She sucked in a breath.
Alec smiled tightly.
He gestured toward the fireplace.
“Sit, if you please.” His tone was ever so pleasant.
Holding her breath, Maura moved to sit in the nearest wing chair.
In some faraway realm in her mind she registered his tone of utter politeness.
She soon discovered her mistake.
She eyed him warily as he moved to stand before the fireplace. Her pulse picked up its rhythm. Clothed or unclothed, she was more heart-stoppingly aware of this man than ever. Her gaze was unwittingly drawn to the wedge of dark hair on his chest, revealed by his robe. She tried to stop it—to no avail. Knowing he was naked beneath the robe was both exciting and unnerving. He made her heart leap all over again. Maura hadn’t reckoned on that. She’d thought that being with a man would banish all reserve.
When her gaze finally climbed to his face, he smiled tightly. Not until then did she realize he was keenly aware of her scrutiny. Indeed, he seemed to take a certain pleasure in it.
Her tongue came out to moisten her lips. Wicked was what he was. Wickedly attractive. Wickedly beautiful, as well, she conceded. His legs and buttocks were all muscle, the plane of his back and shoulder cleanly defined and sculpted.
“My darling Maura,” he said smoothly, “I find myself puzzled. Perhaps you can help me; indeed, you are surely the only one who can help me. It seems I’ve accomplished a highly unusual feat—that of claiming my wife’s virtue—why, not once, but twice.”
Maura quivered inside. His anger lay veiled in silk.
“Nothing to say, my love? How fortunate, then, that I recall what you said, Duchess, the night of our arrival here. Youinformed me that I had already seen to the plucking of the fruit—that it can be plucked only once. You—please forgive me if I do not recall your exact words—you seemed to particularly relish informing me that I needn’t feel compelled to provide you with a night of marital bliss.”
Again, that tone of polished civility. Maura winced inside. His wording, she knew, was quite accurate.
Hands linked together behind his back, his gaze—his tone—stabbed at her. “You relieved me of that particular obligation, as you put it, Duchess. How is it, then, that a journey that began as a fetching little pirate in Ireland landed you here at Gleneden—once again in my bed—and once again, a virgin’s blood upon the sheets.”
Maura drew a shuddering breath. “Alec—”
“Am I a lucky man? Or a foolish one, taken in by my wife’s claim that I had wronged her? At least I know why she spurned my advances once we were in Scotland—she wished to hide the fact that she had never lain with me—with any man! No, she couldn’t risk being discovered!” He gave a black laugh. “Perhaps I am lucky. At least this time I remember it.”
Maura braved a glance at him. A mistake. There was a storm alight in his pale blue eyes. Only then did she realize how furious he truly was. She almost wished he would bluster and rage, instead of this frosty cold facade.
She eyed the door to the hallway. Then the door to her room.
“Don’t even think of it,” he growled.
Silently she bequeathed on him an ancient Irish curse.
“I gather you had a hand in my lapse in memory?”
Maura’s lips pressed together.
He was impatient. “I know I was drugged, Maura. You may as well tell me how it was achieved.”
She confined her vision to her robe, smoothing the folds.
“Look at me, Irish.” His tone was almost dangerously soft. “How was it accomplished?”
She was tempted to tell him to go to the devil. Almost…but not quite. “A mix of herbs. From Toothless Nan.” Her chin climbed high. “To make you sleep.”
An unending silence. Then: “Toothless Nan? Toothless Nan?” he exploded. “What is this? Have I been spirited back to the Middle Ages?”
Maura’s eyes flashed. “Toothless Nan knows of such things—of potions and herbs! By heaven,” she said feelingly, “I should have summoned Nan instead of a physician the day my father died!” Even as she said it, darkness settled over her like a shroud. It wouldn’t have helped. Nothing could have prevented it. Nothing could have saved him. Nothing. He would have died anyway.
Claimed by the curse. Held captive by the curse.
