Page 105 of Laird of Smoke
He couldn’t help but snort at that.“I’m not certain either of us know who we are anymore.”
“I’m serious,” she said.“I lied to ye.I’m not Lady Aillenn.I’m not e’en from Ireland.”
He considered that and then nodded.She’d been convincing.But he’d always had his doubts.
“Ye’re not surprised?”she asked.
He shrugged.“Should I be?I’m not the Pope’s emissary from Rome either.”
“But ye’re not disappointed?”
“That ye’re not an Irish noblewoman?”He shook his head.“Nay.”
“But I deceived ye,” she said.
“We both did a bit o’ deceivin’.”Hell, he wasstilldeceiving her.“But ’tisn’t the Irish noblewoman I fell in love with.”
His words made her blink.“Ye’re…in love withme?”
He was a halfwit to admit it.To hand her his broken heart, giving her the opportunity to break it again.
Still, as she stood before him with hope in her wide eyes, he knew he was helpless to resist her.
“Fool that I am,” he murmured, “aye, I’m in love with ye.”
Her brow creased.“But ye can’t be.If ye knew…”
“Knew what?Who ye are?”He shook his head.“The heart feels what it feels, whether ye’re a queen or a milkmaid…”
“But I’m not—”
“An archer from Rouen or Malisio…”
“But—”
“Or the most notorious outlaw in all o’ Scotland.”
He lowered his gaze to her half-open mouth.He could resist her no more.Those were the lips he’d been dreaming of for weeks.
And when he closed the distance, she didn’t resist.Instead, she lifted her face and closed her eyes in anticipation.
Chapter 17
The kiss was even more stirring than Adam expected.Their mouths met at first with tender restraint, then with ardent enthusiasm, and finally with starved passion.
He lifted his hands to caress her jaw.
She pressed her fingertips into the fabric of his gambeson.
She moaned against his mouth, and the sound sang through his veins.Igniting desire.Filling him with desperate longing.
He wanted her.Now.
And he could tell she wanted him as well.
The hidden entrance to the castle was a few yards away.The gate would be locked, but there was enough of a recess in the rock to afford the privacy of shadows.
He broke away from the kiss and swept her off her feet.
