Page 5 of Seduced By the Squire (Diamonds in the Rough #1)

“Meet me in the room ye ken once ye’ve broken yer fast.”

Duncan tensed. What was he doing, giving such blunt assignations to ladies? But the lady in question nodded, as if he had every right to command her, and made her way to the great hall without a word of protest.

Knowing he would not be able to eat a single thing until he’d had her, Duncan made his way to the chamber they had used a few days ago, where he had suckled Llinos to within an inch of her life and waited for her, tense as bow, hard as an arrow, and ready to shoot. Mo chreach , he had to calm down! At this rate he would not last the time it took to help her overcome the pain of her deflowering. He wasn’t at all sure he would be able to take it slow. For a moment he considered bringing about his own release while he waited. It would render him temporarily unable to perform, of course, but it would be of little consequence. As soon as Llinos bared her breasts to his gaze – and mouth – he would be as hard as he was now .

Duncan shook his head in disgust. He would not allow the woman to make such a fool out of him. He was a grown man, for Christ’s sake, not a green lad of sixteen, he had more control than that! He refused to be humiliated thus. What if she walked in while his hose was round his ankles? It did not bear thinking about.

Nay. He would just wait, and stop being such an idiot.

A moment later Llinos slipped in the room, silent as a shadow. He closed the door behind her and his heart almost failed him when he saw her in front of him. She was… perfect.

“Sir Benedict might come back earlier than anticipated,” he said, knowing he was only looking for an excuse to take her into his arms before he went mad with the need for her. “We need to make it happen now.”

“Yes.” Thankfully, she did not point out that they still had weeks, if not months ahead of them. In fact, she sounded as desperate as he felt.

She glanced at the bed in the corner. He shook his head and sat her onto the table right behind her.

“I — ” She started to protest.

“I told ye. It would be however I want, wherever I want.”

He bunched her skirts around her waist quickly, exposing her legs and the place he coveted the most. A smile tugged at his lips when he saw it was adorned with hairs that looked as soft as silk.

Well, now he was really playing with fire.

Literally.

The woman was a living flame. Fiery spirit, fiery curls between her legs to match the fiery mane on her head. He could almost taste danger on his tongue. That decided him. Before he took her, he would taste her. If he ended up getting burnt, then so be it. Never had a condemned man gone to face his fate with more relish.

He dropped to his knees and gave her pretty pussy a long, luxurious lick.

Aye, danger. She tasted of danger and pure woman.

“W… what are you doing?” Llinos asked in a strangled voice.

He had just changed his mind, that was what. Yesterday morning, as he rode back to Pitcairn Castle, he’d resolved to take her in the most perfunctory manner, not to allow himself anymore pleasure than necessary, to keep her glorious body covered but now he could not remember why. He needed to make the most of her, needed her to enjoy his attention, needed to hear, see, taste her pleasure. He would be damned if she remembered her first time as less than mind blowing and he an unsatisfactory lover.

Wouldn’t it be the best revenge to show her what a real man could do before sending her to a stilted lord too worried about his own pleasure to think about hers? She would remember all her life how hard the low born squire had made her come and wish she had…

He stopped the thought before it took him somewhere he didn’t want to go.

“I’m going to give ye more pleasure than ye think possible,” he told her in a growl. Perhaps it would even be the first time she orgasmed. He doubted the respectable lady pleasured herself. His pride surged at the thought. Aye, he would make sure she remembered him all her life, because he already knew he would never forget her and he couldn’t bear to the only fool unable to put that summer behind him when they parted ways. “I told ye, lass, there’s nothing better than a man’s tongue to give a woman’s pleasure.”

Before she could protest he allowed the tip of his tongue to glide over her folds slowly. She cried out. He did it again, even more slowly, taking his time. She was delicious, and so soft!

“Oh, Duncan, please!”

Hearing his name pronounced in such a throaty, sensual whisper, in such an erotically charged moment sent his blood to roaring in the blink of an eye. She was begging him. It was good enough for him. He was in control, not her, even if he was the one on his knees.

She tried to sit up. He stopped her with a hand splayed over her stomach.

“Nay. Lie back, lass, and open yer legs for me. Ye dinnae need to do anything.”

“No, I know, but I… I want to watch.”

Mo chreach !

Duncan was speechless. Had the respectable, very proper, very innocent Lady Llinos just told him, base born Duncan MacQuarrie, that she wanted to watch as he speared his tongue into her? He had never heard anything more arousing in his life.

She wanted to see? Well, he would make sure she saw everything.

Keeping his eyes locked with hers he opened his mouth. Slowly, he extended his tongue and licked along her seam. Oh, she was wet, so wet, wet for him . He groaned and licked again, and again, filling his mouth with her sweetness. Despite her intention to watch, Llinos’ eyes soon fluttered and her head rolled back. Then with a low moan she arched her back. In response he swirled his tongue around the little bundle of nerves at the apex of her thighs, teasing it mercilessly, making her mewl in pleasure.

She buried her fingers into his hair to keep him in place, just like she had done when he had suckled her breasts. No need, he was not going anywhere until he had earned her complete surrender.

“More,” she rasped.

With that one word Duncan lost all restraint. Aye, more. He needed more as well. He needed to send her wild.

“Lie flat,” he ordered, before grabbing her hips to lift her to his hungry mouth. Her keening noises sent him mad, urging him on. He had never been more desperate to see a woman come undone.

When she cried out and convulsed around his tongue his decision was made.

He would deflower her now, in a moment of pleasure, he would spare her the anxiety of seeing his erect member about to enter her, he would make this as painless and quick as possible for her. Taking advantage of her climax, he slid two fingers inside her wet heat in a decisive thrust. She bucked in surprise but did not protest. He waited a moment before opening his fingers, ensuring that her maidenhead was well and truly breached, just as she wanted .

She sucked in a breath but did not appear to be overly distressed. Evidently, it had not hurt as much as he had feared.

He lowered his head to her again, and carried on lapping at her to soothe the burn. Carefully, he started massaging inside her wetness, intent on making her come again and forget all about the discomfort. The moans that filled the room were the most scandalous he had ever heard. Who would have thought it? It seemed that ladies were wilder in the bedroom than their demureness led to suppose.

Or maybe it was just Llinos.

When he curled his forefinger upwards she erupted again and clutched his hair so hard that he almost cried out himself.

Well, mission accomplished, Duncan thought wryly. The lady was no longer untouched – and she would not forget him if she lived to be a hundred.

Slowly, a smile playing on his lips, he eased her back to reality.

*

Llinos remained panting a long time, oblivious to everything that wasn’t the delicious burn between her thighs. This had been nothing like what she had imagined when she had decided to lose her maidenhead. It had been exhilarating, unbelievable.

Incredibly intimate.

Eyes still closed, she smiled to herself. Duncan had said no kissing.

Well, he had just broken that rule, even if, admittedly, he had not kissed her where men usually kissed women. And contrary to what she had imagined, he had not taken her. Still, she could not bemoan the fact, when the alternative was so delicious. Twice he had caused her body to come apart at the seams, the second time even more glorious than the first.

But he still had not entered her. Would he do it now? She was ready for him, for whatever he wanted to do. She would not even mind if he didn’t bring her to the bed first. Just as long as he…

A scrape of metal against stone broke through her thoughts.

No, not again! Llinos let out a squeak. Quick as a flash, Duncan covered her exposed legs and lifted her down from the table. As a result of his presence of mind, when Lord Masterson entered the room a moment later, he was faced with a fairly innocuous scene.

Thanks to the dim light in the room, he might not see her flushed cheeks and, as Duncan was keeping himself at an angle, he might not see the jutting hardness between his thighs. Of course he had not reached his pleasure…

“Are you all right, Lady Llinos?” Lord Masterson enquired, looking around the room. “I heard someone scream.”

Had she screamed? It was all too possible, after all she did not remember anything of the past few moments, save the blinding pleasure that had burst inside her body. If someone told her she had called the King of England a bastard at the top of her voice, she would believe it.

But even if she could feign ignorance of the scream, she would still have to account for all the moaning and panting… This, she distinctively remembered. How had Duncan made her lose her mind so, and behave so shamelessly?

“I — ”

“So you heard it too, my lord?” Duncan cut in smoothly. “We were wondering who the two culprits might be.”

Heavens… Llinos could barely contain her gasp of awe. He was brazen indeed! But of course he was right. It was far better not to deny having heard anything, as it would only make Lord Masterson more suspicious. Could it work?

Heart thumping hard, she waited. Then, to her relief, Lord Masterson chuckled.

“I have no idea, but evidently the man was quite the skilled lover. I have never heard the like.” He made a face, realising he had all but admitted he was incapable of making his conquests moan and beg for more. “In any case, I’m sorry you had to witness such an inappropriate display, my lady,” he said, bowing to Llinos. “It is not something respectable ladies should ever have to hear.”

She flushed but, mercifully, this could easily be explained by the discussion they were having. “It’s quite all right.”

She threw a grateful glance at Duncan but he was not looking her way. Yes. Very wise.

“This happens more often than not, I’m afraid. One would think Pitcairn Castle inhabited by people only interested in one thing.”

He sounded almost excited, so much so that Llinos started to question his behaviour. He had heard two people making love and instead of tactfully retreating, he had barged in, as if hoping to catch them in the act. It made her uncomfortable. As she had told Duncan, she watched what people did, and Lord Masterson’s actions had just painted him as a voyeur.

Or… She tensed. Perhaps there was another, altogether more worrying reason for his bursting into the room as he had done. He had suspected that the lady moaning under her lover’s caresses was none other than her and he ha d wanted to interrupt before it was too late and she was ruined. After all, he was supposed to guard her virtue, he would understandably have wanted to ascertain what the situation was when he’d heard a woman lost in the throes of passion.

What would have happened if the scrape of his sword against the wall had not betrayed his presence in the staircase? It did not bear thinking about. He would have seen her with her legs spread wide and her most secret part being licked by a man who should never have had the presumption to touch her, and this mere days after she had assured him he did not need to put her under surveillance!

Being seen in such a compromising position was not what she wanted. It was one thing telling Sir Benedict she was no virgin when he came back, quite another being seen while a man enjoyed her body in the lewdest manner imaginable.

“I will return to my tasks now that you’re here to escort the lady back to the great hall,” Duncan said with a nod in Lord Masterson’s direction.

Llinos did not want him to leave but she agreed that doing anything else would raise his master’s suspicion. It was already a miracle that, too focused on wondering who the two lovers might be, Lord Masterson had not asked what they had been doing together alone in a closed room.

“My lady?”

Automatically she took the arm he was offering and did her best to join in the conversation in a natural manner.

Mercifully, it wasn’t long before Lord Masterson excused himself.

The rest of the day was spent in a daze.

Llinos had the impression that someone had piled the rushes on the floor three times as thick as usual. She felt as if she was walking on clouds.

So it was done. Her crazy idea had worked. She was not a virgin anymore. Even better, what she had dreaded as a necessary task had actually been the best moment of her life.

Then her heart sank as she realised that, now he had taken her maidenhead, she had no reason to see Duncan again.

Well, she might not need to see him, but she wanted to more than ever. Having a mouthful of a delicious cake had never been enough to sate anyone’s hunger. It only made you want to finish it all.

As sure as her name was Llinos, she would make sure she devoured the rest of it – and enjoy every bite.