“I have no intention of going anywhere,” she said with a quiet, unshakable resolve. “I’m still your wife, which makes this my home as well.”
“Dinnae make me say or do something I shall regret, Patience.” His voice was dark with an emotion she’d never heard before. It made her think of a wounded animal that had been cornered.
“There’s nothing you can do to me, Julian MacTavish that hasn’t already been done.”
The dismissive note in her voice made him release a low, primitive sound that sent her heart skidding out of control in trepidation. Perhaps she’d made a mistake in taunting him. As if he could see her without any problem, he closed the small distance between them.
Instinct pushed her spine deeper into the door and away from him as she recognized the predatory nature of his stance. His heat pressing into hers, Julian bent his head until his mouth lightly touched the burnt flesh of her ear. Without thinking, she jerked her head away from his lips and instantly regretted the move.
Cold amusement crossed his sharp, angular features as his body pinned her to the door. Despite her best intentions, a tremor shook through her at the suppressed violence pulsating off him and into her body. This wasn’t the man she’d married. This wasn’t even the man who’d made love to her in the past. This was an untamed warrior Scotsman—a man unwilling to give any quarter. As she stared up at him, her heart skidded out of control. He was magnificent, and she was determined to make him hers again.
“Are ye afraid, my lady?” he asked with a biting sarcasm that infuriated her.
“Of you? Never,” she said fiercely as she chose to fight fire with fire. Her hand cupped the back of his strong neck, and she tugged his head downward to kiss him hard. Julian stiffened against her for a brief moment before his body roughly pressed her deeper into the wood door behind her. It was a display of domination, and a small thrill raced through her. He immediately took control of the kiss, his mouth crushing hers beneath his.
The raw heat of him engulfed her like a hot summer day just before a thunderstorm. Inside her breast, her heart pounded a familiar rhythm of white-hot passion. He’d always had the ability to excite her, but the wild emotion heating her blood now was unlike anything she’d ever experienced between them. It was a wild, primitive throbbing that made her body ache to feel his skin against hers.
His tongue thrust its way into her mouth and tangled with hers in a fiery dance of passion. Mint teased her taste buds as her fingers scrunched up the warm wool of his work kilt to touch a rock-hard thigh. A large hand tugged at her bodice, and the soft pop of buttons being torn free of her gown echoed in her ears. As his hand roughly yanked her bodice open, she trembled with excitement. It was an undisciplined act that said he was out of control.
A sultry warmth swirled in the pit of her stomach. It spread its way through her veins until her entire body ached with a familiar need. Patience’s fingers brushed across his inner thigh to grasp his thick, hard length. The low growl echoing out of him sent her heart skidding out of control. Her hand tightened and slid upward to the tip of him, where she found a small drop of male heat. She smeared it over the top of his erection. He was hard as steel, yet his skin was velvety smooth against the pads of her fingers.
Another note of dark desire rumbled in his chest as he tugged her gown down to her waist. The moment his mouth caressed the top of her breasts, she drew in a sharp breath that became a small moan when she exhaled. Need swept through her with the ferocity of a wild wind that threatened to carry her over a cliff of mindless passion. Desperate to feel his skin against hers, she released her hold on him to push his jacket off his broad shoulders.
It fell to the floor as his hands assisted hers in removing his vest and shirt. The tips of her fingers trailed a slow path across his skin then paused over the beat of his heart. Hard and rapid, it pounded a fierce pace beneath his skin. The pulse of it reverberated through her fingertips and into her body. A strong, masculine hand wrapped around the nape of her neck as he forced her head back to capture her mouth with his in a hard kiss. It seared her lips with the sinfully hot taste of his desire.
Without hesitation, she surrendered to the silent demand of his lips. As Julian branded her with his mouth, his hands pushed her gown off her hips until it fell to the floor. Every part of her burned with need, and in a quick movement, she freed herself from his embrace to circle around him and pressed herself into his back.
A low, dark sound of protest erupted out of him, and she smiled as she pressed one kiss after another against the hard muscles of his back. He was the sharp edge of everything male against her lips. Spice and the soft scent of leather teased her senses as she savored the hot taste of him. She could happily spend the rest of her life caressing his body like this. Love and desire swept through her to heighten the raw passion streaking through her blood.
Her hands glided over his shoulders and moved downward until she reached the buckle of his kilt. Before she could undo the metal clasp, long masculine fingers pushed hers aside. In seconds, he’d made short work of the rest of his clothing until he was completely naked. The moment he turned to face her, she drew in a sharp breath. Had he always been this beautiful, or was she simply appreciating him more because she’d not been in his arms for so long?
Julian’s sightless gaze was focused on a point above her head, and she reached out to clasp his hand in hers. She took a step backward toward the bed, gently pulling him with her. A frown of frustration began to replace the desire darkening his features. Alarmed his affliction might stem the tide of his desire, she quickly stepped forward to pull his head down and kiss him hard. In response to the heated caress, his hands gripped her waist to pull her into his unyielding embrace once more.
The hard, thick length of him pressed against her thigh, and desire coiled in her stomach. It unfurled and spread through her until her body clung to his. The moment she deliberately shifted her hips, so his erection was pressed into the apex of her thighs, he released a low growl of desire. Once more, she escaped his grasp and pulled him with her the last few steps to the bed.
They tumbled down onto the mattress, and her lips clung to his as she undid the tapes of her combination garment. His hands brushed hers out of the way as he finished the task for her and tugged the corset from her body. Despite his lack of vision, his touch was as confident and sure as if he could see her. A large hand reached for the bodice of her chemise, and the garment screamed a soft protest as the fabric ripped beneath the strength of his hands to fall off her.
