He was pleased at the flush pinking her cheeks, by the way her breathing shallowed, and how against her will she’d leaned closer. Her pulse raced beneath his fingers, pleasing him more. Aye, just one kiss, ’twould end the question of how she would taste, allow him to push thoughts of her aside.
He pressed his body against hers and, with slow intent, sealed his mouth over hers. An explosion of feelings blinded him to his cause until he lost himself in her sweet taste.
A low moan rumbled in her throat, and she deepened the kiss, demanded more, igniting a fierce, primal need that shrouded rational thought.
His blood pounding hot, Aiden backed her up against the door, his hands gliding over her curves as his mouth devoured. He shoved aside her garb, needing to touch her, to cup her soft flesh in his hands, to strip her until—
Stunned by his loss of control, Aiden jerked his head back. God’s sword, never had a woman made him lose control! He scowled at her mouth, swollen from his kisses, her rumpled garb exposing a hint of her tempting breasts, and her eyes dark with need that seduced him into crossing every line he’d ever drawn.
Damning his weakness, Aiden whirled and strode away, before he did something reckless,like take her.
Chapter 7
Hues of soft golds, purples, and reds shimmered upon the clouds in the western sky, announcing the oncoming night. Pleased with the several deer the hunt had provided, Aiden halted his mount on the rock-strewn knoll and peered at the sea of grass coating the summer-warmed land, Latharn Castle but a speckdown the coast.
Sir Pieres drew to a halt on his right. “Is something wrong, my lord?”
My lord.He stifled a grimace at the reminder of his duplicity. “Nay. Take the men and return to the castle. I will follow shortly.”
“With King Robert’s troops about, ’tis unsafe for you to be without escort.”
“If not for a fleet of English troops sitting off shore,I would agree.”
A frown creased the stocky knight’s brow. “’Tis possible the Bruce’s men havena sighted Lord Comyn’s reinforcements.”
“Scotland’s king is one not to be underestimated,” Aiden said. “’Tis my belief he has men hidden along the coast to report any unusual activity, and they have already passed the arrival of the Englishto the Bruce.”
“Mayhap the dense fog shielded the fleet from the king’s men?” The stalwart knight shrugged. “Regardless, if the Bruce’s men havena seen the English ships, with the size of the Duke of Northbyrn’s force, ’twill not be long before they do.”
“Indeed.” Aiden’s fingers tightened on the reins. “Leave me.”
“I will see you at the meeting with the duke this night.” With a nod, the knight nudged his steed torejoin his men.
A smile curved Aiden’s mouth as the hunting party, bearing proof of their day’s success, cantered toward the stronghold. Aye, with Rónán and Cailin on their way to inform the Bruce of the English troop’s arrival, King Robert would soon know. A crucial fact Sir Pieres and the Duke of Northbyrn would discover too late.
His smile faded. Far from anxious to return to his enemy’s fortress, he stretched in the saddle. Throughout the morning, however much he’d tried to erase thoughts of Gwendolyn’s kiss, the sweetness of her mouth lay etched in his mind, her lips designed to lure a man, to invite fantasies that woulddrive him mad.
Leather reins bit into his palms as Aiden’s fingers tightened at memories of her soft moan, and of how her lips had moved beneath his, demanded more. Aye, he remembered, cursed the clarity of the kiss that seeped into his every pore and haunted hisevery thought.
God’s sword, how had he convinced himself that ’twas prudent to touch her? His plan to create distance between them had failed, miserably so. It had taken sheer will to not bed her then. From the desire in her eyes, intimacy she’d wanted as well. As if her wanting him blasted helped anything?
He kicked his steed into a gallop. The thrum of hooves upon the turf wove within the steady breeze as he guided his mount down a well-worn trail. In the distance, swells tumbled ashore to storm the beach with relentless fury. White-tipped swirls smothered rocks, enveloped the jagged shore, andthen slid back.
Blast it, he had been attracted to her from the start, and with the way her strength and intelligence intrigued him, he should have considered the possibility that his feelings for the lass would grow.
Over the years as a Templar, he had faced many problems, however difficult, challenges he’d overcome. ’Twould seem Gwendolyn was such a trial. Regardless of the feelings she inspired, she was a temptation he would resist.
Nor could he forget she believed him to be Bróccín MacRaith. Thankfully, the arrival of the English fleet had turned their disaster of a marriage into a boon, one he would use tohis advantage.
At least she would never learn of his duplicity. Once the Bruce had seized Latharn Castle, she would receive word that Lord Balfour had died, and never would shesee him again.
Aiden guided his steed toward the cliffs. The vastness of the ocean drew him, and he inhaled the salty tang. What if his worries were for naught? Although she’d responded to the kiss, mayhap her actions weren’t out of desire but duty? Previously wed, she understood the expectations of marriage. Hadn’t shestated as much?
Relief slid through him, and his body relaxed. Gwendolyn hadn’t responded to the kiss, nor had he seen desire in her eyes, her reaction only what she believed was required, a prelude to the expected bedding.
An intimacy that would never occur.
The error of kissing her he could forgive, but with her believing him to be Lord Balfour, he refused to allow familiarity between themto go further.
