as my bride. Ye’ll be mistress here.”
“You mean I will be your wife.”
His forehead creased with confusion. “My wife will be the mistress of this castle. They are one and the same.”
“I don’t believe so. Those that you enjoy your riding with will always be considered more powerful than the Englishwoman you bring home for her dowry.”
He shook his head, but there was anger burning in his eyes. “Didna I prove anything to ye yesterday, Jemma? ’Twas yer trust I was hoping to secure by leaving ye a virgin.” He snorted. “I can see that has nae happened yet, but I swear that I will have ye one way or another.”
“Is that a threat?” She tossed her head and squared her shoulders. “Well, I am not frightened of you Gordon Dwyre.”
He closed the distance between them, one hand cupping her chin in a firm hold.
“Which is why I promise ye that I will be sharing yer bed tonight. Ye aren’t afraid of me because ye feel the same attraction that I do, ’tis a powerful thing and neither of us will be happy until we stop denying it. I wanted to give ye time to become accustomed to it, but I will nae have yer place here questioned again.”
“Don’t you dare try to protect me.”
“And why not?” he snarled through his clenched teeth at her, obviously frustrated. “Not only am I laird here, but I brought ye here, Jemma, so protecting ye is a point of honor.”
“Would you allow me to step between you and any man that threatened you?”
He drew in a sharp breath. “I would not.”
“It is the same thing when you insist on stepping between me and your clanswomen. I’ll deal with the women who try their hand at intimidating me, and I want you to stay out of it. There will be no lashings unless I order them.”
“That would only be yer place if ye are my wife, Jemma.”
“Our courtship is not a classical one, grant me my will, Barras, even if you don’t agree it is my place to insist on it. I don’t want you sheltering me.”
He stiffened but held his next words back. Jemma watched him fight back the urge to order her to accept his will. She was asking too much for the world that they lived in. A woman’s place was beneath the authority of a man. She might also end up in the stocks with her back lashed for saying that she did not want to follow that natural order. It was considered unnatural and obviously something that needed to be cured.
Gordon suddenly chuckled. It wasn’t a nice sound but one of contemplation.
“I’ll grant the women mercy because I see that the only way I’ll earn yer trust is to recognize that ye need some of the same things that I do. Ye need to know that ye aren’t helpless, ’tis something I can see the value of. That is the reason we’re so drawn to each other, Jemma, we’re very much alike.”
“I disagree.”
He snorted with male amusement. “Exactly my point. Ye disagree because ye do nae care for me telling ye what to think. I like to keep me own counsel, too. Ye can speak yer mind freely behind closed doors, lass, but when it comes to the others ye will recall what ye said about this order coming from there being rules.”
“So I will remember my place? Is that your warning?”
“Nay, lass, my promise to ye is this. Ye may have the Church’s blessing or not, but be very sure that I will be back to make sure ye have no doubt who eases my cock tonight.”
He hooked his arm around her waist, pulling her against his body while his mouth claimed hers in a hard kiss. There was nothing tender or teasing about it. His mouth demanded submission, and hers opened to allow his tongue to thrust deeply inside. Her passage ached for the same treatment. She wanted to be filled and all of her ignorance destroyed forever.
“You have no right.”
He snorted before releasing her. “What I am is honest, Jemma. Ye are a good match, but the thing that has me saying to make yer peace with wedding me today is the fact that even though I can nae see yer breasts, I know yer pink nipples are hard. Ye long for me as much as I do for ye, and I have the experience to tell ye that it will nay be easing. We’re drawn to each other, and nature has her way of being stubborn. I’ll be at the church at dusk.” His eyebrow rose. “And in yer bed by dark. I swear it to ye, Jemma, ye will be mine tonight.”
The door slammed shut behind Gordon, making Jemma flinch.
Excitement burned along her limbs and pooled in her belly. Her clitoris throbbed with longing so intense it stopped only a tiny bit short of being painful.
She shivered as she recalled his words. The rest of the day’s events paled and fell aside as she became absorbed with recalling the deep timber of his voice. He was correct, her nipples were hard. The woman in her wasn’t interested in the reasons why she didn’t want to wed Gordon, and worse still her mind offered up the fact that he was far more accepting of her nature than any man she might hope her brother contracted.
But would Gordon remain that way? It wasn’t the way men expected their world to be. It might just be that the burly Scot was once again employing a clever strategy to gain what he wanted before he closed his hand into an iron fist and lowered it upon her.
But even that fear wasn’t a good reason to not marry him.
There was always the chance that Gordon was exactly as he appeared and that would be a far better husband than she might have dared to hope for. The reason was simple, she did desire him. So much so that she had to admit that she doubted her ability to send him away tonight if she refused to marry him. His kisses were intoxicating, and she knew that he would kiss her.
