Page 55 of The Laird's Masked Passion
His amusement faded.
He studied her with unnerving stillness. “Ye… dinnae ken what that means?”
“Of course I ken what ready means.”
“Nae as I mean it.”
Her stomach tightened. The warm confusion from the kiss turned suddenly too bright and too exposed. She remembered the night before, his hand over her breast and his voice telling her that pleasure could belong to women. She rememberedher mother’s trembling mouth and Skye’s uncertain advice and every whispered warning that made marriage sound like something survived by silence and clenched teeth.
Colin’s eyes moved over her face, and she knew he understood too much.
“Elspeth,” he spoke more softly, “when a woman wants?—”
“I dinnae.”
He paused.
“When she is…stirred,” he corrected, “her body changes.”
She looked away, mortified. “I have nay desire tae hear this.”
“Dae ye wish tae keep fearing what ye dinnae understand?”
“I am nae afraid.”
The lie was so frail it scarcely reached the space between them. Colin did not mock her. That was almost worse.
“I can explain it,” he offered gently. “Only explain, naething more.”
Her breath caught. For one dangerous moment, curiosity rose in her, and not gentle curiosity, but desperate and unwilling. She wanted to know why her skin warmed when he came near, why her body leaned into a kiss her pride rejected, why fear was no longer alone inside her, and why that frightened her more than fear ever had.
But she could not stand beneath his gaze and ask. She could not let Colin MacKenzie, of all men, see how little she knew.
“Nay,” she replied quickly.
“Elspeth—”
“Nay.”
She stepped away, and this time he let her go entirely. His hands fell to his sides. The absence of his touch felt, insultingly, like cold.
“I am going inside,” she announced.
“Aye.”
“Ye need nae follow me.”
“I wasnae planning tae.”
That stung, which was absurd.
She glared at him to cover it. “Good.”
“Good.”
They stared at one another like enemies who had both misplaced their weapons. Then Elspeth turned and walked toward the castle as fast as dignity allowed. She did not run. Running would have suggested retreat, and she was not retreating. She was withdrawing strategically.
Behind her, Colin did not call out. That was good. It was exactly what she wanted.
