he realized he should have left her alone. As soon as he untied the ribbon holding the top of her undergarment together, the material parted all the way down to her waist, and a fair amount of her full breasts spilled out. It was impossible for him not to react physically. From the moment he'd awakened early that morning, he'd wanted her again; now the need consumed him. He fought his private battle for a long while, but in the middle of the night, while the storm raged around them, she moaned in her sleep, rolled over, and threw herself on top of him. He knew, then, the war wasn't finished. She couldn't even be cautious in her sleep.
His hand went to her thighs, and as he was parting them with the thought of entering her then and there, he realized what he was doing and forced himself to stop.
He jarred her awake trying to get her off of him before he hurt her. She sat up next to his side and, obviously disoriented by the pounding of the rain upon the skins, whispered his name.
'It's all right, Brenna. Go back to sleep.' He sounded angry. He was sorry about that, but damn it all, he'd only just realized he had the discipline of a pig. She wasn't helping him regain his control, of course. One side of her chemise had just dropped down to her elbow, and God help him, it took all his strength not to tear the thing off her. Every time lightning streaked across the sky, light poured in through the opening, outlining her beautiful body.
She fell asleep sitting up. Had he not been observing her, he wouldn't have believed anyone could fall asleep so quickly.
'Lie down,' he ordered with a gentle nudge.
He should have been more specific, he realized a scant second after she threw herself down on top of him again, hitting his chest hard enough to make him think she'd knocked herself senseless.
'Get off of me.'
His gruff voice awakened her. 'No,' she whispered.
'No?
'No, thank you,' she corrected. 'I'm cold. Shouldn't you do something about it?'
God save him, she was even telling him what to do when she was half asleep.
'What would you have me do?'
'Put your arms around me.'
He felt her shivering and immediately did as she had instructed him to do.
'Did I wake you, Connor?'
'No.'
'Are you cold?'
'No.'
She began to stroke his chest, hoping her gentle touch would calm him. Perhaps then he would tell her why he was acting so prickly.
'What are you doing?'
'Soothing you.'
She had to be jesting with him. Soothing? She was slowly driving him out of his mind, and he was fairly certain she was doing it on purpose.
'Stop provoking me.'
'What's wrong with you? You're acting like a bear.'
He didn't try to address the ludicrous comparison she'd just made, concentrating instead on making her realize what she was doing to him. 'I want to be inside you again. Now do you understand why you should get the hell off me?'
She didn't move. 'Do I have a say in the matter?'
'Yes.'
'Do you mean to say that if I told you no, you would honor my wishes?'
Hadn't he just said he would? 'If you tell me no, I won't touch you.'
She started drumming her fingertips on his chest. He immediately put his hand on top of hers to get her to stop. 'You'd best learn to be cautious, Brenna.'
She didn't pay any attention to his instruction. 'In England, wives can't deny their husbands. My mother told me so.'
'Some men think the way I do.'
She was amazed. She suddenly felt as though he'd given her the wondrous gift of power over her own body, and she immediately wanted more. 'Regarding other matters then, do I…'
'No.'
'Why not?'
'You cannot deny a command given to you by your laird.'
She'd already done exactly that on several occasions now and had suffered no ill effects from denying her laird's orders, but she was intelligent enough not to remind him. She couldn't stop herself from straightening out his rather twisted reasoning though.
'I didn't marry a laird. I married a man.'
'It is the same.'
No, it wasn't the same at all, she thought to herself. Oh, she knew what was expected of her when they were with other people, but when they were alone, he was simply her husband.
She didn't believe it would be a good idea to correct his backhanded reasoning now and would wait instead until he was in a better mood.
'If I were to tell you yes, I would like you to touch me again, would it end the same way? Would you turn away from me without saying a word?'
'Of course,' he replied.
'Never mind then.'
He was stunned by her denial and couldn't understand why his praise had angered her.
She moved away from him, closed her eyes, and said a prayer for patience.
He rolled over on top of her, careful to brace his weight with his arms as he stared down into her eyes. 'I told you I wasn't disappointed.'
'You were also angry though, weren't you?'
Aye, he had been angry, though not with his wife. His fury had been self-directed, and upon reflection, he realized it was purposeful as well, for he had it as a shield to guard himself against his own vulnerability. She had dared to touch his heart, and honest to God, he still didn't know how he'd let that happen. Damn it, he didn't even like her.
Connor was quick to recognize his lie and let out a low growl of frustration. He decided then that since what had already happened couldn't be undone, as long as he stayed in control in the future, he would be content.
'Are you ever going to answer me?'
He leaned down and began to nibble on her earlobe, feeling arrogantly pleased when he noticed she shivered in reaction. 'What did you ask?'
She couldn't believe he would treat her concerns so lightly. She repeated her question and added a nudge to get him to pay attention.
'I wasn't angry with you.'
He could see she didn't believe him. His wife obviously needed more praise for her performance, he supposed. He wasn't sure what to say that would make her happy. He had been satisfied. And well-served, he admitted. She surely knew he never would have left her until both of them had reached fulfillment. He wasn't at all used to explaining anything to anyone, however, and perhaps that was why he wasn't any good at it, he reasoned. He needed to say something now, though, and so he decided to sum up his reactions with one word that would certainly convince her she had proven satisfactory.
'Finished.'
'I beg your pardon?'
'I was finished.'
Because of their close proximity, he'd naturally been considerate and spoken in a low voice. His wife wasn't as considerate. She shouted her displeasure into his ear. 'You are the most pigheaded, insensitive, barbaric…'
He clamped his hand down over her mouth before she could finish giving him her opinion. She could have come up with another hundred remarks too, if he'd kept silent and let her think of some, but he interrupted her
