Highlander's Touch (11 page)

She could still smell the soap on him. Could taste the mint on his tongue. If she kept her eyes closed, she might even be able to imagine that he was not wounded. That he was not here in her cottage because she’d brought him here to take care of him, but because he’d pursued her. Because he wanted her.

The thought of him desiring her as much as she yearned for him sent a rush of excitement and delicious sensations through her.

Raindrops made repeated dull thuds on the thatched roof, and the moist scents of rain mixed with Ewan’s raw, masculine aura. Shona let herself sink further into him. The slide of his tongue over the seam of her lips made her gasp and open her mouth. But he didn’t invade. Didn’t thrust his tongue in. Nay, he teased her, darting in and out, swiping, twining. She couldn’t draw a decent breath.

One hand slid hotly over the curve of her buttocks and the other trailed up her ribs, over her shoulder and to her throat. A thumb on one side of her neck, his fingers on the other, he pressed. A flash of panic snagged her as he gently squeezed. Her pulse quickened along with her breath. Maybe she should have been scared. Should have pulled back, but for some reason, this man’s small show of dominance sent her body into a somersault of pleasure.

Instead of pushing him away, Shona climbed over his body, bracing her weight on her arms, their pelvises collided as she slid her long legs on top of his, careful to keep her weight off his injured torso. Her breath hitched as another whirl of decadent pleasure shocked her. Ewan’s cock was rock hard, long, and ground hotly against her, thrilling her.

The feel of him beneath her was exquisite. She opened her eyes, meeting his sky-blue stare. She stilled, chewed on her lower lip as they regarded one another.

“I dinna want to hurt ye,” she said, suddenly aware of his state and what harm she could bring him. Nettles, but she should just get off of him, but she couldn’t.

“Ye’re not.” His voice was gruffer than before, the sound of it raking sensually over her.

“But I might.” All he had to do was give her a sign she was hurting him and she’d get off of him. Leave him be, sleep outside in the rain.

“Ye won’t.” All the wicked playfulness of Ewan was gone and replaced by an intense heat that made her shiver.

Why did this have to be so complicated?

Again his gaze searched hers.

She kept her eyes steady on his, wanted to open herself up to him, to let him see into her soul, to share her secrets. But the terror that thought brought on was enough to make her blood run cold.

“Shona… Is there anyone… here for ye?”

His question hit a chord deep inside, and she glanced away, not wanting to let in how isolated she truly was.

“I have no one,” she whispered. And likely she never would, but she wasn’t going to admit it to him. Did not want his pity, only his touch. She’d wanted to escape for the moment. To pretend she was someone else, and that he truly cared for her. Shona started to pull away, but Ewan pulled her back, surprisingly strong for his condition.

“Nay, lass, I’m here. Ye have me.” He leaned up and scraped his teeth along her jawline, then slid his mouth over to hers. “Let me have ye.”

Shona pressed her lips hard to his, drinking in his kiss with an urgency she wasn’t quite sure how to control. “For tonight.”

“AS ye say,” Ewan whispered against the vixen’s mouth.

She might have said only for tonight, but he’d not been able to get her out of his sleep-induced, feverish brain, and once his temperature had broken, her name was the first on his lips. He’d pretend for her that this was only one night, but in truth, he planned to pursue her in earnest.

Just days before, he’d been intent on remaining a bachelor—on frolicking with Hildie and her wenches for the rest of his days. He’d even balked at the idea of his laird marrying. Had teased Logan for his love and enjoyment of his wife. But he’d not realized how much he was missing until Shona had stepped into his life.

Not that he’d be telling her this.

She made him feel like he was not alone in the world. He’d not realized before how lonely he truly was. The moments with Hildie and any other willing lass had fleetingly assuaged his desolate existence, but… They weren’t truly enough. And he wasn’t certain if this was because he’d nearly died twice now in the span of six months and he wanted someone to remember him when he was gone, or if he was turning over a new leaf as Logan had. Admittedly, the latter scared the living hell out of him.

But he’d be a fool not to admit that there was a connection and bond between them both that begged to be examined. He didn’t know what it was or how it was possible, but he wasn’t going to let her go. He was going to fully explore her and the mysterious bond that held them tight. He’d leave no stone, nor inch of skin, unexplored. Aye, he was going to claim this nymph for himself.

“Promise me,” she said, her hands cupping the sides of his face.

Ewan gripped her hips, massaging her as he lifted upward to grind his rigid cock against her warmth. “Anything,” he said.

“Promise me this one night.”

How could he deny her request and yet still appease his own desires? “I promise ye as many nights as ye wish.”

“Just one.”

“As ye say,” he said once more. There was no way he could promise only one, and by answering this way, he was leaving them both open for more.

“Oh, Ewan, ye make me feel… hot, and, and, wanted,” she murmured. Her velvet tongue slid inside his mouth to tangle with his.

“Lass, I want ye so bad, can ye not feel it?” He tilted his pelvis up again so she could feel just what he meant.

Surging heat seared his veins and skin. Never had he been so filled with need and passion. Was it
her
or her tea? Had to be her…

Shona responded to him by arching her back and thrusting her breasts forward. Ewan stroked his hands over the offered mounds. Soft globes with turgid peaks. The lass had perfect breasts and he wasn’t sure she even knew it.

“Ye’re so beautiful,” he murmured. “And these are perfection.” Ewan leaned upward to nuzzle her breasts, breathing over the puckered peaks, one at a time.

In her arms, every ache disappeared, and he was whole again.

Shona threaded her fingers into his hair again. He loved the feel of her hands on him, of the way she held him possessively. The woman was full of passion and he wasn’t certain she knew that either. Furthermore, he was more than happy to be the one to unleash her fiery manner. In fact, he insisted upon it, though, he wasn’t certain how long he’d last. She rocked back and forth on his hard cock. With only a blanket and flip of her skirts keeping him from entering her silken warmth, Ewan found any control he might have possessed slowly slipping away.

He nibbled on her nipple, reveling in the sound of her moan. “I like the sound of ye moaning, lass. I want to make ye moan all the more.”

SHONA’S heart could burst from her chest it pounded with such fervor. What was he doing to her?

Ewan gripped the back of her neck and tugged her down for a hard, demanding, hot, claiming kiss, sending a thrill rushing through her. He explored her mouth with dizzying concentration, his hands on her breasts, then up and down her thighs as he skimmed them beneath her gown.

He slid his mouth over her chin to her ear, teasing her earlobe. Shona couldn’t stop the continuous gasps and moans that kept rushing from her, but Ewan answered every one with a groan of his own. Their kisses, their touches, their responses, it was… she didn’t know. All she was aware of was that she felt so darn good. Her skin was prickling, her blood rushing and between her thighs, wet and tingling. A delicious pressure slowly built inside her, and she moved with anticipation to scratch the itch.

Ewan continued to tease her ear. He sucked her skin, pushed it out with his tongue only to suck it back in. Her golden warrior was playful, a tease. He made her see red, every touch a sharp and penetrating dance into ecstasy. It floored her. Compelled her forward, to see just how much more he could make her feel.

Plain and simple, the man intoxicated her.

“Ye’re skin is so soft,” he said, trailing his fingers away from her neck to her collarbone. His mouth followed the path, pebbled flesh trailing his tongue. “And ye taste sweet as honey.”

Shona rubbed the juncture of her thighs boldly over his engorged flesh. A daring and wild woman emerged from somewhere buried deep inside, startling her. “Mmm, and ye taste of mint.” She pressed her nose to his neck, flicking her tongue out to taste his heady flesh.

Ewan tugged on the shoulder of her worn wool gown, skimming his fingers along the inside. Shona was suddenly hot, wanting desperately to disrobe. To make all her clothing go away, to toss his blanket to the floor and slide naked against his taut body.

“I… um…” She could barely talk. Overwhelming heat and delicious sensations darted through her body, causing her mind to skate from one thought to the next and all of them having to do with Ewan’s kiss, his touch, and what the future held.

Fear collided with passion. She needed to put some distance between them. She needed to exhale, to think. While she’d agreed to kiss him, agreed to be his for one night—had she been lucid when she agreed to make love to him? Or was she blinded by the sizzle of his touch? By the overwhelming need to connect with someone?

Did
he
even know what he asked? The man was coming back from the brink of death, could she really expect him to make good on a request such as this?

His fingers danced over her belly, her breasts, and he leaned up to pull down her gown, exposing one nipple to his mouth. Maybe he did know. And maybe she should let this be what it was—pleasure for one night only.

Her head fell back on a moan as his soft, warm mouth tugged and sucked at her sensitive flesh. The way he made her feel—hot and desirable—was likely enough to make her strip off all her clothes and declare herself his forever, even before she took her next breath. And though her curiosity, her desire, was piqued, it would be wrong to go through with it. Wouldn’t it? Passion was what had brought them this far. Nothing lasting.

Except… There was one other thing that had brought her to this point. Need. The need to connect with another. The need to feel something other than loneliness, emptiness. Not until now had she realized truly how alone she’d been. And how could she ignore that?

Ewan’s hand softly circled her abdomen, feather-light. Then he moved lower, just a hint of his hand cupping her sex, arousing her all the more—and he’d barely touched her. Shona gulped, waiting for more, but it appeared he was waiting for permission.

Could she give it when moments ago she’d decided she had to leave him alone?

“I canna do this,” she said, regretting every word. “Ye’re ill—”

“I’m nay so ill.” He tilted his hips up, his cock rubbing along her sex and making her jump. “Nay so ill that I canna want ye. Pleasure ye.”

Shona shivered. “Aye, but…” She gazed into his eyes, seeing them hazy with her herbal tincture and something more… They burned with longing. All fever had left him.

“No buts, sweetheart,” he murmured. “I want to make love to ye. Do ye desire me?”

This man was offering something she’d not felt in so long—if ever—a moment’s escape from her loneliness that she could forever hold inside her heart. She knew it wouldn’t last. This was a one time thing. Was it worth the cost of her heart?