Page 74 of To Wed a Wild Scot
What she hadn’t known was that somehow, between the nightmares and the long, tedious days on the road, she’d fall in love with Logan Blair.
But that was what happened. The most anxious ten days of her life were also the most breathtaking, because of Logan.
There was no more talk of separate bedchambers. They spent every night of the journey together. She fell asleep each night with his arms wrapped around her, his big hands folding her to his chest, and every morning when she came hurtling out of her nightmares he was there, waiting to catch her.
He didn’t speak much in those moments. He simply held her tightly, stroking her hair and murmuring to her in Gaelic until her shaking stopped and she relaxed against him. He’d kiss her softly then, and whisper that he wanted to make love to her, if she wanted him.
Juliana always wanted him.
Yet he still asked her, every time.
It went on that way until very early in the morning on the day they were due to arrive at Graystone Court. That was the day Juliana didn’t wait for him to ask.
Instead, she asked him.
For the first time since they’d left Castle Kinross, she’d woken calmly. Logan was still asleep beside her, sprawled across the bed with his arms flung wide.
She lay there for a long time with her eyes closed, thinking she’d never before felt as warm and safe as she did when she was cradled in his arms.
The next thought came upon her slowly, softly, as naturally as following one breath with another.
I’m in love with him.
He was her husband, she was in love with him, and she’d never again let him wonder if she wanted him.
Juliana reached across the bed, searching for his warm, solid form. Her hand landed on his chest, and she slid her palm up to stroke his collarbones and throat. Her fingertips dancing across his bare skin made him stir, but he only rolled onto his back and threw an arm over his head.
He didn’t wake.
Ah, good. She didn’t want him to wake just yet.
Taking care to be quiet and not to jostle him, Juliana rose to her knees and dragged her chemise over her head, shivering a bit as the cold air drifted over her bare skin.
No matter. She’d be warm soon enough.
She leaned over him, intending to wake him with a kiss, but seeing his body spread out before her, like a feast just waiting to be devoured made her pause. She bit her lip, her gaze lingering on his broad chest, the long, muscular length of his thighs.
Did she dare?
Well, she’d dared any number of other things, hadn’t she? She’d ended her betrothal to Hugh, and chased Fitzwilliam hundreds of miles to Scotland. She’d trailed Logan for days, and demanded he take her to Castle Kinross. She’d ridden across the Highlands with the Robertson boys, and she’d saved Fiona.
She’d coerced a wild Scot into marrying her, and dared to fall in love with him.
It didn’t make much sense to stop now, did it?
Her mind made up, Juliana swung one leg over his torso. Logan slept on, oblivious to the fact she was now straddling him. That is, until she sank lower, and let her bottom rest on his thighs.
Thatwoke him up.
“Juliana?” He tried to sit up, realized she was on top of him, and fell flat against the bed again. “Juliana, what are you—”
“Shhh.” She fumbled around until she found the hem of his shirt, then dragged it over his head. When he was naked beneath her, she ran her eager hands over his bare chest and then lower, stroking her palms over the hard planes of his stomach.
She’d woken him from a deep sleep, but if Logan was groggy, he shook it off the moment he realized his wife was on top of him, bare as the day she was born, and had just stripped him of his clothes.
Juliana leaned over him and dropped a tiny, teasing kiss on one corner of his mouth. “I want to make love to you,” she whispered, her tongue grazing his earlobe. “Do you want me?”
His lips curved. “What do you think, lass?” He took her hand and pressed her palm against his rigid length, hissing softly when her fingers curled instinctively around him. “Stroke me, Ana.”
