Page 41 of Never Tempt a Scot
“So you admit to treating meworse?”
“No,” he said and stomped over to her. His bare chest was visible as his dressing gown was open.
“Then what?” she demanded. “What am I to you?”
“You asked to be treated like my mistress. Well, a mancaresfor his mistress. He treats her well, clothes her, feeds her, makes love to her when he bloody well wants to, and she doesna get upset when he teases her.”
“If this is your idea of teasing, you are a cold and heartless monster.”
Brodie’s eyes widened momentarily and then narrowed. “Cold and heartless, am I? You dinna know what you are saying. I am neither.”
He grabbed her roughly and hauled her to him, slanting his mouth over hers, possessive and angry as he claimed what was his.
“I am a man who treats his woman with respect and affection,” he said silkily in that rich Scottish brogue. “He kisses away her anger and reminds her that he cares for her and her pleasure.”
Somehow when he said this, it held less of a threat and more of a gentle promise that made her heart race. As much as she hated him for kidnapping her, she didn’t want to fight him. And as much as she hated herself for admitting it, she enjoyed these moments of heated passion. She was beginning to wonder if she had tried to anger him just to make him do this.
He carried Lydia to the nearest chair and sat her down upon his lap so he could continue to kiss her at his own leisurely pace. Brodie lifted a hand to her face, gently pressing at the corners of her mouth, and she opened her lips at his gentle but firm demand. The sinful, wicked way that his tongue plunged in between her lips and the way he played with her body left her breathless and excited.
He stroked his fingertips along her neck and rested his forehead against hers as they caught their breath. Lydia put a hand to his chest beneath the dressing gown, not to push him away but to simply touch him. His skin was warm and hard, yet smooth to the touch. Brodie Kincade was a hot-blooded specimen of a man. As terrible as her situation was, she had to admit that she was glad she would learn the pleasures of the bedroom with this man and not someone she wasn’t attracted to.
“Better now, lass?” he asked in a soft, intimate tone.
“Yes.” She couldn’t leave, not when she could feel his heart beating so steady and firm beneath her palm. “I do wish you would just ask to kiss me,” she mumbled. Although she was, against her own good sense, starting to like when he stole kisses from her like this.
“Good.” He let her up off his lap.
She was still recovering herself when there was a knock at the door. Brodie called for whoever it was to enter. A trio of boys came in, each with big wooden buckets of steaming water. They poured them into the copper tub in one corner of the room. After two more trips the tub was full enough, and Brodie nodded at her.
He sat down at the table to eat with his back to her. “Time to bathe.”
“I don’t suppose it’s worth asking you to afford me some small measure of privacy?”
“No. I will keep my back turned. That’s all you get, Lydia.” He caressed her name in a way that sounded far too scandalous.
She stood there a full minute before he spoke again. “Better hurry or the water will go cold,” he warned.
Stripping out of her dressing gown and chemise, she climbed into the tub and sighed as the hot water enveloped her. She wanted to stay longer, but Brodie’s presence made her far too self-conscious to do more than the essentials. She washed her hair using a bit of rosewater and then stepped out and wrapped herself in a large clean cloth. She then searched her luggage for a fresh chemise and thankfully found one. Only when she was safely in her dressing gown again did she face Brodie. He still had his back to her.
“Finished?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Good, ’Tis my turn now.” He stood and removed his dressing gown. Before she realized what was happening, he had removed his smallclothes and was striding toward the tub completely naked.
“Mr. Kincade!” she gasped.
“I respected your modesty, but I never claimed to have any of my own to be concerned about.”
She knew she had to turn away but was still too stunned to do so, seeing first his front and then his backside.
“Paint a picture, lass, if you wish to gaze upon me longer,” he chuckled. “Or you can join me. The tub is large enough.”
Lydia turned away, aroused in a way that only added to her mortification. “No, I think not.”
She kept her back turned and listened to him splashing about. Even that was enough to give her plenty of fantasies, however. She busied herself, or at least tried to, by focusing on what she would wear. Without a lady’s maid to assist her, it was rather difficult to decide. Perhaps she could have one of the maids who worked at the inn to assist her. She would need some help, at any rate, especially with her hair.
She heard the water splash again as Brodie exited the bathtub, but she didn’t dare risk turning around. “Better ring for a maid,” he advised. “And have my valet come and attend me as soon as you are dressed.”
