Mary Wine - Improper Seduction

“I thought ye had more spirit, lass. Me men tell me ye’ve been pacing and no eating. Are ye truly broken in so short a time?”

Bridget turned her head to discover Gordon watching her from one of the arched doorways that led into the solar she was occupying. She bit into her lower lip when she realized how happy she was to see him. She didn’t like knowing that one day of solitude had made her so hungry for companionship.

“If you prefer to hear me railing, then you shall have to learn to live with disappointment. The body does not require much nourishment when it is doing little.” She folded her hands neatly and offered him a mild expression. “I have no intention of becoming some type of amusement for your entertainment.”

“Och now, lass, would ye like to get down to that bit of the business right now then? I’ll be quite happy to show you what manner of entertainment I think ye can provide me with.”

Gordon was just as large as Curan, but for some reason he didn’t have the same impact on her. He moved too close, and she did not have any urge to back away from him. Her belly did not tighten, and no excitement rushed along her skin. Instead she simply watched him close the distance, but her boredom ended when he reached out to touch her. She lifted a hand quickly to slap the hand he tried to touch her with. The blow made a loud popping sound that drew a chuckle from her captor.

“You are quite out of line, sir.”

“I’m a Scot, I was never a well-behaved lad. Goes against the entire idea of being Scottish. You wouldn’t want me to be disloyal to me own country, now would ye?”

Moving away from him, Bridget turned to shoot a hard glare at him. “Somehow, I doubt that you are quite the marauder that you are attempting to act. I have never understood that being Scottish means you were raised with a lack of honor.”

He frowned and crossed his arms across his chest. She was beginning to realize that he did that when he was afraid that too much of his true feelings were on display.

“I will wed ye if it comes to that.” Instead of a threat, his words were more of a soothing promise. One that she found distasteful.

“To preserve my honor? Is that it? No, thank you.”

He shrugged and allowed his arms to relax. “I’ll admit that there’s a wee bit of me that would enjoy needling your English chancellor by taking a lass he thinks is his, but aye, I’d wed ye before seeing ye returned to a life of shame since I’m the one who brought ye here.”

“You may dispense with that concern. I shall weather the storm well enough.”

“Nay, lass. I know the world, and it’s a harsh, unforgiving place when it comes to an English lass who has been behind these walls.” He moved closer, and she had to resist the urge to retreat from him. Approval shimmered in his eyes when she stood still.

“If Ryppon does nae come for ye, the man is a fool, and I’ll be happy to take advantage of what he is dim-witted enough to let go unclaimed.”

He reached out and stroked her cheek. It was a simple touch, and she remained still while his fingers made contact with her skin. No rush of sensation resulted from the touch, only a mild enjoyment. Gordon tossed his shoulder-length hair back and laughed.

“I should keep ye anyway, just because that English lord is too fortunate by far to have earned such devotion from ye.”

“I am not devoted to him. My father arranged the match.” She turned in a snap of her skirt and offered him her back. “What you should do is return me to my father. That will gain you more from this bit of evildoing by my cousin.”

He clicked his tongue at her in reprimand. She began to turn, but he slid a hand around her body and pulled her back against his body in one quick motion. Bridget snarled and became a spitting bundle of resistance. Her flesh crawled with revulsion, making her struggles even more violent. She scratched and hit him without a care for the damage she inflicted. He released her with another mocking laugh.

“If ye are nae devoted to the man, why does my touch enrage ye, lass?”

“Because I am not some loose light-skirt slut, you mongrel! You insult me by trying your hand at me.”

“As ye insulted me so freely in front of yer cousin’s husband.”

That hard glitter appeared in his eyes.

“Oh, I see. You are repaying me, is that it?”

He shrugged. “Well, I suppose ye cannae be expected to understand the way respect keeps peace on me land. But it is a way of life for me. The moment I begin letting someone insult me is the day that a new challenge to my authority begins. Those most often end in bloodshed.”

“I see.”

“Do ye now?”

Bridget offered him a slight nod. “I can understand that our lives are very different and thereby require different actions.”

He grinned again, clearly amused by her response. Even knowing it, she still had trouble pushing her emotions down where he could not see them so easily.

“I’ll not be content to have any man’s hands on me who is not my husband. Yet that is no excuse for being surly this morning.”

At least her tone of voice cooperated with her resolve to maintain her dignity. Gordon lost his grin, his face becoming a firm mask of consideration.

“Is that why I hear that you spent most of this day looking toward England? Because ye’re longing to join the man ye fled from?”

Gordon snorted when her eyes narrowed at him, but she denied him any comment. The Scot shook his head.

“I ken, lass. I’m a stranger to ye and one that has taken ye in the hope of getting something for ye. There’s no foundation for trust between us. But I keep my word. Dinna fret that I’ll allow ye to return to England’s court. Ryppon will either give me what I want for ye, or I’ll take ye to the altar and we’ll find a way to make the best of it. I can be a charming man when I put my mind to it.”

“Do not bother on my account, sir.”

He reached out quickly, succeeding in touching her cheek with two thick fingers before she jumped away.

“Och now, lassie, ye need to stop all that worrying.”

Don’t worry? The man had a misplaced sense of kindness if he believed he was putting her at ease. Still, it wasn’t his place to soothe her. She was a woman, not a lost girl.

“Lord Ryppon will not come for me. I cannot fathom why you believe he will. Best that you return me to my father and gain your recompense from him.” And she did hope the ransom was a dear one, for her father was beginning to wear her patience thin with all his demands. It seemed quite fair that someone else in her family should have to suffer as she was.

Gordon’s eyes lit with something that made her step back. A burning determination that she had seen in Curan’s eyes when he looked at her.

“He’d better show, because I’m nae in the mood to search for another way to get what I want from him.”

And it wasn’t her.

Bridget knew it. Somehow she sensed that the Scot wasn’t any more interested in wedding her than she was in marrying him. He wanted someone else, and the truth of that glittered in his eyes while she watched. “I wish you every success, and it is of course a relief to hear that this is truly not about me.”

He drew in a stiff breath and crossed his arms over his chest once again. His expression became hard. Clearly the man didn’t care to know that she had read his emotions.

“Good. Then I’ll no be hearing that ye refused yer supper. I dinna need to think I’m starving ye.”

The laird in him was talking now. Thick authority edged his words, and his voice rose, ensuring his men heard him. He gave a soft grunt along with a solid nod of his head when he finished. Bridget merely stared back at him, content to let him have the last word.