The Reluctant Suitor

by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss

  “Turn your head, you jackanapes, or, better yet, close your eyes before they pop out your head! You’ve left me nothing to cover myself.”

  Colton chuckled softly. If the lady knew how long he had ogled her during her nap, she’d realize it was far too late for her to try to salvage her modesty. “That’s a bit like closing the fence after the horses have escaped, isn’t it, my dear? I assure you, ‘twould not wipe from my mind the loveliness I’ve savored for the last several moments.”

  In spite of his unrelenting stare, Adriana braced her hands upon the rim of the tub as she emitted a frustrated snarl. Pushing herself upward, she set her rounded bosom momentarily a-bounce, evoking a low strangled groan from Colton as the sights tweaked his goading desires to an even higher level. Knowing the pain that would come swiftly to assault him if he didn’t find release for his pent-up desires, he could almost wish he had not viewed such a delectable form, for he feared hereinafter he’d be tormented and hard-pressed to forget what he had seen.

  Wondering what malady had suddenly beset the man, Adriana cast an oblique glance at him, only to find his warmly glowing eyes devouring her nakedness as if he were strongly tempted to do more than just stare. Angrily she held up a hand to ward him off. “Stand back, you blackguard, and give me room to depart,” she commanded. “And while you’re doing so, try not to stumble over your drooling tongue. I don’t have enough hands to cover myself and climb over the rim of this blasted tub at the same time. Trying to preserve my modesty would likely cause me to break my neck.”

  “Would you like assistance?” Colton offered solicitously, stretching forth a hand in hopeful anticipation. At the moment, he thought he’d even be willing to take his chances bedding the lady; it was a fact he’d never be able to find such satisfactory appeasement for his throbbing desires elsewhere. Indeed, he seriously doubted he had ever known the extent of such blissful torment or experienced the degree of rutting heat he was now battling. If not for the fact that he had long been coached in the ethics of a gentleman, he’d have left this vision of Venus little opportunity to deny him. “I’m more than willing to verify with more credible evidence that what I’m seeing is actually mortal and not some wondrous vision I’ve conjured from yearnings long starved. Only by touching you will I be able to ascertain that you’re real and not some figment of my imagi—”

  “A slap in the face would supply that evidence just as well,” Adriana shot back in rapid fire. “Try anything, Colton Wyndham, and that’s just what you’ll be getting.”

  A heavy sigh did much to express his disappointment. Such sights to which he was now conversant as she stepped over the rim of the tub came nigh to dissolving the strength from his limbs. As far as other areas of his body, it had the opposite effect. Never before had he viewed such long, sleek limbs wondrously crowned by a dainty nest of womanly perfection or the like of such temptingly round, creamy hued orbs. His palms all but itched to feel the silkiness of that luscious fullness within his grasp.

  Facing what promised to be a lack of appeasement, Colton knew he’d soon be suffering the torment of the damned when the curse of his lengthy abstinence began to tear at his vitals. He’d rather not have to endure that discomfort . . . if the lady would only relent.

  Stretching forth a hand as he offered her a cajoling smile, he appealed to her with all the charm he was capable of putting into play. He had not come this far through life without becoming aware that the vast majority of women he had known had been intrigued . . . and captivated . . . by the grooves that deepened in his cheeks with every smile from his lips. “Will you not relent, Adriana?”

  Sharply elevating a brow, Adriana considered the lean hand a brief moment before lifting a challenging gaze to meet his. As they lit upon that handsomely chiseled visage, her eyes were immediately drawn into the snare, and for a moment she found herself susceptible to the appeal of that wondrous smile. Still, the memory of his angry departure years ago was not far from mind and served as a very effectual deterrent against a disastrous thaw. She met his warmly alluring eyes with a cool stare as she warned him crisply, “You lay a hand upon me, Colton Wyndham, and I’ll scream until your mother comes running. That much I promise you.”

  “In that case, my dear, I shall comply with your wishes,” he avouched with an unwavering grin, acquiescing with an impromptu bow as he retreated from the tub. “I wouldn’t want to shock my mother unduly by our mutual state of undress, especially yours, which you flaunt with such grace and style.”

  “Flaunt!” she railed in outrage, thoroughly incensed by his audacity to lay the blame on her. “You lecher, you know you gave me little choice in the matter. Whether fortuitously or deliberately, you intruded into my bath while I slept. If by chance, then you should’ve been enough of a gentleman to leave ere I ever awoke.”

  “What? And ignore what I truly believed was an invitation?” he asked with an incredulous grin. He chuckled softly as he served quick death to that notion. “My dear, as utterly tempting as you are, you couldn’t expect that of a saint, much less a man who has eyes in his head and has become your ardent slave.”

  “Just how many women have you addled with fabricated protestations of that sort, milord?” Adriana asked snidely. “If any believed you, then they must have been a simple lot.”

  Colton refrained from boasting of his previous success with similar platitudes. The fact that this particular lady was disinclined to accept his cajolery made her rather unique among the women he had known. Even if this beauty was the one his father had chosen for him, he was nevertheless intrigued by her aloofness. It was a simple fact that an easily won prize wasn’t treasured by its recipient half as much as one that had been obtained by great toil and difficulty. Her disinterest in his propositions did much to challenge him. It certainly heightened his interest, if indeed it could be intensified any more than it was already.

  The casual lifting of his broad shoulders was only briefly considered by Adriana before his limping retreat drew her dark eyes downward again to the bulging towel. Only then did she notice the purplish, puckered scar slanting downward toward the inside of his right thigh, but it was only a fleeting glance, for it was impossible to ignore the protuberance beneath the linen. On rare occasions from the windows, she had seen Ulysses servicing the mares in the fields stretching out beyond her bedchamber, a fact that would have seriously shocked her mother had she known. The bold lance seemed a necessary prelude to the joining of two beings of different genders. Even concealed beneath the towel, it posed a threat that unnerved her . . . and yet, at the same time, awakened a strange pleasurable excitement at the core of her being. This was the closest she had ever come to viewing a naked man. Once she wed, her maidenly curiosity would be appeased, yet she couldn’t deny there had already been moments when she had wondered what she’d see on her wedding night.

  Becoming cognizant of the fact that Colton was grinning like some hopeful lecher beneath her fleeting glances, she groaned in embarrassment and clasped her arms over her nakedness as she faced away. “Have you no shame, sir?”

  “Why? Because I make no pretense about my vulnerability as a man or that I desire a woman as beautiful and perfect as ever I’ve seen?”

  “Just tell me one thing,” she demanded, tossing another glare over her shoulder. “How long were you standing there ogling me before you decided to awaken me?”

  It took an Herculean effort for Colton to drag his gaze away from her long, shapely legs and fetching derriere in order to meet the lady’s gaze. “Long enough to know I won’t ever forget what I’ve seen here this evening, if that’s what you’re wondering. As for ogling you, it was impossible not to. I doubt I’ve ever met a lady more ravishing devoid of clothing than she is properly garbed. The sight of Venus sleeping in my bath awoke a slumbering dragon that I fear will not be placated till satisfaction is found with such a comely maid. I’d certainly feel sufficiently welcomed home from the wars if you were to relent and take pity on me, Adriana.”

 
; “Please, forgive me for ever thinking you were a gentleman,” she derided. “You’ve done much to prove yourself a full-fledged lothario. In addition to your impertinence to ogle me and suggest that I might be amenable to pacifying the dragon, you’ve had the effrontery to take the only towel, which is further proof that you should’ve stayed under your father’s roof a bit longer and learned a few more manners before running off to become your own man.”

  “Your pardon, Adriana, but I thought you’d be offended by the sight of my male nudity and sought to protect your virginal senses from such a view. Please accept my humble apology for not thinking of your basic needs first.” Giving her a brief, impromptu bow, he straightened and whisked the makeshift skirt from his hips. Holding the towel out to her, he offered it to her with a wayward grin. “At least now it’s warm.”

  A shocked gasp was snatched from Adriana’s throat as she gaped in shock at his bold blade of passion. Then, with a mortified groan, she turned abruptly about, her face flaming.

  Stepping close behind her, Colton leaned over a sublimely naked shoulder. Her dainty pink nipples proved so enticing that it became a test nearly beyond his ability to resist to keep himself from stroking his fingers across them in awe. Smiling, he heckled in a husky whisper, “After all the fuss you made, my dear, would you have me believe you don’t want the towel now?”

  “Will you please just leave me alone!” she begged in exasperation and tried to toss back an angry glare, only to find his face too close to allow her to do anything more than stare into those warmly glowing orbs. They ensnared her own before his gaze dropped to her lips. She felt his hand settle lightly upon her ribs, and for a wild, crazy moment, she thought he intended to kiss her, for his head lowered ever so slowly as his lips parted. Foreseeing the imminent threat, she stepped free of his hand and gathered her dignity, at least what little remained of it. “If you don’t mind, my lord, I’d like to get dressed before we’re late for dinner.”

  “Colton,” he insisted, as a grin curved his handsome lips. “You must call me Colton. ‘Tis the price I demand for letting you go.”

  “What will you do if I scream?” she challenged, lifting her slender nose higher in the air.

  He grinned back at her. “Admire the wondrous sights until everyone comes running.”

  Adriana rolled her eyes at the thought of the humiliation she’d suffer from such an occurrence. A heavy sigh exaggerated her capitulation. “If you insist . . . Colton.”

  Chuckling softly, he retreated, once again admiring her very shapely backside as he did so. “Well, actually, however much I’d rather keep you prisoner, I can see the necessity of letting you escape. I’m still in need of a bath, and since you appropriated mine, and there’s no time for servants to prepare another, I’ll have to make use of what you’ve left.”

  He was greatly disappointed when she made use of the towel, yet when she faced him, tucking a corner into the deep valley between her breasts, he readily decided that Pandora Mayes had never looked remotely as alluring draped in a towel as this young beauty.

  “Do you perhaps need assistance in readying yourself for dinner, my dear? Helga has kitchen duties since one of the scullery maids fell ill tonight. I rather suspect it was due to tippling so much of Father’s brandy, since Harrison said that he found what was left of the crystal decanter shattered on the drawing room floor, but that’s neither here nor there. The simple truth is that Helga won’t be able to assist you. Can I be of service in her stead? I’m quite adept at fastening tiny hooks and buttons. Although the temptation would be enormous, I’d even promise not to look any more than I have already.”

  An angry snarl issued forth from Adriana’s gnashing teeth as she struck out at him with the backside of her arm. The blow hardly fazed him as it came in contact with the taut muscles across his midsection, but the pain she encountered caused her to cry out in sharp surprise. Her sudden anguish drew more chuckles from the naked man. Mortified and enraged, she clasped her throbbing forearm against her midriff and stalked past him into the adjoining room.

  Immediately upon passing the door, she turned abruptly to make sure he wasn’t following her and found him sauntering leisurely in the opposite direction toward the tub. At its edge, he bent, testing the warmth of the water and, in so doing, bringing into view other manly parts. As much as she was wont to gape in virginal innocence, her eyes were drawn to a small, purplish birthmark shaped like a flying gull that marred the otherwise unblemished skin of his right buttock.

  After dumping a pail of hot water into the tub, Colton turned to face her again in all his naked glory. That damnable grin, which seemed naturally inclined to curve across his handsome lips, had not diminished in the least. “What? You haven’t gone yet?” he inquired, his eyes casually flitting the entire length of her towel-covered form. “I thought you were in a hurry to leave my sight.”

  Had she not been so fearful of waking the dead, Adriana would’ve screamed at him in fury and called him every foul name in her limited repertoire of insulting appellations. Glowering at him with dark eyes fairly snapping with fire, she caught the edge of the door and sent it flying forward with all her might. Alas, the force of her outrage caused the solid plank to rebound before the latch could catch. As it swung back, she shoved the door forward again with another raging snarl. This time she was able to savor some small bit of satisfaction as the latch clicked firmly into place.

  Dreading her encounter with Colton Wyndham after their meeting in the bathing chamber, Adriana dallied upstairs as long as she dared, but the appointed moment approached, leaving her no other choice but to make her descent. By the time she arrived, Colton had already joined his family and their guests in the drawing room, and though he remained standing with his white-garbed backside to the warmth radiating from the fireplace and seemed content to quaff the dark red wine in his goblet, his eyes above the crystal rim were vividly alive with manly admiration as they swept upward from her black silk slippers, leisurely perused the tempting roundness visible above her bodice, and then moved higher still to the upswept coiffure elegantly adorned with a black plume. Feeling as if he had just stripped her down to bare skin, Adriana turned aside and sought some other area of the room where hopefully she’d be able to escape those shining orbs. Alas, they seemed to feed upon her every movement, following wherever she led.

  Samantha had occasion to pass close in front of her brother, but, in doing so, was brought up short. Peering at him rather strangely, she leaned near, sniffed, and then wrinkled her nose in disdain. “What in the world are you wearing, Colton?”

  Somewhat confused, he hefted his cane in one hand, and with his glass clasped in the other, spread his arms wide as he looked down at his uniform. “What does it look like I’m wearing? ‘Tis the best I have until I fetch my tailor from London.”

  Samantha giggled. “Why, Colton, I never would’ve expected you, of all people, to indulge in a ladies’ scent. If my nose hasn’t deceived me, I’d be inclined to say the scent is closely reminiscent of the one that Adriana is fond of wearing. In fact, I think the pair of you have used the same perfume tonight.”

  All eyes turned upon the brunette who, with unswerving dedication, drained her goblet before placing it on a serving tray of a passing servant and accepting in its stead a fresh glass. Uncomfortable beneath the curious attention that had descended on her, Adriana carefully avoided meeting anyone’s gaze as she awaited Colton’s answer. Although she feared the shame that would descend on her if he proved callous, she had too much backbone to turn tail and run.

  “Merely a mistake, my dear Samantha,” Colton murmured with a soft chuckle, “one that I had no time to rectify if I wanted to be down here for dinner at the appointed hour. Once I realized my bath had been permeated with the scent, it was too late to bid servants to bring up enough buckets of hot water to suffice for another one. Alas, I had spent too much time outside walking the dogs and was much in need of a bath to consider foregoing it. Frankly, I hadn’t realiz
ed anyone else had been using the bathing chamber near my old room or that some lady had been there fairly recently.”

  Laughter rippled effervescently from his sister’s lips. “ ‘Tis a wonder you didn’t come across something far more shocking than a vial of bath oil. For some time now, Adriana has been using those rooms if she has been riding and needs to bathe and change here for dinner. I’m sure it’s her fragrance you’re wearing this evening, but I must admit, I prefer to smell it on her, not you.”

  “I’m in full agreement,” Colton avowed, casting a slanted grin toward the younger woman. “Although divinely alluring on the lady, it seems a bit sweet for my personal taste.”

  “I’m relieved to hear you say that,” his sibling responded with a teasing smile as she flicked a glance down his tall form. “You had me worried there for a moment. Truly, the scent left me wondering what the war had done to you.”

  Noticing that Stuart had approached and was now standing at his sister’s elbow, Colton stretched forth his hand to the man. “I’d like to join those who’ve already extended hearty wishes for your health and good fortune on this event, Stuart. May you enjoy not only this one, but many more birthdays in the years to come.”

  The viscount responded with a wide grin and a hearty shake of the other’s proffered hand. “I didn’t have a chance to converse with you very long this afternoon, so before too much time has elapsed, I’d like to take this opportunity to invite you to join me and a small company of my friends on a hunt, that is, if you’re up to venturing out. We’d be delighted to have you come with us.”

  Colton exaggerated a wince before shaking his head. “I must confess I still have some difficulty riding, as you may well understand, but I shall consider your invitation with considerably more enthusiasm once my leg is completely healed.”