Page 26 of The Highlander's Runaway Nun
Laura’s lips parted as she looked up at him, her chest rising and falling in quick succession. Bradley stood over her, his hand dragging slowly across the curve of her cheek before sliding down to her throat, his thumb brushing the frantic pulse there.
“Ye ken what ye do to me, lass,” he murmured, his voice rough as gravel. His eyes darkened as he added, “Ye drive me mad, and I cannae hold back. I said on our weddin’ night I will nae force ye into anythin’, but ye must give a man a crumb.”
Her body trembled as his words pierced through her, and she lifted her hand to touch his wrist where it rested against her throat.
“Bradley… ye speak of madness, but do ye nae see what ye do to me?” she whispered, shame and yearning tangled in her tone. She felt her own skin flush with the truth she dared to speak.
“I’m undone beneath yer gaze, and I scarce can breathe. Though I am nae ready to lie with ye that way. What can be done?”
“There are other ways that I can please ye, lass, than to consummate our bond, just let me show ye,” he said.
With a low growl, he bent down and pressed his mouth to hers, the kiss fierce, demanding, leaving no doubt of his hunger. Laura gasped against him, her hands curling into his tunic as her body arched toward him. His tongue sought hers with desperation, the heat of him overwhelming as he consumed her.
She felt herself melt beneath his weight, yet burn at the same time. His hand slid over her shoulder, down the line of her arm, until he clasped her hand and pinned it above her head against the blankets.
“Ye’ll nae run from this, lass,” he breathed against her lips, his breath hot. “Ye’re mine, and I’ll have ye ken it with every touch.”
Laura shuddered, her legs tangling with his as fire coursed through her veins.
Her free hand explored him in turn, sliding across the hard muscles of his chest, feeling the rapid beat of his heart beneath his skin.
“Ye’re a brute, Laird McCormack,” she said, though her voice was broken by a tremor of want. Her fingertips dragged lower, brushing the ridges of his stomach as she felt his body tense at her touch. “And yet I crave ye.”
He drew back enough to look at her, his mouth swollen from their kiss, his breath unsteady.
“Say it again,” he demanded, his eyes blazing into hers.
Laura swallowed, her body quaking, but she did as he asked. “I crave ye.”
With a growl of satisfaction, he lowered his mouth to her throat, his lips and teeth grazing her skin as if he meant to claim her there.
She cried out softly, her hands clinging to him as every nerve in her body seemed to awaken under his mouth. His hand moved across her collarbone, tracing down to the swell of her breast, and she gasped as he cupped her firmly.
“Bradley…”
His thumb brushed across her peak, and her whole body arched into him, a sound escaping her lips that she could not suppress. He pulled her collar down and exposed that breast.
“Sweet saints,” he whispered harshly against her ear. “Ye are a beauty. The way ye answer me, ye’ll drive me to ruin.” He pressed kisses on her breasts, each touch setting her aflame.
Laura’s hands gripped his hair as she pulled him closer, desperate to feel him against her.
“Then ruin me as well,” she pleaded, her voice ragged with need.
His gaze snapped back to hers, wild and feral, as if her words had shattered the last of his restraint. “Ye daenae ken what ye ask, lass.”
“I do,” she insisted, her voice steadier now, though her body trembled with anticipation.
She dragged her fingers down the line of his jaw, then across the taut muscles of his back. “And I’ll nae turn away from it. Show me this way of pleasin’ me without consummation.”
Bradley groaned low, his forehead pressing against hers as though warring with himself, then he kissed her again, deeper than before.
His hand roamed with urgency, slipping down her waist, tracing the curve of her hip, squeezing firmly as though he wouldanchor her to the bed. He pushed her skirts up high and quickly removed her underthings. A frenzy of untying ribbons and laces.
Laura felt his hands on her inner thigh. She gasped. A sharp breath of air as he removed the last of her clothing that exposed her silky black curls between her legs to him.
“Mm, ye are enough to drive me into madness. Look at ye,” he said.
“Do I… do I nae please ye?” Laura felt embarrassed in that moment as she did not know how she was supposed to lookdown thereand she wanted to please him.
