‘Oh, that is the most awful, disgusting thing to say.’
Lyall could not help but laugh. ‘God, you are so easily scandalised. Were you not about to be married? What would you have done on your wedding night?’
‘I would have suffered it, as all brides must do.’
‘Suffered it? Is that how you think it is between a man and a woman.’
‘Yes, it is the man’s right to lie with his wife, and the woman’s duty to let him.’
Lyall raised himself up on his elbow and looked down into her frowning face. ‘Let him? You are so innocent, Giselle. You don’t know much about men do you, or what happens between a man and a woman abed?’
‘Nor do I want to.’
‘What about love? What do you know about that?’
‘I know that I don’t expect to find it in this life.’
‘But you are such a lovely thing to behold. Surely you have had many young bucks courting you, longing for you, offering you their hearts.’
She looked down at her hands, and he could almost feel her blushing.
‘Have you ever been kissed, Giselle?’
‘No, I have not.’ The silence between them hung heavy in the gloom, then she shocked him by saying, ‘What is it like?’
Maybe she wasn’t so proper after all. She was certainly curious.
‘It is pleasing if you do it right, and once you start doing it, you will yearn to do it. You will be kissed many times, Giselle. You should be, and often.’
She went very still and then she said, ‘Perhaps I won’t survive long enough to know.’
Pity surged through him, and his hand went to her cheek. ‘Of course, you will survive, Giselle. Do not be afraid.’
‘But I am afraid. What if I die before I’ve ever lived? What if I never know what it is to be loved or to be kissed, what if…?’
Lyall brought his mouth to hers, surprising them both. Slowly and gently, he slid against the softness of her lips. How sweet they tasted. A gasp of shock and a whimper, but she did not resist, as he claimed her. Lyall felt his cock press, hard and eager, against her hip. He was playing with fire. He had made a vow to this girl. He should stop.
When he pulled away, she just stared up at him, eyes enormous in alarm.
‘Forgive me, lass, it was the only way I could get you to shut up. Now be quiet for I need to sleep.’
‘You promised you would not touch me. You are a liar.’
To hell with his bloody promise. He’d had years of fighting and watching men die, years of feeling himself lose his humanity bit by bit. He wanted to remember what it was like to have beauty in his life. So he kissed her again.
Giselle gasped as his kiss went slow and hard and deep, tongue flicking gently against her lips, pushing them apart. Her skin was feverish as he lay over her a little, taking hold of her waist and squeezing. Lyall imagined slowly parting her legs, touching the most intimate part of her body, until she cried out and he entered her. His hand slid into her hair, soft and thick under his fingers and he made a fist in it. Did Giselle have any idea of her effect on him as she whimpered and squirmed against him, her bound hands pressed between their bodies? The rope was rough against his skin.
What the hell was he doing? He was not Banan, a brute who would use a woman just for a night of pleasure while she was tied up like an animal. Fight this.
He jolted away from her. ‘So, Giselle, that is what it is like to be kissed,’ he said lightly. ‘I hope I did not disappoint you. Now I warn you and take heed. If you make another sound, I will kiss you again.’
Silence.
Well, that was disappointing.
He sighed deeply to release the tension inside him. ‘You know, if you could still that nagging tongue of yours, Giselle, you could make some man very happy one day. But now you must get some sleep, and I will stay over here so that you can feel safe.’
Lyall turned his back on his captive and lay for the longest time listening to Giselle’s breathing, as she slowly fell asleep, or pretended to. He should not have laid a hand on her, and the lass had probably hated his kiss, though there had been many women who had longed for it.
Guilt took Lyall, for he had no urge to torture a helpless, young woman. His other urges he would have to reconcile with his conscience, but they kept him awake long after sleep should have claimed him.