“I can help wi’ that,” he cut in, and he moved towards her, grasping her by the waist to turn her away from him.
She sucked in a sharp breath at his touch, staring at the wall before her, the delicate details in the enormous red tapestry that covered most of the wall before her. She felt his fingers tugging at the ties that held her dress shut, and she swallowed hard, willing herself not to react, not to let him see the effect he was having on her.
Once he had undone the laces, the dress fell apart, exposing a narrow V of skin at her back. Even though he could see little more of her than he had when she had been dressed, she suddenly felt vulnerable, utterly laid out and exposed before him.
She half-turned her head over her shoulder, catching his gaze for a moment, and forced herself to ask the question that had been rolling around her mind since she had stepped into this room with him.
“Are ye… Are ye going to force me?”
He gazed back at her for a moment, not responding, and she felt her breath hitch in her throat as she was waiting for him to answer. The warmth of his breath on her neck made her shiver, and she half-hoped that he would answer yes and then all of this doubt would be gone in an instant. She could not think of anything worse than living in this strange place where she did not know what he wanted from her, whether that was good or bad.
“No,” he murmured, moving even closer to her, so close that she could have sworn she felt his lips against the nape of her neck, the same point that his fingers had been teasing at all night.
She squeezed her eyes shut and swallowed hard, trying to control herself, but she was sure he could read into every one of her responses.
“That would be too easy,” he went on, as his hands worked their way from the lacing at the back of her dress to the front of her, planting themselves against her belly and drawing her in close.
She let out a slight gasp, every inch of her so aware of his touch she felt as though she might go mad at any second.
“And I dinnae like easy,” he pressed his mouth to the side of her neck, and this time there could be no doubt that he had touched her. She moved back into him before she could stop herself, all the tension that had been building over the course of the day since the moment he had kissed her finally gave way to something real. She had played the dutiful bride for so long, but here, in the quiet of the chamber, she could let herself be something else entirely.
He continued, as his hands traced downward, the graze of his stubble against her neck as he slipped one hand beneath her skirts. The other rose towards her neck, cupping around herthroat to draw her attention to him, and then, at last, he sank his lips into hers all over again.
But this time, it was even more fiery, even more passionate than the one they had shared in the chapel. His tongue invaded her mouth, claiming her completely, as his hand snaked between her thighs to find her sex. Even through her undergarments, he must have been able to feel how warm she was for him, how her body had prepared itself for his touch.
She gasped into his mouth as his hand tightened slightly against her neck, holding her in place, his fingers peeling away the soaked underthings that separated her from him.
She could feel him grinning against her mouth as he traced his fingers along the outside of her sex, clearly enjoying the way that she responded to him. His mouth broke from hers, and he moved it to her neck once more, letting his other hand move downward to cup her breast through her dress as he gently parted her petals to find her most intimate spots.
She sank back against him, the sudden rush of pleasure almost more than her mind could make sense of. Whatever fear had been threatening her for so long seemed to finally give up as his fingers made short work of the space between them.
He planted kisses along her neck, soft, slow, his teeth occasionally grazing against her skin like he wanted her to remember that he could have taken a bite out of her at any moment. Her mind fluttered, briefly, to the image of him taking out their attackers, how easy it had been for him to deny that man of his life, and she knew she should have been scared of him, but she could not find it in herself to even try.
All at once, he sank his fingers in her for the first time, letting out a low hiss through his teeth as he did so. Drawn back to reality, she became aware of something firm pressing against the small of her back, a sure sign, she had been told, that he wanted her, and badly. And yet, he did not show it, slowly guiding hisfingers within her as she framed him with her sex, her body opening to envelop him, even in that most secret of places.
Why would her body betray her in such a way? She had all the reasons in the world to hate him, but the way he made her skin prickle, her muscles tremble… He made her body feel alive.
His lips worked upward, tongue tugging briefly on her ear, and she gasped, a flood of sensation spreading out from between her legs. She could feel something building fast inside her, the shocking pleasure of what he was doing suddenly making sense of the strange heat that she had felt building within her before.
Could he sense it, feel it? Did he know that it was so easy for him to command her in this way? That she stood no chance at all against him when he made such short work of her self-control? Her hips were soon rising to meet him, matching the pace of his hands with ease, and she could feel whatever it was she had been waiting for teetering on the very brink, ready to give over to him if this was what he wanted from her.
Her breath was coming harder with every intake, her body rocking back against his hand as his mouth explored the most sensitive parts of her neck. He knew exactly what he was doing, it seemed, and he was intent on her knowing just how much control he had over her in that situation. The pleasure was starting to swell within her, rising so fast she knew she’d do anything to have it sated, anything to?—
And then, just as soon as he had started, he stopped. He pulled away from her, his hand resting on her hip to keep her from toppling to the ground right there on the spot. She let out a mewl of frustration. Her blurry eyes searched for him, for some kind of explanation as to why he had denied her this when he had been so willing to take her to the very edge at first.
And when she saw the grin on his face, she knew that she had fallen right into his trap. She had let him pleasure her, let herself taste from the pool of what he was capable of, and nowshe would be left wanting. And that, whether she was willing to admit it or not, there was a part of her that craved more—a part of her that would do anything to have him guide her to the edge of what she so badly wanted.
“I said I dinnae like easy. I want ye to beg for it, wife,” he murmured, brushing his nose against her neck one last time, apparently just to torture her a little further.
She whimpered helplessly, sinking back into him, her hands reaching for something to keep the ground from giving way below her. But, before she could say another word, he brushed past her and out of the door, leaving her with nothing but the burning ache that still tingled between her legs and the creeping knowledge that, whatever control she thought she might have had over this man or this situation, she had been wrong.
Chapter Seven
“Is this place not safe?”she demanded from Donald when he had insisted on joining Martha and her for a walk in the gardens. “Is there something I should be aware of out here?”
It had been nearly a week since the wedding, and it felt as though she had hardly had a moment to herself since. Of course, most young brides might have thought such a thing normal; a husband was meant to spend all of his time doting over his newly beloved at a time like this, but she had hardly seen a thing of Tavish since the wedding night.
So, she had been doing her best to make sense of her new place in this Keep, and there was so much she needed to learn about how it worked. Martha had been kind enough to accompany her for the last few days, showing her around and introducing her to a few of the other staff who worked there.
