Prince of Seduction

by Donna Grant

  “You’ve had too much to drink this day, my friend,” the man said to the drunk. “There are plenty of women below who need your attention.”

  The drunk looked from the warrior to the festival. “Aye. Ye’re right,” he said and walked away.

  For several minutes Marin watched the drunk stumble his way down the steep slope to the crowd in the valley. She had wanted to be alone with the castle ruins, and was about to ask the warrior if he could leave, when she raised her eyes and found him staring at her intently.

  There was something in his gaze that made her very…aware…of him. The very air sizzled with a current of lust she couldn’t dispel, and wasn’t sure she even wanted to. Did he feel it too? Is that why he looked at her with such a smoldering stare?

  “My name is Elric Sinclair.”

  His voice was as smooth as velvet, as dark as sin. It sent her blood rushing through her, warming her as nothing else had been able to. No longer did she feel the cold, not with his beautiful green eyes watching her. “Thank you for your aid.”

  “I’m no’ one to leave a damsel in distress.”

  Marin found herself smiling. “Now that is something I’ve never been called.”

  His dark brows rose as he crossed his arms over his thick chest, his arms bulging with muscles. Her gaze raked over his thick legs, narrow waist, and wide chest to his face. His green eyes studied her silently.

  “I see you like our history,” he said after a moment.

  Marin glanced over her shoulder at the ruins. “I think it sad that such a significant part of Britain’s history is left to this.”

  “Britain, aye?” he said with a frown. “But no’ all castles are torn down?”

  Was it her imagination or had he asked that as a question? “No,” she said and turned to the castle. She felt Elric move beside her, but he didn’t get too close. She realized she had never given him her name. “By the way, I’m Marin. Marin Chapel.”

  He smiled and bowed slightly. “Nice to meet you, Marin. An unusual name you have.”

  “My parents liked the unusual.”

  “That isna always bad.”

  Marin tried to ignore the pull of Elric’s body and the way his brogue made her knees weak. It was like he had some kind of magic power over her that she wasn’t able to deflect. She could hear every breath he took, sense every glance of his eyes.

  “You feel it do you no’?” he asked softly.

  She jumped and looked at him. Her lips parted, but she didn’t know how to answer.

  “You feel the draw of Scotland’s history,” he said with a slight pull of his lips. “They say that if you can feel the draw that you were Scottish in another life.”

  Marin closed her lips and licked them as she tried to pull herself together. There was definitely something about Scotland that put her off kilter. Or it had as soon as Elric showed up. “I’ve never heard that saying, but I suppose it could be true.”

  “So you believe in past lives?”

  She shrugged and tried not to notice how intense he had suddenly become. “I don’t disbelieve or believe it. I’ve seen no proof either way to show me that it is or isn’t true.”

  The intense light of his green eyes dimmed. “Ah,” he said sadly.

  “Do you believe in past lives?” Marin found herself asking.

  “I most certainly do. When two people meet and feel a connection that goes deeper than anything they can explain, a love so strong, so true that it could only be they are soul mates…then it proves past lives.”

  “How?”

  He turned to face her, moving closer as he did. Marin didn’t back away. She was captivated by the Scot, and wanted to know more about him, about Scotland, about anything he wanted to tell her.

  “When two souls find each other again and again in different lifetimes, their love grows stronger, allowing them to find the other quicker each lifetime. ‘Tis magic.”

  She had never thought of anything like that before, and it gave her pause. “How do you know this?”

  “I’ve seen it,” he simply said.

  She glanced at the crumbling ruins of the castle and the weeds and ivy that covered the few stones that stood upright. “What happens if the souls don’t find each other?”

  “They continue looking in the next lifetime.”

  “You sound so certain.”

  He smiled seductively. “That’s because I am. Do you no’ believe in love?”

  “Oh, I believe,” she said. “My parents were madly in love with each other. It used to embarrass me as a kid, but as I grew older I realized what a precious thing my parents had.”

  “Are they still alive?”

  Marin nodded. “They were rarely apart, and that was true even in death. They died within weeks of each other. It was as if Dad couldn’t live without Mom.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  There was only kindness in his eyes, and Marin realized it felt good to talk about her parents and the love they had, a love she doubted she would ever find. “Do you believe in love?”

  “Most certainly.”

  He said it with such conviction that it left her speechless for a minute. “Have you found your soul mate?”

  He nodded.

  Marin sighed and wrapped her arms around herself. “You’re very lucky then. Not many people are so sure of such things.”

  “Come with me,” Elric said and held out his hand to her.

  For a man who had found his soul mate, he was spending a lot of time with her. She wanted to tell him to go back to his woman, but she couldn’t. She wanted him to herself. “Where?”

  “Into the ruins,” he said and took her hand when she didn’t offer it. “Let me show you what it was like inside a castle.”

  Marin let her cares go as she laughed while Elric pulled her after him. And once she entered the ruins, it was like she had walked through an invisible doorway that brought her senses to life.

  She took a deep breath and smelled the earthy scent of Scotland and the history of the castle. Her gaze wandered over the weathered gray stones as she imagined what the castle had been like before it had been destroyed.

  “Close your eyes,” Elric whispered into her ear as he came up behind her.

  Chills raced down Marin’s spine and across her skin. It never entered her thoughts not to do as he asked. She could feel the length of him against her, his heat surrounding her, and his warm breath fanning her neck. She had the sudden and nearly uncontrollable urge to lean into him.

  “Listen close and you can hear Scotland opening her past up to you,” his deep, velvety voice spoke softly. “The castle is alive with activity. A fire roars in the great hall, servants scold children as they race through the hall and try to get sweetmeats, and the mistress of the castle readies everything for the evening meal. Her husband walks through the door, searching for her. He spots her near the dais where they would sup and hurries to her.”

  Marin could feel, hear, and see all that Elric whispered in her ear. It was as he had said, Scotland opened her history for her to glimpse inside.

  “The lord stops in front of his lady wife,” Elric continued as he slowly walked around her.

  Marin desperately wanted to open her eyes, to look at Elric. But at the same time she wanted to see what the past held. She reached out with her hands and touched Elric’s abdomen. His stomach clenched, but he didn’t push her away. Instead, he walked closer so that her arms were nearly around his waist.

  “His lady gives him a welcoming smile, seeing the desire and heat in her husband’s eyes. He doesna take her upstairs as she wishes. Instead, he teases her.”

  Marin opened her mouth to ask how the lord teased his wife when Elric’s hand came to rest on her back and gently pulled her toward him.

  Chapter Four

  Elric was nearly undone with desire. He stared at Marin’s elegant beauty. Her wavy auburn hair hung just past her shoulders, and he wanted nothing more than to bury his hands in her hair and pull her against
him for a searing kiss.

  Somehow he held himself in check. He couldn’t ravish his mate upon first meeting her. She was already skittish. If he didn’t tread carefully, all would be for naught.

  He gazed down at her full, wide lips and lifted his hand. “The lord teases his wife with his finger,” he said and traced Marin’s dark pink lips. He saw her tremble and lean toward him. “The lord sees his wife’s desire flare in her eyes, yet still doesn’t take her to their chamber.”

  Elric had always been a master of seduction, but it had never backfired on him so thoroughly before. He wanted Marin with a ferocity that frightened him. His cock throbbed with need, and the urge to back her against the wall and bury himself inside of her was strong – nearly too strong to ignore.

  He knew she felt something by the way her body quivered, and it wasn’t because of the chill. She might not realize they were soul mates, but given a little time she would understand what bonded them.

  As much as he wanted her right then, the first time with his mate would be somewhere warm and seductive, not in the middle of the castle ruins where someone could walk upon them.

  Suddenly, Marin’s eyes flew open. She searched his face and backed away a step as she slowly shook her head.

  “It’s useless to fight the pull of Scotland, Marin,” he said softly. “Once she has touched your soul, she’ll always be a part of you.”

  “It isn’t Scotland I’m worried about.”

  Elric knew he had frightened her, but it wasn’t him exactly as much as it was what connected them. She had a lost look about her, a fragility that made him want to take her in his arms and protect her from the world. Yet, he sensed great strength in her as well. “You’ve been hurt by someone,” he said as it suddenly dawned on him.

  She shrugged, a defensive look coming over her lovely face. “Hasn’t everyone been hurt at one time or another?”

  “What did the bastard do?”

  She turned her back to him. Elric leaned against the stones and waited with a casual stance that belied the fury within him. The wind whipped through the ruins, whistling softly as it brushed past them. It was almost as if they were the only two people in the world, and only the laughter and music from the valley below reminded him differently.

  “He left me,” Marin said so softly Elric didn’t think he had heard her correctly. “On the day of our wedding. He left me.”

  Elric clenched his jaw and fought the anger that swept over him. “Did he at least tell you why?”

  Her auburn hair swung side to side as she shook her head.

  “He’s a cowardly bastard that doesna deserve you then.”

  She turned toward him, a small smile on her face. “Most people just tell me how sorry they are, they never say anything about Johnny. But I know now that it all worked out for the best.”

  “Is that his name? Johnny?” Elric asked, distaste curling his lip.

  “Yes.”

  “I could’ve told you just by his name, lass, that he wasna the man for you.”

  Her smile widened. “Is that so? Well, I’m not in the market for a man at the moment, but I’ll be sure to seek you out when I am.”

  He wasn’t deterred by her lack of wanting male attention. “Are you no’ the least bit curious what name I would say?”

  “A little.” She cocked her head to the side and regarded him a moment. “All right, what name would you say?”

  Elric pushed off the stones and walked toward her. “You need a man who will be strong for you. A man who will support you in all you do and be there for you when you need him.” He walked around her, breathing in her fresh, clean scent. “You need a man who will protect you from the evils of the world, a man who would cherish you and love you all the days of his life.” He stopped in front of her and stared into her hazel eyes. “You need a man who you could trust unequivocally.”

  “There isn’t such a man that I’ve found.”

  “You have no’ looked in the right places.” He stepped closer and tugged a strand of hair caught in her long eyelashes.

  “I’m not looking at all right now.”

  “Ah, did you no’ know that’s when Fate seeks you out?” he asked and leaned close until his mouth was inches from hers.

  He stopped just short of kissing her. With a wink, he turned and walked away.

  Marin tried to hide her disappointment in not being kissed. For long moments she stayed and watched as he returned to the festival and disappeared into the crowd. Only then did she drag in a ragged breath. She looked at the ruins and could still feel Elric beside her, his warmth calming her.

  “I’ve lost my mind,” she said aloud. It must be Scotland and her history that made her feels things that weren’t normal. At least that was the only explanation she could come up with.

  She feared Elric. He was intense and seductive and entirely too charming for his own good. And damned handsome as well. It was a lethal combination.

  * * * *

  Marin stared at her reflection and wondered at her sanity. All she had thought about the rest of the day at the festival had been Elric. And no matter how many times she had glanced up seeking him out, he wasn’t to be found. It was like he just disappeared. And by the time she was dressing for dinner, she convinced herself that Elric had just been a figment of her imagination.

  She looked at her reflection in the mirror and gazed at the long, full black and silver skirt and a form-fitting black sweater, one of the nicest outfits she had packed. She wasn’t sure why she decided to wear it since she was just having dinner with Rhonda, but it had felt right. She had even put on the black and silver chandelier earrings and necklace.

  Marin had never been one to lie to herself, and the poor attempt to tell herself that she was dressing this nice to impress Rhonda was a bad lie. She was dressing in the hopes of seeing Elric.

  It was silly and stupid, but the idea that he could be there sent a spike of lust so hot, so fierce through her that she had to hold onto the wall to keep herself upright.

  There was a quick knock on the door adjoining her and Rhonda’s room before it opened and Rhonda stepped in. She whistled and came to stand beside Marin. “So you did meet a man today.”

  Marin frowned. “Why do you say that?”

  “A woman doesn’t dress like that unless she has a date. You look fabulous, sweetie. Who is the man? Was he at the festival?”

  Marin turned away from the mirror and went to the closet to find her shoes. She tugged on the tall, high-heeled boots and zipped them. “I’m an idiot. I’m not ready to date, to have dinner, to have sex. I’m not ready for anything.”

  “Is that why you’re dressed in a killer outfit that would make a saint drool?” Rhonda asked, her arms crossed over her chest and her brows raised.

  Marin sighed loudly. “I don’t really know. I did meet someone. He’s very different, Rhonda. He’s handsome, intense, seductive, and oh so sexy. It was like no matter how hard I tried to pull away from him, there was an invisible rubber band that snapped me back.”

  “Then stop fighting it,” her friend said as she sat beside her on the small couch. “You deserve some happiness, and if a kilt-wearing, handsome Scotsman is interested, then run, don’t walk, to him.”

  She laughed at Rhonda’s words and gave her friend a hug. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “No,” Marin said and took her hands. “Thank you for everything. For not telling me how stupid I was not to see the asswipe Johnny really was, for not telling me ‘I told you so’, and for not letting me wallow in my self-pity.”

  Rhonda shrugged and blinked away tears. “What are friends for? Besides, we always said we’d visit Britain together.”

  “You’re the best. The sister I never had.”

  “Ditto. Now,” Rhonda said and stood up. “Stop this now or we’ll both be blubbering idiots, and you’ll have to redo your make-up.”

  Marin quickly applied her lipstick as she covertly watched Rhonda checki
ng her watch. “You’re not coming to dinner with me, are you?”

  “No,” Rhonda said, her face scrunched in her ‘I’m sorry’ mode. “I’ve got a date. With Lachlan, the handsome Scot.”

  “Good,” Marin said as she replaced the lipstick in her bag. “Have fun and be careful.”

  “Oh, I will.” Rhonda drew on her coat. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” she called as she walked back into her room.

  Marin took a deep breath before she exited her room. It was too bad the small inn didn’t have room service. She didn’t relish eating alone, but she had to eat. It was just after seven as she slowly made her way down the stairs. She let her eyes scan the dining room/bar as she reached the bottom step.

  The room was crowded, but not too loud. She found an empty table near the large fireplace and walked to it. She sat, and instantly a young waitress was there to take her order. Marin ordered a glass of wine and the special of the night, which was some kind of grilled fish.

  Marin didn’t have long to wait before the wine was placed in front of her. She sipped her drink and stared into the fire as she recalled her conversation with Elric. Word for word. The fact she had wanted his kiss, had felt bereft when he left her, made her take stock of herself.

  No man had left her feeling so…off kilter. She wanted Elric’s company now, to listen to his lilting accent and feel his heat. The current was always charged when he was near, making her nervous and excited all at the same time.

  She leaned back in her chair and felt suddenly felt that current. He was watching her. Slowly, Marin let her gaze wander the room until she saw him in the corner alone. Elric gave her a smile and slightly nodded his head in her direction.

  There was something about the feral look in his eyes that made her heart pound and her stomach flip. When he suddenly stood and walked to her, Marin’s stomach dropped to her feet as she grew more and more nervous.

  “Eating by yourself?” Elric said as he reached her.

  She nodded and glanced at the chair opposite her. “Would you like to join me?”