The MacNaughton Bride by Desconhecido(a) Page B

and
drag her backwards into his arms, pressing that poor bottom that seemed to be
constantly in peril of getting much more attention than its owner wanted
against him, holding her tight when she jumped and tried to get out of his
arms.

 
     
     
    Chapter
6
     
    “You’re naked!” she
accused.
    He chuckled at her
indignation.   “Yes, lassie, I
am.   I don’t usually sleep in my
wedding finery.   And, may I remind
you, that you’re naked, too.”
    Not the smartest thing to
say, because it sent her lunging – unsuccessfully – towards her
side of the bed, presumably to get some sort of a gown.   “Let me up!   I need to get my nightgown.”
    “No.”   Softly said, but, she knew by now, firm
as a rock.
    “But you – I –
we should sleep in something!”
    “Why?”
    Aislinn huffed, still straining away from him, for all the good it was doing her.   He held her in a depressingly secure,
completely pain free manner that only served to anger her more.   “Because it’s the decent thing to do!”
    “That doesn’t sound like
very much fun.”
    “Let me go.”   She wasn’t begging, and she wasn’t
really asking, either.   It was the
closest thing to an order he’d heard directed his way in a long time, and it
made him grin at the thought of his feisty little wife trying to order him
around.
    “No.   Not ever, Aislinn .   You’re my wife, and you’d best make
peace with that fact.   I set the
rules of your behavior, and I mete out your punishments if that behavior
doesn’t meet with my approval.   And
I have free and complete access to your body at any time.   Do you understand me, lassie?”
    Tears flooded her eyes,
making Aislinn extremely happy that she was facing
away from him.  
    One of his huge palms
covered a recently tanned cheek, patting it possessively.   “I’m not going to ask again, Aislinn .   Answer me.”
    Crossing her fingers in the
childish manner of one who is telling an out and out lie, she answered softly,
“Yes, Sir.”
    “Good.”   Kell wrapped
his arms around her, although she merely lay in his arms like a lump.   His lips lay up against her ear.   “Even though I probably should, I’m not
going to demand my husbandly rights from you tonight in hopes of proving to you
that I’m not some unfeeling ogre.   I may spank you from time to time, Aislinn – and that depends entirely on you and your behavior – but I’m not
a cruel man.   Maybe if I give you
some time to get to know me you’ll start to believe that.”
    To her horror, those tears
overflowed and trailed down her cheeks, despite how she tried to blink them
back.   He had no right to be nice
to her after all of that.   How
could she be angry with   him
– how could she hate him for beating her – when he was so blasted
nice?   Aislinn didn’t know very many men who would be as patient as he was being.   And he was holding her so nicely
– she was surrounded by him, and despite the fact that he was naked, it
felt good to be held so closely to someone.   She felt . . . secure, for the first time in a long time,
and she barely recognized it, it had been so long.   She was so used to being the one that saw to everyone else’s
comfort, the one that stood against those who might try to hurt those she
loved, that she couldn’t recall a time when someone had tried to protect her
from anyone or anything.
    And he was trying to
protect her from everything – including her headstrong self.
    Confused and tired and more
emotional than she’d been in a long time, Aislinn fell asleep even as she was trying to keep the fires of her anger burning.   It was just too comfortable, too safe,
for her to keep up her defenses against him.
    Her heart, the traitor,
whispered deep inside her, that with him she didn’t need all those walls . . .
and her befuddled brain gave up the fight, letting her slip off into soft white
dreams within the arms of the enemy.
     
     
     
     
    Something was tickling