Page 36 of Highland Seduction

So he felt no guilt at allowing his hand to wander to Ainsley’s breast, the sound of lapping water breaking a silence that had fallen between them.

“Tor.” Her voice was breathless, her tone his new favorite. “Should we . . . ?”

Ainsley never finished. But understanding her question, Tor grabbed the soap with his free hand. Then, letting it join the first underwater, he used it to explore her other breast. “I am simply finishing what ye started.”

“I’ve no’ been washed by a maid for many years.”

“I am no maid, Ainsley. I am yer husband, and ye’d do well to remember it.”

“How precisely shall I—”

She gasped when Tor took her nipple between his fingers. In this room, he would show her all of what her body was made for. Before they left Berwick, Tor had decided in this very moment, he would make Ainsley Shaw his wife in truth.

When the words had left his mouth earlier, asking for information about the bishop, he’d wanted to take them back. Finding the bishop, giving him Father Godfrey’s missive . . . every step he took toward the inn he’d taken knowing Ainsley would be inside their room. Thoughts of kissing her again, lying with her—coupled with the unreasonable fear for her safety every moment they were apart—told Tor what he had been suspecting.

He’d no sooner bring her back to Castle Shaw and never see the lass again than he would easily count Broden Shaw as a friend and ally. The two were at odds with each other, surely, but Tor no longer cared.

But Ainsley had to be convinced. She’d hated his clan, and his brother Royce especially, for what happened with her sister. And Tor was his brother’s second, which meant Ainsley would be forced to reconcile with a man she despised.

If ye had to reconcile with Broden to be with her? Would ye do it?

Tor would not think any longer on the question. Instead, he would convince Ainsley to stay with him in another way. ’Twas a simple plan, really.

He would seduce his wife.

When she shivered, Tor realized the water had grown cold. Reluctantly, he removed his hands, dropped the soap, and picked up the cloth that he’d asked to be brought with the tub. Standing back, he held it open for her. “Come, ye’re cold.”

She shook her head. “I could no’ possibly.”

Chuckling, he reminded her, “I’ve explored yer body with my hands. They were, just moments ago, between yer legs. Surely ye’ve naught to be embarrassed about.”

She paused for a brief moment, looked down, and then, as if steeling herself, braced her hands on each side of the wooden tub, and stood.

“Dear Lord.” When she stepped out, Tor moved back, out of reach.

“Where are ye going with the drying cloth?”

He drank in every bit of her, from head to toe, and then reluctantly moved forward once again.

“I’ve no wish to cover ye,” he said, doing just that.

“’Tis odd to have a man see me this way.”

Tor could not wait any longer. Once she was fully covered, he took Ainsley in his arms, her own trapped beneath the large cloth. “As odd as what we did”—he nodded to the tub—“there.”

Her smile prompted him to hold her even tighter. “I’d no’ name that as odd.”

“Nay? Then how would ye name it?”

This time Tor was certain her shiver was not caused by the cold. “Magnificent.”

“Mmm.” He leaned his head toward hers. Tor captured her lips, wasting no time as he thought of his hands on her. The kiss deepened immediately, Ainsley proving a good student having done this just once before. Her tongue tangled with his, Tor slanting for better access as he pulled his wife as tightly against him as possible.

Drinking from her, Tor so hard now he could not imagine possibly sleeping this way, he tried to pull away. Though he did not try quite hard enough and was drawn so far into her that had Ainsley not shivered once again, Tor was certain their kiss would have lasted for an eternity.

When he did pull back, her lips glistened with the wetness of their kiss. Her eyes pleaded with him for more. Tor would gladly comply, but for now, she needed to dress before he was tempted to abandon his planned seduction and beg her to make love to him this very night.

As much as such a plan appealed to him, she would regret it. He would approach the topic more delicately, the decision for them to be together one that would be fully hers. But that did not mean he could not gently nudge her toward him.