An Invitation to Pleasure by Marguerite Kaye Read Free Book Online Page A

libertine of a husband, while you— I cannot imagine what you suffered during the wars. If you do not remember the state you were in that day, I certainly do. You were like a ghost of yourself. I was astonished when I met you again. I did not expect you to recover so completely. Our acquaintance has been only a few weeks, but I only have to look at the way your tenants behave towards you. You’re loyal and you’re hard-working and you’re honest and you’re fair. You’re a good laird, Fergus, I have no doubt you were an excellent captain. You have made a very good hand indeed of the cards life has dealt you.’
    Fergus shrugged. Touched as he was by her defence of him, he was a man accustomed to giving orders rather than receiving praise. Maybe what she said made sense, maybe not, but he was too tired to deal with it right now. ‘What I wanted to say was that we should forget all about that stupid idea of mine for us to marry, and make the most of this last week of your visit.’ He leaned over to touch her cheek again. ‘You’re a fine woman, Susanna. Too fine for me.’
    ‘If I wanted a husband, Fergus, I could not do finer than you. But I do not. Now shut up and come to bed.’
    He laughed at that. ‘An invitation I cannot resist. You should thank the lord for that bloody board, for you are quite adorable.’
    She made a strange little sound he could not understand. Until he blew out the candle and climbed into bed after discarding his trews. Instead of splintery wood, there was something soft between them. His palm flattened over soft pillow and something silky underneath. ‘Susanna?’
    ‘I was sick of getting splinters. Skelfs.’ She leaned over to press a kiss to his temple. ‘Go to sleep, Fergus.’
    He pulled her over towards him, flattening her palm on his belly. ‘I love the way your hair tickles my nose,’ he mumbled. And then he slept.
    Susanna lay awake, feeling the quiet rhythm of Fergus’s breathing reverberate on the skin of her palm. Tomorrow was Christmas Day. A week after that was Hogmanay, and somehow they would have to persuade all the Kilmun villagers and tenants, and all Fergus’s neighbours, that they had fallen out, with no hope of making it up. She wouldn’t see Fergus again after that. The new year would be the beginning of her new life, whatever that was. It was true, the beauty of this little village had captured her heart, but there were many other little villages in England equally beautiful in which she could live. Once Jason’s estate was settled, there would be enough for a cottage, so the lawyer said. Other villages where she could help build a school, just as Fergus planned. And though they would not have anyone like Fergus in them, there would be other friends to make. She did not want a husband. She most certainly did not need a husband. This lust, passion, desire, wanting, whatever it was, that existed between her and Fergus, it was a product of the circumstances, merely. Though it felt so real, it would pass.
    He was soundly asleep now. She ran her hand over his torso. Rough hair, smooth skin, the line of a scar. The dip of his belly. The indent of his navel. She hesitated, then ventured further down. Rougher hair. The silky skin of his shaft becoming smoother as her touch roused him. Her fingers curled around him. She felt the pulse of his blood as he thickened in her hold, felt the answering throb between her thighs as she imagined him inside her. She stroked him, and with her other hand, cupped herself. Hot and wet. It would not take much to bring her to a climax. She imagined him, sinking into her, thrusting. She ached. But she would not take what he had made it clear he did not want to give. With a sigh, she let him go and turned her back. He sighed in his sleep, and snaked his hands around her waist. The hard length of him nestled into the curve of her bottom. It was Susanna’s turn to sigh as she fell, eventually, into slumber.

Chapter Six
    Christmas day