Chapter 18

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

K ai stood awkwardly on the other side of Ava’s door. No one had seen him sneak up there, not even any of the guards. At one point, Kai thought one of Laird Grant’s advisors had seen him turn toward this part of the castle, but he was wrong. It was simply a movement of shadows, a trick of the light, as the man had walked in the other direction and barely paid any attention to him at all.

Now the time had come for Ava’s last lesson, Kai felt nerves tremble his gut. They would be alone together again, and this time, they would be alone in Ava’s chamber, just a few feet from her bed.

Hanging his head forward, Kai drummed some lessons into himself.

I’m here tae help her. I’m nae here tae take any pleasure fer meself or tae cause either of us any pain. It’s a lesson in seduction, that’s all.

He raised his hand slowly, then heard footsteps down the corridor. Terrified about being seen, he no longer bothered knocking and just reached for the door handle, turning it and stepping quickly inside.

“Ye bast–” The second half of Ava’s curse was drowned out as she flung herself from the bathtub.

Kai shut the door loudly behind him and leaned against the wall, finding it completely impossible to take his eyes off the sight before him.

Ava had been too quick for him to get a full view of her front, but he saw everything from the back. He saw the narrowness of her waist, the perfect slim hourglass of the strong shoulders and hips, and her rear, rounded with muscle. He was rock hard in seconds beneath his trews as her long-toned legs clambered out of the bath, her blonde braid swinging down her back. She snatched up a robe and threw it around her body, hiding her perfect smooth skin.

“Kai! What the hell has gotten intae ye?” she hissed wildly, turning around to face him as she fastened the robe across her waist.

“There was someone coming. Shh.” He waved a hand at her, trying to get her to lower her voice. “Would ye rather have them see me coming intae yer chamber?”

Sudden laughter fell from Kai’s lips as he covered his face. Every time he tried to distance himself from her, something happened to bring Ava back to the forefront of his mind.

He now couldn’t even try to persuade himself that with clothes off, perhaps Ava was not so beautiful. She was even more stunning than he had pictured her being.

“Well, I’d say ye dinnae need another seduction lesson from me. Get Laird Grant tae walk in here when ye are in yer bath, and he’ll probably just join ye in there.”

“Very funny,” she said snidely, snatching up a towel and trying to dry off her legs beneath the robe. “I didnae think ye would come here so quickly.”

“Now, that shall be our last lesson.”

“What will be?”

“Flirtation, banter. Ye see, Ava, what ye should have said was… were ye nae tempted tae join me?”

She dropped the towel in amazement, turning to face him, her blonde braid framing the perfect blush across her face.

“Are ye propositioning me, Kai?”

“Nay, I’m giving ye a lesson.” He crossed toward her, doing his best to adjust his trews as subtly as he could so she couldn’t see what she had done to him. He halted on the other side of the bath as she stood straight. “Now, try it.”

“Try what?”

“Try flirting with me, Ava. Imagine I am Laird Grant.” At his suggestion, she snorted. “That’s nae flirting.”

“It was a snort of derision.”

“Oh, aye, that’s the way tae get intae a man’s bed.”

“Kai!” She huffed and threw down the towel, seconds after she had managed to pick it up again. “This isnae helping.”

“Ye wanted a lesson, didnae ye? Men arenae subtle creatures. We like obvious flirtation. It’s what ye have tae dae. Now, yer turn.” He gestured to her, folding his arms in front of his chest. “If Laird Grant had come in and found ye in this bath, how would ye proposition him?”

She stood straight, matching his stance in challenge. Kai purposefully kept his eyes on her face, for he was well aware that her breasts had hardened, the nipples visible through the cover of her robe. He wouldn’t give into temptation by looking at them.

“I’d say…” She started looking anywhere in the room but at Kai. “I’d say he was welcome tae join me in that bath.” Yet her voice was wooden and uninviting.

“Ye sound more like ye would kill him if he dared take a step toward yer bath.”

“Tempting idea,” she mused.

“Apparently I have taught ye nothing in our seduction lessons.” He leaned forward, resting his hands on the edge of the tub. She matched his stance, leaning forward too as she gripped to the other side. It was becoming increasingly hard not to look down at her body, now he knew the neckline of her robe was hanging open for him in this new position. “Aye, very well, practice on me. Dinnae think about Laird Grant.”

“Kai,” she warned in a hissing tone.

“It’s just practice,” he assured her. “Proposition me, Ava. If ye were still there in that bath, what would ye say tae me?”

Ava clamped her lips firmly shut. Apparently, she was not going to do as he asked.

“Aye, aye, very well. Let me give ye a few examples of what ye could have said.” Deciding that their proximity wasn’t helping her comfort, nor was it helping the hardness in his trews, he backed up away from the bath. Increasing the distance as much as possible between them, he moved to sit at the bottom of her bed. “Ye could have invited me tae help cover ye in soap. Ye may have said I was looking dishevelled meself, perhaps I also needed a bath. Ye could have offered tae help me relax, fer the water is so inviting.”

“Ye’re too good at this.” She stared at him with her mouth open.

“Ye dae it.” He encouraged, waving his hand at her. “What would ye say tae me?”

Tae Laird Grant.

He reminded himself in his own mind, though he had little of it working to bring up Laird Grant at that moment.

“I…” She paused, still gripping to the side of the tub as she stared into the water. “I’d say…” She inhaled deeply, then lifted her chin, turning to face Kai with a perfect look. Her expression was soft, as was her voice. “I’d say that I was lonely in me bath. I’d been waiting fer ye tae join me.”

“Och, love.” The word slipped out of him as he scratched his face, trying to dispel that perfect look from his memory. “Aye, aye, that’s a good start. Ye’ll have any man tearing his clothes off tae get in that bath with ye.”

“Will I?” She stood tall, releasing the bath. “Anything else I should learn?”

“Aye, teasing.”

“Teasing!?” she spluttered. “Ye and I make fun of each other all the time.”

“Aye, but it’s a little different.” He stood, realizing that it was probably not helping matters that he had seated himself on her bed. He moved to the middle of the room. “Tease me, Ava, then lay a hand on me arm. Show through touch exactly what ye feel, even as yer words torture me with thoughts.”

“How did ye get so good at this?” She spoke with sudden sharpness, flapping the towel over a screen and marching past him.

“Years of practice.”

“Pff.” She snorted again. “Ye’ve had so many women in yer bed, it’s a wonder ye bothered tae kiss me at all two days ago.”

“Dinnae remind me of that kiss, Ava.” His voice darkened, deepening so far that it made her halt walking. She turned back to face him, her skin paling a little. “Unless ye want me tae do it again, which we both ken ye dinnae want, then dinnae remind me of it, love.” It was the only warning he’d give. He took a step forward, clearing his throat, hoping he would not make the slip of calling her ‘love’ again. It didn’t help that she was so distracting, smelling of roses from the bath she’d just had. “Now, back tae our lesson.”

“Business like?”

“Aye, most definitely.” He beckoned to her to come closer. “Tease me, then touch me. That is what will get Laird Grant’s attention. He’ll be looking at nay other but ye.”

“Very well.” She moved to stand in front of him. Once more, he kept his gaze fixed on her face, unable to look down at her body in that robe, which was proving a heavy distraction. She looked at his arms folded across his chest, apparently deep in thought. He didn’t hurry her, but waited to see what she would do next. She chewed her lip in thought. He stared at those lips, remembering the taste of her from their kiss.

She had been a natural at kissing considering that was her first, responding to each press of his lips and tongue, even boldly meeting him with her own tongue. Just like the warrior she was in life, she was never going to be outdone. Her wish to dominate that kiss as well as his own had been a thrill as much as anything else.

“I’d say tae ye…” she began slowly and raised her hand, trailing her fingers softly up and down the exposed part of his arm. “That ye’re naughty tae come here at night, tae sneak intae me room when nay one kens ye’re here. Maybe I dinnae like how ye creep in here.”

“Yet ye’re touching me,” he played along, wanting to see what she would say next. She was a natural at this as she looked up, those hazel eyes unblinking. “Maybe ye dae like it, love.”

“If I did, I would never admit it tae ye. It’s forbidden tae have ye in here.” She raised her fingers a little higher, moving across the curve of his forearm to bicep. He inhaled sharply at her touch.

“See?” he whispered. “Ye can practice with me easily.”

“I ken.” She didn’t stop touching him, her fingers still trailing.

“Ye ken how tae taunt a man with the forbidden, make him want ye more. Now, why cannae ye dae this with Laird Grant?” he murmured, his eyes watching the way her fingers moved along his skin.

“Because he’s nae ye.” Her words sat heavy in the air between them as they both breathed deeply, in time with one another.

“Ye should probably stop touching me now, Ava, or I willnae behave after the words ye have just said.”

Slowly, she lowered her hand. She didn’t even look at him as he backed up. Those three steps he took away from her felt immensely hard, despite the short distance.

“I think we are done with our lessons.” He sighed heavily. “There’s nothing more I can teach ye. Ye are already an excellent seducer.”

“There is one more lesson I need.” She tilted her chin up sharply. “That kiss…”

“Dinnae remind me of it,” he said heatedly. “I am in yer chamber, alone with ye, Ava. If ye want me tae behave, then dinnae talk about.” The words escaped him in a rush, despite the way she looked at him, almost pleadingly.

“It was me first kiss.”

“Then it was a bloody good first kiss,” he said with a smile, loving the way it momentarily broke the tension between them, and she smiled too.

“I need tae ken how tae kiss, Kai.”

“Ye were a fast learner the other day.”

“Then teach me again. I dinnae suppose ye showed me all that could happen in a kiss, did ye?” She tilted her head to the side in challenge. Something practically hummed in his chest with his desire for her, like a purring predator.

“Ye want me tae kiss ye?” he whispered, walking toward her, slowly, taunting her. “Ye want me tae teach ye all the ways tae please a man through kiss alone?”

“Aye, I dae.”

“I cannae dae that.” He shook his head as he stopped in front of her, though there was barely any air between them now.

“Why nae?” she asked. Her hands reached up his shirt. She barely brushed him at first, her fingers teasing as they moved from his stomach to his chest.

“Because I found it hard tae stop kissing ye last time,” he whispered, bending his head toward her. His lips just hovered over hers now as he spoke. But had he not been the one to close the distance, ready to do her bidding?

“I’m asking ye tae teach me more about kissing, Kai. Tae show me what tae dae. Would ye deny me that help now?” She angled her head the other way, her eyes fluttering closed. She was so near, he could remember the way she tasted, recall the feeling of her urgent lips on his, needing him as he needed her.

“Ye ken I could never deny ye anything ye wanted.”

“Then dinnae deny me now.” Her hand latched around the opening of his shirt, one finger brushing his exposed chest. “Teach me one more thing, Kai.”

“Ye need nay lessons in seduction,” he said sudden fiercely, finding it impossible to hold back.

He crashed his lips against her own, feeling her inhale sharply in surprise. Both hands snaked around her waist as he pulled her into him, reluctant to let go. The way she kissed him back was everything. It was as if her life depended on kissing him too. He bit her lip, playfully, showing her how to open her lips even wider than she had done the other day, so he could completely explore her, their lips tussling for domination.

He backed her up. He didn’t think why he did it, he just had to get closer to her, to feel the kiss so deeply that it would be etched into his memory forever. They collided with a wall, her body flattened between him and the tapestry. Now, he could feel her curves, her strength, the way she gripped him, not wanting it to end.

He delivered deeper still, one hand moving to the back of her neck to slowly show her to angle her head. It was the best kiss he had ever known. He was breathless as he maintained it, his length obvious in how rock hard it was between them. She rocked her body against his, ever so subtly, and could clearly feel that length for she gasped into the kiss, making a small moaning sound of surprise.

They pulled back from one another, just a mere inch, both breathless.

“Are all kisses so…”

“Heated?” he whispered. “Passionate?”

“Aye.”

“Nay, love. They’re nae.” He bent toward her, moving his lips to her neck, because now that they had crossed this line again, how could he keep his lips away from her? “With ye, it’s inevitable. Kissing ye is like fire.”

He nibbled lightly on a spot just beneath her ear, teasing her with his lips and tongue. She moaned loudly, arching up into him.

Had there been no Laird Grant, had another life not been laid out before her, maybe he would have moved his hand then, pulled at her skirt and reached beneath to explore her.

Yet Laird Grant exists and she is trying tae seduce him.

Kai pulled his lips off her. He drove his hands into the tapestry on either side of her head and held himself still, closing his eyes to block out the perfect sight of her. It wasn’t enough to cool his ardor. He could still hear her heavy breath, could still smell the roses and honeysuckle.

“Is our lesson at an end?” she whispered. Clearly, she didn’t want it to end.

“It must end. Or ye ken I willnae be able tae stop kissing ye.”

“Then dinnae.”

“Nay, Ava. I… I cannae…” He wanted to hear her beg him, to hear her talk of how much she wanted him, but she was getting carried away. That was all. He had to separate the two of them now before they did something they both regretted.

He turned his head and kissed her cheek, just once, feeling the way her hand curved momentarily around his bicep, then he stepped back and it was over. She stumbled against the wall, struggling to stay standing as he marched toward the door.

No more words passed between them, though he hesitated for just a minute in the doorway. The way she looked at him made him ache to go back to her.

I cannae.

Shutting down every heated thought and feeling, he turned and walked out of her chamber.