Page 59 of Dark Seduction

Ironheart was clearly interested. “Since when do you visit the Wolf? I didna ken ye be comrades.”

“We’re nay friends,” Malcolm replied softly, thinking about the page Aidan surely had. If Ironheart could be convinced to go with them, he would be a useful ally if Aidan was unwilling to part with the holy page.

Ironheart absorbed that. “Mayhap I’ll return to Lachlan in a more leisurely manner.”

Malcolm smiled. “I had hoped ye would say as much.”

Ironheart nodded at Claire and he and MacNeil walked into the chapter house, leaving them standing alone outside.

Claire stared after the pair, distressed. “I hope that doesn’t mean what I think it does.”

“Aye, lass, he will come with us t’ Awe.” Seeing her grim expression, he brushed her shoulder, well aware that what he really wanted to do was pull her close. “I can use his help if I must fight Aidan.”

Claire’s expression paled. “Aidan is at Awe?”

“Aye.” He instantly read her thoughts. “He’s nay a Deamhan, lass. He be a Master, too.”

Her eyes widened. “But the two of you tried to kill one another!”

“He be a rogue. He dinna obey the Code. He dinna have any conscience, any heart. I dinna trust him with the page. He’d as likely give it t’ Moray as us.”

“Great! A Master who is turning!” she cried. She rubbed her temples. Malcolm could feel them throbbing. She was scared and worried about him, and not just because he might fight Aidan. She was afraid of Moray—which was as it should be.

But her concern pleased him greatly. Maybe MacNeil was wrong about the future, this one time. “Lass, I be pleased when ye care fer me, even a little,” he said softly, giving in and pulling her close. He bumped her hip and wanted to moan. He did not.

But she had felt his arousal, too. She gasped, her gaze seeking his.

He was proud of his virile erection. “Aye, I be needin’ ye, lass,” he murmured, sliding his hands down her strong back. He pulled her closer, throbbing with growing urgency against her belly. He wished they were back at Dunroch and the hours had passed. He knew she was ready for him—he could feel her desire expanding at an uncontrollable rate.

And he also felt her mind racing in circles, debating whether she should give in to him and join him in bed or not. And as his control was still fragile, he released her. “I willna hurt ye, Claire.”

She was breathing hard. “It’s not that.”

She hesitated, and he felt her thinking, not about the fact that he’d spent many nights in a lover’s bed without losing control, but about her inability to guard her heart from him if she shared his bed. She was afraid to love him. But he had told her, he didn’t mind. He would like it if she did. He was never going to genuinely understand her fear of loving him, because he was a powerful lord and other women happily fell in love with him. Other women did not mind having his favors just for a short time.

And he would never understand her absurd need to love a man in order to have sex with him. “Ye willna be sorry,” he tried, smiling into her eyes. They mirrored her conflict. “I intend to please ye greatly. However ye choose, lass.”

Her eyes widened and he felt her body flame. There was so much desire in her he could not stand it.

He leaned closer, touched her face. “Ye like it when I talk about it, do ye not? Dinna refuse me, lass. MacNeil has suspended my powers for the night. We mayna have other nights so soon. I need t’ come inside ye, an’ye need to have me there. I need t’ see ye takin’ yer pleasure, Claire, an’ I need to hear an’ feel ye comin’, too.”

She nodded, and he felt her hollow hugely, enough so that he could fill the space, right then, right there.

“We’ll leave fer Dunroch as soon as the galley returns,” he murmured. He reached out, reeled her in. Like an adolescent boy, he could no longer think straight.

She gasped and reached for his shoulders. “Malcolm. Okay.”

Triumphant, he kissed her, deep.

CHAPTER TEN

THE SUN WAS SETTING as they trekked up the short, steep ascent to Dunroch from the port below. The galley had been portaged halfway up the road and then laid on wood blocks. Claire chose to walk far behind Malcolm, hoping for some privacy for her thoughts, even though she wanted to get inside Dunroch’s walls before dark. No day could have been longer. There had been one stunning revelation after another, without respite. She was mentally and emotionally exhausted.

Claire glanced ahead toward the drawbridge and gatehouse. In another hour or so it would be dark.

Claire’s desire flared. And Malcolm knew, because he halted and turned to look at her.

There was no longer any decision to make about their relationship. She wanted him acutely, so much so that she could almost feel him inside her now, hot and strong, the friction insane. She had a frightening attraction to him, one she no longer believed she could resist, even if she wanted to. But she didn’t want to resist. There was no point.