“Because there’s no way to speak about it without being lewd or vulgar.”
He strolled toward the bed in a predatory swagger, and leaned a broad shoulder against the bedpost. “I beg to differ. Some men can be anythingbutvulgar when seducing a comely lass like you. I’m not one of them, but if you like, I could try to romance you with a sonnet.”
“Now you’re mocking me.”
“Aye.” His eyes were cold and forbidding. “I told you before, I’m not the romantic sort.”
She lifted her chin. “As ifyouwould know a sonnet, anyway.”
“Mm, you’re right. On top of everything else, I’m an illiterate brute. All I know how to do is conquer. And plunder, plunder, plunder.”
Her vision began to blur as he strode toward her. She backed up and said, “If I could, I would summon my father from the grave to run you through. And he would do it, too. This was his bedchamber, you know, and he was a great warrior.”
The closer he got, the more desperate she became.
“I’m sure he was, and I admire your devotion to him, lass, but it’s discipline that wins the day, not ghosts.”
“And how do you plan to discipline me? Will you throw me onto the bed like the wild, savage beast that you are, and ravish me against my will?”
“Are youtryingto get me excited?”
She sucked in a breath. “Or will you beat me, and keep me locked up forever?”
He backed her up against the wall and let his hungry gaze travel from the top of her head, slowly, all the way down to her toes. “Neither holds much appeal to me at the moment. I’ve had enough fighting for one day. All I want is your soft naked body under my own, and I’m surprised we’re still standing here discussing it. You ought to be proud of yourself, lass, for causing such a delay.”
Her hands tightened into fists. “Why don’t you find yourself another woman to satisfy your lust? I am not willing.”
“You’re a bit of a shrew, aren’t you?”
His lips brushed over her cheek. He was so close, she could smell the masculine fragrance of his skin.
“If it displeases you, then yes, I am.”
Without the slightest warning, he scooped her up into his arms and tossed her onto the bed. Before she could utter a single word of outrage, he was on top of her, pressing her into the feathery softness of the mattress—so deep, she thought she’d never find her way out.
“Maybe I should just take you now and complete the invasion,” he said in a low voice as he slid his hand up under her skirts to caress her thigh. “Why wait for our wedding night?”
“But we had an agreement. In the hall… You promised…”
“Maybe I was just toying with you.” He brushed his nose over the tip of hers, then across her cheek to her ear, while his broad palm slid under her backside and pulled her hips tight up against him.
Gwendolen remembered her earlier vow to be brave, no matter what he did to her, and tried to focus on some dignified response to this sudden brutish pillaging of her innocence. “I may be forced to submit my body to you,” she said, “but I will never submit my soul.”
He laughed in her ear. “Enough with the theatricals, lass. Do you know how comical you are? It’s like something out of a bad play. What have you been reading lately?”
She was both infuriated and mortified. Every part of her body seemed to be throbbing and flaming with unbidden heat, and she felt completely exposed. “It was not my intention to provide you with entertainment.”
“And yet, I am spellbound. If I didn’t have to hold you down, I’d be applauding your performance, and throwing roses up onto your stage.”
His mouth found hers, and the intimacy of the connection was too much for her to take. Her lips, burning and aching, soon gave way to his plunging advance and softened to the irresistible stroke of his tongue.
Oh, how would she ever navigate her way through this sacrifice?
Although “sacrifice” was becoming less and less the proper word to describe what was happening here, for she was floating away rather quickly on an intoxicating haze of sensation.
He laid soft, wet kisses across her eyelids and along her forehead, and inched his body upward, thrusting against her with smooth, gentle undulations that reminded her of the sea. A moment later, the kisses found their way to the sensitive, tingling flesh at her neck. His tongue pushed into the hollow of her throat.
Gwendolen focused on her breathing, working hard to remain resistant—or at least give the appearance of indifference.
