Wild Conquest. Hannah Howell

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СКАЧАТЬ no call to insult me so, Master O’Duine.”

      “I have more call than most. Ye mean to cut my pride with your lies.”

      Tearlach was very angry. He had originally been drawn to Pleasance, instead of to her much prettier sister, for reasons some might call unflattering. Pleasance Dunstan was the older, plainer, and, rumor had it, the poorer of the sisters; therefore it would require less work on his part to win her. She might even be a more pliable wife, for she would be grateful for not being left ummarried.

      It had taken very little time for Tearlach to realize that far more than those shallow reasons was attracting him to Pleasance, and he did not like it. He told himself to remain aloof, continuously warned himself against entertaining any more than the most superficial feeling for her, then ignored his own advice. That his original cynical mistrust was proving to be justified after all only added to his anger. So too did this proof that his judgment of women was seriously flawed.

      This time he had really believed he had found a woman he could trust, one who would not look down her nose at a mere trapper from the western frontier. He wanted a woman who liked him for himself. He had let himself believe that Pleasance Dunstan was that woman.

      He touched his mouth to hers and, when she meekly tried to turn her head away, caught her chin in his hand and held her steady. He savored the feel of her warm, soft lips beneath his, and that too increased his wrath. He wanted Pleasance Dunstan—badly—and he knew she wanted him. Yet still she was pushing him aside. There could be only one reason—she did not think he was good enough for her. Tearlach wished there was some satisfactory way to make her pay for that coldhearted snobbery. Instead, he would have to settle for making her fully aware of what she was denying herself.

      He slid his tongue over her full lips, and she parted them for him. He held her as close as he could without hurting her as he stroked the inside of her mouth. A soft moan escaped her and he echoed it. He slid his hands down to her gently curved hips and pressed her loins against his, moving in an erotically suggestive way. It did not surprise him when she responded with an equally arousing movement. Their passion was perfectly matched.

      But now he would never fully taste it, and that infuriated him.

      It took all of his willpower, for Pleasance was so invitingly responsive, but Tearlach finally ended the kiss. He studied her flushed face, watched how her breasts rose and fell with her deep, unsteady breathing, and saw how desire had turned her blue-green eyes a deeper blue. She wanted him. Everything about her cried it out. He was nearly as caught up in his own need as she was, and he made no effort to hide it. Yet, despite the hunger that had them both trembling, she was going to reject him. Tearlach felt the urge to slap some sense into her and quickly stepped back.

      “Despite all the heat we share, still ye will turn me away?” he asked, hating to ask yet tense with a need to understand her actions. “Why? It makes no sense to kiss me as ye do then tell me to go.”

      Pleasance fought to clear the fog of desire from her mind and answer him in some intelligible way. “The reasons why I am sending you away and asking you not to return are not your concern, sir.”

      “Nay? I am the one being shown the door.”

      “Aye, and you are very slow to go through it, if you ask me,” she snapped, her temper frayed.

      He stared at her long and hard. “Verra weel, mistress,” he finally said. “Ye willnae be troubled with my company again.”

      Tearlach turned sharply and strode away. Pleasance sank onto the bench, still a little wobbly from the effects of his fiery kiss, and fought the urge to call him back.

      “Why?” she whispered. “Why should I make this sacrifice, one that insults him and hurts me? ’Tis not as if Letitia has any difficulty attracting possible husbands.”

      She battled the sudden rebellion that swept through her, but it was proving far stronger than her sense of duty. Letitia had not wanted Tearlach until he had ignored her. It was plain selfishness that drove her, and Pleasance did not see why she should give up something she wanted so badly just to placate her sister’s possessiveness.

      Spurred by that outrage, Pleasance stood up and took one step after Tearlach before stopping abruptly. He was standing at the iron gate at the far end of the garden, the one that led into the front courtyard. Just as he passed through that gate, Letitia stepped up and slipped her arm through his. All the fight left Pleasance and she slowly sat back down. It was too late to take back her hurtful words now, and Letitia would never give her the chance to try.

      The sudden appearance of Letitia Dunstan startled Tearlach. When the fulsome blond eased her arm through his, his first thought was to shake her off, but then he caught sight of Pleasance watching them. It was a petty act, and he knew it, but he turned his best smile on Letitita. He wanted Pleasance to feel the same pinch of pride that he did. A little voice in his head told him that it was far more than bruised pride he was suffering as a result of Pleasance’s rejection, but he stoutly ignored it.

      “Ah, Mistress Letitia, ’tis pleasant to see a welcoming face,” he murmured.

      “Oh, you poor man.” Letitia smoothed her hand over his arm. “Pleasance told me what she planned to do.”

      “Did she.” Tearlach did not appreciate that his humiliation had been made a topic of discussion amongst Pleasance’s haughty family.

      “I tried to counsel her against such a cruel rejection, but she would not listen to a word I said. Please do not think these are my words, and I do not wish to inflict any further pain, but—oh, dear, I am not sure I can speak such hurtful words aloud.”

      Watching Letitia, Tearlach decided she would make a fine actress. He wanted to tell her to keep her dirty little gossip to herself, but curiosity won out over good sense. If Letitia knew why Pleasance was sending him away, he wanted to hear what she had to say. It could be no worse than all the possibilities he was conjuring up in his own mind.

      “The truth may be painful, Mistress Letitia,” he said, “but ’tis always best to ken it.”

      “Please be assured that I do not share my sister’s sentiments. I cannot understand how she came to think such things.” Letitia sighed and shook her head. “I fear my sister suffers from the sins of pride and vanity, Master O’Duine. Quite simply, she is under the delusion that she can do much better than you. I fear she sees you as some ignorant backwoodsman, which is silly of her. Anyone can see that you are a man of refinement who is working hard to overcome the limitations of your birth. I will say no more. It can only upset you.”

      “Your kind heart becomes you, Mistress Letitia.” It surprised Tearlach that Letitia’s sweetly malicious speech should cut him as deeply as it did. He had suspected exactly what she was telling him. He had faced such snobbery before, endured that deep English prejudice against the Scots. That Pleasance Dunstan could cause that pain, that he had allowed her to penetrate his defenses to that extent, only angered him more.

      He looked toward Pleasance. She was still watching him and Letitia closely, and he sent her a cold smile. It apparently annoyed her to see him with her sister, and he intended to make full use of that. Tearlach suspected that Letitia also considered him unworthy of her, beneath her in class and respectability, yet the smiling blonde was behaving quite flirtatiously. For a while, Tearlach would play along.

      “Master O’Duine?” Letitia smiled up at him and lightly touched his cheek with her fingertips. “Allow me to try and make some form of amends. I feel so ashamed of Pleasance’s harshness. Come, СКАЧАТЬ