“Shite,” he snapped and he jumped from the bed as if he’d been burned by the fires of hell itself.
Her pretty mouth formed into anOas she watched him.
“What did I do?”
Pushing his hands through his hair, he paced the floor, moving from one side of the room to the other as she tracked his every step. The room felt too small. He needed more space.
“I fear I am e’en more confused than I was earlier. Do ye havena interest in me?”
He barked out a laugh, the sound filling the room, and he wouldn’t be surprised if everyone else staying at the inn had heard it.
“Och, Lass, havena ye seen the effect ye have on me? Didna ye feel it when ye were pressed against me?”
She nodded, wringing her hands in her lap. “Then what is the issue?”
“Ye are an innocent. I willna take that from ye.”
She worried her lip, her slippered foot drawing invisible lines on the carpet. “But what if I want to give it to ye. Ye dinna have to take it. I offer it freely.”
Her words were soft. Innocent. He groaned. Lizzie was going to be the death of him. War wasn’t as dangerous as this lass in his room was. “Ye dinna understand what ye speak of. The consequences it will have on your life. On your future. Your chances to secure a husband.”
“What if I dinna want a husband? Or what if I do and I ken who ’tis?”
“Christ. Ye are already promised to someone?” Jesus, it was a good thing he’d gotten his wits about him when he did. Otherwise, he’d be dueling at dawn against someone he’d never met. She was full of surprises.
“Nay!” She hopped up from the bed and sidled toward him, her hips swaying back and forth in the most seductive way.
Damn, she was good. For a woman with no experience, she could give some of the more experienced women he’d lost himself in before a run for their money. Whether it was her innocence that propelled her forward or instinct, he didn’t know. But it was breaking him. The walls he’d constructed were starting to crumble. His defenses were being battered and he feared defeat was in his future.
For the first time in his life.
“Mayhap ye could be my husband,” she said innocently, her cheeks a beautiful pink.
“I canna.”
“Why no’?” She stopped in front of him, looking up through her long, dark lashes. Her chocolate brown eyes shining in the candlelight.
“Because I belong to no one. I’m nobody’s man. Or husband.”
She tilted her head, her tongue darting out and wetting her lips and his cock about punched through his pants. He groaned, unable to contain himself.
“But ye could be,” she said quietly. “Who’s stopping ye?”
He had to stop and think about that for a long moment. Who was stopping him? Other than himself. He’d always told himself he would be alone. It was easier belonging to nobody than tangling himself in a relationship.
But the halls of Culzean were awfully quiet. Certainly, he hadn’t met anyone in Edinburgh that he found interesting enough to want to spend more than a night with.
But Lizzie? He could picture her curled up on the chaise lounge in front of the fireplace in his library, reading a book, while he sat in his chair, smoking a pipe whilst he read the paper.
The image was clear as day in his mind, and it caused him to suck in his breath sharply.
“What is it?” Lizzie asked, concern creasing her forehead. “I didna mean to upset ye. I apologize.” She threw her arms up in the air. “I have no idea what I am doing obviously. I guess I thought I had seen something that wasna there.”
Throwing his head back, he bit back a groan. What she thought was true. He just wasn’t ready to admit it to himself.
He was being a cad. And he kenned it.
She moved to the door, and he hurried over to it, blocking her exit.
