Page 75 of The Cruel Highlander's Bride
How was it possible that Magnus made her feel so many things in just a short time? In their few minutes alone, she’d gone from tired, to aroused, to amused, and back to aroused.
They were going tobathetogether. She had yet to even see him without his clothes. And even though he’d seen the very center of her, her dress had still been partially on.
I hope the bath is big… or very, very small.
She couldn’t decide which would be better, some semblance of space between them or the Laird pressed up next to her. Her mind swirled with all the possibilities, and she was frozen in place.
Everything was changing so quickly, and she had no idea what she was doing. It seemed like this marriage was more than an arrangement now. At least it felt that way, but they’d never spoken about it.
Was she prepared to give Magnus everything when that question remained unanswered? Her body begged for him in the same breath that her mind questioned everything.
Magnus walked back into the room moments later and saw her standing in the same spot that she’d been in when he left. She must have looked like a startled animal because he approached her slowly, warily.
“Come on, lass, let’s get ye in the bath,” he said quietly.
She let Magnus gently lead her out of the room and to the adjoining room that housed the tub. When they made it there, she stared at the bath water mutely, unsure and shy again.
“I’ll just let ye bathe first…” Magnus said, sounding just as unsure, and that was all it took to snap her out of her insecurities.
“What?” she asked, whirling around to face him.
“We dinnae need to bathe together.”
Quietly she asked, “What if I want to?”
His answering smile was all she needed to see. A wide grin took over his face, and he looked so handsome like that. Happy was a very good look on him.
“Do ye want to?” Magnus asked, quickly closing the distance between them.
“Aye,” she breathed.
“Then I would tell ye to take off yer dress,” he ordered, taking a step back and leaning against the wall so that he could see all of her.
“What are ye goin’ to do?”
“Watch.”
Ciara swallowed heavily. All of her nerves and uncertainty still roiled within her, but the way Magnus stared at her was an even more intoxicating and heady feeling.
He watched her like he’d never seen anything better or more interesting or more arousing than her. He watched her like she was the only thing he ever wanted to watch.
With shaking hands, she reached in front of her chest to undo the ties of the first layer. She wore a simple smock today, with a sleeveless green corset vest and tartan skirt overtop.
When the ties were undone, she let her corset fall to the floor behind her. Holding the Laird’s gaze, she unfastened the overskirt. When that too fell to the ground in a pile at her feet, she paused. In just the white underlayer, she knew Magnus was already getting an eyeful.
His eyes traced over the curves of her body, visible through the thin fabric. His hands and jaw were clenched tight, and his breaths were coming in ragged pants.
She saw his posture for what it truly was now. At first glance, he looked so casual there, leaning against the wall. But the intensity with which he watched her made it obvious that he was feeling anything but casual.
Once again, she wanted to tease him just a little bit, just to see what he might do. Ever so slowly, she began to remove the last layers of her clothing, revealing more of herself with each discarded scrap of fabric.
Magnus’s jaw clenched and unclenched as he watched her, and she felt her confidence surging with each movement. How could she feel anything but sensational when he watched her like that?
She had never stood before a man completely bare before, but his eyes on her and hisneedencouraged her to remove this last barrier between them, and when she did, she was rewarded with a groan from her husband.
“Get in the bath, Ciara,” he said through clenched teeth.
“Why?”
