Not that it mattered, she told herself as she quickly blew dry her hair. He was a decidedly sensual man. All you had to do was take one look at his sculptures and there could be no doubt of that. He understood the shape and flow of the human body in a way that was carnal but somehow never crossed over into being lewd.
She knew little of the man but had absorbed the artist through her eyes and skin. His touch was everywhere she looked in the room. The nubby texture of the curtains, the rough wood paneling, the blazing fireplace smelling of heather and pine. She pressed a second towel to her face and breathed deeply, imagining she caught the scent of his skin in the warm fabric and then realized what she was doing and dropped the towel to the floor.
She dried off quickly, then folded both towels and placed them on the bench next to the tub. Her nightgown was still draped across the foot of the bed in the other room. She hated to leave the humid warmth of the bathroom, but the quicker she slipped on her nightgown, the quicker she could slip into bed and be sound asleep when—or if—Duncan came to join her.
She swung open the door and found herself face-to-face with her husband.
“Duncan!” Her voice was high with surprise. “I didn’t—” Her words died in her throat as she saw the look in his eyes. She wanted to step back into the safe womb of the bath or at least make an attempt to cover herself, but she couldn’t move beneath the heavy measure of his gaze.
Everything Duncan was or had ever dreamed of being faded before the radiance of his new wife’s naked body. She glowed with some inner light, as if the power and glory of the moon had found its center within her soul.
He wanted to tell her she was beautiful but he was afraid he would say that and more. She stood perfectly still, her arms at her sides, and she didn’t turn away. Her skin shimmered in the firelight, a smooth expanse of finest marble made warmly human by the kiss of the gods. Her breasts were larger than he’d remembered them, the areolae and nipples dark rose and tempting. Her hair fell softly across her shoulders, a shimmering mantle of gold. And her belly, that glorious round swell—
Her voice came to him through a fog of desire. He wondered how long she’d been talking to him.
“Duncan, would you please hand me my nightgown?”
A swath of ivory silk lay curled at the foot of the bed. He picked it up between thumb and forefinger and handed it to her. The faint scent of her perfume lingered in the air around him.
“Thank you,” she murmured then raised her long, lovely arms overhead and let the nightgown slither its way down her body.
It seemed a crime to cover her nakedness, he thought. She was perfect in every way a woman could be perfect—and possibly in a few ways unique to her.
The gown caressed her breasts and accentuated the womanly swell of her belly. It suggested more than it revealed and, overall, the effect it had on him was nearly as powerful as her unexpected nakedness. If she knew this, she gave no indication. She carried herself with an air of reserve that touched his heart even as it puzzled him.
She stood at the foot of the bed and met his eyes. “Which side would you like?” she asked, her tone formal and polite.
“I dinna care,” he said truthfully. “’Tis your choice, lassie.”
Her cheeks reddened and she walked to the far side of the bed and carefully turned down the spread. “This will be fine,” she said, “if you have no objection.”
“I have none.” He watched as she sat on the edge of the mattress then removed her watch and placed it on the end table. She swung her long slender legs onto the bed then quickly pulled the covers up to her shoulders. “You’re going to sleep early,” he observed.
“Yes,” she said, still stiff and formal. “The doctor said I should get as much sleep as I possibly can.”
He nodded and turned away. “Then I’ll leave you to your rest, Samantha.” It was only then that he realized in her bedtime ritual she hadn’t removed his ring.
SAM LAY AWAKE in the darkness for what seemed like hours.
This is what you wanted, she told herself. A big wide bed with nobody in it but you.
She could somersault from one side of the bed to the other and have room to spare. Certainly she was in no danger of bumping into Duncan. She could still hear the sound of his footsteps disappearing down the hallway. There’d been something almost final about the sound, as if some last piece of a puzzle had finally snapped into place, revealing the whole for everyone on earth to see except Sam.
She’d come so close to calling him back. What would it have taken, really? Two or three words at the most and he would be by her side right now. She could have been in his arms, cradled against his big broad chest, listening to the rhythm of his heartbeat instead of her own.
But that wasn’t part of the deal, she told herself. If she started looking for emotional attachments where there were none, she’d only be setting herself up for a terrible fall. Besides, she had something much more important to think about than her own foolish heart. She had the baby to consider and the safe and secure future that had made this marriage of convenience sound like such a wonderful idea in the first place.
Better she learned to accept the way things were and not waste time or energy dreaming about some impossible
