A Very Highland Holiday - Kathryn Le Veque Page 0,103

from the heat of the water…

Really, despite her bashfulness, he sensed an inherent strength in the lass, evident even now in the set of her shoulders. Having committed herself to their union, she didn’t dress herself and leave in protest of his nudeness. Nor did she rail at him for having availed himself of the tub. She simply accepted the truth, and, just as he had, she’d honed in on the most favorable outcome.

Nay indeed, he wouldn’t rush her, nor push her into anything rash, but that didn’t stop his body from hardening, nor did it ease the discomfort of his sudden, unreasonable desire.

Bloody hell… here he was… on the eve of a new year, enjoying a nice, hot bath… in the company of his lovely new bride… and still he was honor bound to keep his todger to himself—hell and damnation.

How he adored those tiny curls at her nape… most likely not the effect of any iron. But rather, having been dampened by the weather, they were naturally curling.

“I was thinking… after my bath, should we summon your chaperone and tell her the good news? Maybe share a pint of ale with her?”

“Hmm,” she said, sounding confused. And then she added, “No, I don’t think so.”

“Why not, lass? Do ye plan to change your mind?” He hadn’t a clue why he said it so defiantly, but the very notion curdled the dessert in his belly. “If so, I should warn ye, I mean to hold ye to our bargain…”

Evidently, that was all it took to chase away her shyness; her gaze narrowed and she spun about to pierce him with an angry glower. Only the sight of his smile disarmed her, and whatever it was she was about to say, she thought better of it. “You’re jesting,” she said, with no small trace of relief.

“Indeed, I am.”

“That’s a very good thing,” she said, with a smile, and Callum lifted his brow, amused.

Good Heavens.

Elizabeth knew she ought to look away. Propriety dictated as much, and yet… and yet… she couldn’t seem to make herself do it.

And now that she was looking, she did so greedily, secretly thrilling to the sight of her husband’s male form.

His smile was achingly beautiful and his storm-blue eyes so full of mischief—like a naughty little boy, but there was nothing so little about him.

He couldn’t possibly have realized she would take such offense at his suggestion. She was a woman of her honor, and she wouldn’t back down—even if she did suddenly feel like flying out the door. At any rate, where would she go?

Not to Mrs. Grace, that much was certain. That was the last thing she would do as she didn’t want her chaperone to know anything until their vows were already consummated and there was nothing anyone could do to prevent it.

He scooched down now, with a knee lifted from the water, and otherwise buried to his chin. Steam rose from the tub, like fine ribbons of smoke, and much to Elizabeth’s dismay, her gaze found his shoulder and locked on the small puckered wound there. “Does it hurt?” she asked, well aware that his hand slid through the tub, in a direction and fashion she daren’t contemplate. “Yes,” he said. “Very much.”

“It appears to be healing,” she said. “What about the one on your leg?”

Chapter Nine

“Healing,” he said.

“Oh.”

Every last bit of good will Callum had mustered suddenly vanished with the steam rising from his tub. It had been far too long since he’d been with a woman and even now, as he brushed his hand across his cock to shove it down between his thighs to conceal it… white, hot desire pulsed through his veins, and heat rose into his unshaven face—another thing he meant to remedy. Until now, he hadn’t had any good reason to shave, but suddenly he had delightful visions of diving into her soft muff, curious for the taste of his wife.

His wife.

His wife.

His. Wife.

Before he could wrap his brain about that fact, and before he could warn her to stay away, she advanced upon the tub, setting his heart to pounding.

“I am no doctor,” she said. “But you might as well show me since I am now your wife. If there is anything at all I can do to ease your pain, I will certainly try.”

“You can’t,” he said, through gritted teeth and he would have thrust up a hand to hold her back, but he daren’t release the kraken in his tub. “Elizabeth,” he said,