Page 33 of Claimed By the Heartless Highlander
“Tell me why I should stay.” Her eyes were glittering, hard like diamonds with fires trapped within. “Give me a reason why I shouldnae go back to me faither.”
“We have an agreement.”
“Aye. But ye cannae even give me the proper courtesy a wife should have, let alone aught else. As it is now, I could go to me faither and tell him that it simply didnae work out.”
“The letters…”
“What about them? I can say it was a game between us, but that bein’ betrothed and livin’ with ye has proved we’re nae so well matched in real life.”
He could feel something stirring within him, like the jealousy that had caught him off-guard at breakfast, only far more intense. “Ye ken he’d marry ye off to someone else.”
“Aye. Like as nae someone like Laird MacMicking.” She shrugged her shoulders. “And why nae? He might nae be me first choice, but he seemed agreeable enough. At least with him, I’ll ken where I stand, and with a little work and some time, I could make a decent life of it.”
“Ye said…”
“I ken what I said. And what about it? If I’m to be bound in a loveless marriage either way, why would I nae choose an agreeable old man who makes few demands, and makes his intentions clear, over a cold, changeable beast who cannae even give me that much?”
She started to turn away, and Duncan felt his tenuous self-control snap like a poorly tempered blade. He rounded the desk and grabbed her arm to pull her back roughly to his side. “Dinnae say such things. Nae now, and nae ever.”
He’d startled her, that much was obvious, but Ailis was no wilting flower. Her eyes blazed back at him. “Give me a good reason nae to.”
“Ye promised yerself to me. And I’m nae so willin’ to let ye go.”
“That’s nae a reason.” Ailis raised her chin in defiance. “What ye’ve offered so far is a life nae even a nun would find fulfillin’. What can ye give me that would make mewantto stay?”
The challenge in her eyes, the heat of her stare, and the bright flush of passion—temper and something more—on her cheeks was too much for him to resist.
“This.” And without another word, he claimed her lips with his own.
CHAPTER13
Ailis wasn’tsure what she’d expected when she challenged him again. A retort along the same lines as before, about freedom and her duty to honor the promise she made, perhaps.
She wasn’t expecting the soft growl before his lips captured hers in a kiss that seemed to drive every thought she’d ever had out of her head.
Duncan’s lips tasted of salt and faintly of the fresh bread and mead he’d had for breakfast. The scent around him was one of leather, aged stone, a slight hint of sweat and iron, and something wild and masculine she could not describe.
The heat of his body enveloped her as he pushed her back against the wall. His tongue pressed against the seam of her lips, and she gasped at his boldness, as his tongue invaded her mouth and tangled with hers.
She’d read about kisses that could make a lass weak in the knees, but she’d never experienced one. It was… overwhelming.
Hewas overwhelming as he pressed closer, allowing her to feel the bulge beneath his kilt. One rough, callused hand pinned her hands above her head as his mouth thoroughly claimed hers, until she was panting.
Nor was there any relief when the kiss finally ended. Duncan merely shifted his head to press another kiss to the curve of her jaw, marking her in a way that could not be denied.
His voice was a low, husky growl, full of things other than anger as he whispered in her ear, “Ye forget, little Ailis, that I ken yer fantasies. Yer passions. I ken what ye want from a man, the things nay agreeable old man could ever hope to give ye.”
His free hand tugged at the laces of her bodice, loosening them until he could drag the fabric down to expose her breasts to the air. She shivered as he cupped each breast in turn, stroking and teasing her nipples until they hardened under his touch.
Every touch sent tingles down her spine, and she shuddered, held up by his hands, his body pinning her to the wall, his firm thighs pressed against hers.
She moaned softly.
“I long for ye to back me up against the wall and touch me until I cannae do aught save beg for more.”
It took a moment for her to realize he was quoting one of her letters. She might have protested, had he not bent his head to suck on her right breast, and rendered her entirely speechless as his teeth and tongue teased the sensitive flesh until she was squirming against him.
He switched to the other breast as his free hand slid slowly down her belly, leaving fire in its wake. Ailis shivered as he smoothed his palm over the plane of her stomach, his finger caressing her navel briefly. Even through the damp fabric, his touch was arousing, and far more intense than she’d ever imagined it might be.
