This was going to be more difficult than he’d expected.
He didn’t have to say anything. Keeping her eyes riveted on him, Blair spoke first.
“Are ye sleeping here tonight?”
Her voice wavered as she spoke. And again, he didn’t blame her. He’d stripped down to his kilt and was pulling out a pair of fresh trews to sleep in for the night. If she didn’t avert her gaze, her eyes would widen impossibly more.
He turned his back to her as he lifted the trews from the wardrobe. “’Tis my chambers. I would rather sleep in comfort in my own rooms.”
His tone came across harsher than he’d intended, and he silently cursed himself.
“Do ye wish me to leave?” she asked.
Reade turned around and set his trews on the bed. “Ye are my wife. We should share our chamber, dinna ye think?”
Blair pressed her lips together (her full, kissable lips . . .stop it, man!Reade cursed himself again), yet kept those eyes fixed on him. Well, she’d seen him pull out the trews. What she saw next was on her.
Reade dropped his hand to his belt, and with a casual look at Blair, he raised an eyebrow before releasing the buckle. His kilt fell to his feet, and for the second time that night, he was as bare as a babe. Blair’s eyebrows flew to her hairline, but she didn’t turn away. She surprised him by keeping her gaze firmly fixed upon him.
Moving with deliberate slowness, Reade reached for the trews, letting her take in his nude form for as long as she wanted. If he was going to have her desire him, better to give her enough of a view to entice her.
He shifted his eyes so as not to look at her straight on, but from under his hooded gaze, he noted how her eyes roved over his body, from his face to his muscled, barrel-like chest, down his stomach to his cock that stood at half-mast already, just being near her. Then she continued to take in his thick legs and back up. The heat in the room rose with her eyes, growing thick until they were both breathing hard.
Her mouth, which had hung open in an enticingOsnapped shut, and she thrust her sewing in the basket by her feet. Once her admiring gaze left him, he stepped into his trews and tied the laces at his lower belly. They fit almost like a second skin, and perchance it might keep her interest.
Enough to bed her this night? Perchance not. But if he might stir in her the same riotous desire that she created in him, then ‘twas a step in the right direction.
“And we shall share a bed?” she asked, breaking the heated moment.
Reade rested his forearm against a bedpost and leaned against it. “Aye. But I’ll no’ touch ye. As I promised, I’ll no’ take ye until ye want me.”
Her lips pressed into a thin line and those wide eyes narrowed. “Hrumph,” she uttered.
What did she mean by that?he wondered.
She rose from the overstuffed chair, and he noted she wore naught but a shift, and when she stood in front of the hearth, the fabric was translucent. He easily made out every curve of her body, the dark circles of her nipples, and the darker vee of between her legs. His cock throbbed painfully, bulging against his trews, but he didn’t try to hide his eager desire for her.
Nay, he wanted her to see his cock strain against his trews. He wanted her to see how his body longed for her.
She moved to the table where a thick plaid had been flung carelessly over the back of a chair.
“Here, your hair is wet. Ye’ll catch a chill,” she said as she held out the plaid.
Instead of accepting it from her, Reade dropped his arm from the bedpost and moved closer to her, within arm’s reach.
They stared at each other for several heartbeats, Reade’s presence challenging her to touch him, to wipe his hair and shoulders. To bridge the gap that separated them.
The stifling heat in the room returned, but it wasn’t from the fire – it was from the heat they exchanged between them, the heat of passion and desire that their bodies demanded, overriding any better sense from their brains.
Blair huffed again before lifting the plaid to his hair. Reade lowered his head so she might reach better, but not much. She was of a decent height, and he wasn’t overly tall like his brothers and father. With that simple movement, she was able to wrap her fingers around his head through the towel and rub the cloth from his neck to his crown to his brow, wicking away the residual damp from his bath. A shiver coursed down his back at her ministrations, and his eyes narrowed to slits.
Then the plaid moved to his shoulders, wiping at his skin. Unintentionally, she had moved closer as she worked, and his chest rippled when her shift rubbed against his chest hair. Her hands moved the cloth down to his chest, tracing over his burly muscles, and his breath caught.
He slid one hand around her waist to bring her closer, and her hands froze on his chest. She flicked her eyes up to him with an expression at once innocent and sultry.
Reade couldn’t stop himself. Even as his cock throbbed painfully against his trews, he shifted to press her lightly against him so she could feel the length of his passion. She gasped at the pressure yet held his gaze. The air sizzled and popped between them as he lowered his head again until his lips reached hers, which were softer and far more pliant than he’d expected. Blair didn’t pull away or struggle. She leaned into him, bowed into the kiss, and when her lips parted, Reade took the invitation and slid his tongue forward enough to caress her lips. Her mouth closed on the tip of his tongue, andoh my God, was she sucking on the tip?
Shewas.
