DevilsHeart (6 page)

She might not make it back to Graham land. She might be held
hostage and forced into this marriage against her will anyway. She might never
return home, remaining forever stuck in a time better known for its cruelty
toward women than its freedoms. Restricting women’s movements, their speech,
and their souls. This might be the last choice she would ever make for herself.

The veil of shyness parted and all at once the warm hardness
of Rathe’s body, his soothing breath on her skin, and rhythmic pulse beneath
his flesh consumed her.

She pressed a soft kiss along the corner of his mouth. “Take
me upstairs.”

“As you wish, my lady.”

He grabbed her hand and guided her up the stairs. As they
reached the top, he paused and looked up and down the corridor. “It is safe.
Lead the way.”

Leah nodded, appreciative of his understanding she preferred
discreetness, especially after getting caught in the stairwell with his hands
and mouth all over her.

She padded down the hallway to her chamber, attempting to
slow her breathing so her whisky-sotted head wouldn’t swirl quite so freely as
she moved. The soft glow of firelight seeped out from beneath the closed door.
She paused with her hand on the handle to allow her building anxiety a chance
to settle down.

He pulled her hair away from her shoulder and dropped his
lips to her neck as he slipped one hand around her waist. Her eyes fluttered
closed, her lips parting as he planted slow, languid kisses up to her ear. His
hand skimmed her stomach and moved upward until it cupped one breast. She bit
down hard on her lower lip as his thumb stroked back and forth over her aching
nipple, sending erotic shivers through her flesh.

He nipped at her earlobe. “Open the door, lass.”

No. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t sleep with a perfect
stranger.

Yes. She was going to do this. Consequences be damned. She
pulled the latch on the door and shoved it open. Reaching back, she grabbed his
free hand and pulled him into the room behind her.

Two women rose from their positions near the fire and Leah
stopped short, her eyes widening.

Shit.

A hole needed to open up in the floor and swallow her whole.
She’d forgotten about the two young servants whom Mary had assigned to her.
Even after two whole weeks of servants assisting her morning and night, she
still hadn’t gotten used to their presence.

Rathe’s hand was still on her breast. Leah gasped and shoved
it away as she stepped out of his embrace. Blood rushed to her cheeks and she
froze in the middle of the room, speechless.

He rescued her. He stepped toward the women and spoke in
Gaelic. Their faces remained expressionless as they nodded at him and then
turned to curtsey to Leah before leaving the room.

The door clicked closed just as a large flame leaped high
into the air from the crackling fire in the hearth. She jumped along with the
flame, now on edge in the rigid silence.

Rathe strode past her, loosening his belt.

Oh God.

Every nerve in her body threatened to revolt and send her
flying out of the room. She struggled for each shallow breath and wrapped her
arms around her stomach as he wound the belt into a circle around his hand.

“What did you say to them?” she whispered.

He shrugged, setting the belt upon a low, red-cushioned
bench near the window. “I simply told them their services were not needed
tonight and they should tend to you in the morning.”

She groaned, her face falling into her hands as humiliation
burned through her. “They’re going to tell everyone, aren’t they?”

His hands wrapped around her wrists and pulled them away
from her face. “They will not tell anyone. At least no one of import. They know
better than to spill the secrets of those in their charge.”

“Are you sure?”

He smiled, his green eyes twinkling. “Yes. But just in case
I will find them in the morning. A mere coin or two will ensure their continued
silence.”

He was going to pay them off?
Ugh, how humiliating.

He released her and yanked his tunic and leine up over his
head, then tossed them onto the bench. Her eyes followed the movement as she
concentrated on taking deep, even breaths.

But then he was before her, slipping his fingers around her
belt. “You are nervous.”

She could lie. Perhaps insisting upon her confidence would
help her to feel it. But she didn’t have the fortitude. She turned her head
toward him until one roped biceps came into view. “A little.”

The empty whisky cup and decanter still sat on a low table
near the bed, just past Rathe. The decanter probably held more of the dangerous
liquid. She chewed her bottom lip. Perhaps just a bit more might get her to
relax.

His chest rumbled with a low laugh. “No, lass. I will not be
allowing you any more whisky.”

Leah’s head snapped forward. “What? How did you know what I
was thinking?”

“I watched your eyes. Besides, I could taste it on your
lips.”

Her hand flew to her mouth. Where was a breath mint when you
needed one? “I’m so sorry! I don’t normally drink so much, but—”

“I like whisky, you have no complaints from me. I just want
you awake.”

She dropped her eyes to his chest, her cheeks heating again.
Even when she had lost her virginity to the sweet, unassuming computer
programming major she’d dated for a short time during her junior year of
college, she had not acted like such a bumbling idiot.

“You have been married before?” He slid the fingers of his
other hand around her belt.

“No.” She gulped as his arm flexed and the belt loosened
around her. “Just engaged.”

“Engaged?” His brow crinkled, giving him a boyish air.

“It’s kind of like betrothed,” she explained with a gulp.
“We were supposed to be married last month.”

Rathe paused and then slid the belt from her hips. “But he
took you to his bed before that?”

“Well, yes, but—”

Grabbing fistfuls of the light-green dress overlaying her
leine, he pulled up on the garment and lifted it over her head. He turned his
back to her and folded it.

Leah shivered. But now he wasn’t watching her and her gaze
fell along the contours of each well-defined, powerfully built muscle from
broad shoulders to narrow hips. His body pulled at something deep and primitive
within her. Her pussy rippled in anticipation.

He laid the garment on the bench next to his clothing and
then sat upon the edge of the bed to remove his brown leather boots. Setting
them off to the side, he extended one hand out to her. “Come.”

She placed her shaking hand in his. Did she really want to
do this? She had never been with anyone other than Simon in many years. He was
a man of simple pleasures—namely the missionary position after a successful
night of fantasy football or the completion of a tough case at work. And even
then it wasn’t like the other two men she’d been with were rock stars beneath
the sheets. Would she even know what to do with a man like Rathe?

His warm fingers wrapped around hers and he pulled her
toward him, guiding her between his thighs. “I think it is time I took a look
at that hip.”

Leah held her breath as he slipped the soft leather shoes
and knitted socks off her feet. Drawing her leine up until it reached her
knees, he slid his hands underneath the hem, laying his warm, rough palms along
the sides of her bare thighs and up to her hips.

“Off with it.” His clipped tone was softened only by a hazy
suggestion of barely checked ardor radiating from his eyes.

She should step away and run as far as possible. After all,
this man could have any woman he wanted and had, if Alpina was to be believed.
What allure did he see in her? Or was he just taking advantage of the fact she
was a willing woman?

But it was too late. She couldn’t turn back now. She would
never forgive herself. The cold of the room wrapped around her bare midriff as
she grabbed the hem of her leine and lifted it. The soft linen dragged along
her stiff, sensitive nipples as she pulled the garment over her head and
dropped it to the floor.

Rathe’s nostrils flared as he cast his gaze to her bruised
hip, smoothing his thumb back and forth over the large purple discoloration.
“Does it still pain you?”

“Not really.” Her entire body stiffened. Only Simon had ever
seen her fully naked and, considering how many women Rathe was rumored to have
been with, Leah couldn’t help but withdraw her arms to her chest. Surely other
women he’d had were more appealing. Less rounded and soft. More lithe and
delicate.

“Ah, lass, I am so sorry.” He pulled her forward as he
brushed his lips over her bruise.

She gasped, her skin tingling. His voice was so earnest, so
soothing. It might have been all for show, but at least he was trying to make
her feel as though she wasn’t just some random woman he had picked up at a
party.

Rathe’s breath seared a pathway from her hip to her navel.
He pressed his lips to her skin, planting slow, lazy kisses along her stomach
as his hands slipped around to her backside, kneading and exploring. Her
muscles warmed beneath his fingertips, his gentle touch sending a heady wave of
desire through her. She threaded her fingers through his hair, awestruck by the
raptured twist of his handsome features.

His eyes blackened like a man possessed by a demonic spirit
as they traveled across her breasts. A strange, thrilling spark of fear over
the feral nature of his expression grew within her, twisting and mingling with
the vulnerability of standing stark naked before a perfect stranger.

In one swift, fluid motion, he grabbed her by the waist and
threw her onto the bed. His eyes roved over her body. Her flesh tingled, face
heating. She squirmed and then paused. She was wet. Very wet.

He dropped his breeches to the floor. His large, thickly
veined cock jutted out before him as he crawled across the bed to her side. Her
throat grew dry and she forced her eyes back to his face.

Rathe’s hand skipped across her lower abdomen, gliding
through the hair on her mons. He grabbed her hip and separated her thighs with
one knee.

She closed her eyes as an urge to bolt out from under him
consumed her. She was going to do this. She wanted to do this. Just this once.
Then she could go back to her non-hedonistic, unspontaneous, boring life.

He pressed his hard, roped thigh against her slickening
pussy. The deep, excruciating ache overwhelmed her, short-circuiting her brain.
She bit back a moan, tilting her hips.

He sucked in a breath. “God, lass, you are ready for me.” He
flicked one nipple with his tongue.

She gasped, arching her back toward him. He ground his thigh
against her and a groan escaped her lips. He fell upon her then, lips closing
around her nipple, flicking and sucking. His warm, weighty form pressed her
into the mattress.

“It is all right to touch me.” He laughed as he nuzzled her
neck. His hand cupped her other breast, teasing the nipple into a hard, aching
peak.

Her hands were balled up at her sides. Oh God, could she act
any more virginal? “Sorry.” She forced her hands to relax.

He chuckled again, the vibrations rippling through her skin
from his lips. “No apology needed. I just want you to enjoy this.”

“I am,” she hurried to assure him. “I’m just…nervous.”

“Do not be.” He rolled her nipple between his thumb and
forefinger as his lips seared a path up her neck. “You are safe with me. I
swear it.”

A jolting shock zipped from her nipple to her clit. She
moaned his name, grinding herself against his leg. Her hands glided over his
shoulders to his back. Their lips met and she slanted her mouth beneath his,
thrusting her tongue between his lips.

He rubbed his smooth, erect shaft back and forth over her
hip and tore his lips away from hers. His teeth raked down her neck. “Spread
your legs, lass.”

A tremor ripped through her pussy as she followed his
instructions. His calloused palm grazed her stomach, arching over her mons to
her trembling inner thigh. Stroking the sensitive flesh, he took a nipple into
his mouth once again. Leah’s nails dug into his back as hot moisture pooled in
her core.

Rathe slipped two fingers into her folds, brushing over her
clit, and she arched toward him. A wicked surge flew through her body, tearing
a cry from her lips. And then his fingers pushed into her, slipping into her
opening as his thumb hit her clit.

He bit her neck and thrust his fingers into her again. “Tell
me what you want. What you wanted me to do to you when I saw you at your
window.”

Oh God, he
had
seen her. And knew what she’d been
thinking. Just as embarrassment pushed forward through the gossamer veil of
arousal, his thumb pressed into her clit and drove it away. She rocked her hips
in rhythm with his movements as an aching, needful swirl of pleasure wound its
way through her core and up toward her head.

He slid his fingers out of her and she whimpered until he
stroked her clit in tight, ever-quickening circles. “It is what I wanted too,
lass.”

Her threads of control unraveling, she gripped the bedcovers
in one hand while dragging her nails along his back with the other. Acute
spasms of pleasure radiated outward from her clit, sending her mind into a
spiral of dark desire.

He slowed his movements until his fingers were motionless
but pressing on her throbbing clit. “Tell me. Tell me you want me to fuck you.”

Leah shuddered, her body heating. She squeezed her eyes
shut, panting. She’d never uttered those words out loud. She was a good girl,
after all. Good girls didn’t ask to be fucked. He tapped her clit and she
gasped for breath as sharp, exquisite jolts of fire tore through her core.

Then the words tumbled in a rush from her mouth. “I want you
to fuck me.”