Of course, she would do exactly that—she wouldtellhim to stop—but somethingcompelledher to let it go on for just a few seconds more. Her hips thrust upward on their own, and she kissed him in return, fiercely, angrily. Then at last she uttered a few words, in a desperate sigh of passion.
“Oh, Duncan, please stop.”
“Say it like you mean it, lass, or I’llsoon be inside you.” He drew up her skirts, then slid his axe-roughened palm across the top of her thigh. She squirmed with pleasure.
His hand feathered over her knee, then to her hip and across her stomach. His voice was gruff and sexual. “I want to slide into you. I want to kiss your breasts and your thighs and your soft, naked belly. If youtellme you want that, too, lass, I’llundress you.”
“No,” she murmured, “I don’t want it.”
But she did. She couldn’t understand it, but she did.
“Thentellme to stop, and do it quick.”
She parted her lips to say it, but no words came out.
His hand moved slowly up the length of her sleeve and over her shoulder; then he brushed her hair away from her neck and kissed the tender flesh at the front of her throat.
She sucked in a quick breath,stillfighting against the desire that washed over her like ocean waves.
“What if I were a gentleman?” he asked, looking into her eyes withchallenge. “Like your Richard? What if I wore a velvet jacket and lace cuffs and shiny buckled shoes? What if I was the son of a wealthy duke or earl? Would it beallright then?”
“But you are not any of those things,” she replied. “And he is notmyRichard. Please stop, Duncan. Stop now.”
He lay verystill, looking down at her, saying nothing.
She squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself for the possibility that he might decide he did not wish to stop. Why should he? He was ten times stronger than she. He could simply take her by force if he wanted to. He could tear at her skirts and impose himself upon her, and there would be nothing she could do about it.
Herolledoff her then, onto his back.
Knowing she had narrowly escaped ruination just now—and escaped her own unfathomable desires aswell—she let out a breath and fought to recover her composure. It frightened her to think how close she had come to ravishment, and how desperately she had wanted him, and how amorous shestillfelt.
She laystillfor a long time, staring up at the sky, afraid to speak or move. She turned her head and watched his profile and reflected very careful y and profoundly upon the fact that he had stopped when she’d asked him to.
“I’lltrust you,” he said, “not to bash me in the head tonight, or slip the dagger out of my boot and stab me with it.” There was a hint of anger in his voice, and she wasn’t sure if it was directed at her or himself.
“I won’t,” she replied. “And again, I am truly sorry for what I did to you last night.”
“I’m only sorry that you are pledged to my enemy. If you were not, I wouldn’t have to use you this way.”
“Use me … As bait, you mean.”
“Aye. That’s what you are to me, lass. Nothing more. So do not think otherwise, just because I touched you and held you in my arms tonight. It was just lust—basic animal lust—and do not think that it’llmake me forget what I mean to do.”
Hadhe forgotten it? Was that why he was angry? Or did he think she was trying to distract him from that objective?
“You are referring to your desire tokillRichard.”
“Aye.”
She sat up and pressed the tips of her fingers to her throbbing temples. Heaven help her. She might aswellhave been the one knocked senseless the previous night, because her brains were clearly addled. She, too, had forgotten who they were and why they were here. She desired Duncan passionately and had lost sight of the fact that he wanted to use her tokilla man in cold blood.
“Youstilldon’t believe it, do you?” he asked. “Youstillthink I’m mistaken, and that the people of Scotland have embellished the stories about your precious Richard. You’restillloyal to him.”
“That’s not true,” she said. “I do believe that I was too hasty in accepting his proposal. I recognize the fact that I was naïve and did not take enough time to get to know him. But if I’ve learned anything fromallthis, it is that I must think for myself and form my own judgments. Therefore I cannot, in good conscience, condemn a man based on what his enemies say. I must at leastallowhim the opportunity to answer the charges. When I see him again, Iwillmost certainly give him that chance.”
Duncan stood up. “The mere idea of you in the same room with Richard Bennett makes me want to vomit. I won’tallowit.”
“But even if he is guilty of those crimes of which you accuse him,” she said, “that does not giveyouthe right tokillhim. Even the worst criminal deserves a proper trial.”
