Free Border Bride by Arnette Lamb Page A

felt, Alpin squeaked, "You would lie with me?"
    He chuckled, the sound a rumble against her breasts. "'Tis where such sport usually ends."
    "Sport?" Good intentions fled like gulls before a hurricane.
    "Aye, and I expect we'll enjoy a fair dose of that. Shall we say tonight at midnight in my bedchamber?"
    "Tonight?" Outrage made her blood boil. "Your mistress just left."
    "I want you, and that's all that matters." With his index finger he tapped her nose. "Tonight. I'd take you there now, but Saladin would only interrupt us."
    Her mind had become a wasteland devoid of coherent thought. "Saladin?"
    He nodded. "I see you didn't hear the trumpet sounding his arrival. I almost missed it myself."
    She hadn't heard any horn. But the look on Malcolm's face signaled a warning of its own: she'd gone too far in her attempt at seduction. She'd only wanted to distract him a bit. Now she was in over her head. "Don't you think this is all happening too fast?"
    To her dismay, he chuckled again and tucked his hands behind his head. "Absolutely not, and don't bother taking your bath in the kitchen. I'll have the tub sent to my room." He jiggled his eyebrows. "We'll share that as well."
    He looked like a fat tomcat after a successful night on the prowl. Precisely what she'd hoped to achieve, but not during their first tryst. She wasn't ready to give herself to him yet. He had to propose marriage first.
    She rolled off him and got to her feet. Sucking up her pride she said, "We cannot, Malcolm. 'Twould be wrong."
    "Wanting each other is right," he said in a silky whisper. "And you can't deny the desire you feel for me."
    "No." Unable to face him, she stared out the window. To her surprise, life in the castle yard went on in normal fashion. A hay wagon lumbered toward the gate; the goosegirl shooed her flock out of the way; the blacksmith banged out his perpetual melody; rowdy children played chase. She was reminded of two other children and a time long ago. But hatred and greed separated them now. "I liked it when you kissed me, but I've changed my mind."
    His hands touched her shoulders. "Change it back, Alpin."
    "You must promise never to kiss me again." She stepped away.
    He followed her, a wall of warmth at her back. She felt the rush of his breath on her skin. "I promise I'll do more than kiss you." The blast of a horn made her jump. His fingers tightened. "We'll discuss it tonight in my room."
    "No, we won't. 'Tis finished here and now."
    He released her. She turned and saw the warmth flee his eyes, leaving cold dislike. "Then pack your bags. I'll have Alexander take you to your uncle."
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Chapter Five

     
    At the sound of his retreating footsteps Alpin almost called him back and slapped his face. She should have expected knavery from the beast, Malcolm Kerr. Her better judgment kept her silent. Was it his fault she'd fallen prey to a trap of her own making? Yes. With his tender kisses, he'd put her off guard; then he'd struck a mean blow.
    She shivered in fear—fear of yielding to her nemesis, fear of the yearning he aroused in her, fear of being sent away to the wretched house she'd fled at the age of six. A greater dread gripped her. Was she destined to live out her life and never know the love of a man, never see just how far passion would take her?
    But Malcolm Kerr wasn't speaking of tenderness or affection in the traditional sense. Sport was what he'd called it. Sport .
    Her stomach turned sour, and bright girlish dreams faded like curtains too long in the sun. She didn't want romance anymore. In her youth she had. Watching Charles and Adrienne devote their lives to each other had given Alpin a sound understanding of the meaning of love. It had also shown her the danger of so deep a commitment, for when Adrienne died a part of Charles had perished with her. From then on, he'd been a shell of a man, uninterested in the world around him and blind to the needs and to the future of his young ward.
    Alpin's life had changed on that