Delight (24 page)

"
They do not appear to have much respect for princesses either." She glanced down ruefully at her ruined skirts, her smoky voice subdued. "I would have given you the money.
"

Douglas swallowed, releasing her wrists. Damn, but he could feel his anger dissolving, and he was not yet prepared to forgive her. "I doubt Prince Randolph would have approved. A princess aiding a pirate."

"
My mother left me a great inheritance in jewels. 'Tis my fortune to do with as I please."

He shuddered as her fingertips danced up his arm, circling the iron-hard muscles of his biceps.
"
I do not desire your money, Rowena."

"
What do you desire, my lord?
"

His strongest desire, in truth, was to bed her, on the dirt floor of this ruined abbey. He desired both her submission and her spirit. He ached to touch her all over, to taste her, to admit that she had captured him. He ached to worship at her feet and conquer her at once. His breathing quickened at the thought of it.

"
I made plans to deceive you," he said starkly.
"
Your money was meant to help my village. Yet I did not plan well enough, it would seem.

"
I did not plan to lose my heart to you the very evening we met," he went on.
"
But there it is, lady. The truth, perhaps for the first time in my damnable life. I love you.
"

She grinned. "Then all is well between us. I love you, too.
"

"
Not quite," he said with a black scowl.
"
You disobeyed me. I will not tolerate this. You were told not to leave the castle.
"

"I was worried about Frederic."

"You should have worried more about me,
"
he said arrogantly.
"
You should have worried about how I would choose to discipline you. No one may stay with me who disobeys."

Rowena
'
s eyebrows arched.
"
Shall I leave now?
"

He shifted forward, his big frame blocking the fire
'
s light. Darkness engulfed her. She could see his pulse beating in the base of his brown throat. His scowl of displeasure made her shiver. So did the dangerous heat that radiated from his body.

It was at this point that Rowena realized it was time to make
her own apology. She should ex
press shame that she
'
d suspected Douglas was the Dragon all along, and that she had gone along with his masquerade.

But she just couldn
'
t bring herself to apologize. For one thing she was determined to make the most of his contrite attitude about deceiving her.

For another she was afraid of arousing his dragon
'
s fury. Not that she'd thought he'd hurt her. He wouldn
'
t. But he might hurt himself if he worked himself up into another wrathful state.

So she held her tongue. She would tell him about the minister
'
s rumor at a later date. May
hap
after the birth of their third child. Or on the eve of their tenth wedding anniversary. When he was too tired to get worked up.

"You will stay with me,
"
he said.

"
Make up your mind, my lord. You just told me I cannot stay unless I obey you.
"

He smirked as if the matter were settled.
"
You will stay
and
obey.
"

"
I think this bears further discussion," she said diplomatically.

"
You cannot leave me." This time it was not an order, but the plea of a proud man who was not accustomed to begging.

He leaned away from her.

Rowena lowered her eyes, peeping up through her lashes as he kicked off his trews and unlaced his brogues. His blood-stained shirt fell at her knees. Then his plaid. The smell of man, of horse and sweat and musk, rose to her nostrils.

She released a deep sigh into the silence. She laced her hands together.

"What are you thinking now?
"
he demanded.

"That another lie has just been laid bare.
"
She shuddered.
"
There is not a delicate bone in your body."

He gave her a beguiling
smile. "You are shiver
ing. Remove your clothes."

"What?"

"Come under my plaid with
me. We
will
share
the heat of our bodies."

"
Naked?
"

"
This is no time for maidenly modesty, Rowena. You have suffered a grave shock today.
"

"I do not know that cuddling naked with you is going to calm my nerves, Douglas.
"

"But
'
twill warm you," he said with another arrogant grin.

"
I have no doubt of that—
"
She fell back on the palms of her hands as he began to loosen her bodice with alarming expertise. His smile faded as he untied the tapes of her skirts and petticoats and saw the damage done to her. Ugly purple bruises stood out against her skin.

"Sweet Jesus,
"
he said, breathing hard. "When I think of what they did to you, I want to kill them."

She touched his hand, emotion closing her throat as he caught her fingers in his.
"
You
did
kill them, my lord. And your men are right now protecting the village.
"

He rubbed his thumbs over the rope marks on her wrists.
"I
wish to kill them again. I wish to make them suffer a hundredfold for daring to harm you.
"

Afraid of the anger in his voice, she tried to lighten his mood.
"
You have a definite tendency toward violence, my lord.
"

"
But not where you are concerned." He lifted his black gaze to hers.
"
I would not hurt you for the world.
"
His voice broke. "For the worst moment of my life, I thought I had lost you."

"
Douglas—
"

"Do you still want that kiss?" he asked in the seductive voice that few women had been able to resist.

She closed her eyes with a sigh as he laid his hands on her shoulders. Her clothing fell away like a broken shell, leaving her vulnerable and exposed. She had no defenses to fight a man like the Dragon. Nor did she wish him to raise his guard against her again.

She rose onto her knees. He took her face in his hands and kissed her so deeply that she began to shake. His tongue plundered her mouth as if it were one of the treasures he was famous for stealing. Sweet darkness swam in her head before he was finished.

"Are my kisses what you dreamed of?
"
he demanded in amusement.

She couldn
'
t answer. She just anchored her arms around his waist and hoped he would understand how he had overwhelmed her. She hoped too that he would continue his loving.

Which he did. He cupped the globes of her breasts, sculpting the shape in his palms. He circled her dusky nipples with his fingertips, plucking gently, and her head fell back as indescribable sensation streaked to every secret place in her body. The things he did
…
his knowing touch, flooded her with dangerous joy. She ached all over with the needs he had aroused.

Her response practically robbed Douglas of his
reason. He groaned in sweet agony as her soft breasts brushed his bare arm. He couldn't pretend that kissing her had not affected him. He had been a damned saint for too long. His manhood was in the mood to misbehave.

He gave a growl of male aggression. Rowena felt him pull the plaid from his body, and she couldn
'
t stop herself from taking a look.

"I knew I wouldn
'
t be able to stop if I kissed you."

His voice was so rough she almost didn
'
t recognize it. She cracked open one eye. It was him, all right, her dragon, his battle-tested body a beautiful thing to behold. Physical mastery had been proven in every muscle. Raw strength rested within the broad contours of his chest, his flanks. He exuded a virility that made her mouth dry. She felt a compelling need to touch him.

Slowly her gaze fell to the scars that stood out against the musculature of his shoulders. His eyes met hers. He opened his mouth to explain, but she spoke first.

"Don't say a word. Those are the scars you got when you rescued a kitten from a tree during a thunderstorm.
"

"
I was taken as a slave in Algiers,
"
he said in a somber tone.
"
Dainty and I escaped together.
"

"I know that,
"
she said softly.

He brushed her hair back from her face. "Frederic isn
'
t dead. At least he was still alive when I found him.
"

"I know that too,
"
she whispered.
"
Aidan told me."

"
I wish to know as much about you, Rowena. We will start with the secrets of your delightful body.
"
He studied her with unashamed appreciation in the firelight. Belatedly she crossed her arms under her breasts. Yet there was not one inch of her flesh that escaped his scrutiny.
"
I have never desired a woman more than I do you," he said, his nostrils flaring.

She moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue. She was certain he could hear her heart pounding. She said the first thing that popped into her head.

"You are not anything like Sir Matthew.
"

His eyes narrowed on her face.
"
Brother or not,
I'll
kill the blessed dolt too.
"

Rowena tried not to laugh. She placed her hands on his chest, then shyly pulled them away.
"
Perhaps you ought to take up falconry in earnest, my lord. It might give you something to do besides killing people.
"

Douglas stared down at her in silence. No
woman
had ever touched him with such tender
curiosity before. It
undid him, that mingling of
sweetness and
sexuality. It reawakened a gentle
side of him he
would have sworn was gone
forever. If it
had ever existed. His loins pulsed
with heaviness
and arousal. Yet his heart felt
pleasingly
unfettered and light with hope.

"
Touch me again, Rowena,
"
he commanded her in an undertone.
"
Touch me as you just did."

She did, her fingertips tracing across the granite-hard muscles of his chest. He reached for her. His hand looked huge and ominous as it skimmed the curve of her hipbone.

"
Be mine,
"
he said, his gaze hooded.

The tip of his shaft rose against her belly. She buried her face in
the hollow of his neck, whisper
ing, "Yes.
"

He went still. A shudder tore through his powerful frame. His callused thumbs cradled her jaw. "Do you know the sort of things I
'
ve done? Do you know in truth who I have been?
"

"
I know.
"
She kissed his warm brown throat.
"
But I believe in you, Dragon, and I believe there
'
s goodness in you."

"
And if there isn
'
t?
"

Her sigh rose into the silence.
"
I would be your woman anyway."

M
ary MacVittie marched her band of reluctant followers deep into the woods. She would have preferred to lead them to the Witching Stone, this being an ancient Celtic ceremony. But the people of the small glen were too frightened by the violence that happened there earlier in the evening.

Revenge was certain when Neacail found out what had happened to his older brother Eachuinn. Gunther, acting on Douglas
'
s earlier
order, had instructed everyone to assemble in the castle before morning. The earl would protect them there.