Page 23 of Highlander's Escaped Prisoner
Bryce sighed. “You see?” he said, shrugging. “Everyone is afraid of me.”
Nessa giggled. “I am not because I know your heart is as soft as butter,” she replied. She sat on the bed and bounced up anddown on it. “I will take the floor,” she said decisively.
“You will not,” Bryce replied, putting his hands on his hips and spreading his legs. He looked like a colossus, but Nessa was unimpressed.
“Do not argue with me. You are injured,” she growled.
“And you are a woman,” he countered, glaring at her in mock fury.
“It is so kind of you to notice,” she drawled. She stood up again, but Bryce was too close to her. Trapped between his body and the bed, she overbalanced, but he caught her before she fell backward.
“Nessa, you are enough to drive a man mad,” he said, laughing as he pulled her against him to stop her from falling down. “There is a perfectly good bed there, but you will not use it.”
He looked down into her determined, stormy blue-gray eyes and smiled. She was adorable; her pointed, heart-shaped face was turned up to his, and her full cupid's-bow lips were just asking to be kissed. He felt the soft mounds of her breasts pressing against his chest, and his manhood stiffened in response. When her lips parted in an innocent invitation, he could resist her no longer.
His lips swooped down on hers, and he felt her freeze in surprise for a moment before she responded, her soft, untutored lips moving against his in a way that was entirely instinctive. He felt her arms winding themselves around his neck, and then her hands plunged into his hair, her fingers teasing his scalp and adding another heavenly sensation to those he was already feeling.
Nessa thrust her body even closer to him until they were pressed together from breast to knee, and he cupped her bottom with one hand, while the other, on the small of her back, held her tightly against him. He dragged his mouth away from hers for a moment to look at her again and saw that her eyes were dark with desire.
“We cannot do this, Nessa,” he said huskily, hearing the desperation in his voice. “We cannot go any further, or—”
Whatever he had been going to say was cut short by Nessa’s fingertips. She had placed them over his lips to stop him from saying any more.
“I want to,” she murmured, then she took his hand from around her waist and placed it on her breast.
“Nessa...you will be ruined for any other man if you do this,” Bryce protested, even though every male instinct he possessed was screaming for fulfillment. He could feel the softness of the flesh under his palm and the hardness of her nipple under the fabric of her dress, and he wanted to devour her. His arousal was becoming almost painful, and even though he knew it was foolish, he allowed her to pull his head down for another kiss.
“Teach me,” she said huskily. “I want to learn how to make love.”
Nessa heard his groan of pleasure as their lips met again, and this time, she gave a startled little moan as he thrust his tongue inside her mouth to stroke hers. It was new, scary, absolutely heavenly, and she gave herself up to it without reservation, then began to imitate him and stroke his tongue with hers.
He began to play with her nipples through the fabric of her dress, rolling them between his thumb and forefinger, first on one side and then on the other, sending darts of pleasure straight to hercore.
Nessa felt her knees begin to weaken, then she was lying on the bed without any clear knowledge of how she had got there, and Bryce was lying beside her, his hard shaft pressed into her belly. She felt a sweet, aching pulse in her secret place and wetness that had never been there when Logan kissed her, but then she realized that Bryce knew how to kiss a woman properly. He knew how to please her. He was obviously a master of the art.
“Bryce…” she whispered on a sigh. “Please…”
Then, suddenly, as he heard Nessa give a soft gasp and say his name, Bryce crashed back to Earth. He pulled away from her, then looked down at her, ashamed to see that in his lustful frenzy, he had begun to pull her dress up to her thighs. He turned away, breathing heavily.
“Bryce?” Nessa was confused and disappointed, wondering what she had done wrong. She felt cold all of a sudden, missing the heat of his body on hers. She could still feel his fingers on her breasts, his hand on her thigh. She was sure that something even more delightful was about to happen, but obviously, she had done something to upset him, and now she would never find out.
Bryce ran his hand through his hair and kept his back to her until he had his body under control again. “Pull your skirt down, Nessa,” he said angrily.
Nessa stood and let the material fall to the floor, slowly coming to her senses. She felt no shame, only a sense of regret for what might have been.
Presently, Bryce turned back to her, but he avoided her eyes. “I am sorry, Nessa,” he murmured. “I should never have let that happen.”
Nessa wrapped her arms around herself to dispel the chill on her body, then took a step toward him, but he put up a hand to warn her not to come any closer.
“Have I made you angry?” she asked.
“No, but you do not understand that when a man is aroused, he can do you so much harm. Take the bed, Nessa.” His voice had an edge of grimness to it. “I will keep to the other side of the room because I cannot trust myself to be near you.”
She laughed, suddenly feeling embarrassed and a little foolish. “I had no idea I was so powerful.” She had meant to lighten the mood, but Bryce was not amused. She had no idea how close he had come to losing control. “Bryce, you are injured. Take the bed, please.”
She gazed up at him defiantly, and he was tempted to give in, but then one obvious flaw in her argument came to him. “Do you think that bed could stand my weight all night?” he asked. “I could hear it creaking loudly when we were lying on it.”
Nessa’s mouth dropped open as she looked at the rickety structure. “Probably not,” she conceded, somewhat annoyed at having been bested.
