"Pleasure me?" she whimpered, catching those two words only.
"Aye. Pleasure ye proper."
"Proper?"
"Hmmm. I need the key, sweetling," he whispered by her ear. Then he leaned back slightly to take in her expression, frowning as some of the dazed passion in her eyes faded away like mist under the heat of the sun.
"I do not--" she began, her body stilling, and Duncan covered her mouth with his, kissing her with desperate passion. He had moved too soon. He should have been more patient, he berated himself, working feverishly to rekindle the fire he had seen dying in her eyes. When she lay still in his arms, neither responding nor pushing him away, he knew she was teetering dangerously on the brink.
Taking the risk of breaking the kiss briefly again, he turned to lay her across the bottom of the bed. He quickly lowered himself atop her, his mouth taking possession of her lips again as he slid one of his legs between hers and urged them apart.
Iliana tried to hang on to the brief clearing of her thoughts, but his kisses, coupled with the feel of his bare chest moving against her own, was hard to ignore. The small, wiry hairs of his chest were bringing her skin to startling life. Then he tore his lips from hers and kissed a trail down her neck until he found and suckled at one ripe breast. But it was just a teasing he offered this time; at the first moan she gave, he pressed on, his lips sliding over her ribs to her stomach.
When her undertunic got in the way, he raised his head and flipped it up to lie against her stomach. Then he dropped his head to nibble at the sensitive flesh of her hip just above the belt, his hands sliding beneath her to cup her buttocks as he did.
"No...Oh," Iliana gasped, writhing in his hands under the caress, then groaned in disappointment despite her words when his lips left the area. In the next instant, Iliana was twisting her head on the bed and moaning aloud as he set to work nibbling at the flesh of her inner thigh. Her heart was beating so fast, she feared she'd die. When he slid one hand out from beneath her and slid his finger back beneath the leather of her belt again to caress her, she was sure she had.
Drawing her legs up on either side of his head, Iliana dug her heels into the bed and arched her pelvis upward instinctively, unsure of what she sought, but some inner voice was telling her this was how to gain it. Her focus was so intent on his caresses, she hardly even noticed when he stopped his nibbling kisses, though she noticed when he slid back along her body to kiss her lips.
Turning her face into the kiss, her own tongue came out to duel with his this time, and she continued to arch into his touch. She was disappointed when he broke the kiss again to speak but could not avoid the words he murmured as he nibbled away at her ear.
"Do ye like this, sweetling?" he murmured silkily.
She nodded her head a bit frantically.
"Me, too." He followed that with a sigh. "Would that I could help ye to find satisfaction."
"Satisfaction?" Iliana murmured dazedly.
"'Tis what yer body is straining fer. Do ye feel it? Straining toward something like a flower toward the sun?"
"Aye," she gasped, arching again as he slid a second finger beneath the belt, adding to the pressure as he massaged her woman's parts. "Aye, I'd like that. Please."
"I cannot."
"You cannot?" she gasped, disappointment obvious in her tone.
"Nay, my sweet. Not without the key."
"But--"
"'Tis sorry I am, sweetling, but I cannot," he breathed. "Unless ye'd be giving me the key."
"The key?" she panted, too distracted to pay attention to the alarms this time. The fire in her was building to an almost frightening level.
"Where be it?"
"What?" she gasped.
"The key."
"It's--oooh," she breathed. Her entire body was shaking with passion. It was difficult to concentrate on anything but what she was feeling, yet Duncan kept pestering her about something. What was it? she wondered, trying to shut out the low hum that was dancing along her nerves.
"Where is the key, sweetling?"
"Oh, aye," she breathed. "The key. It's--"
"My lady?" Ebba's voice was accompanied by a tap on the door, and Iliana stiffened at the sounds. They were as effective as a pail of cold water being thrown over her.
"Go away!" Duncan bellowed even as Iliana asked, "What is it?"
There was a hesitation, then, "'Tis nooning time. And there is a Mr. Cummins below asking for you. He says he has some goods for you."
"Go away!" Duncan roared again, cursing as Iliana struggled out from under him and hurried to the door, tugging her tunic back on as she went. She had the thin gown on and done up before reaching it. Careless of his own nudity, Duncan muttered a string of curses and dropped back on the bed in despair.
"I--" Ebba's words came to a halt as Iliana tugged the door open.
Iliana blushed under her gaze, suddenly wishing she had put on her gown. In the next second, as she whirled away to do just that, she saw Lord Angus approaching. While her maid had seemed surprised and speculative upon seeing Iliana's rumpled state, the Dunbar looked positively grim. Flying back to the bed, she scooped her gown off the floor, but had barely managed to straighten with it when Duncan grabbed her about the waist and tugged her back into his lap.
"I told ye to go away an' I meant it," he bellowed toward the door, trying to remove the gown from his wife's clutching fingers. It would be difficult to get her back to the place he'd had her a moment ago. But having been so close to success, he was damned if he was going to give up now. She had been a hairsbreadth away from revealing where the key was. So close he could almost feel her hot flesh closing around his.
"Would ye keep her from eatin' as well as sleepin'?"
Sighing in defeat as he recognized that voice, Duncan released his wife. Iliana immediately slid from his lap and set to tugging on her gown as Angus stepped into the room to glare at his son.
"Did we not agree the lass was needin' her rest, boy?" he demanded as Iliana rushed to do up her lacings, her eyes wide as she heard this bit of news. "Can ye not keep yer randy hands off her fer one blessed day? The poor child f
ainted from exhaustion yester eve, or have ye forgotten? Are ye trying to work her into the grave with yer blasted demands both night and day? Damn me, I'm almost ashamed to call ye son." On that note, he turned to eye Iliana as she finished dressing and peered at him anxiously.
"Come, child. 'Tis obvious me son cannot be trusted around ye. He'll not give ye the care and concern ye be needin' just now. 'Tis a chaperone ye need, and 'tis a chaperone ye'll have 'til yer better."
With that, he drew Iliana's arm through his and led her toward the door, leaving her to glance worriedly over her shoulder at her husband. He sat watching them leave with resigned misery.
Iliana stared nervously at the horde of faces turned toward her and swallowed the anxiety at the back of her throat. She had told Lord Angus her intentions as they had descended the stairs to the great hall. He had thought it a fine idea and had been good enough to gather everyone's attention once they had all filed into the great hall for the noon meal. Everyone but Duncan. He had not put in an appearance yet. In fact, he had not come down at all yet. She supposed he was still in their room, sulking.
She realized now that he had set out to deliberately seduce her. She could only be grateful that his plans had been thwarted. Else she would never get him to bathe. That was becoming a necessity in her mind. 'Twas not so much the sounds he had made as he had got into and risen from their bed that had awoken her all through the last night, she thought. It had been the scent of him. She could not bear to share a bed with such an odiferous man.
Sighing, she peered once more at the people awaiting her words, grateful that, for whatever reason, her husband was not there.
On that thought, Iliana took a deep breath and forced a smile. "I wish to show my appreciation for all your kindness in welcoming me to Dunbar with a small gift to you in return. I understand that you are each granted one plaid in January, and I thought it would be nice if you each had two, so I commissioned a plaid for each of you from Mr. Cummins. But," she added as the inhabitants of the room showed surprised pleasure at this announcement, "I do have a...condition you each must fulfill to gain it."