DevilsHeart by Laura Glenn Page B

this marriage against her will anyway. She might never
return home, remaining forever stuck in a time better known for its cruelty
toward women than its freedoms. Restricting women’s movements, their speech,
and their souls. This might be the last choice she would ever make for herself.
    The veil of shyness parted and all at once the warm hardness
of Rathe’s body, his soothing breath on her skin, and rhythmic pulse beneath
his flesh consumed her.
    She pressed a soft kiss along the corner of his mouth. “Take
me upstairs.”
    “As you wish, my lady.”
    He grabbed her hand and guided her up the stairs. As they
reached the top, he paused and looked up and down the corridor. “It is safe.
Lead the way.”
    Leah nodded, appreciative of his understanding she preferred
discreetness, especially after getting caught in the stairwell with his hands
and mouth all over her.
    She padded down the hallway to her chamber, attempting to
slow her breathing so her whisky-sotted head wouldn’t swirl quite so freely as
she moved. The soft glow of firelight seeped out from beneath the closed door.
She paused with her hand on the handle to allow her building anxiety a chance
to settle down.
    He pulled her hair away from her shoulder and dropped his
lips to her neck as he slipped one hand around her waist. Her eyes fluttered
closed, her lips parting as he planted slow, languid kisses up to her ear. His
hand skimmed her stomach and moved upward until it cupped one breast. She bit
down hard on her lower lip as his thumb stroked back and forth over her aching
nipple, sending erotic shivers through her flesh.
    He nipped at her earlobe. “Open the door, lass.”
    No. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t sleep with a perfect
stranger.
    Yes. She was going to do this. Consequences be damned. She
pulled the latch on the door and shoved it open. Reaching back, she grabbed his
free hand and pulled him into the room behind her.
    Two women rose from their positions near the fire and Leah
stopped short, her eyes widening.
    Shit.
    A hole needed to open up in the floor and swallow her whole.
She’d forgotten about the two young servants whom Mary had assigned to her.
Even after two whole weeks of servants assisting her morning and night, she
still hadn’t gotten used to their presence.
    Rathe’s hand was still on her breast. Leah gasped and shoved
it away as she stepped out of his embrace. Blood rushed to her cheeks and she
froze in the middle of the room, speechless.
    He rescued her. He stepped toward the women and spoke in
Gaelic. Their faces remained expressionless as they nodded at him and then
turned to curtsey to Leah before leaving the room.
    The door clicked closed just as a large flame leaped high
into the air from the crackling fire in the hearth. She jumped along with the
flame, now on edge in the rigid silence.
    Rathe strode past her, loosening his belt.
    Oh God.
    Every nerve in her body threatened to revolt and send her
flying out of the room. She struggled for each shallow breath and wrapped her
arms around her stomach as he wound the belt into a circle around his hand.
    “What did you say to them?” she whispered.
    He shrugged, setting the belt upon a low, red-cushioned
bench near the window. “I simply told them their services were not needed
tonight and they should tend to you in the morning.”
    She groaned, her face falling into her hands as humiliation
burned through her. “They’re going to tell everyone, aren’t they?”
    His hands wrapped around her wrists and pulled them away
from her face. “They will not tell anyone. At least no one of import. They know
better than to spill the secrets of those in their charge.”
    “Are you sure?”
    He smiled, his green eyes twinkling. “Yes. But just in case
I will find them in the morning. A mere coin or two will ensure their continued
silence.”
    He was going to pay them off? Ugh, how humiliating.
    He released her and yanked his tunic and leine up over his
head, then tossed