The Hawk: A Highland Guard Novel (26 page)

Dampness gathered behind the heavy weight of her hair. Bundling it up in a knot, she tucked it behind her head and leaned back against the second bench. She could fall asleep like this. She heaved a sigh of utter contentment. “This is heaven. I never want to leave.”

He chuckled. “The rocks will cool off soon enough. But we have a few hours.”

She opened her eyes, hearing something in his voice. “I wasn’t serious,” she said.

He gave her a look that melted her bones, telling her exactly how they would like to spend the next few hours. “I was.”

His gaze held her and she felt that strange stirring of awareness that made her tingle all over. “Did you bring me here to seduce me?”

He seemed amused by her bluntness. “Do you want me to?”

“No.” She shook her head with more certainty than she felt. “I can’t.”

The glint of amusement in his eye was replaced by a spark of something else. Steely determination. She had a horrible feeling the seductive dance of the past few days was over.

He hadn’t moved. He was still leaning back with his back to the bench, by all appearances relaxed. Then why did she have an image of a coiled snake ready to strike? He leaned toward her and her pulse shot through the roof of her heart. “Why not? Aren’t you curious, Ellie?”

She shook her head. He looked just like the predator he was named for, and she felt like a tasty hare.

His eyes slid over her body, lingering on her breasts. Her nipples hardened under the weight of his heavy gaze. His eyes darkened dangerously. She knew what he was going to do, but was helpless to do anything but wait—unable to breathe—until he did.

He reached out and grazed her arm with the back of his finger, stroking with the barest touch. Her breath hitched harder in lungs that seemed to have forgotten how to work.

Her heart pounded and her senses flared as his finger traced along the curve of her hip, to her waist, and to the gentle swell of her breast.

Oh God
. Her entire body quivered in anticipation.

Her breath released in shallow little gasps. She could feel the heat of his hand through the thin linen of her chemise. So close. She whimpered, and her body shuddered when he finally touched the place she wanted him to, circling the throbbing tip of her nipple with the hard pad of his finger.

“I can make you feel pleasure,
tè bheag
. More pleasure than you ever dreamed.”

She was feeling it now. Her thighs pressed together against the tingling, against the dampness, as her breasts grew heavy and hot and her nipple strained against the pleasure of his big hand.

His seductively light touch was driving her mad. Desire licked her body with flames of liquid heat. She was hot. Restless. Needy. Every nerve ending clamored for the pleasure he promised. She wanted his hands all over her, grasping, gripping, and marking her with passion.

She wanted to give in to temptation.

Pleasure for pleasure’s sake. Nothing more. Could she forget about everything else and just enjoy the experience?

This is what he did. Made women weak with pleasure. But she wasn’t like other women. She was too sensible to let herself get carried away.

He must have sensed her struggle. His hand settled around her breast, cupping her, squeezing gently as he pinched her nipple between his finger and thumb. “Let me show you, Ellie. Let yourself enjoy the pleasure I can give you. Just a little taste,” he said. “I’ll stop whenever you want me to.” His gaze held hers.

She didn’t know why but she trusted him. Or maybe it was that she wanted what he offered so badly, she would believe anything.

She made her decision. For once she didn’t want to think. It wasn’t as if she was in any danger of losing her heart. She knew better than to let her emotions get involved. But this was her chance to taste passion, something she knew she would not find in her marriage bed.

It was wrong perhaps. A sin in God’s eyes. But she swore to be virtuous for the rest of her life if she could just have this moment. This would all be over soon. These idyllic few days would be forgotten. She would return home to her father and marry Ralph, as was her duty. But right now, she wanted this.

She wanted him.

    The waiting was torture. Those little gasps of hers were driving him wild. Erik could sense her passion straining under the surface, ready to break free. Christ, she was practically shattering under his fingertips.

His breath was hard and heavy as he cupped her breast in his hand, pinching her little nipple to a tight bud, wanting to feel it in his mouth, pressing against his tongue as he nibbled and sucked.

He was as hard as a rock. The past few days had been difficult enough. Being near her. Touching her. Smelling her. Seeing her blossom like a flower in the sun. But God’s blood, watching her in the sauna had taken his lust to new heights. He couldn’t think of anything more erotic than seeing her lounging on that bench. With her eyes closed, flush cheeks and damp tendrils of hair around her face, she looked like a woman who had just been very thoroughly ravished.

He couldn’t stop himself. His patience—admittedly never long—had reached the end of its tether. He wanted her, and she wanted him.

Why was she so hell-bent on resisting him?

He wasn’t used to being denied, but Ellie did so at every turn. The desire sparking between them was out of control. He could hardly think about anything else.

Even his mission seemed to have crept into the background, though the attack was only days away. Maybe it was that urgency driving him now—the knowledge that the time with her would soon be at an end.

If his desire seemed unusually intense, Erik knew that it was only because of the circumstances. He wasn’t used to spending so much time with a woman he was attracted to and not giving in to that attraction. He wasn’t used to not getting what he wanted. It surprised him how much fun he’d been having in spite of it.

He hadn’t gone this long without a woman since the training on Skye he’d done with the Highland Guard. But then it hadn’t been voluntary, merely a consequence of the lack of opportunity. He frowned, knowing that hadn’t been the cause of his abstinence this time. He’d had plenty of opportunities to relieve the tension. Why hadn’t he?

Because he wanted only her.

He pushed aside the uncomfortable realization before it formed. That couldn’t be it. He liked the lass—admired her, even—but she was no different than any other.

Bossier, maybe. Smarter, and less inclined to believe everything that came out of his mouth. And definitely more frustrating. But no more special than any other woman he’d ever wanted to bed. Once he relieved a little of the tension, everything would slip back into place.

He held her gaze for what seemed like an eternity but was only a few moments. When she nodded, he felt the rush of pure masculine satisfaction surge through him. He started to gather her into his arms, but she stopped him. “Wait.”

He stilled.
Please no second thoughts
.

“You won’t …”

She was too embarrassed to finish the question, but he guessed what she was asking.

He couldn’t help but be amused. She actually seemed worried that he wouldn’t be able to control himself. The idea that lust could get the better of him—particularly with an unskilled maid—was ludicrous enough to make him smile.

“You will still be a maid,” he promised. Her virtue intact for a husband.

His eyes narrowed. Did she have someone in mind? Was that the reason for her resistance?

He felt a spike of anger, realizing how little he knew about her. He was tempted to question her, but he knew it was none of his business. Yet that didn’t mean he didn’t have every intention of wiping any other man from her mind.

He couldn’t wait to make her scream. For him. Only him.

He leaned down and kissed her again, feeling a hard jarring in his chest when she slid her arms around his neck and gave herself over to him.

Finally.

Fourteen

    When he gathered her in his arms and pressed his mouth to hers, Ellie felt as if something had exploded inside her. The feelings, the desire, the passion she’d held in check unleashed in a blast of heat and sensation.

Any uncertainty she might have felt was gone. She wanted this. She wanted him. More than she’d ever wanted anything in her life. Regret could come later. Right now it simply felt too good.

He
felt too good. She would never forget the softness of his lips. The spicy warmth of his breath. The incredible hardness of his body. The heat of his skin. She wanted to sink into him and never let go. She wanted to pretend that this could be forever. That one kiss would not have to last her a lifetime.

His lips were gentle but insistent, urging the response that she was eager to give. She returned his kiss with all the fervor of innocent passion that had been building inside her from the first.

But he seemed content to take his time. To drag out every touch, every caress. To drive her crazy with anticipation. He’d promised pleasure, and he was giving it. But not fast enough.

She knew he’d done this before—no doubt more times than she wanted to know. His control and deliberateness reminded her of that fact. She wanted to taste his passion. To feel the full force of his desire for her. To know that she was not alone in the madness that had taken hold.

He was leaning over her as she reclined on the bench, but it wasn’t enough. She craved contact, needing to feel the weight of his big, hard body pressing down on her. She pulled him closer, trying to silently impart her wishes, but he only lifted his head and chuckled softly.

His thumb caressed her bottom lip, damp from his kiss. “Patience,
tè bheag
. I want to make it good for you.”

Was he daft? “It is—”

He pressed his finger to her lips. “No managing, Ellie. Do you want me to stop, or are you going to let me do this my way?”

She thought about testing him—she wasn’t the only one breathing hard—but in the end decided not to chance it. Now that she’d begun this wicked dance, she didn’t want to stop until she reached its fruition. So she nodded.

“Good girl,” he said, replacing his finger with his mouth.

He was a cruel man. Torturing her with each slow, deliberate caress until she thought she would die of anticipation. When he finally coaxed her lips apart, she moaned with relief at the delicious warmth of his tongue sliding in her mouth. Though it wasn’t a surprise, the sensation was still new enough to make her shudder. It felt as if her entire body was slowly coming apart.

This time she knew how to respond. When her tongue circled his, she was rewarded for her efforts with a deep masculine groan that reverberated down to her toes. It was all the encouragement she needed. Sensing a weakening in his control, she threw herself into the kiss with everything she had.

And it worked. With each erotic stroke, his kiss grew more demanding. Harder. Deeper. Wetter.

She was so hot. The sultry air of the sauna wreaked havoc with her senses. Everything felt so intense. Her body restless, sensitive, and teeming with heat. Her nipples were hard and throbbing, aching for the press of his hand or the weight of his chest. The soft place between her legs felt wet and throbbing, wanting …

She didn’t know what.

Her fingers curled into his back desperately. Beneath the damp linen of his shirt, she could feel the hard splay of his muscles straining under her fingertips. The memories of his bare chest were so fresh, she wanted to rip off his shirt and press her hands against his hot skin. To mold her palms over his broad shoulders, over the round muscles of his arms and the flat slabs of his back and stomach.

Maybe he sensed her urgency?

His mouth moved over her jaw, ravishing her throat, lingering at the sensitive curve of her shoulder.

She tried to breathe through the frantic pounding of her heart as he worked the ties of her chemise. She was barely aware of the hot air on her naked breast before his hand covered her. She gasped with raw pleasure as his palm, rough with calluses, cupped her and his fingers worked her nipple to a taut peak.

“God, you’re so beautiful.” She gazed at him through half-lidded eyes, embarrassed to realize that he was staring at her breasts as if he’d never seen anything so spectacular. As if the small mounds of flesh could somehow compare to those with far more generous proportions. “You have the tiniest, pinkest nipples.” He ran his finger over one just to emphasize his point. “I think they might be the sweetest I’ve ever seen.”

The warmth of his breath on her skin made it prickle. His mouth was only inches away. She gasped with shock when he flicked her with his tongue. He held her gaze, his eyes darkening with something she didn’t recognize right before he covered her with his mouth.

Hot shards of pleasure exploded inside her. Instinctively she arched into his mouth and plunged her fingers through the thick softness of his hair to clutch the back of his head, craving the added pressure. He sucked her nipple deep into his mouth, nibbling it between his teeth with just enough friction to make her cry out.