Reid sank into the heated water with a groan. Aye, he could push his body just as hard as ever in battle and on long journeys, but damn it all if he didn’t feel it more than he used to.

Truth be told, the knots in his shoulders and the ache between his legs weren’t just from hard riding and sleeping on the ground for the last sennight. Corinne was doing strange things to him—especially when she looked at him with hurt simmering in her sea-green eyes.

He roughly shoved aside his guilt. He’d been blunt in introducing her to his people, but there was no room for sentimentality when it came to being the Laird of a large and powerful clan. His people needed to see that he could set aside personal feelings and do his duty for the good of clan and country.

Still, his thoughts tugged upward as he began lathering a cake of soap and washing away the grueling journey. Corinne would be on the third floor in one of the guest chambers if Gellis had done as he bid. What might she be doing up there at this moment?

He’d seen the servants carrying a tub and water up the stairs earlier. It had given him the idea to bathe as well. Eilean Donan boasted two wooden tubs and enough enormous hearths to quickly heat several buckets of water at a time. Was she still bathing, as he was?

An image of Corinne naked, dripping wet and lathered in that maddeningly enticing lemon-scented soap, slammed into him like a punch to the gut. Unbidden, his cock leapt to life below the water. Gritting his teeth, Reid groaned as more erotic visions came to him.

Corinne on her back, her wild red hair splayed out beneath her. The feel of her soft breasts filling his hands. Her creamy thighs falling open in invitation.

With another groan, Reid’s hand dipped below the waterline, the frustrating need to find relief nigh overpowering.

A fist suddenly slammed twice against the chamber door—hard. Reid jerked upright in the tub, but before he could bellow at whoever was interrupting his bath to leave him the hell alone, the door flew open.

Corinne stood in the doorway.

In only a chemise.

A wet chemise.

Her cropped hair was dripping onto the thin linen, making it plaster to her skin along her collarbone.

At the sight of her pale skin showing through the material, his mind ground to a halt.

“What in the bloody he—”

“You were married before.”

Reid yanked his gaze from the neckline of her chemise and fully looked at her. Belatedly, he realized that she was fuming mad. Her wet hair was a disorderly red tangle on her head, her blue-green eyes blazing with fury. Her hands, which were uncovered and only faintly discolored now, were balled at her sides.

He remained motionless in the tub. “Aye,” he said carefully.

Though it was the truth, it seemed to be the wrong response. Corinne’s eyes widened and her brows shot up.

“When were you going to tell me? On our wedding night? Or mayhap never, if it didn’t suit you?”

“Close the door,” he ordered evenly.

She let out an exasperated huff, but then she blinked, seeming to truly see him for the first time since barging in. Where the chemise clung wetly to her collarbone, her creamy skin turned pink. The color traveled up her neck and into her face. Reid watched, mesmerized for a long moment, until he at last found her eyes.

Clearly, she was embarrassed and fascinated all at once. Her gaze darted over his lathered chest to his arms, which rested along the sides of the tub, to the waterline around his abdomen, and back up again.

“At yer leisure,” he commented, gesturing toward the door. Aye, he was wicked for taunting her, and for enjoying her spellbound gaze on him as well, yet in that moment he couldn’t muster a single shred of guilt.

Face aflame, Corinne dropped her eyes and hurried to close the door. The act must have given her a chance to calm her nerves and gather her anger once more, for when she turned back to him, she planted her fists on her hips and stared him down.

“Well?” she demanded. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Reid’s amusement faded—but not, unfortunately, his throbbing erection. He let a long breath go, attempting to focus.

“I didnae think it mattered,” he said at last.

Corinne’s bonny lips parted in disbelief. “What didn’t matter—telling me? Or the entire marriage?”

Damn it all, this wasn’t going well. He’d just been envisioning Corinne before him, but it hadn’t been like this. His marriage with Euna was the last thing he wished to discuss at the moment. Still, from the pain smoldering behind the anger in Corinne’s eyes, it was time he addressed the matter.

“I didnae think it…relevant to our current situation,” he tried again.

“It seemed relevant enough for Gellis to mention it. How could you drag me all the way here—”

Now his own annoyance flared to life. “I didnae drag ye. Dinnae make me seem like some great barbarian.”

“—bring me here, then,” she continued, “and not mention that you were wed before?”

“There wasnae a good time to bring it up,” he replied. “Ye seemed upset enough as it was about being forced to marry me. I didnae wish to add more to the list for ye to hate.”

Corinne’s hands dropped from her sides, her eyes flickering with hurt. “I am not upset that you were previously married. Caught off-guard, mayhap, but not angry. Nay, I am angry because you didn’t tell me. You left it for the servants to mention it, and made me look a fool in front of them.”

Reid muttered a curse at himself. Aye, he should have thought of that. “Gellis willnae think ye a fool.”

She jolted several steps toward the tub. “It’s not just Gellis. The way you spoke of me before them—the way you spoke of marrying me as naught but a duty—”

Her voice broke and her chin wavered.

Shite. Reid had the sudden urge to rise from the tub and go to her, folding her into his arms. Yet he could not come undone so easily.

“Isnae that what this is for both of us—a duty? An order we must obey?” he asked, though he attempted to soften his voice.

She closed her eyes for a moment. “Aye. But you are in your home, surrounded by people who love and respect you. I don’t know a soul, and as an Englishwoman, I am your people’s enemy. I know next to naught about your clan or life in the Highlands—and apparently I know even less about you, whom I am to wed tomorrow.”

Reid let his arms slip into the rapidly cooling water. Damn it all, she was right. He’d been an arse yet again. He hadn’t wanted to lower himself before his people by showing weakness or coddling Corinne in front of them, yet surely he could have done better to ease both their reception of her and her first welcome into her new home.

“I apologize,” he said, the words tasting strange in his mouth. “As Laird, it is my duty to be a strong leader for my people. I may seem…harsh to ye, but it is only because the clan needs me to be their rock.”

The tension began seeping from her shoulders. She dropped her gaze. “I understand.”

But clearly Corinne’s discomfort would not be so easily soothed. Reid cursed himself again for putting her in such an impossible position.

“I married Euna three years past,” he offered.

She froze, glancing up at him.

“She was a MacDonnell,” he went on. “The eldest daughter of Laird Arthur MacDonnell. I’d been in talks with the man for years before he finally agreed to a marriage alliance.”

“Oh?” she asked hesitantly.

“Aye, he is a stubborn old badger. I cannae blame him, though. No man wishes to give his daughter over to a bastard, even a bastard Laird. He feared that the shadow of illegitimacy hanging over me would stain no’ only Euna, but the entire MacDonnell clan as well.”

Corinne’s brows drew together. “Then how did you forge the marriage alliance?”

Reid felt one corner of his mouth lift. “The Mackenzies are a far larger clan than the MacDonnells. The Laird realized at last that it would be in his interest to align himself with us.”

“You threatened him?”

“The opposite,” Reid replied. “I offered to help him. The MacDonnells share a border with the MacVales, a troublesome clan that does little more than raid and stir up discord. The MacVales refused to join the Bruce’s efforts at freedom. Because they havenae lost men and supplies to the cause, they’ve grown more powerful—and bolder. They’ve been pestering the MacDonnells for decades, but lately they’ve done more than reive a few cows and sheep. They began burning crops, and even a few crofts.”

“And how did you help?”

“I sent the MacDonnells several of our warriors to help them patrol their borders.” Reid lifted a shoulder, making the water ripple around him. “It didnae hurt that many of the men I selected had been eyeing MacDonnell lasses as well. The marriages and bairns that resulted, plus the added protection, showed Laird MacDonnell that I was serious about our alliance. He finally agreed to the marriage.”

Corinne pulled her lower lip between her teeth, and an involuntary spike of heat stabbed him.

“What happened?” she asked.

“A few months after our wedding, Euna was carrying a bairn. But several months before the bairn was to arrive, she began to bleed. Both Euna and the bairn died shortly after. That was two years past.”

Corinne lifted her fingertips to her mouth, her eyes going wide. “I…I’m sorry,” she murmured. “That is a terrible loss.”

Reid cupped a palmful of tepid water and splashed it over his face. He took his time washing away the remnants of soap lather on his chest and arms, buying himself a few moments to carefully phrase his next words.

“Euna was a good woman, and her death was a deep wound to her father and the rest of her family. To lose an heir was also a blow to the clan.”

Corinne took another step forward. Now she stood right at the edge of the tub, her gaze searching his face. “And a blow to you as well?”

“Euna and I were both doing our duty to our people, naught more,” he murmured. “Though I respected her, we didnae share feelings beyond that.”

Reid let his eyes skim over the candlelight reflecting on the surface of the water. “Our marriage was meant to no’ only unite our clans, but to end the uncertainties surrounding the Mackenzies’ future in light of my birth. A legitimate union with another Highland Laird’s daughter would have strengthened my position, and an heir of that union would have been unquestionable.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Corinne shrink into her shoulders, and he realized that yet again, he’d hurt her.

Before she could withdraw, his hand darted out and closed around her wrist, holding her in place.

“That is all in the past now,” he said.

“Your first marriage may be in the past,” she said. “But your concerns for your clan and your alliances remain the same. Just as before, you must wed out of duty, only this time, your bride creates naught but problems for you.”

“That is true,” he replied. Her eyes rounded in indignation at his blunt admission and she tried to pull her wrist free, but he held fast.

“Ye have bitten me,” he went on, tilting his head toward his bare shoulder, where faint red tooth marks were still visible from the first night they’d met. “Ye have run from me. Ye’ve made me feel like an arse for…well, for being an arse.”

He turned her wrist over and ran his thumb along the sensitive inner skin. To his satisfaction, a ripple of gooseflesh traveled up her arm.

“Ye’ve kept me awake at night,” he murmured, his voice a low rumble. “Ye’ve made me painfully hard with wanting ye. And worst of all, ye’ve made me respect ye—ye, an Englishwoman—for that hellfire spirit of yers.”

He slowly released her wrist, but she remained frozen, rooted in place. His hand skimmed up her bare arm, savoring her velvety skin.

“Aye, ye’ve been naught but trouble,” he breathed, his gaze hungrily sweeping over her. Her hair still dripped onto the neckline of her chemise. The wet spots had spread to the tops of her breasts, making the linen cling mouthwateringly to the gentle curves.

Closing his hand around her elbow, he slowly pulled her down until she sat perched on the edge of the tub. The water had gone cold now, but it did little to alleviate the heat pounding through his veins—and into his cock.

Surely he’d gone mad. Corinne was right—his union with Euna had made sense. It benefited not only him, but also his people.

A marriage to Corinne, however, brought him naught but problems. Yet he couldn’t deny the growing desire he felt for her.

It was easier to tell himself that he was only wedding her out of duty, a grudging acquiescence to the King’s command. The truth was far more unsettling. He wanted her—wanted her spread beneath him, aye, but also wanted her as his wife, his partner. Such wanting was dangerous, for it meant he was willing to set aside the needs of his people for his own desire.

A warning bell sounded in some distant corner of his mind, but thoughts of duty and responsibility slipped through his fingers like sand with Corinne so close, her warm, bright scent, of lemons and woman, driving him wild.

Reid reached up, lacing his fingers in her damp hair. Her wide ocean eyes dropped to his mouth, and he knew her thoughts had fled as well.

He pulled her down, letting his breath tease her lips for a long moment. He needed her to know exactly what was about to happen, to make her burn for wanting it as badly as he did.

But the wee hellion would not be made to wait. With a sound of frustration, she strained against his hold in her hair and joined their lips.

A bolt of white-hot need tore through Reid. He drank in the taste of her lips like a drunkard with whisky. Tilting her head, he deepened the kiss, his tongue invading her mouth.

She yielded to him then, letting him take control. He rumbled his pleasure. Though he liked her spirit, he found it incredibly erotic that such a strong-willed woman would surrender to him—in this area, if naught else.

His other arm looped around her waist, drawing her farther over the tub’s rim. His damp arm made her chemise cling between them, taunting him with its thin barrier.

All thoughts of the cursed scrap of linen vanished when her hands tentatively came to rest on his chest. It was the first time she’d touched him, skin to skin. Heat blazed over his chest as if she’d branded him. It traveled below the waterline straight to his needy cock.

His fingers sank into her hair and his arm tightened around her waist. But she must have been more precariously perched on the tub’s edge than he’d realized, for she suddenly tumbled toward him, shrieking against his lips.

Corinne landed with a splash in his lap. Like a cat, she scrambled wildly up, sloshing water over the sides as she fought her way free of the tub.

A bark of laugher rose in Reid’s throat even as he helped her up. The fates seemed determined to drive him nigh mad with lust, then yank Corinne from his arms just when he had her where he wanted her.

The laugh died when his gaze landed on her, though.

She might as well have been standing naked before him. Her soaked chemise was like a second skin—a transparent second skin.

The delicate curves of her breasts were tipped with beaded nipples the same lush pink as her lips. Her narrow waist flared gently into her hips, where a dark wedge of auburn curls protected her womanhood.

Reid’s cock strained with need. Belatedly he realized that while she was nearly naked, he had risen upright in the tub in naught but his skin, the last of his bathwater lapping around his calves.

Corinne’s eyes rounded, her gaze darting down over the length of him before jerking away. She made a strangled noise that Reid guessed was an attempt to clear her throat.

He reached for the stack of drying linens beside the tub. A few had gotten wet when Corinne had fallen in, but he quickly looped one around his waist, then straightened and extended one to her.

She snatched it up, hastily wrapping it around herself.

Reid couldn’t help but hate the piece of cloth now blocking his view.

“Will I see ye in the great hall for the evening meal?” he asked, willing his voice to be even.

“I-I am tired from our journey,” Corinne replied, her cheeks glowing red. “I think I will retire to my chamber.”

She turned to go, but just as she reached for the door, she hesitated.

“Reid?”

His damned cock surged hopefully as she glanced over her shoulder at him.

“Aye?”

“Thank you. For your apology, and for telling me the truth. And for…” She waved at the tub, her blush growing impossibly deeper.

Though he gave her a curt nod, something warm expanded in his chest.

“Get some rest,” he said, his voice coming out gruffer than he’d intended. “Tomorrow is an important day.”

She slipped out the door, closing it softly behind her. Reid was left to stare at the remains of his bath, wondering how Corinne had left him in a tangled knot of need yet again.