Stranger in My Arms(14)

“I suppose Mr. Young is right, that the evidence points to” “Damn the evidence. Am I your husband?”

“I can’t be absolutely certain,” she said, stubbornly refusing to give the yes or no that he wanted. “I never knew you very well. We weren’t intimate in any way except physically, and even then…” She faltered, her cheeks on fire.

“It was always impersonal,” he acknowledged bluntly. “I had no damn idea of how to treat a wife in bed-I should have treated you like a mistress. I should have seduced you. The truth is that I was a selfish fool.”

Lara dropped her gaze. ‘I wasn’t the one you wanted.”

“That wasn’t your fault.”

“You married me to have children, and I couldn’t give you-” “That has nothing to do with this,” he interrupted.

“Look at me, Lara.” When she refused, he tangled his fingers at the back of her head, loosening the simple braided twist. “I don’t give a damn if you conceive or not,” he said. “It doesn’t matter to me anymore. “of course it does-” “I’ve changed, Lara. Give me a chance to show you how things can be between us.” There was an endless moment of silence. Lara’s gaze went to his firm, wide mouth, and she wondered in panic if he would kiss her again.

Suddenly he seemed to make a decision, and his hand swept down the front of her body in a caress so light and swift that she had no time to react Her breast tingled from the fleeting brush of his palm. He lowered his mouth to her neck, his breath hot and soft on her throat.

Lara gasped as he touched his tongue to her pulse. “You have skin like a child’s,” he whispered. “I want to undress you right here…

hold you na**d in my ….. . love you the way I should have so long ago.”

Lara’s face flamed, and she tried to push him away, only to find that she had been caught securely against him in an unbreakable hold. His head moved, and he caught at the sensitive juncture of her neck and shoulder, biting gently through the cloth of her gown. Lara quivered at the erotic shock of it, her entire body arching. “Oh-” “The Indians believe that a woman’s life has no value or meaning without a husband,” he said, pressing kisses over her throat and in the delicate hollow beneath her ear. A teasing note entered his voice.

“They would consider you a very fortunate woman to have me return from the dead.”

“I did very well without you,” Lara replied, gripping his rock-hard shoulders as her knees wobbled.

She felt him smile against her ear. “In India you would have been burnt alive on my cremation pyre, to spare you the misery of living without me. It’s called sati.”

“That’s barbaric!” Her eyes closed as his hands found the tense curve of her bu**ocks through the folds of her skirts. “Please, I don’t want-” “Just let me touch you. It’s been so long since I’ve held a woman.”

“Ho’w long?” she couldn’t help asking.

“More than a year.”

She felt his palm slide up her spine in a savoring stroke. “What if a widow doesn’t want to be burnt?” she asked breathlessly.

“She doesn’t have a choice.”

“Well, I was sorry to learn of your death, but I was hardly moved to commit suicide.”

He laughed. “You probably considered yourself well off when you were told about the shipwreck.”

“No,” she said automatically, but to her horror, a guilty flush spread over her face.

Hunter drew back to look at her, and a wry smile touched his lips.

“Liar,” he said, before he took her mouth in a swift, glancing kiss.

“I really didn’t-” Lara began uncomfortably, but he changed the subject with a speed that dazed her.

“I want you to have some new gowns made. I won’t have my wife wearing rags.”

Lara looked down at her black bombazine dress, gripping a loose fold of cloth. “But the expense,” she said halfheartedlythinking of how nice it would be to have some new clothes. She had become heartily sick of black and gray.

“The expense doesn’t matter. I want you to dispose of every mourning gown you own. Burn them all, if you like.” He fingered the material of her high neckline. “And order some negligees while you’re about it.”

In all her life, she had never worn anything but white cotton nightgowns to bed. “I don’t need a negligee!” she exclaimed.

“If you don’t have one made, I’ll get it for you.”

Lara pulled away from him and fidgeted nervously, plucking at her sleeves, her waist, her skirts.

“I won’t wear garments that are intended for seduction. I’m sorry if it displeases you, but… you must understand that I will never come to you of my own volition. I know it’s difficult for a man to go without … and I know that you must have need of….. Lara felt herself blush until even her ears glowed. “I wish you would… that is, I hope…”

She gathered whatever modicum of dignity was left at her disposal.

“Please do not hesitate to go to another woman, to satisfy your masculine urges. I relinquish all claim on you, just as I did before you left.”

Hunter wore a strange expression, as if he was insulted, amused, and annoyed all at once. “You won’t be that fortunate this time, sweet.