“Nay!” she laughed nervously.
’Twas outrageous! He might easily claim ten kisses, or more… and, knowing Finlay, those kisses would not be upon her hand—not even upon her lips, if he thought her willing. As to an open-ended forfeit, she wasn’t so lust-addled she’d agree to that.
“Nay?” He cocked his head to one side. “Then what, lass? The cards may be in your favor. Is there naught you’d ask of me? I’m at your service.”
Again, she caught that familiar flash of arrogance.
Give Finlay Dalreagh an inch and he’ll take several miles.
“For each set I lose, I’ll grant a kiss. Claim the whole game and I may kiss you back.”
“There’s a challenge I’m willing to accept.” Finlay’s lips curled lazily. “And if youtriumph, Mistress Dalreagh? What shall be your pleasure?”
“Whatever I desire?”
“Most certainly. Whatever is your wish, I’ll grant, if it be in my power.”
“Then ’tis easy.” Margaret needed no time to think. “I’ll wager all or nothing. I prevail in winning the game, and you’ll petition for our divorce, citing whatever reason brings the swiftest outcome. No debate or prevarication.”
Finlay’s smile dropped, but he gave a single nod. “As you wish, my lady.”
Most fairly, Finlay allowed her to present the first card, and Margaret confidently selected a knave of spades, taking the first trick, since he had nothing higher than a seven. The second was hers again, as she laid a ten of diamonds, to which he could only pit a four. However her luck ran out on the next, when he easily outplayed her six of clubs, and gained control in leading the next card. Calmly, he placed a queen of hearts; as she’d naught higherthan a nine, the trick was his.
And all my trumps exhausted.
She could not read him, but it hardly mattered. They each had but one card to play. ’Twas only a matter of seeing what they’d been dealt. Margaret looked down at hers—a low-numbered spade.
The first set was as good as lost, so she’d need to take both the next to triumph over him. More immediately, he was going to claim what she’d agreed to. Something fluttered in the pit of her stomach. She refused to let herself imagine a kiss from Finlay Dalreagh—not upon her mouth, nor anywhere else…
How long has it been?
She knew exactly, of course. The last between them had been in the morning, directly after the wedding celebrations. They’d woken in her chamber at Castle Balmore, and ’twas more than a kiss they’d shared.
An image assailed her—of him arching back as he thrust, grasping her knee to bury himself deeper.
She bit her lip. The kisses had come afterward, as if he could only take his timewith those once he was sated. Gentle kisses down the length of her back, then her bottom, growing more urgent, until he’d turned her over and kissed where he never had before. A long, wet, unrelenting kiss that had been almost too much to bear.
“Margaret. Your play?”
For a moment, she was dazed, blinking at the paltry five of spades she was clutching. On the pile was a nine of clubs. She could neither follow suit nor trump him.
The card fell from her hand.
“Ah! Mine I believe.” Smoothly, he collected the last trick. “Where would you like your kiss, lady wife?”
“H…Here.” Looking away, she proffered her hand.
“As you wish.” Interlacing his fingers between hers, he turned her palm upward. “A single kiss is what I’ll give but, though it may begin here, I shall decide where it ends.”
“’Tis not what we agreed!” Angrily, she pulled back, but his hold upon her was firm.
His eyes,splintered green and tawny brown, held the promise of what he really wanted.
’Tis only a kiss. I have the power to decide what it means, and I say it shall mean nothing.
Nonetheless she could not control how she felt and, as he touched his mouth to her palm, a tremble moved through her.
Finlay’s kiss moved to her wrist, his tongue tasting her there. His lips continued to graze upward. At the inner crease of her elbow, his mouth pressed more urgently, before skimming over the insubstantial sleeve of the nightgown to the bare skin of her shoulder. She was dimly aware of his hands upon her waist, his touch warm through the diaphanous fabric.
