The sex that night was like a hazeallaround him, and when he managed to open his eyes, she was coming down on top of him in the darkness, straddling him, sheathing him with her tight, lush heat. The intoxicating aroma of their lovemakingfilledhis senses, and he groaned as she began to move. He held her tiny hips in his hands, felt her hair sweep across his face, and thrust upward to revel in every forceful, pounding impact of their bodies coming together.
Afterward,followinga string of explosive climaxes, he lay weak and sated, spread across the bed on his stomach like a dead man. Amelia covered him with her body. She weighed next to nothing, but he felt the pressure of her breasts on his shoulder blades and took great pleasure in the quiet reverie. It was like some kind of trance. He might even havefallen asleep. He was not sure.allhe knew was that when he opened his eyes and felt the heat from her body on his back he could not help but think of the dream.…
He blinked a few times, then spoke softly. “He’llcome here, you know.”
“Who?”
“Bennett. He’llnot let this pass.” Duncan paused. “Whatwillyou do when you see him?”
She took a long time to answer, and Duncan felt his stomach turn over with dread.
“Nothing,” she said at last. “We are no longer betrothed.”
Duncan considered that careful, rather elusive reply. “If he comes here and tries to win you back, I cannot guarantee I’llbe civil.”
“But you promised not to harm him, Duncan. We have an agreement. Youwillleave his fate to the courts.”
He wet his lips and fought to suppress the anger he felt at her desire to protect her former betrothed. Did shestillcare for him? Or was it something else? Was it Duncan she was trying to protect, bypullinghim back from the precipice ofhell?
“Aye. Iwillnot break my word,” he said. “But Iwillwant you to see him for what he truly is.”
She was quiet for a long time. “Why?”
“So that youwillnot regret the choice you made in a husband.”
There it was. The truth.
Sherolledoff him and sat up. He felt the gentle stroke of her fingertips across his back, rubbing over the scars. He continued to lie on his stomach, facing away from her, staring into the blackness.
“Iwillhave no regrets,” she said, “if you keep your word to me. Despite how we began, Duncan, I do see goodness in you, and I desire you. You know that. Since we arrived here, and even before that, you have proven yourself to be a man of honor in so many ways, and I believe that in time wewillgrow to trust each other and care for each other very deeply.
At least that is what I hopewillhappen.”
Those hopes brought him no comfort, however, because deep down hestillbelieved himself to be a savage and he feared that in time, when the initial heat of their passion cooled, she, too, would come to see that he was, and always would be, a warrior at heart. Like his father.
“Istilldo not think you understand me, lass,” Duncan said.
“You don’t know the things I’ve done.”
He had forgotten none of it. Not a single detail.
She hesitated. “I would prefer to put that behind us and begin anew. You are the Earl of Moncrieffe, and Iwillsoon be your countess. Let us think of that and be hopeful about the future. The rest of it is in the past.”
He pondered her words for a long time while she massaged his lower back. It relaxed him, made him want to sleep.
“Do you not worry about the violence in my nature?” he careful y asked.
“Perhaps, sometimes,” she admitted.
Sometimes …
If she were wise, he thought wretchedly, she would worry about it every minute of the day.
Because he most certainly did.
* * *
A few days later, Amelia and Josephine took the coach to thevillageto deliver a cherry pie to Mrs. Logan, the mil er’s wife, who possessed a rare talent for the arrangement of flowers and had offered to decorate the chapel for the earl’s upcoming nuptials.
