Page 66 of Only Scandal Will Do

“I am well aware of my orders, as I am of your diligence in caring for Lady Dalbury. I was not aware, however, that you were unfamiliar with the custom of knocking before entering a room.” Duncan’s mouth twitched and Kat stifled an urge to laugh. “If you give us a moment, I believe that we can be ready for luncheon in short order.”

“Very good, my lord.” Margery sped out the door even more quickly than she had entered.

Duncan looked down at Kat and sighed. “Shall we resume our tryst, my love, or shall we move on to the other main course?”

Alhough she yearned to rekindle the magnificent feelings of a few minutes ago, the moment had passed. The smell of hot food wafting from the platter distracted her; she looked up at her husband, opened her mouth to speak and was mortified to hear a loud growl issue from her stomach.

“I will take that as a yes to luncheon,” Duncan said, rolled onto his side and into a sitting position. “You do need to eat, love.” He placed a kiss on her forehead. “You’ll need your strength for later.” A flame of desire flared in his dark eyes, sending a stab of longing deep into the place between her thighs. How could she hunger for so many things at once?

Before she could pull Duncan down to her, he was up, donned his breeches and tucked in his shirt. Then he assisted her from the bed. They proceeded to eat leisurely, speaking of mundane things while exchanging heated looks that promised a sizzling conclusion to the meal. Katarina had just finished a dish of fresh berries with cream--which was one hunger sated at least--when a knock at the door drew Duncan from the table. He opened it and someone asked for Lord Dalbury in a gruff voice. While Duncan went out into the hallway, she stood, stretched.

Peace stole into her as she made her way to the plain dresser with a small mirror fastened above.

Her night rail, the one with cascades of frilly lace, still adorned her. She’d specifically requested it when Margery had bathed her. A ploy to appear as ravishing as possible for her husband. As if he needed encouragement. She still looked somewhat gaunt, however, but if she continued to eat with the gusto she had shown at lunch, that would soon be a thing of the past.

Idly, she picked up a brush and ran it through her disheveled hair. What a sight they must have presented to Margery. Thoughts of what the maid interrupted made Katarina glow as the fire fought to rekindle. She turned expectantly as door opened and smiled at Duncan with what she hoped was a seductive air. The heat from before flickered in his look, but there was annoyance in the set of his mouth.

“I have to leave you for the afternoon, sweetheart.” He crossed to her and plunged his hands into her thick locks. Tipping her head back, he ran his fingers through the long strands, over and over, as though he could not get enough. His eyes, wide and dark, showed him as lost in desire for her as he had been the night they met. “God knows, I want nothing so much as to take you to that bed and keep you there for the next three days.”

Reveling in the closeness of his body, her own thrummed with need for him. She wasn’t sure she’d let him go after just three days. “Why can’t we, Duncan?”

“I hired Grimes to find us a carriage to rent or buy, but the town we’re in has nothing available. He believes Lizard, about ten miles away, would have something suitable but he’s never been there.” Duncan shook his head. “I can’t imagine living all one’s days within five miles of where you were born.”

“But why do you have to go now, my love?” She tried not to pout, but she couldn’t tolerate the thought of being alone all afternoon.

“Unfortunately, I was given these rooms on the condition we leave tomorrow. A huge wedding party hired the entire inn. One of the local gentry’s daughter is getting married, the social affair of the summer in these parts. We must be on our way by tomorrow afternoon, for there are no accommodations until Falmouth.”

“Then let me ride with you.” She plucked up the hem of her gown, ready to doff the garment despite Duncan’s amazed stare.

“Katarina.” The stern husband had returned. “You are still pale and barely able to sit at table. How would you sit a horse ten miles and back?”

Kat raised her chin and set her jaw. “Just because I have given you leave to use my name,

Duncan, does not mean you rule me.”

“I would never dream such a thing, love.” He ran his thumb along her jutting jaw. “But I want you here, rested and waiting when I return. I should be back with the carriage by ten o’clock at the latest. You can wait up for me or I can awaken you when I arrive.” A naughty smile appeared on his lips. “I know several much more pleasant ways to rouse you than

Margery.”

She shivered, her imagination running riot at his words. The torture of waiting so long would be compensated with the reward of him in the end. Her reluctant nod gained her a scorching kiss, one she felt all the way to her toes. She swayed, fully against him, grinding her hips wantonly against his just to prolong their contact, until finally he urged her away.

“If you do that again, madam, you will find yourself flat on your back, taken without any finesse at all,” Duncan growled, the gleam in his eyes no longer playful.

Kat squashed the impish impulse to call his bluff. He wasn’t bluffing. And much as she hungered for her husband’s body, she wanted the tenderness his earlier passion promised.

“Yes, Duncan,” she said, eyes demurely downcast.

“Wench!”

A smart slap on her backside made her jump and give him an indignant look as she rubbed her wounded posterior. Duncan chuckled, the smug sound deep in his chest that had so often irked her, did so no more. He dropped a brief kiss on her pouting lips. “I’ll make it feel better when I come home, sweet.” With that outrageous remark, he quit the room. Rubbing her tingling flesh, she stared after him. How would she be able to endure the long hours before her devilish husband returned and made good on his promise?

CHAPTER 29

Katarina sat, staring disconsolately out the carriage window at green fields dotted with placid sheep, fuming as she counted the hours until she and Duncan could at last be alone together. The comedy of errors that had ensued during the week since they’d landed in Mullion only heightened her frustration. Despite their now mutual attraction, desire, and downright lust for one another, their marriage remained unconsummated.

Duncan had not returned to her that first night: a thrown horseshoe, a hard bargain for a poor carriage without benefit of a coachman and a missed turn in the dark meant he did not arrive back at the inn until almost noon the following day. Hard traveling commenced, but they’d reached Falmouth in good time, engaged a well-appointed room and had eagerly prepared for a romantic rendezvous.

Unfortunately, she’d been then been forced to perform the unpleasant and embarrassing task of telling her husband that her courses had come upon her. Disappointment, almost sharper than she could bear, added a touch of irony to the already ludicrous situation. The small comfort left them, of sleeping in each other’s arms, ultimately proved more torture than boon.