“You’re not to leave this room without me!” He’d thrust her roughly through the door and slammed it behind them.
She’d stepped away, resisted the urge to pummel him. “I’m just tryin’ to make myself useful!”
“And I’m trying to keep you safe! After what happened this morning, I would think you’d understand the danger!” A muscle in his jaw ticked, and she knew he was genuinely angry with her. “This place is filled with men who haven’t touched a woman in years and are not above rape if it means getting their hands on you!”
She’d felt the blood drain from her face, felt some of her anger fade. “But I cannae stay in here all day every day! There must be somethin’ I can do. I could work in the laundry or help cook—”
He shook his head. “Écuyer brought his own personal chef, and most of the officers have enlisted men or servants to see to their laundry and mending. They don’t need your help, Bethie.”
“Everyone else is preparin’ for war. Minna is mendin’ soldiers’ uniforms. Goody Wallace is teachin’ Bible lessons. But my hands are idle! I dinnae even cook our meals!”
He’d reached out to her, cupped her shoulders in his big hands. “’Tis admirable of you to want to help, Bethie, but I will not let you do anything that puts you in harm’s way.”
His words had only made her angrier. “Who are you to decide what I do and what I dinnae do? I am no’ yours to command, Nicholas Kenleigh!”
He’d pulled her hard against him. “I wouldn’t say that too loudly, or you’re likely to find yourself sleeping with the other settlers!”
Then his mouth had closed over hers in a rough kiss.
Before she’d drawn a breath, he’d gone.
She hadn’t seen him all evening. He was having brandy with the captain and had warned her he’d likely not return until very late. Which was just as well.
Part of her wanted to slap him. Part of her wanted to apologize. Part of her just wanted him to kiss her like that again. And again. And again.
She dipped the cloth in the water once more, squeezed it, ran it over her bare breasts, felt her nipples tighten against the pleasing chill.
The door opened.
“You’re still awake...” Nicholas closed the door behind him. His gaze, as intimate as a caress, slid slowly down her naked body. His jaw clenched. His eyes darkened to midnight.
Burned as she was by the heat of his perusal, her first instinct was to hide herself. But she forced herself to face him, to stand her ground.
Wasn’t this what she wanted?
Chapter 20
Arush of air left Nicholas’s lungs, caught in his throat, as seemingly all the blood in his body surged to his cock. His mind stumbled in search of words. “You should be sleeping.”
Bethie stood before him, completely naked, her hair twisted atop her head, her skin glistening wet in the candlelight, her nipples tight and ripe. Shimmering strands of water trickled down her belly to her thighs or disappeared in the thatch of golden curls that hid her sex.
“’Twas such a sweltrie day...”
He took a step toward her, expected her to turn away, to cover herself, to ask him to leave. But she didn’t. Instead, she dipped the cloth in the water, squeezed it out, pressed its dampness against the side of her throat, as if...
As if she had intended him to find her. As if she were trying to seduce him.
He took another step and another. Only when he stood before her could he see that she was trembling. He reached out, took the cloth from her, dipped it in the bowl, squeezed it. “Let me.”
She closed her eyes, hid a gaze that held both fear and desire, and he could tell she was pushing herself, forcing herself to confront whatever demons still lived inside her.
He’d be damned if he was going to let her face them alone.
Touched that she was giving him something so precious as trust, he pressed the cold cloth to her cheek, her throat, her nape. “Do you know what it does to me to touch you like this?”
Her eyes fluttered open, and she met his gaze for a moment, then looked away. Her voice was a whisper. “You feel... lust?”
“I feel much more than lust, Bethie. Lust is a need quickly satisfied. What I want takes time.” He dipped the cloth in the water again, squeezed it. “I want to bring you pleasure—to touch every part of you, kiss every part of you, taste every part of you. I want to make you come again and again, until you’re weak and sleepy and there’s nothing in your world but the scent of me, the taste of me, the feel of me.”
