Yet understanding this woman felt more challenging than the countless battles he’d endured at the earl’s side, the three times he’d nearly lost his life in battle, and even the Day of Truce. It was becoming clear she intended to push him away. But this was one battle he didn’t intend to lose.
“I will stay here—” Cora turned to him, “—for a boon.”
“A boon? Woman, what in God’s name are you talking about?”
“You need not raise your voice.”
“My wife is bartering to sleep in my bed! I’d say I have cause to raise my voice.”
There were men on the battlefield who had turned and run when he’d spoken to them in this very tone. But not her. Timid? How could he have thought it for an instant?
“One additional week. It’s all I ask for. To get to know you.”
This was absurd. What game was she playing at?
He was too tired to untangle her motives tonight.
“Fine.”
He placed his goblet on the small wooden table near the bed and began to undress.
“What are you doing?” Eyes wide, Cora looked at him as if he’d just told her the king of England was coming for a visit on the morrow.
Adam removed his tunic and slipped off the hose underneath. He laughed when Cora nearly tripped from turning around so quickly. He contemplated waiting for her to turn back around before getting into bed, but he’d likely have to wait all night. He meant for her to understand the terms of their new agreement started immediately.
“Good night, Cora.” She gave him a quick glance over her shoulder—those green eyes flashing above her pink lips—and that was his last sight of his wife before he settled onto the mattress.
Though relieved when he finally felt Cora’s weight on the bed, Adam resigned himself to a sleepless night. At least she had agreed to keep their ridiculous agreement discreet. Normally he would be overjoyed by the prospect of seeing Richard, but under the current circumstances, he wished the visit could be delayed.
“Tell me more of him.”
Adam rolled to his side to find Cora so close to the edge of the bed it was a wonder she didn’t topple to the ground below. Her head lay delicately on the feather pillow as her hands kept busy braiding hair that she’d swept to the side. He watched her nimble fingers make quick work of the long tresses.
She clearly tried to annoy him with her questions. Unfortunately for her, it was not working. “Who?”
She turned toward him.
“Richard.”
Though the coverlet was pulled to her chin, Adam could still see the shape of her breasts underneath. He tried to concentrate on her face instead. It was a face meant to be held. To be cherished.
What an odd notion. He clearly needed sleep.
“He is nearly identical to his father in both looks and temperament. Both are intelligent, a mite stubborn, and fiercely loyal.”
“Loyal to their men, you mean?”
“To everyone.”
She made an unladylike noise. He didn’t need to ask her what it meant to know she was skeptical of his claim.
“My apologies. It’s just…an Englishman. Fiercely loyal? Even to a woman?”
“Cora, I know you haven’t much experience with Englishmen—”
“And how would you know such a thing?” She sat up and Adam groaned. She seemed too agitated to realize what she had done, but he was perfectly aware.
His hands ached to reach out and feel the fullness of her breasts. He took a deep breath.
It would be a long night indeed.
“I know because your father told me the evening before our wedding. He warned you might have some…difficulty…with the transition.”
He wasn’t sure she would appreciate her father’s exact words. He had said, “The stubborn chit harbors more resentment for the English than most members of our clan. Never mind that I’ve worked for years to broker peace along the border. She has a mind of her own, and no accounting where she gets such ideas.”
Adam had some notion of where Cora’s stubborn streak may originate.
“I have as much experience with Englishmen as you likely have with Scottish women.”
Adam could not concentrate on their conversation. The astonishing fact was that, despite how she’d tormented him, he wanted his wife.
Badly.
“I doubt that very much.”
He had said it without thinking, not accustomed to speaking so freely with a member of the opposite sex.
Cora crossed her arms in front of her, pressing up her breasts. His ornery temptress; his bed nymph.
“Tell me.”
Her words and tone, even the face she made as she crossed her arms and glared at him, cautioned him to reconsider the tale, which was not fit for a lady’s ears.
Nay. Mayhap she would do well to understand he was, to some, a worthy catch.
“During one of Lord Kenshire’s meetings at the border—”
“With my father.”
“Yes, with your father and clan, I met a Scottish widow who did not seem bothered by my heritage. In fact, she was fascinated by the fact that we were English.”
“And?”
His bed nymph was mighty impatient.
“And I believe it is time for us both to get some rest. Good night, lady wife.”
He turned from her, shifting his concentration to the fire still crackling in the corner of their chamber, trying not to feel the distant warmth of her. He would wait until she had fallen asleep before he added another log to the fire.
“What happened?”
Lord, save him.
“I came to know her, and she realized her mistake. Good night.”
“Came to know her?” There was a hint of genuine interest, mixed with…something else.
She was his wife. And she would eventually come to learn of such things. Lady Cora Maxwell was an innocent, but she was also a married woman. His married woman.
He turned toward her and took a deep breath.
“We stayed at Archbald Castle. Your father had already returned for home, but Richard and I were asked to remain. This particular widow traveled with her uncle and…”
He stopped.
She waited.
“She expressed an interest in me.” As Cora was doing now.
She leaned toward him, likely without realizing it. Winning over his wife may be a difficult task, but it would not be an impossible one.
If he were a gentleman, he would refuse to continue. But he was her husband, damn it.
“I took her to my bed. Spent the better part of the evening instructing her on the difference between the Scotsmen to whom she was accustomed and the Englishman who—”
He did stop then. His wife should have been insulted he spoke so openly about another woman. Instead, she looked…intrigued. Adam shifted toward her. Cora may not want to consummate their marriage, but he could tell she did want him.
And he aimed to prove it.
“Who was intent on seducing her,” he finished. Cora sat as still as a knight being dubbed. She watched him closely, the mistrust in her eyes evident.
“Shall I show you, Cora?”
“How you seduced another woman? I think not.”
“Nay, my love. How I will seduce you.” He traced the outline of her shoulder with his finger and then ran it down the length of her thin chemise. He grazed the soft material gently, careful not to touch her skin.
He’d been an idiot.
While it was true the woman in his bed was sworn to him for life, she was right—they had only just met. Perhaps she did need time to acclimate to England. To him.
“You miss your home, Cora.” It was not a question, but Cora answered anyway.
She swallowed. “Very much. Our countries are similar in many ways, but they are also very different. My father is a patriot. Taught me to love my clan, my country. And I do. It’s here.” She pointed to her heart.
Something occurred to him.
“You will see your home again. We can visit as often as possible. You know that, aye?”
He could tell from her expression she did not.
Adam needed to convince her another way. Perhaps she needed to be shown how to respond to the desire she obviously felt for him.
He would seduce his own wife. And he would start immediately.
6
My love.
It had been said so casually, so naturally, Cora didn’t think Adam even realized the words had left his lips. And he seemed so sincere when he said they could visit her home. Something stirred in her. Something frightening and primal. For the briefest of moments, she wanted it to be true. Wanted a marriage unlike her parents’ polite but loveless relationship.
But this wasn’t love she was feeling. It was simple desire. And if he didn’t stop touching her like that, Cora wasn’t sure if she’d be strong enough to resist.
Her husband was incredibly handsome, and she also felt…drawn to him. This arrangement, sleeping here in his bed—nay, their bed—was not going to work.
“Adam, I don’t think—”
He finally touched his fingers to her bare flesh, sweeping them along her neck and across her chest. His casual position, propped on one elbow, was at odds with his expression.
Adam looked up at her with such intensity that Cora found she could not speak. She felt the fingers dip lower, beneath the opening of her cream-colored undergarment. He sat up then, the bed cover falling to reveal the muscles she desperately wanted to touch. But she couldn’t speak. Or move.
With one tug at the string that gathered the material of her chemise together, Adam allowed himself greater access. He pulled the chemise down over one shoulder and resumed where he had left off. Everywhere his powerful hands touched felt like flicks of the fire’s flames on her skin. She could not, would not, ask him to stop.
He lifted his chin as if signaling something important was about to happen.
And it did.
He reached over and took her full breast in his hand. His groan reverberated inside her. Cora’s eyes drifted shut.
“Adam.”
His thumb brushed her nipple.
“Cora.”
He splayed his hand over the hardened peak and cupped her again. And then his warm, calloused soldier’s hand was gone.
Her eyes flew open.
“Lay back.”
Another command. One would never guess this man was not the earl’s actual son by birth.
“Nay.”
Forget her vows. She could not play the passive maid any longer, and it was time her husband realized as much.
“I will not be commanded, husband.”
He didn’t hesitate. “Very well. Will you lay back so I can pleasure you?”
A shiver ran down her body. “Pleasure me? You already…that is to say…our agreement.”
He rolled his eyes and looked endearingly playful when he did so.
“You will remain a virgin, Cora. As I told you before, I do not break my word.”
“And I don’t believe you any more now than I did then.” She said it without thinking. But her words were not exactly true. She did believe him.
Rather than respond, he lowered himself back onto his elbow, and Cora felt herself sliding closer to him.
“Lower,” he said.
And this time she listened.
“Close your eyes.”
“Adam, I—”
“Although it should not be so—we are, after all, man and wife—you have my word, Cora. I will not take your virginity…this night.”
For tonight, she chose to believe him. For tonight, she chose to trust him.
Cora closed her eyes in anticipation, waiting, waiting, and…nothing. She listened to Adam’s steady breathing. A loud crackle startled her eyes open. The fire roared in its hearth. Adam raised his eyebrows and she slammed her eyes shut again.
Still, nothing, until she finally felt the cool air waft against her side as he slid his hand beneath the coverlet. Adam’s hand traced her hip and the length of her thigh.
“Relax, love.”
She was trying to do just that. But Cora had not expected to find herself in her husband’s bed, his hands wreaking havoc on her senses, only a week into their agreement.
Why was he so focused on her leg?
Cora would have asked that very question, but she decided it did not matter. The feather-soft touch made her ache for more. For what…she wasn’t sure.
And suddenly, his hand was there.
“Nay, don’t,” he whispered as Cora immediately shifted to close her legs.
His hand paused in its perusal and lay still on her most intimate parts.
And then he slipped a finger inside and Cora thought she would die of embarrassment. Until he began to move, circling and pressing. Pure sensation shot through her body, making her shake.
“I want you to keep your eyes closed. Can you do that, Cora?”
“Aye,” she moaned out.
Another loud crackle startled her.
“Listen to me,” he said. “I’m going to pleasure you.”
What could that mean? But there was no need to ask, for he was quick to show her. His hand pressed against her as he slipped another finger inside. She pushed against him, not understanding but wanting so much more.
“Your body is mine. You are mine. And I claim both, now.”
Another command. But at this moment, she wanted it to be true.
Cora arched her back, meeting his wonderful fingers as they moved in and out until a shudder ran from her core up the length of her body. Her eyes flew open, the feeling so intense and startling, it scared her. She let out a slow, deep breath.
“I…”
No words seemed sufficient.
Adam leaned down to place his lips on hers. So gently that for a moment, albeit a brief one, she thought perhaps…
Nay, he simply desired her.
Maybe one kiss would not hurt.
His lips coaxed hers open, and when they did, his tongue immediately slipped inside. She touched her own to his and was lost.
He had never withdrawn his hand! And then the onslaught began in truth.
She tried to talk, to ask about what he was doing, but he deepened the kiss, his tongue and fingers moving in harmony with one another. When she moaned, Adam pulled her even closer. She reached around him and placed a hand tentatively on his back. Muscles constricted under her fingers. It was as if she had grabbed ahold of a rock, hard and smooth but warm and alive.
It was simply too much.
She exploded, pressing into him shamelessly. The sound that escaped her was so deep, Cora could hardly believe it was her own.
He pulled away so suddenly it took her a moment to realize he was standing. The quick glimpse of his backside confirmed her husband was indeed leaving. He grabbed a garment from a trunk at the foot of the massive bed—she couldn’t tell what it was—and walked toward the door.
“Get some rest, Cora.”
And then he was gone.
Rest? Is he jesting? She could no sooner sleep now than forget she was the wife of an Englishman. Despite what had happened, she still planned on leaving. Cora did not belong here. And when Sir Richard arrived tomorrow, it would be the perfect opportunity for her to show Adam they were unsuitable.
What had passed between them this night was desire. Nothing more.
Wasn’t it?
Adam sat in his solar. Earlier, he’d thought seducing her was a worthy plan, but he now wondered at the wisdom of that decision. After a brisk walk along the ramparts, he’d returned to find Cora fast asleep in the middle of his bed.
The sight of her had been so enticing, he’d had to leave.
He wasn’t sure he understood what had happened between them this eve, only that his wife had brought him to the brink of pleasure with nothing more than her own release.
Why?
She was neither docile nor biddable. Cora Maxwell was quite the opposite. A
woman who bristled at taking orders and was intelligent enough to convince the people around her to do her bidding. One who possessed an unharnessed passion she didn’t even know existed.
And while the staff, with the exception of Clare and perhaps Charles, was leery of a Scottish mistress, Langford’s new lady had ingrained herself in their lives with abandon. She was proving to be quite expensive, however, and the havoc she’d wreaked on the menu today had left his men begging that he speak to her, to Cook, or both.
“My lord?”
Adam must have fallen asleep. It was rare, and extremely disconcerting, that he had not heard Charles enter the room.
“Your guests have arrived.”
Adam wore only hose and a linen shirt. He looked out the small shuttered window barely aglow with light. “Has the fast been broken yet, Charles?”
“Nay, my lord.”
Richard had arrived early—not a great surprise since his friend so often traveled at night.
“I will be down to greet them in a moment.” He stood and walked toward the door leading to his bedchamber. He was glad he’d insisted on having no servants assist him. Now, he could speak to Cora alone before going downstairs to greet Richard.
She was still sleeping.
Adam didn’t know how long he stood at the foot of the bed watching his bride. One shapely leg was thrown over the coverlet, and he ached to run his hand along it. To explore her body and make her his wife in truth.
Nay, this was not the time for them to reach a new understanding. He had to get out of here. With any luck, Cora would remember his desire not to alert Richard that anything was amiss. He slipped on a simple short tunic and then walked down the winding staircase.
“Look who’s come to greet us? If it isn’t the Lord of Langford himself.”
Adam smiled as he approached the small retinue at the other end of the hall. While the servants hurried to move the trestle tables from their nighttime position along the edges of the room, preparing for an earlier than normal morning meal, Adam greeted his guests.
“Perhaps if you’d chosen to arrive at a reasonable hour, you would have received a grander reception.” He nodded at Richard’s retainers, none of whom he recognized, and embraced his friend, who slapped his back with the strength of two men.
The Ward's Bride (Border Series Prequel Novella) Page 5
