Savage Deception (Liberty's Ladies) (14 page)

A ragged sigh split Diana’s lips. “Complete submission. Yes, I know very well what being a wife means, Tanner. I was Kingsley’s wife, and even with you my lot hasn’t changed. I suppose it’s a woman’s destiny to be submissive to her husband, to be humiliated.”

“Is that what you think I’ve done to you?”

Diana shrugged her shoulders. “At least you haven’t hurt me physically.”

Tanner grew very quiet, his eyes sliding toward the dresser and then back again to fix on her face. “So that’s why you hid the riding crop. You were afraid I’d beat you with it. Is that how you came to get those two thin scars on your back? I saw them last night when I was watching you dry off,” he explained. “Kingsley beat you with the crop.”

She nodded and turned her face away from him. Now her humiliation was complete. Tanner would know she hadn’t been a dutiful wife, a wife whom a man could be proud of, a wife who gave her husband fine sons.

“Never turn away from me,” she heard him say, as he gently cupped her chin in his hand and made her look at him. “You can’t hide anything from me. I want to know all about you, even the unpleasant times. My touching you must be quite a chore for you, because I’m certain your other lovers were gentlemen… .”

“I wish you’d stop saying such horrible things, Tanner. I don’t know why you think I’ve had lovers. You’re the second man who has had his way with me. Kingsley was the first.”

Something suddenly seemed to make sense to Tanner and he smiled. “That’s an odd choice of words. ‘Have my way with you.’ Why do you say that?”

“Because a man always has his way with a woman. Men enjoy such activities, for what reason I can’t fathom. Pleasure, I suppose. But for a woman it’s sheer torture.”

“Is it? I had no idea. All of the women I’ve ever been with have seemed to like what I did to them. I think you did too, Diana. Or,” he amended, “you might have if you’d allowed yourself to enjoy my touch and not fight what you were feeling.”

‘‘I didn’t feel anything!” she retorted hotly, hating for Tanner to know that once again his touch and kisses had started a simmering sensation within her. “And I will not be made to suffer for it. No matter what, I’ll fight you if you try to hurt me. I won’t…” her voice cracked and she had to swallow deeply to control herself. “I won’t be beaten again. Ever again!”

“Shh, quiet,” he comforted, and held her tenderly in his arms. “I promise I won’t harm you. I could never hurt you, Diana. Do you believe that I would hit you with a riding crop like Kingsley or beat you for your lack of response in bed? Do you think I’m that heartless a man?”

Lying like that in his arms she had no doubt that Tanner would never hurt her the way that Kingsley had done. He reminded her of the gentle Tanner she’d seen that day when the slave woman had been bitten by the snake. This was the Tanner she liked a great deal. “I don’t believe you’re a bad person,” she confessed. “Deep down, you’re very kind.”

Tanner grinned. “Thank you, I think. But we have a problem here, Diana. A problem we must solve.”

“Oh?”

“Most definitely. Here I am holding you, and you have very little on, and mind you, I’ve just ‘had my way with you,’ as you so succinctly put it, and…”

“Do you know that you have a wonderful vocabulary?” she interrupted. “You’re quite well spoken.”

“Again, thank you, but my speech isn’t the subject of our conversation at the present time.
You
are, or, I should say, your lack of response when I make love to you is.”

Diana groaned, flailing about, ready to flee. “Not that again, please. You remind me of Kingsley now.”

He stopped her from moving by holding her tightly and peering into her luminous blue eyes. “I am not Kingsley, nor will I ever be like him, Diana. You must realize one thing. No matter what has happened between us, we’re attracted to each other and we’re married. I want you to feel what I feel when I make love to you.”

“You mean when we rut,” she shot back.

Tanner looked embarrassed. “I’m sorry about saying that last night. I didn’t mean to sound so crass. Believe me, you’re the last woman in the world I want to rut with.”

“Ha! Thank you so much for that.”

“I don’t mean to insult you, either. I want to make love to you, woman, not just spill myself within you. The biggest joy in my life right now would be for you to find pleasure with your own body, with mine. There’s more to mating than the act, a great deal more, and I’m going to tutor you.”

Disbelief clouded her features. “There is nothing more, Tanner. Not for me. I don’t know about other women, but I’m frigid, cold, just like Kingsley said.”

“Kingsley was wrong,” he insisted. “And he was a damn poor teacher, too.” A half cocky smile turned up the corners of his mouth. “I’d wager that within a week I’ll have you so well instructed that you’ll beg for me to make love to you, that you’ll experience the greatest pleasure when I do.”

Tanner was mad! He must be to even think of such an outlandish and preposterous wager. But she was intrigued by it all the same and wondered if that tiny sliver of excitement she’d felt earlier was an indication of what might happen if she gave into Tanner’s tutelage. Oh, it couldn’t be anything at all, she found herself reasoning. Tanner only wanted to prove the same old point to himself and to her — that he could master her by having his way with her. A perfect act of revenge against the Sheridans.

She was tempted to turn down his offer, but instead she found herself saying, “What will I gain if I don’t respond to you?”

Tanner thought for a second. “Briarhaven, of course,” he decided. “If you don’t respond to me, don’t beg me to make love to you by the end of the week, then I lose and you can go merrily on your way to Briarhaven. The house will be yours, I’ll turn it over to you with instructions that Farnsworth and his men retreat and that you and Harlan are left alone. You’ll never see me again. Of course, if your response is so passionate and intense that you lose control, then I win Briarhaven
and
you, and for the rest of your life you’ll come to my bed and promise to enjoy yourself. Is that fair to you?”

Diana disentangled herself from his arms and sat up to gaze at him. Tanner was a strange sort of man. He was so handsome he could set her heart to pounding, but it wasn’t his handsomeness that intrigued her. There was something else, an indefinable quality of elusiveness, of being unable to adequately read his thoughts or to guess his next move. He always seemed to keep a part of himself hidden from view, yet when he claimed her she’d glimpsed a tiny fraction of deep emotion. She wondered what it must be like to feel the way he had earlier, but then he was a man, and this sort of thing seemed to come easily for men. Never for her. And she knew she’d never feel anything like that.

It was this assumption that forced her to agree to Tanner’s bet. He was so assured of success that he didn’t think he might fail at all. She, however, was certain of his failure. The chance to win Briarhaven from him, to have the man out of her life for good, was too strong for her to refuse. Holding out her hand to him, she said, “I agree to your terms.”

His eyes narrowed speculatively. “You understand, of course, that I’ll know if you’re holding back, Diana. I’ve been with enough women to know what games they play.”

“I never play games,” she declared.

“If you say so.”

She didn’t care for the sound of that, it was almost as if he were accusing her of something she’d done, and she had no idea what it might be. But she wouldn’t dwell on Tanner’s sensibilities now. Briarhaven was within her reach.

Starting to get up, she gasped when Tanner yanked her toward him. “Where are you going?” he asked.

“Why, it’s getting late and Cammie will be serving breakfast downstairs soon. It is Christmas day, you know, and I’ve church services to attend.”

“Christmas has never been important to me,” he remarked. “I was raised a savage, as you well remember, and my mother never believed in Christian ways. Stay in bed with me and I’ll start your lesson.”

“What lesson?”

“Lesson one — kissing.”

Diana was horrified. “You want me to stay in bed with you on Christmas Day to learn how … how to kiss!”

“Why not?” A lecherous grin appeared on his face at the same moment he pulled her into his arms. “You’re a woefully bad kisser, sweetheart, but I promise you that if you learn quickly I’ll escort you to church myself.”

“Oh, Tanner, you’re insane, you’re uncouth, you’re…”

“A savage, but we made a wager and you’re going to live up to it. Or do you welsh on your bets?”

“I’m not a welsher,” she said stiffly. “I’ll stay for my first lesson.”

“Ah, a Christian martyr thrown to the savage beast. Here, come lie next to me.” Tanner patted the place she’d recently vacated and she lay down, pulling the transparent gown around her. His hands tangled with hers and he forced her to remove them from the gown. With sensuous fingers he parted the material, allowing himself a long, lustful look at her breasts, the delicious expanse of silken skin from her waist to the tempting dark thatched mound, and downward, past her ivory thighs to the tips of her toenails. “You’re an exquisitely beautiful woman, Diana.”

“Don’t look at me like that or say such things.”

“Why not?”

“You frighten me.”

“Don’t be afraid of me. I want only to love you.”

It was an odd thing for Tanner to say, she thought, since he’d wanted her from the first only to humiliate his family. But what difference does any of it make now? she grudgingly asked herself. Why was he so intent on proving a point if there was no one to know but her? If he wanted to love her as he said, why then make a game out of it
? Because he needs to know he can break you down, you foolish ninny!
her mind answered.

“You can skip the pretty words, Tanner. I’m immune to them.”

“Ah, I see, so then we can get down to brass tacks, so to speak, and forget the hearts and flowers.”

“Exactly.”

“If you insist.” With a grin lurking on his handsome face, Tanner positioned himself on his elbows and leaned over her. Cupping her face within the depth of his two hands, his eyes turned a smoky shade of black. “I want you to relax.”

“I … I can’t,” she admitted and blushed. “Not when my gown is undone and you can see … all of me.”

“Forget that, not that you aren’t a fetching sight, Diana, but I promise not to touch you anywhere else during this first lesson. Kissing is an art, and no matter who you decide to fall into bed with next I think you should be adequately tutored. I’m certain the gent, whoever he may be, will thank me.” He looked less than pleased at the thought but continued in a velvety voice. “A woman should be slowly initiated into lovemaking, and I happen to believe that in bed a woman is only as good as her teacher. When I’m finished with you, you shall be very, very good.”

“Goodness,” her voice caught in her throat. “You are an arrogant, conceited fellow.”

Tanner grinned broadly. “That’s part of my devastating charm, sweetheart. Now close your eyes and forget who I am. Go on, close them,” he whispered and Diana reluctantly followed suit. “Listen to my voice while I instruct you and don’t say anything. Do as I say and I promise that kissing will come naturally to you, so naturally that soon I won’t have to talk at all, and all you’ll have to do is feel my kisses and enjoy them.”

“I won’t…”

“Quiet, Diana.” He lulled her with his voice and ordered her to breathe deeply, which she did though she thought it was silly, but after a few deep breaths she found she didn’t feel as tense. She wasn’t certain why she was even involved in this stupid exercise, expecting this time like all of the times Kingsley had kissed her to end in the same disappointing and frustrating way. Yet something compelled her to obey him and to wait in fascinated wonder.

She was barely aware of Tanner’s lips when they first touched hers with surprising gentleness. They moved warmly against her dewy soft mouth, moist yet firm in their possession. His breath mixed with hers, and she discovered that she very nearly stopped breathing when his tongue temptingly teased her mouth to open for him. A feeble protest died in her throat as his tongue sought and found hers. She made an attempt to draw it away, but Tanner, like an ever- stalking hunter, snared his elusive prey in a sensual trap that threatened to destroy Diana’s control. She’d thought to remain unaffected and to easily claim Briarhaven with her frigidity. But something unforeseen was happening to her. With each tantalizing flick of his tongue against hers, Tanner drew her into a maelstrom of heat and fire. Diana was gradually sucked into a golden whirlpool of feelings so intense that she was at a loss to explain them. What was happening to her? What was the strange sultriness that stirred within her and built slowly like a tropical storm? Why did she suddenly feel as if not blood but liquid gold now ran through her veins, threatening to scorch the very essence of her?

Kingsley had kissed her like this, she remembered his loathsome and demanding invasions of her mouth. But those kisses were nothing in comparison to this one. Never had she expected to be kissed in such a fashion and to actually find that she didn’t want it to end. Tanner’s lips and tongue fully possessed hers and enveloped hers like a lover’s caress. Each sweep of tongue against tongue was a primitive dance, igniting something deep and dormant within Diana. It seemed that waves of intense heat gyrated through her, causing her no longer to think but to feel and respond, to finally surrender to whatever it was that caused such melting warmth.