Mystic Mountains

doing this to me?" she asked in a hoarse whisper. "You seem to forget that you rejected me. Spurned me, drove me away."
    Tiger swore, then bent his head until his lips hovered above her mouth. "Bella," he said on a sigh.
    If she didn’t know better she would have said his tone was one of regret.
    "I didn 't reject you. I just let you know where we stood. You come from the same background as me. 'Tis stupid to think we could ever make a success of marriage. I'm too selfish and I have a clear idea of what I want. Top of the list of priorities is a wife with a title or good standing. 'Tis the only way I'll ever be accepted truly by the nobs here in the colony."
    "So, we 're back to where we began. I'm good enough to bed but not good enough to wed."
    Tiger knew he should let her go. Knew he was behaving like a debaucher of the worst kind. But with her slim soft body so close he found he wanted nothing more than to lay her down here on the dusty ground and cover her body with his, to bury himself deep inside her. He stifled her small sob with his lips, devouring her.
    She wrenched free. "Stop this. Let me be. Damn you to hell and back. Let me go, Tiger Carstairs!"
    He stood back a pace. She prepared for flight, but he pulled her close again, his hands moving to her hips.
    "Don 't," she whispered as he deliberately lifted her nightgown. Then with a swift movement he slid it up and over her head, letting it drop to the ground. Staring down at her white body he trailed his fingers where his eyes wandered, from her breasts to her hips then lower. With an instinctive gesture of preservation Isabella covered her breasts, but he pushed her arms down to her sides.
    "You 're a slut, a whore. So why would you mind me sampling your wares?"
    Before Isa bella could utter a word he kissed her again with such ferocity the breath left her lungs.
    "Tiger," she heard herself whisper.
    But his breathing was harsh now and she had the impression that though he'd heard her he had disconnected himself; was in another place where only his senses ruled.
    Tiger knew he should stop, but was powerless. This woman aroused such a wave of emotions in him; passions that frightened him. Many women had evoked his desire, his lust, but never anything so close to . . . Love? The word hovered at the edge of his consciousness, but he forced it back. No, he knew nothing of such deep emotions.
    How he wished . . . No, no sense in wishful thinking. She'd made her choice, and so had he. Oh, but how he longed for just one more chance . . . "Bella," he murmured, only then realizing she had gone soft and yielding, had wrapped her arms about his waist, was pressing her cheek to his chest. He dragged in a shuddering breath as her fingertips skimmed over the flesh of his back and down to his buttocks.
    What happened next was inexplicable. Without thought of why or how, they were on the ground, in each other 's arms, tasting, touching, kissing as if they'd always been lovers, always shared each other thus. He'd never felt like this before, filled with such an overwhelming mix of feelings. Lust overran tenderness, yet there was nothing lustful about the way they came together; it was as if it was ordained, had always been meant to happen.
    "Tiger," he heard her say in a dreamy voice that seemed to come from far away, as he entered her, possessing her body as she possessed his soul. Only then did it hit him like a blow to the gut what he was doing. The woman was due to wed Dougal this very day and he 'd spurned her because he didn't trust her.
    Ah, but she was so sweet, so giving, everything a man could desire in a woman. He shouted her name as he found his release, and as she whispered his name over and over like a chant he felt a pain as sharp as a knife wound in his chest.
    Rolling away from her he covered his eyes with an arm. Disgust and shame filled him, revolted him.
    "Tiger." Tentatively she touched his shoulder.
    "Go prepare for your wedding," he groaned.
    "But . . ."
    "No buts." His head rolled from side to side in the dirt. "You will wed Dougal. The man is willing to take you. You 'd break his heart if you refuse him now. Nothing's changed between us, Bella, can't you see."
    "Oh, yes." Reaching for her nightgown she pulled it over her head. A great lump was settling like a rock somewhere in her middle. Shivering as if about to freeze with the ice invading her soul she sneered, "Nothing 's changed. I'm still a whore, good enough to sate your body on, but not