Highland Spitfire (8 page)

“Ye smell sweet.” He didn’t kiss her, but leaned down and inhaled her scent. “Touch
me, Ailis. I see the desire in yer eyes.”

He’d stopped with just inches between them. Her breath was rapid, drawing in the scent
of his skin as she felt his body heat teasing the bare skin of her chest. Temptation
was drawing her in.

She was reaching for him before she could think about it. His words rang in her ears,
combining with the need churning inside her. His skin was smooth, beckoning her.

He drew in a sharp breath when she touched him. The response stunned her but quickly
transformed into confidence.

She wielded the same power over him.

It was a prideful thought, but one that filled her with boldness. She flattened her
hands against his chest, unleashing a surge of excitement inside herself.

It was astonishing and exhilarating.

“Look at me.” His tone was harder, more demanding.

She lifted her chin, locking gazes with him, and felt as though he could see right
into her soul.

“Now kiss me.”

“Me?” Her tone was so breathless, she wasn’t sure he heard her.

But he did, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Aye.” He massaged her head, sending little
ripples of delight across her scalp. “Kiss me. Reach for what ye crave, Ailis.”

She hesitated, not sure if she wanted to crave him. It was a demanding word, but it
suited the feelings swirling inside her too well. She slid her hands up his chest,
savoring the feel of his skin beneath her palms and fingertips. Kissing him was harder
than she’d thought it might be. She’d kissed him back, but now, she had to stretch
up, and even on her toes she wasn’t tall enough. So she slid her hands along the strong
column of his neck and gently pulled him toward her.

He bent down, allowing her to press her lips against his. She trembled, the sensations
overwhelming. She felt as if she were spinning around, but didn’t really care if she
dropped to the ground in a dead faint.

All that mattered was kissing him.

She craved the taste of his mouth and moved her lips against his. Her grip wasn’t
firm enough, so she reached up to lock her fingers behind his neck, trying to secure
him, control him.

He groaned, using his hands to tilt her head so their lips met together more completely.
He was losing patience, his mouth beginning to move against hers. But
she
wanted to kiss
him
. The urge pounded through her, overriding everything else.

She tried to remember how he’d kissed her, moving her lips in what she thought was
the right way. She increased the pressure and opened her mouth.

He growled and took command. There was no missing the moment when he stopped allowing
her free rein. The kiss he pressed on her wiped all thoughts aside as delight took
over. It didn’t matter how they kissed, only that they did. She felt as though she
might perish if she didn’t get a deeper taste of him.

He teased her lips, tasting them before sweeping across her lower lip with the tip
of his tongue. She shivered again, the touch more intimate than anything she’d ever
experienced. It set off a throbbing between the folds of her sex.

She pulled back, startled by the hunger gnawing at her insides. She understood with
shocking clarity that she wanted him deep inside her. So carnal. So blunt.

“Do nae be alarmed, I’ll nae ravish ye, Ailis.”

“Maybe that’s what I want.” She snapped her mouth shut when she realized she’d spoken
aloud. “I did nae mean that!”

He cupped her chin and made her look into his eyes. They were ablaze with hunger,
mirroring the yearning burning inside her.

“Ye did,” he assured her. “Ye simply do nae know how to enjoy it yet.”

He scooped her up, stunning her with his strength. He controlled it so well, it was
simple to forget how strong he was.

That knowledge made her tremble. He lowered her to the forest floor, the scent of
grass rising up, wrapping her in the moment of new growth.

“It is going to be me pleasure to teach ye, Ailis.”

“But…the annulment…”

He settled beside her and bent one of his knees so he might place it over her thigh.
She thrust her hands out to keep him back, but once again, the feeling of his firm
chest distracted her from everything else.

It simply felt so right. The sensation was intoxicating.

“Are ye enjoying me touch?”

He leaned down and kissed her throat, the soft pressing of his lips taking her further
into bliss. Her eyelids fluttered shut as she stretched her chin up to expose more
of her neck.

“Honestly, lass, ye do nae want me to stop any more than I want to.” His words were
a whisper against her ear.

It was so tempting to just let him do as he pleased.

It felt so good.

Nothing had ever felt so intense before.

The knot of her bodice loosened. She opened her eyes, but he’d pulled the lace through
the first few eyelets before she turned to look at his face.

His expression sent a shudder through her.

“Ye are more than comely, lass.”

She blushed.

His lips curved into a possessive grin. It was presumptuous, but it also made her
feel attractive in a way she never had before.

He pulled the lace through a few more eyelets, until he could open her bodice. She
was in her simplest dress, one that didn’t have a set of long stays behind the bodice.
The only thing shielding her breasts was the thin linen of her chemise. Excitement
twisted through her. She felt pinned to the spot, caught in the moment as she waited
to see what he’d do next.

What was the next step? She wanted to know.

Now.

“Ye have no doubt haunted the dreams of more than one man.” He cupped one breast through
her chemise, sending a bolt of excitement into her core.

She twisted, the sensation too great. “No…no one thinks about…me…parts.”

She was trying to think, because it gave her stability. Bhaic brushed his thumb across
her nipple and shattered every last bit of conscious thought she had.

“I do,” he whispered next to her ear. “I think about ye more than I like. I have never
been jealous of a man like I was just now of Lye Rob.”

He lifted his head and let her see his eyes. They were full of possessiveness.

“I was just dancing.”

Bhaic slid his hand beneath her chemise, his fingertips teasing the skin between her
breasts and setting off an ache to be touched in both mounds.

“Nae, lass, he was getting close to ye because he wanted to do exactly what I am doing
now.” He cupped her breast, closing his fingers around one tender mound as victory
shown in his expression.

“I would nae have let him…touch me.”

He massaged the globe of her breast, setting off a renewed throbbing at the top of
her sex. It was harder now, more insistent. Keeping her thighs together felt awkward
and uncomfortable, so she let herself relax.

“But ye’ll welcome me.”

“I—”

He didn’t wait for her to finish. Bhaic leaned down and licked her nipple. It had
already puckered but drew tighter as she arched up to offer it to him. A soft moan
escaped her lips, the sound renewing the blush stinging her cheeks.

“It gets better, lass.”

He cupped her breast, holding the soft mound still before closing his lips around
the puckered tip.

She cried out this time, the heat from his mouth flowing down to the apex of her thighs.
Something was throbbing incessantly, making her lift her hips in a quest.

He sucked harder on the point and slid his other hand across her belly. Her passage
gave a desperate twist as she reached for him and held him to her breast. She wasn’t
close enough. Wasn’t pressed against him tightly enough.

Her damned dress was too heavy against her legs.

“So sweet…” He kissed his way to her other breast and teased her with soft licks along
its side before he claimed the nipple. She arched and lifted her hips. He slid his
hand lower across her belly, grabbing a handful of her skirts and jerking it up.

She sighed as cool air reached her legs. It was invigorating, and she reached for
him, no longer content to just be touched. She wanted to stroke him too.

Ailis flattened a foot on the ground and used her leg to push her body up. She rolled
into him, pushing him back as she sought out one of his flat nipples. She licked it,
purring as she tasted a faint salty tang left behind from his sweat.

He rolled back, letting her have her way, and it filled her with confidence.

“That’s it, lass, ravish me in return.”

“I will.”

She wasn’t sure why she sounded so bold. She kissed one of the ridges on his chest
and then another. He gathered up her hair when it settled around them and pulled it
out of her way. Teasing motions were no longer enough.

He slid his hand along her thigh, lifting her skirts higher. She was too hot, but
the contact between their flesh felt perfect.

She reached for his neck, purring as she detected the steady throb of his pulse beneath
the soft skin. He was strength incarnate, yet smooth and soft too.

It felt as though she was made to fit against him. She wanted to melt until she fused
with him completely.

Her skirt went flying above her waist. One powerful motion of his wrist had sent it
up to bare her lower body.

She gasped, startled by the sense of vulnerability sweeping through her. It conflicted
with the sweet intoxication holding her hostage.

Bhaic didn’t let her senses recover. He cupped the side of her face and leaned over
her, the heat from his body pushing aside her modesty. He kissed her, restoring her
to the perfection of the moment. She pushed her hands through his hair, delighting
in the feeling of the threads sliding between her fingers. There were so many tiny
details she had never thought might be so enjoyable. Little things she did every day,
but when Bhaic did them, sensation surged through her. She was sinking deeper and
eager to experience more.

Bhaic didn’t disappoint her. He settled his hand on her thigh again, his grip possessive
but filling her with a sense of satisfaction.

It also unleashed a sense of anticipation that left her breathless.

Remaining still was impossible. She reached for him, boldly seeking out what she craved.
His thighs were just as hard as his chest, the muscles clearly defined and covered
in more smooth, hot skin.

“I swear I’ve never enjoyed a woman’s hands on me like I do yers.”

The admission was torn from him in a harsh tone. She detected the protest from his
pride and found companionship in it.

At least she was not alone in the madness.

She slid her hand higher, seeking what she’d only had a teasing glimpse of on their
wedding night. She was frustrated by that fact, irritated that she didn’t yet understand
completely what it was she craved.

She was empty and wanted to know what he had to fill her.

Someone cleared their throat.

Someone male.

Bhaic growled but gathered up her chemise and covered her breasts while shielding
her with his body.

“Go to hell, Symon.”

The tone of his voice cut through the intoxication dimming her wits. It was like waking
up from a dream, and her body protested the return to reality. She wasn’t ready to
come back yet.

“I figured ye might say something like that.”

Ailis looked past Bhaic to see a huge man wearing the Grant colors in his kilt. He
was looking away from them, but her cheeks burned with shame all the same. She scrambled
to push her skirts down and sit up.

“Someone better be dying,” Bhaic warned as he pushed to his feet with remarkable ease.
He reached down to hook her upper arm and lift her.

The man’s strength was amazing.

“So who’s dying?” Bhaic demanded, his frustration plain.

“Yer father and hers,” Symon responded as he turned to face them. “It seems they are
trying to kill each other over the pair of ye disappearing into the woods for a tryst.”

“We were nae—” She stopped when Symon’s gaze lowered to her open bodice. Bhaic reached
out and cupped her shoulder to turn her away from his friend’s view.

“Cover yerself, Ailis, and do nae deny what is plain.”

She grasped the ends of the tie that had closed her bodice and shot Bhaic a hard look.

But what she saw stopped her. His blue eyes were lit with a hunger that fascinated
her almost as much as it frightened her.

She turned around before he read the fear on her face. He was so confident, so full
of determination, she didn’t want him to witness her reaction.

She could not give him that power over her.

But her hands shook as she tried to thread the lace through the eyelets to close her
bodice. The fact that both men were waiting while she adjusted her breasts sent her
temper sizzling.

Her breasts were no man’s concern.

But ye enjoyed what Bhaic did with them, sure enough.

She yanked on the lace and tied a firm knot. It took another few moments for her to
adjust herself before she was fit to turn around.

Symon’s topaz eyes were brimming with amusement when she met them.

Bhaic slapped him on the shoulder. “Now what was the urgent need that sent ye after
us?”

“Well now, there are urgent needs and urgent needs, it would seem.”

Bhaic growled, earning a smirk from Symon. But the man pointed at the fair they’d
left behind. “Yer father claims she enticed ye into the woods—”

“I did nae—” Ailis said.

Bhaic reached out and curled a hand around her face to cover her mouth. In one swift
motion she was trapped against his side, his fingers smothering her retort.

Symon nearly choked on his laughter. Ailis lifted her foot and kicked him in the shin.

He yelped and jumped back, out of her range.

“Feisty,” Symon observed before shrugging. “And her father is demanding satisfaction
for the slight of labeling his daughter a harlot. The pair of goats are fixing to
ruin May Day with a melee.”