Maura fought to keep all expression from her face. The only way she could manage was to lower her eyes, which then focused directly on the sculpted smoothness of his lips.
“Ah, Maura, you leave me no choice but to convince you.”
Her insides were churning. She could scarcely breathe, let alone talk, yet somehow she managed. “And just how might you do that, Scotsman?”
“One kiss at a time,” he whispered just before his mouth closed over hers.
Indeed, it took but one kiss to plunge her into desire. And aye, her arms stole willingly around his neck. His mouth partedhers; warm breath mingled with hers. His kiss was burning. Masterful. Persuasive. It made her come all undone, weak in the knees and wanting. Yet there was something in his manner that warned her to beware—
She tore her mouth away. “Why?” she cried. “Why do you continue to kiss me like that?”
“Why do you let me?” he countered.
“You didn’t want me as your wife,” she reminded him unsteadily.
“That doesn’t mean I don’t want you in my bed.”
Everything inside her seemed to shatter. It was a blow to the center of her heart. “Am I to be flattered, then? You were hardly the eager bridegroom.”
“While you were certainly eager to make yourself my bride.”
Maura blanched. “May I remind you it was you who…who…”
“Claimed your virginity?”
“Aye!” Little wonder that she faltered. Her feelings—her thoughts—were scattered in every direction. She dared not meet his eyes—on several counts. For one, embarrassment flooded her every pore. Secondly, she feared he’d glimpse the lie on her face. Guilt rode heavy on her soul. She couldn’t let it sway her. It couldn’t be helped. It didn’t change what the Black Scotsman had done those many years ago. The Black Scotsman had stolen the lifeblood of every soul on McDonough lands forever after. It didn’t change her reason for placing herself at Gleneden. Oh,Lord, she was digging herself ever deeper. She had to make Alec believe it. She had to make him believe her!
Because if she didn’t, then all her effort would be for nothing. She couldn’t leave, not without the Circle.
“I want you in my bed, Maura.” His tone was very deliberate. “I daresay that with the exception of that one night in Ireland—that one night,” he stressed, “you endeavor to stay out of it.”
Maura’s face flamed. Her heart lurched. Honesty commanded a high price, a price she could not pay. It was wearing on her, wearing her to the bone. She hated that Alec would surely despise her deceit, and it was killing her.
She had been right to be wary. Aware that he watched her closely, she had the wildest sense he peered directly into her soul.
“Am I wrong, Maura?”
She looked away.
“Look at me, Maura.”
She tried to withdraw her arms. He only held her tighter.
“Why? You said I didn’t hurt you,” he reminded her. “Did I?”
She shook her head.
“Did I please you?”
She bit her lip. She didn’t trust herself to speak. She constrained her vision to the plane of his cheek.
“If I did not, I apologize. I understand a woman’s first time can be difficult. I regret if that was the case.”
Maura cringed inside.
“It is embarrassing to admit I have no recall. I beseech you, share with me what memories you have of our first union. Perhaps I might remember then. Perhaps I might exchange those memories with new ones.”
Maura’s gaze jerked back to his face. Her pulse skittered. Oh, Lord, she thought in sudden panic, did he know she had drugged him? She had the awful sensation he did.
