Page 90 of Never a Duchess
He was about to protest, when she kissed him, kissed him slowly, deeply, pouring everything of herself into his mouth along with the sumptuous taste of tablet.
She linked her hands behind his neck, pressing her body to his, squashing her breasts to his chest, desperate for physical contact.
Her urgency roused a primitive hunger in him. A fierce need to strip off their clothes and claim her amid the firelight.
On a ragged breath, she pulled away, clasping a hand to her heaving chest. “Make love to me, Callan.”
The plea was enough to send him into a lustful frenzy.
Capturing her face between his hands, he kissed her, plunging wildly into her wet depths, his tongue mimicking what he’d do with his throbbing cock once they were wed.
A rational part of his brain urged him to slow down. A quick tupping wasn’t on his agenda. They had the whole night to enjoy each other. He wanted to rain kisses over every inch of her body, to worship her as he would if she were his duchess.
“Ye’re in a Highlander’s territory now, lass.” He kissed her jaw and nuzzled her neck. “We play the game by my rules. And I need to test yer mettle.”
She gripped his shirtsleeves, moaning into the chill night air as he sucked at the sensitive skin on her neck. “What would you have this Sassenach do?”
Everything!
He released her. “Strip down to yer chemise while I stoke the fire.”
She blinked in surprise. “Are you undressing?”
“Aye. I’m going to bathe in the pool.” The cold water would cool his heated blood. She could sit on the water’s edge, paddling her feet while he pleasured her beneath the heavens. “Jenkins built it a few years ago.”
She scrunched her nose and pointed to the oval stone structure sunken into the ground behind them. “You’re bathing in that dirty pond?”
“It’s nae a pond.” He laughed. “It’s a natural pool.”
“But there’s netting covering it.” She seemed to find some relief in that.
“To stop animals drinking and contaminating the water. It’s easy to remove. The plants help keep the water clean.”
“It must be freezing. Don’t go in!”
“It’s warmer than ye think.”
She stood watching him, an incredulous look on her face as he stripped off his clothes and draped them over a low-hanging branch. Her gaze dropped to his flaccid manhood, her licentious hum audible in the cool night air.
He rolled back the netting and dipped his toe in the water.
Hell, it was cold.
A hiss escaped him, every part of his body tensing. “If I dinnae surface in a few seconds, ye’ll have to jump in after me.”
“What? Wait! No!”
But he stepped off the edge where the pool was at it’s deepest.
The cold swamped him, seizing command of every muscle. Biting into his skin, sinking into his bones. He rose quickly, moving to float on his back and gaze at the night sky while he calmed his breathing.
Lillian stood statue-still.
“Do ye want to come in?”
She didn’t answer.
He swam to the edge and looked up at her. Only then did he realise his mistake. He knew the pool was shallow, that he’d been teasing her about jumping in to save him. Still, in his excitement, he’d not considered she’d have a fear of water.
