Page 84 of The Highlander Who Loved Me
He prowled toward her on the bed and pressed a kiss to her lips. “Aye, that it would.”
Coiling her arms around his neck, she pulled him close. Subtle traces of his natural musk filled her senses. Spending the morning in Connor’s arms would be delicious, indeed. But she couldn’t allow herself to be drawn into his spell.
She nipped at his earlobe, feeling the tiny shudder of awareness that ran through his long, lean body. Nibbling the sensitive flesh between her teeth, she swept her fingertips over his shoulders, gliding lower, savoring the crisp texture of the hair sprinkled over his chest and abdomen. Sensual hunger filled her, penetrating bone deep. By Athena’s spear, she wanted this man. Pity he was a man who’d love her tenderly by moonlight and betray her at sunrise.
She couldn’t deny she desired him. Even now, when she knew the truth of his deception. Her heroines would not be so naive as to fall into his passion-filled snare. But moral fortitude was easier when you were the product of ink put to paper, not flesh and blood.
Gently, he broke away from the caress. “Ye’re a temptation, lass. That ye are. But first, we’ve got a matter to discuss.”
She blinked, but quickly leashed her emotions. “I suppose I should’ve relied on words to paint the picture. It seems my demonstration has fallen short of your…expectations.”
“Nay, even when ye’re clothed like a parson’s wife, ye’re enough to get a man thinking with his cock rather than the hunk of stone on his shoulders. But there’s one thing ye need to remember—never try to deceive a man who knows yer every breath.”
“You think I don’t desire you?” How very wrong he was. She yearned for his touch, desired the strength and heat and power of his male body. But she could not allow that penetrating hunger to make her foolish and trusting.
“I’ve felt yer pleasure. I’ve felt yer wanting and I’ve seen the hunger in yer eyes. Ye cannae fool me with an act. There’s something ye’re holdin’ back.” As he spoke, his gaze wandered, lighting on the fireplace. On the hearth. “Damnation. Ye’ve moved the rug.”
Connor sprang from the bed, roiling the mattress like a ship in a turbulent sea. He crossed to the strong-box’s hiding place and snatched up the small, woven carpet in one hand. Jabbing at a small blemish at one corner of the rug, he kept his eyes on her face. “Do ye see this hole, lass? I positioned the tear at the hearth’s edge. But it’s been turned. What’ve ye done?”
“Good heavens, such ado about nothing. I tripped over the blasted thing.” A blessing, how smoothly the lie flowed from her lips. “I had no idea you’d placed it with any deliberation.”
Devil take it, he didn’t believe her. She could see it in his eyes.
Crumpling the rug, he tossed it aside, crouched over the improvised vault, and lifted the board out of his way. Lock-box in hand, he stared down at her. “Where is it, Johanna?”
She swung her legs off the bed and retrieved her dress from the chair where she’d tossed it. No point in conjuring clever lies now. Heaven only knew the man saw through every falsehood, whether of great or little consequence.
“It’s not there. I’ve secured it.”
His jaw set, hard-edged as flint. “Why?”
“I have no reason to trust you.”
A muscle near his mouth ticked as if she’d struck him. “Ye think I’d betray ye? Even now?”
“Yes.” The word was bitter, but she forced it out. “Our objectives do not align. It’s time we both faced that fact.”
He set the box on the floor with a small thud. Turning away, he pulled on his shirt. “So, ye think to go to him—alone?”
“Yes.”
“Ye know Cranston’s location?”
“In a manner of speaking. I will find someone to provide transport. I still have payment to offer.”
His fingers worked the buttons on his shirt. “Ye think to trust a stranger—most likely a thief—with yer safety?”
“Isn’t that what I’ve been doing?”
Again, that tiny muscle in his jaw ticked. But other than that muted reaction, his features betrayed little. “Ye don’t think I’ll stop ye?”
She nodded slowly, pondering his statement. “I have no doubt you could. But you won’t.”
“And why is that?”
Johanna swallowed hard against the bitter pain in her throat. “You have no need of me now. If anything, I’ll provide an effective distraction while you and your brother hunt for the stone. You already have the map secured from Cranston’s reach. Now, you can retrieve that blasted bit of rock, curse and all. That’s what you want. What you need. You’ll have the stone safely hidden away before the scoundrel is any the wiser.”
“Ye think ye’ve got this all figured out, do ye?”
