Page 20 of Highlander's Runaway Seductress
“Broken window,” Damien said, sleepily, with his warm breath flitting over the back of her neck and making her shiver. “I was about seven and I tried to get through a window to steal some food, roastin’ meat that I could smell by me empty home.”
“And here?” Pressing her finger to the burn mark, Amelie asked.
“The result of me breakin’ in,” Damien explained. “The man inside the house pressed me hand to a hot coal, and I still left hungry.”
Amelie’s heart bled, but she kept the burgeoning tremor in her voice away. She pressed at another spot. “And here?”
“A dirk fight,” Damien’s voice dropped to wistfulness. “I had run into some wrong people at the worst time. I ken all the scars I have, lass. They are all burned into me mind… just like ye are.”
Jerking, Amelie twisted to him. “Me?”
“Aye,” Damien sounded defeated. “Started from the first time I saw ye and grew worse.”
Still flummoxed, Amelie asked, “So why now? Why are ye tellin’ me now?”
His sigh was hefty. “Because it’s troublin’ me, and I daenae want ye to believe I am rascal or a wretch. And daenae lie, ye must have thought I was from the callus way I treated ye.”
“Why dinnae ye just say somethin’?” Amelie pressed when she managed to digest what he was saying. “I would have understood.”
Damien pressed his lips tightly, “I am nae too good with expressin’ me feelin’s, lass. I grew up with the impression they daenae matter to anyone, so I just kept them inside. I told ye I had a hard life, and ye’ve seen the results of it on me skin. I felt that feelin’s are less important than doin’ what ye need to do to survive, that I could endure any pain given out if it meant that I was able to live another day.”
Immeasurable sorrow filled Amelie’s heart for him, for the hardship and the pain, he had been forced to endure while being just a child. She did recall days of hunger, but back in the orphanage, it had never been so bad that she had starved.
“That’s horrible,” Amelie whispered.
His lips twisted. “It’s in the past, Amelie. It doesnae matter anymore. What does is, will ye forgive me? I ken I’m wrong and I’m sorry.”
“I forgive ye,” Amelie replied.
“Thank ye,” Damien whispered before he leaned in to kiss her forehead and his lips were a hot brand of pleasure on her skin. Even more when his lips slipped from her forehead to her lips. She accepted his sensuous kiss that left her yearning for more. “I told meself that nothin’ would ever happen between us…”
“And now?” Amelie asked.
He did not respond, but from the look in his eyes, Amelie thought she already knew the answer.
8
Amelie’s lips were pillow soft, full andaddictive. Damien could not stop himself from kissing her harder and held her tight against him. His kiss grew from warm to fiercely passionate and possessive. A soft growl vibrated in his chest as Amelie’s mouth opened to him and he plunged his tongue in.
When his rough, wet tongue met her own, he felt pleasure when she returned stroke for stroke. Her thighs split over his hips and he surged between them. Her free hand moved from his chest, around his neck and delved into his wild hair.
His hands, however, angled down, slid over her hip and dipped to her knee. Grasping the back of it, he tugged her leg over his thigh. Following the curve of her leg in a sensual caress, gripping the flesh of her bottom and pressing her harder against him.
Pulling away to take in a quick breath, Damien lowered his mouth to hers once more. At the bare touch of their lips, he felt a tremble pass through her and, damn it, if he did not feel a quake though his body as well. Her lips were soft, full and kiss-swollen, and the more he touched her, the more lustful flames surged through his body, spreading through his veins like marsh-fire.
I must calm or soon, things will escalate to a point both of us will regret.
Damien could feel her responding to the lure too, but as he had decided to temper it, the blaze would die in Amelie soon. Reaching up from her pert backside he pressed his hand to the middle of her back while easing his kisses. Soon, his penetrating kisses softened to gently suckles and nips on her lips.
Amelie moaned softly, and he had to adjust himself by pulling his lower half away from her. He held her still, while stroking his hand over her back. When her eyes blinked opened, the mesmerizing orbs were hazed and unfocused. “I-I thought…”
“Thought what?” Damien asked quietly.
Pink splotches colored her cheeks. “Never mind. I’m ashamed of thinkin’ it anyhow.”
Knowing the words that she was omitting, Damien kept stroking her back.
“As ye should, couplin’ is the most intense feelin’ ye’ll ever experience, but that honor rests with yer husband, lass. And though I find yer body enticin’, ye’ll stay a virgin while with me. I’m sure yer father has a promisin’ prospect for a husband for ye.”
