CAPTURED BY A LAIRD (THE DOUGLAS LEGACY)

by Mallory, Margaret

  “I’m merely curious,” she said, which told him precisely nothing.

  “We’ve more pressing matters than Cochburn to discuss…” He cupped the back of her neck and dropped his gaze to her mouth. “…or not discuss.”

  He felt her giving in to the powerful pull of the attraction between them as he leaned in.

  “But I want to be the sort of wife who is a good helpmate to her husband.” She spoke in a husky voice and her eyes were drifting closed.

  “I’m certain ye can be verra helpful in many ways that we’ll both find exciting,” he murmured when his lips were nearly touching hers, “but ye needn’t concern yourself with Cochburn.”

  He was so close that he could almost taste her kiss when she shoved her hands against his chest and jerked away. Before he knew it, she had slid off his lap and was halfway out the door.

  Damn. What happened?

  He was still staring after her long after she slammed the door.

  ***

  Alison was so upset that she kicked the door after she slammed it. She had hoped for a very different marriage, but apparently Wedderburn wished to keep her in the dark as much as Blackadder had. Would she be reduced to listening at doors and bribing servants to have any notion of what dangerous schemes he was involved in?

  Ach, it was so unfair. If a man committed treasonous acts, his wife and family suffered for it. Lands were forfeited, reputations tarnished. No one knew that better than a Douglas.

  And she wanted to be more to her new husband than a convenient bedmate. He had pretended to listen to her advice about his brothers, but then he deliberately attempted to divert her from the subject of Cochburn—and very nearly succeeded.

  As she marched down the stairs, she came to a decision. He said he would wait until she was willing. Well, she would use what little power she had and not give herself easily to David Hume, Laird of Wedderburn. He was a confusing man, alternately intimidating and seductive. Regardless of which side he showed her, she would not give in until he gave her what she wanted.

  She did not fool herself that it would be easy. When he put his mind to seduction, he was hard to resist. But no matter how much she thrilled to his touches and kisses, she would make him wait until she was not just another woman to him, not just a body he had a right to use. He could take her against her will if he chose.

  But, damn it, if he wanted her willing, David would know who she was when he was inside her. It would matter to him who she was.

  He would want her.

  CHAPTER 19

  Alison regretted her display of anger, fearing what her punishment would be. If she had slammed the door and walked out on Blackadder like that, he would have chased her down and pulled her back by her hair.

  She shook her head to clear it—she would not permit herself to spend one more moment recalling the despicable things Blackadder had done to her. If God was just, he would burn like his bed.

  To avoid Wedderburn, she spent most of the afternoon in the kitchens discussing menus and checking food stores with the cook, who had grown less surly now that their supplies could be replenished.

  “You’ve outdone yourself with this stew,” she said, after taking a taste from the spoon he held out.

  His permanent frown eased into what was probably a smile for him. Winning him over was not as difficult as she thought, and she regretted not trying harder sooner. Blackadder had made such a mouse of her.

  “We’ve plenty of beef, thanks to these Humes,” the cook said with a nod of approval.

  Alison knew better than to ask where the beef had come from. One did not ask that in the Borders, where cattle thieving was a point of pride.

  The cook turned to shout another order at one of the kitchen maids. “Fetch more onions, ye lazy lass.”

  The kitchen was growing busier, with pots bubbling and the kitchen maids scurrying in preparation for the evening meal. Alison was reluctant to leave the safety of the undercroft, but she could see she was getting in the way.

  “I’ll leave ye to your work,” she told the cook.

  Hoping to avoid Wedderburn a little longer, she passed through the hall with her head down and hurried up the stairs. She tiptoed past their bedchamber door and continued up the wheeled stairs to the Tower Room to find her daughters. As she neared the top, she heard the rumble of a deep voice intermingled with her daughters’ giggles. She paused outside the partially open door to listen.

  “Baaa, baaa.”

  Who was that bleating like a sheep? The sound was followed by another burst of giggles.

  “Moooo.”

  She opened the door and was stunned to find the infamous Beast of Wedderburn sitting on the floor with her daughters playing with carved wooden animals. Shy Margaret sat on the laird’s lap petting a wooden pig with her finger while Beatrix bounced a wooden horse across the floor. All three looked up at Alison at once.

  “Look what David made for us!” Beatrix bounded over to her, holding out the carved horse for her inspection.

  “Ye cannot call the laird by his Christian name,” Alison quickly chastised her daughter.

  “I told them to.” David rubbed the top of Beatrix’s head with his knuckles, making her squeal with laughter. “Ach, this one’s a wee rascal, aren’t ye?”

  Confused, Alison dropped her gaze and examined the carving Beatrix had handed her.

  “’Tis beautifully made,” she said as she ran her fingertip over the smooth wood. It was simple and yet captured the essence of the animal.

  Wedderburn was a complex man, full of contradictions. He was a fierce Border laird who struck terror in the hearts of his enemies—and probably his friends as well. And yet here he was playing with her children, making silly animal noises. He was lethal with a sword and made beautifully carved toys with a small blade.

  “Make the piggy sound again,” Margaret said, leaning against his shoulder. “P-l-e-a-s-e.”

  Alison felt a rush of warmth toward him as he made an awful snorting sound that sent the girls into gales of laughter.

  She was struck by the realization that Beatrix and Margaret had never been at ease around their father. It was not just that they had no joyful moments like this with him, but that they had sought to avoid his notice. With the instinct of small animals, they had hidden in the corners and shadows whenever he entered a room.

  Alison thought she had protected them from seeing the evil in their father, but she had failed.

  David stood and brushed the stray shavings from his breeks to cries of “Don’t go! Please!”

  “I must speak with your mother now,” he told the girls. “You two behave yourselves.”

  Both girls ceased their begging and gave him solemn nods.

  Alison’s eyes stung as she watched him lift Margaret over his head, and her daughter’s peal of laughter filled the room. No matter what evil acts Wedderburn might be guilty of committing, a man who showed such kindness to her young daughters had much good in him too.

  “I can see that you’re a verra fine mother,” he said, taking her arm as they descended the stairs. “Beatrix and Margaret are remarkable lasses.”

  Nothing could have touched her more deeply, and she felt herself blush with pleasure. Her resolve to resist him was weakening by the moment. Worse, she was beginning to fear that guarding her heart could prove to be an even greater challenge than resisting his passion.

  Ach, he was a dangerous man.

  ***

  As soon as David had Alison inside their bedchamber, he kissed her slowly and thoroughly. He wanted to see that look again—the one she’d had on her face when he looked up from playing with her daughters to find her standing in the doorway. Her expression had been soft and held no trace of fear or resentment.

  He was gratified when she kissed him back. Her fingers gripped his tunic, and she rose on her toes to meet him. Without lifting his lips from hers, he felt for the pins holding her head covering.

  “I love your headdresses,” he murmured betw
een kisses.

  She laughed and leaned back. “They’re so plain. How can you like them?”

  “They’re easy to remove.”

  She laughed again, a sound that somehow made him feel lighter. This was going far better than he expected after the way she had run off earlier. He kissed the side of her neck and the sweet spot below her ear as he loosened her braid. When he had it undone, he buried his fingers in her thick hair and breathed in her scent.

  He captured her mouth again and began unfastening the hooks at the back of her gown. Their kisses grew deeper, their tongues moved together in a rhythm suggestive of what would come later. Aye, surely it would this time. He reminded himself to go slowly, to savor every moment and every touch along the way. Their first time joining as man and wife would happen but once, and he wanted to make it memorable.

  He covered her breast and groaned at the sensation of the soft flesh filling his hand. Unable to help himself, he pulled her against his throbbing shaft. God in heaven, she felt good.

  She made a startled, high-pitched sound when he gave into another urge and dropped to his knees to press his face between her breasts. He paused to revel in this slice of heaven before wrapping his arms around her hips and lifting her up as he stood.

  “What are ye doing?” she squealed.

  “I’m carrying ye to the bed,” he said, “where I’m going to pleasure ye until you’re begging for me to take ye.”

  And I’ll do it again night after night until you’re so pleased to share my bed that you’re content to be my wife, despite who I am, despite the wrongs I’ve done to you, and despite what I can never give you.

  He would never say these things to her, of course. Alison must never know it had become important to him that she not regret becoming his wife.

  That she not despise him.

  He laid her down on the bed and kissed her until they were both senseless. When he slipped her loosened gown off, she lifted her hips to ease his way. Aye, she wanted him this time.

  Her nipples were hard, rosy peaks, and her breathing grew ragged as he brought his fingers in slow circles up the inside of her thigh. He groaned when he found how hot and wet she was for him. She closed her eyes, concentrating on the movement of his hand. As he watched her face and soft parted lips, he swallowed against a surge of emotion. She had never been more beautiful, more desirable. And she is mine.

  He felt drunk on her scent, and the little sounds she made sent bolts of desire shooting through him. He wanted her more than he had ever wanted any woman before.

  In a thrice, he shed his clothes. He thought he would die of pleasure when he covered her and felt her bare skin against his. Leaning on his elbows, he eased her legs apart with his knee. He bit his lip against the rush of sensation as his cock rubbed against her silky inner thigh. Ach, he needed to be inside her now, to feel her liquid heat around him. Now.

  “Say ye want me,” he said against her ear, unable to keep the desperation from his voice. She had to say aye.

  “Nay.”

  Why? What in God’s name was she waiting for? He had told her he would wait to consummate their marriage until she was willing, but she did desire him. Her body did not lie.

  “Not this.” She lifted her hand and rested her palm against his cheek. “Not yet.”

  He was choking with frustration, but he told himself that not yet meant soon.

  And not this, meant everything else was fair game… He smiled to himself. Nay, she would not hold out long.

  CHAPTER 20

  Alison could barely draw breath under David’s dark, lustful gaze, which promised sinful pleasures beyond her ken. She was acutely aware of every inch of his long, muscular body that touched hers, from where his chest brushed the sensitive tips of her breasts, to his hard, flat stomach flush against hers, to his muscular legs stretched along the length of hers.

  Her attention focused on his hard shaft between her legs, one tantalizing inch from where he had brought her such pleasure with his hand. Her body throbbed there, and she wanted to pull on his shoulders and urge him forward.

  She forced herself to remember why she had made her resolution and what she needed from him after their lust was spent. Blackadder had shattered her pride and self-respect, and she wanted them back even more than she wanted Wedderburn right now.

  “Not yet, David,” she said again.

  They both gasped when he moved forward and pressed his erection against her. Despite all her intentions, aye was on her lips when he covered her mouth with his and rolled to the side.

  He began working his magic with his fingers. Heaven help her. She was unable to think of anything except the sensations coursing through her body. This time, as the tension built inside her, she knew what it was leading to, and her anticipation only served to intensify the blinding burst of pleasure when it came.

  She was sprawled loose-limbed on the bed, trying to catch her breath when David began kissing his way slowly down her body. As he moved lower, his lips and tongue trailing over her hip and abdomen, a prickle of unease ran through her. Her disquiet grew when he settled between her legs. Her body was still so sensitive that she twitched when he kissed the inside of her thigh.

  Good heavens, what was he doing now? She rose up onto her elbows and confirmed that he was, in fact, running his tongue over that most sensitive spot between her legs. She was so shocked that she could not find her voice.

  He looked up and gave her a wicked smile that made her nipples harden and sent tingles all the way to her toes and back again.

  “Trust me, lass,” he said. “You’ll like this even more.”

  As it turned out, he was right.

  ***

  When Alison came in spasms that shook her body and made her cry out, David’s entire body tightened and pulsed, demanding his own release. He wanted to be inside her with every fiber of his being. Yet pride and something else he could not name required that she want that too. He needed to feel her pull on his shoulders, to lift her hips, to lock her legs around him.

  He needed to hear her say the words. I want you, David.

  Would she ever?

  He moaned as his body moved of its own accord, thrusting his erection against her side.

  She trailed her fingertips down his chest, her light touches igniting sparks, and said, “Let me.”

  He gasped when she wrapped her fingers around his throbbing cock. This was not what he hoped for, but it did feel good. Exceedingly so. And he was beyond ready. He gritted his teeth to prolong the pleasure as long as he could.

  Though she was inexperienced with receiving pleasure, she had clearly done this before. He kissed her hard on the mouth to keep himself from thinking about how she had gained her expertise.

  He bit back her name and buried his face in her hair as he came in an explosion of pleasure.

  But afterward, as Alison lay in his arms, he tortured himself with thoughts of her pleasuring Blackadder with her hand. And, far worse, letting that foul man do what she denied him. He stared at the ceiling while the black thoughts swirled in his head.

  She had disliked Blackadder—or at least she professed to—so perhaps she had taken a lover. She would never choose a man like him, the Beast of Wedderburn. Nay, if Alison took a lover, he would be a courtier dressed in brocade and velvet who flattered her with flowery poetry and strummed on a goddamned harp.

  David clenched his teeth until his jaw ached.

  “If ye ever let another man touch ye again,” he said, “I’ll kill him.”

  ***

  Wedderburn’s harsh words cut through Alison’s languid drowsiness like a sword. She rolled away from him and out of the bed. How could he say such a thing to her?

  “You insult me,” she said, clenching her hands. “I welcome no man’s touch—though I must tolerate yours.”

  He leaned back on his elbows and let his gaze travel over her. Suddenly aware that she was stark naked, she snatched her night shift from the floor and jerked it over her head.
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  “I’d say ye more than tolerated my touch,” he said with a smirk on his handsome face that made her want to slap him. “’Tis only right that I give ye fair warning I won’t tolerate another man so we can avoid unnecessary bloodshed. Ye know how killing troubles me.”

  The wretched man actually winked when he said this.

  “I am not free with my favors,” she said, glaring at him. “I’ve given ye no cause to suggest it.”

  “A man who trusts easily doesn’t place sufficient value on his pride or his life,” he said with a shrug, “and he’s bound to lose one or both.”

  “Hmmph.” She folded her arms and turned her head.

  “Trust, like forgiveness, must be earned.”

  “Well then,” she said, “you’ve yet to earn either from me.”

  Alison never would have risked speaking with such insolence to Blackadder, and she had no notion why she had the nerve to do it now. It was not as if David’s accusation of immoral behavior was worse than Blackadder telling her she was inept and weak-minded. And yet David’s insult had set a fire under her.

  His eyes held a dangerous glitter as he got out of bed and came toward her. Standing her ground was not easy, but she did.

  “Ye can be damned irritating when ye let your spirit show.” He cupped her neck, preventing her escape, and leaned down until she felt his breath on her face. “But I find it verra appealing.”

  She barely had time to realize he was not angry with her before he pulled her into a fiery kiss that made her head spin and her knees weak.

  CHAPTER 21

  Alison awoke encircled in David’s arms, snuggled closer, and let her eyes drift shut again.

  Another night like last night and she feared she would not be able to hold out. She had been powerless for so many years in her marriage to Blackadder that she clung to this bit of control that her new husband had granted her over her body.

  The joining had been the very worst part with Blackadder. She had loathed it so much that she had learned to divert him with her hand and mouth. Though she was still a wee bit fearful, she expected it to be different with David—so different that she found herself looking forward to it rather fervently.