Page 76 of The Cruel Highlander's Bride
“Because I promised ye a bath, and if ye keep standin’ there like that, ye willnae get one.”
He was still leaning against the wall, but she could see the tightness in his shoulders now. In his attempts to be noble, he might very well knock the wall down. It was a wonder it continued to hold, as he put all his weight into that shoulder.
Deciding to do as she was told, Ciara turned away and walked to the tub, only to hear another curse from behind her and two quick footsteps.
“I’m gettin’ in the bath, like ye said,” she whispered, feeling the heat of him at her back. She felt his dark chuckle against her cheek and shivered.
“Warn me next time, lass. How’s a man supposed to see ye like this for the first time and naeneedto touch ye.”
“Ye can touch me.”
Another curse. “Ye are temptation incarnate, wife.”
She smiled at that. Never in her life did she expect to do anything as bold and provocative as this, but the Laird brought out a side of her she didn’t even know existed. A side that was powerful and seductive, and she liked it, liked knowing he felt just as aroused around her as she did whenever he was near.
Still, she wanted the relaxation a bath offered—it had been a very long day. She took the last few steps towards the tub and away from Magnus, immediately missing his warmth, and lowered herself into the tub.
“Are ye goin’ to join me?” she asked.
“In a minute,” he replied, his hands rubbing his temples and his eyes squeezed shut. He took a few calming breaths before he finally opened them again.
Moving over to the side of the tub, he gathered some bath oils and soaps. She was sitting up in the tub, watching him, but he motioned for her to soak her hair and then lean back.
With her head now resting on the lip of the tub, Magnus lathered up his hands and began to massage her scalp.
“Oh,” she moaned a little as his strong fingers massaged her.
She closed her eyes, enjoying the strangely intimate feeling of him washing her hair, taking care of her. Her chest rose and fell beneath the water.
When her hair was sufficiently lathered and her body relaxed, he told her softly, “Sit up.”
Her head now raised, he cupped the warm water and washed the soap out of her hair, with a gentleness that sent a pang through her. Opening her eyes, she found him already staring at her tenderly, too tenderly.
“Get in the tub,” she breathed.
* * *
“As ye wish, wife,” Magnus whispered back.
His entire body was clenched tightly, resisting every urge he had to touch Ciara in all the ways he wanted. But when she asked for him, he could do nothing to deny her. Rising from his knees, he began to disrobe.
Some part of him considered teasing his wife as she’d done him, but the urgency thrumming in his veins would not allow him to drag this out. Still, Ciara looked on lustfully as he made quick work of his clothes.
When he removed his breeches, she gasped quietly, and he couldn’t stop the smirk that touched his lips.
It’s all for ye, wife.
He stood before her, completely nude, for one moment and let her look. Her gaze was hungry, and he would not have her starving for another minute longer.
She slid forward in the tub, and he gently lowered himself into the water behind her. His legs were on either side of her body, bracketing her. When he settled behind her, she sighed and leaned back, leaning her head against his shoulder.
Her neck was bared and right there. Magnus finally let himself give in to temptation, trailing little kisses down her neck. His wife let out a little, blissful moan, one that had him rising to the occasion. It was not a sound he could ignore.
His hands found the soft skin of her thighs underneath the water, and he gripped them tightly for just a moment.
They had other plans, though. That night on the chaise, he hadn’t gotten to touch her perky, little breasts, and now that they were bare for him and standing to attention, he couldn’t resist. He cupped her breasts, before taking those little peaks between his thumbs and forefingers, rolling and pinching them.
“Magnus,” his wife moaned as he continued to fondle her heaving breasts.
