They ascended the stairs in silence. He smiled, thinking he’d finally managed to still her acerbic tongue merely by being as nice to her as he’d wanted to be, but, constrained by his oath and his rules, had resisted. She would encounter no further resistance from him.
At the door to her chambers, she stopped and looked up at him. He was pleased by her action, for it told him clearly that she desired his kiss.
And he planned to give her much more than a kiss before the night was through.
LISA WAITED, CURSING HERSELF SILENTLY. DURING THE walk to her chambers she’d thought of a dozen excuses to escape him and flee to her room alone, but one thing had prevented her: She wanted a good-night kiss. Dinner had been perfect, and she wanted to end it like a real date. With a real kiss.
So she faced him and turned her face up expectantly.
But he neither kissed her nor left her there. Rather, he reached around her to the door, pushed it open, and smoothly backed her into the room.
“What are you doing?” she asked uneasily.
“I thought merely to visit with you awhile, lass.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said. “You may bid me good night now.” Her fantasy was too fresh in her mind. She wanted a simple kiss to dream on, not the whole man. She couldn’t handle the entire man.
“Why? Do I make you uncomfortable, lass?” He stepped farther into the room and closed the door behind him.
“Of course not,” she lied, moving away from him quickly. “Infuriate me? Frequently.” She suddenly realized she was pacing and forced her feet to still. “I just don’t see any reason for you to be in my chambers. Go.” She waved her hand at him.
He laughed, a husky rumble. “I think you find being in a room with me and a bed disturbing.”
Lisa moved swiftly to the plump mattresses and plunked herself upon them defiantly. “No, I don’t. It doesn’t bother me in the slightest. It’s simply that I’m tired and would like to sleep.” She yawned hugely.
“Quite a yawn. Lovely pink tongue, by the way. Do you recall how it feels when yours jousts with mine? I haven’t forgotten. I want more.”
Despite her resolve not to, she looked at him, fascinated.
“I want your tongue in my mouth.”
She averted her gaze with effort.
“I want mine all over your body.”
Lisa swallowed. “I am not interested,” she said faintly.
“Doona lie to yourself, Lisa. Doona lie to me. You want me. I can feel it in the air between us. I can smell it.”
Lisa didn’t dare breathe. She harbored an absurd hope that he would just leave after declaring that truth and not force her to confront the enormity of it. She did want him. Desperately. Fantasies collided in her mind, daring her to relinquish her innocence and embrace womanhood.
He moved slowly toward her and sat on the edge of her bed. She scooted back hastily, her back flush to the headboard, and hugged a pillow to her chest.
“You enjoy looking at me, doona you, Lisa?”
She enjoyed doing more than looking at him. She liked fighting him with her kisses. Tasting the salt and honey of his skin.
With deft fingers, he untied the laces of his linen shirt and shrugged it off over his head. The muscles in his abdomen rippled, the curves of his biceps flexed. “Then look,” he said, his voice rough. “Look your fill. Think you I doona recall how you gazed at me in my bath?” When his wide shoulders were revealed, she shook her head and sucked in a breath.
“St-stop that! What are you doing?” Lisa exclaimed. Lounging at the foot of her bed was six feet seven inches of dark, seductive man, with rippling muscles beneath bronzed skin; a warrior in every sense of the word. Fine black hair dusted his powerful chest and thick forearms. A finer trail of hair skittered down his abdomen and crept beneath the brilliant red and black tartan knotted at his waist. All in all, Circenn Brodie was the most desirable man Lisa had ever seen.
“Use me, Lisa,” he encouraged softly. “Take whatever you want.” When she made no reply, he said, “You have never been with a man, have you?”
Lisa smoothed the coverlet, her mouth dry. She had no intention of discussing this with him. She wet her traitorous lips and was appalled when they parted and said, “Is it so apparent?”
“To me. Perhaps not to other men. Why? You are old enough to have been with many men. You are beautiful enough that many must have tried. Did you find none to your liking?”
Lisa hugged the pillow tighter. In high school, she’d had several boyfriends, but they’d always seemed so immature to her. Catherine said it was because she was an only child, that she was more accustomed to being around adults. She’d suspected her mom was right.