Chapter Six #4
Sterling was a welcoming house, indeed. The maids were not standing with their platters, attempting to be unnoticed.
There was no lowering of heads before the food was presented.
Conversation flowed freely instead of each word being measured before it was uttered for fear of those higher than yourself becoming offended.
Her appetite returned with full vigor as she watched the supper tables, enthralled by the contentment displayed.
It radiated from everyone around her, warming up that spot in her chest that had turned so cold when she was separated from her family.
She still longed for them but happily enjoyed her meal with such company.
It would be simple to slip into the role she’d been thrust into.
She was tempted, sorely so. Her eyes strayed to Brodick.
His jaw was newly scraped clean of whiskers.
His face was firm and hard, like the rest of his body.
The doublet he’d worn on the trail was missing.
He wore only his shirt and kilt. The tartan was flipped up along his thigh, displaying the thick muscle of his leg.
She should have ignored it, but her eyes were drawn to it.
So intent was she on him she missed the fact that one of his hands was beneath the table. He gently squeezed her knee through her skirts and she jumped, knocking the table.
“Thick, cloddish, with only one thing on their minds.” Fiona waggled a finger from side to side with each insult she tossed at her brother.
Heat crept into Anne’s cheeks as Brodick turned his gaze onto her. Suspicion was clouding his expression again. He gripped her knee once more, keeping his hand there. “Maybe ye are as innocent as ye say. Ye certainly are not used to being touched.”
He had lowered his voice but it still lit her temper. Pushing her foot off the floor, she drove her knee and his hand into the top of the table. The thump covered the swift intake of his breath.
“And you wonder,” she gritted out, keeping her voice low, “why I am intent on following traditions that protect my good name.”
Several men had stopped talking and were silently chewing as they tried to listen.
Rising, she bobbed a quick reverence before striding across the hall.
She didn’t care if it was unwise to be angry, she was out of patience with performing to everyone’s expectations.
She had no more tolerance for charges against her chastity.
A hard hand caught her elbow once she entered the hallway. Brodick spun her around to face his displeasure.
“Ye’re right, Mary, I dinnae ken why ye’re avoiding my bed.”
“Your bed…all I hear is your bed.” She raised her chin and let him see the flames in her eyes. “Yet it is my virtue you question. I am not the one who speaks of lust so often. Attending court does not make any lady a strumpet.”
“I’ve been to your English court, madam, and it was full of titled ladies who held no reservations about anything.” He pointed a finger at her. “They fucked in the hallways outside the Queen’s own chamber. I won’t have it in my wife.”
The word fuck was blunt but it also sent a shaft of need through her. Her heart was racing, driving her blood at a fast pace through her. It seemed to accentuate each of her senses.
“Then why did you enter negotiations with my father, if you have such a low opinion of English ladies?”
Her rapid breathing pulled his scent into her head.
She was instantly distracted from her purpose by rising lust again.
She wanted to find out what all that muscle felt like, smooth her hands over it.
She could not stop the impulses and tried to thrust away from him.
His arm shot around her waist the second her palms slammed against his hard chest, and with a hard jerk, she ran into his body, her fingers clenching at his shirt.
“We are ill matched—” She gasped behind Brodick’s hand as it slapped over her mouth.
“Dinnae say it! I’ll be taking ye to my bed and no other place.” He lowered his voice as his arms tightened, holding her prisoner when she squirmed. “Tell me true, Mary,” he said, removing his hand, “have ye been with another? Let us begin our marriage with honesty.”
“You’ve already made up your mind about me. Nothing I say will make any difference.”
“It will. I can trust. But it disnae come for free. Ye have to be honest with me first.”
His hand moved up her back until he threaded it through her hair.
His grasp tightened and she was forced to stare into his eyes.
Suspicion stared back at her and hunger so fierce it stunned her.
Her words melted away as she forgot what she was fighting with him about.
His attention dropped to her mouth and her lips tingled, anticipating his kiss.
It never came. With a growl, he released her. His shoulders shook as he stepped back.
“I’ll nae be distracted. Ye’ll answer me before yer kisses drive thought from my mind.”
Her body shook with the loss of his support. A dull ache ran through every inch of her flesh. Clasping her arms around herself, she tried to remove the feeling of his hands by rubbing her arms.
“You doubt me. That will never change. Even after my innocence is proven you will continue to doubt my word.” She shivered. “This is why I ask you to send me back to my father.”
“And I have told ye that I willnae do so.” He spat his words at her, pointing that finger toward her once more. “Have ye known another man?”
“No, and that won’t be changing tonight.” She had no way to enforce her words but they flew out of her mouth born from the flames of her temper. How she wished she were enduring her woman’s flow. Her eyes widened.
Her monthly flow…
“Since you doubt my innocence, it is only prudent to wait until my monthly curse happens before consummating this marriage. Only by doing that will you never doubt the parentage of any babe I may conceive.”
His expression darkened but she didn’t wait for him to demand compliance from her again.
“Yes. That is the way to end this quarrel.” Taking a deep breath into her lungs, she curtsied, dismissing him with the gesture. “Good night, my lord.”
She turned her back on him, the hairs on her nape rising as she did so.
Her shoulders were tense as she began walking away, expecting to feel his hands on her at any moment.
She made it the length of the hallway without any interference.
Disappointment slammed into her, making her aware of how much she enjoyed his touch.
Tears clouded her vision as she climbed the stairs and she wasn’t even sure why she was sniffling.
She had gained what she wanted. There was no reason for her to despair. Her monthly curse would not come for another fortnight at least. It was a much better plan than asking for an inspection.
So why did she not feel relief?