Even worse, he could almost smell the sunshine in that hair, feel the warmth of it cascading around him as he held her naked and writhing above him while he dipped his hand down to play in the small russet curls covering another part of her he longed to explore at greater length.
His groin drew tight at the thought. No doubt she’d give as good as he gave her. He had an instinct for such things, and that instinct told him that she would be truly spectacular.
Aye, she’d ride him hard and fast, and please him to no uncertain end.
He smiled in expectation as she drew nearer.
Her brown kirtle was plain, and threadbare, and she wore a red and black plaid over it. Still, there was such pride in her walk, such self-assurance that a man would have to be a fool not to take notice of her.
And his days of foolishness were over.
“Maggie,” he said as she walked past.
“Good Lord!” she gasped, placing a hand over her breast. “Are you trying to frighten me into an early grave?”
“Nay, I thought you saw me.”
Suspicion clouded her amber eyes as she looked askance at him. “Saw you skulking there in the shadows like some evil beastie hunting decent souls? Ha! No doubt you were lying in wait for me, Braden MacAllister, and don’t you be pretending otherwise.”
Braden laughed at her perceptiveness. How did she do it? How was she able to see straight through his ploys?
He smiled the dimpled smile that no woman had ever been able to resist. “Since you seem to know me so well, then tell me what I was thinking.”
She narrowed her eyes ever so slightly and pegged him again with her astuteness. “I’ve no idea, but I’m sure it involved a woman lying in a supine position.”
Her candor stunned him. But only for a second. He found it refreshing to find a woman who spoke her mind so plainly.
“Not supine…” He dropped his voice an octave, and leaned close enough to her that he could finally smell the rich scent of wild flowers in her hair. He reached out and tenderly touched her chin between his thumb and forefinger in a gentle caress designed to send chills the length of her body. And judging by the shuttered look of her amber eyes, he would say it succeeded admirably, even though she tried her best not to let him know it. “I prefer my women to be more active with me than that.”
Her eyes darkened as her lips opened ever so slightly in invitation.
Aye, a good kiss was what she needed. His kisses had made women faint in his arms, and had even caused them to climax. One good kiss and all this would end. The women could return to their homes, and Maggie...
Well, he had plans for his little vexation. Plans that included paying her back for that bite she’d given him years ago. Only now he relished the thought of those white teeth of hers sinking into his skin.
He leaned closer, opening his mouth for a taste of her breath.
Just as he was sure she’d accept his kiss, she stepped back, opened her eyes wide, and pinned him with a frigid stare.
“And how many women is that?” she asked out of the blue.
Braden blinked, not quite understanding her question as his senses buzzed from her quick reversal. “I beg your pardon?”
“How many women do you prefer to be active with at one time? From what Meg tells me, you had her and her sister simultaneously the last time you were home.”
She shook her head at him like a doddering old maid chastising a child. “Have you no shame at all, man?”
There was no mistaking the hurt in her gaze. Braden frowned at what he saw, unable to place the source of her emotion. “Now, why would she be telling you that?”
“For the same reason you’d be telling it to your brothers, I’m thinking. For some unholy reason, she’s proud of the fact. So proud, she was bragging of the event just yesterday.” Maggie gathered her skirts, then started past him. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have duties to be about that don’t include being tupped by the likes of you.”
Braden’s jaw dropped in shock of her words, and he uttered the same phrase he had been uttering at her for as long as he could remember. “Great saints woman, where have you been that you picked up such language? What does Anghus have to say about that mouth of yours?”
She stopped, her hands clenched tightly in the folds of her skirt, and turned to face him again. A terrible sadness darkened her eyes. He saw the tears an instant before she blinked them back and swallowed hard.
When Maggie spoke, her voice was hoarse. “He hasn’t much to say about anything since a MacDouglas sword silenced him eternally two months ago.”
The unexpected news sliced through his heart and settled painfully in his stomach. For a moment, he could scarce breathe from the sensation.
