectively on her waist. If this was her first kiss, God help her, could she survive the rest? Eventually, she looked up at him, to find his green gaze waiting for her.
“Was it what you expected?” he asked huskily. “I would hate to disappoint you.”
“No,” she answered. “It was much more.” She closed her eyes, waiting for the next one. She had never dreamed that anything could feel so wonderful.
12
When he received the wedding invitation from Cora and Clyde, Andrew Sutherland was livid. Nothing was working out the way he wanted it to, and now he could see that all his carefully laid plans were in danger of being trampled upon by Cora Henderson. It had given him great satisfaction to take Loraine from Clyde, but now all his plans were in jeopardy.
Clyde Munro was everything the baron would never be—tall, strong, and handsome—with the kind of genial personality that people, especially women, liked. Andrew enjoyed the adulation of having a pretty woman on his arm, and he enjoyed it more because he had broken her betrothal with Laird Munro. As well as that, he loved the skillful ways she pleased him in the bedroom, and felt twenty years younger because of it.
There were more practical reasons for his desire to wed her, though. He was drowning in gambling debts, and her generous dowry would pay them off and leave him with some left over for his other schemes. He would also have an alliance with Loraine’s father, Laird Joseph Mackenzie. He was a weak-willed milksop of a man, but his lands were rich, his castle enormous, and his garrison the most well-manned and powerful in the area.
