Page 38 of Tempting the Highland Devil
Arran shook his head, and his eyes focused on hers as he blinked. “Hate ye? I could never hate ye, Yvaine…never.” She heard the tremor in his tone, and it made her heart pound faster.
“Ye dinnae force my hand. I knew the consequences of what I was doin’, and I went ahead with it anyway. I wanted ye for meself even though I ken it was wrong. I struggle with meself every day because I dinnae want to be like me faither, but everythin’ I have done so far makes me just like him.
“Cravin’ ye with every thin’ in me, kissin’ ye that night, and competin’ for yer hand simply because of my greed and desire to make ye mine…All of that makes me just like him.”
His eyes shone with the true strength of his deepest pain as he stood with her right there. Yvaine felt like she could see through to the deepest parts of his soul.
“I knew yer faither, Arran,” Yvaine spoke softly as she took his hand and pressed his palm flat to her cheeks. “I saw all that he did to my braither and to the other clans he fought with…I ken the man ye are, Arran, and ye are naythin’ like him.”
Arran’s deep sigh broke her heart. She touched his cheek with her free hand, and he closed his eyes.
“Ye dinnae ken what ye speak of, Yvaine,” he murmured in a thick voice. “I have acted just like him…Even now, right here…All I think of is me personal wants and nay about how this affects ye. It is selfish and…”
She hushed him with a finger to his lips. “It isnae,” she whispered, drawing closer to him like there was a magnetic pull dragging her his way. “Desire isnae selfish, Arran. It is what makes us human.”
Yvaine forgot all about her own worries about if he wanted her or not. She wanted to comfort him and make him realize he was nothing like the man who sired him.
Without overthinking her actions, she wrapped her arms around his body and drew him close for a tight hug. Yvaine consoled him the only way she could think of. She smoothed her hand down his back and enjoyed the warmth of his naked skin in her arms.
They stayed there for a long time, neither of them moving. She held her breath when he gently lifted his head and looked at her.
Arran stoked her chin. The feel of his fingers sliding over her skin made her relax and lean closer to him. They inched closer together, both swept up in the tides of their raging hunger.
Yvaine held her breath and licked her lips. Her lids fluttered close when he finally blessed her with his kiss. It felt like their hearts became one as he hiked her chin higher and took her tongue, licking and stroking.
She flung her arms around his neck, and he lifted her into his arms. Arran carried her across the chamber to his bed and gently lowered her to it. When his lips left hers and trailed a path down the side of her neck, she moaned and arched off the bed to meet him.
“I hope ye can forgive me, Yvaine,” he growled as he kissed her lips deeper this time and slid his hands to the sash of her night dress.
Yvaine’s heart skipped a beat, thinking he would make love to her tonight.
She longed to experience the hidden pleasures she knew his lips and touch would ignite in her.
20
Arran knew a time would come when resisting her would be impossible. He knew it as well as his own name. In that moment, all that mattered to him was pleasuring her.
Yvaine’s body was made for his torment. Her lips were sweeter than nectar and any ale; her moans erupted a volcanic fire in him and left the edges of his nerves burning for more.
He wanted her desperately. Arran needed to feel her tremble in his arms and know that he brought her just as much pleasure as she brought him.
When she whimpered and parted her legs on his bed, he hushed her with his lips then smoothed his hands over her hair. “Look at me,” he said in a thick rush of Gaelic words, and her eyes fluttered open.
Arran thought she looked beautiful. The look of pleasure etched into her features was enough to have him trembling with need for her. Their eyes melted into one as he stroked her chin, pressed his thumb over her lips to test their softness, then bent to nibble them again.
She sighed when he moved his hands down her legs and lifted the sheer fabric of her night dress. “The thought of anyone else touchin’ ye drives me insane,” he whispered as he caressed her bare skin, gently hiking higher till he reached the moist spot between her legs.
“Arran,” she gasped when he stroked her softness with one finger, gently parting her legs again for easier access. Yvaine’s teeth sank into her lower lip gently, and she shuddered in his arms.
He slid one finger into her moist folds and loved how she unraveled in his arms. Watching her was like feeding his hunger with an elixir that only made it rage higher. Arran didn’t realize he was holding his breath until his labored lungs struggled to ease air out.
Their lips met again, so he could take all of her moans as he pleasured her with his fingers. His thumb began a slow dance over her sensitive spot while one finger slowly slid in and out of her, taking her closer to the planes of higher ecstasy.
Yvaine closed her eyes and cried out again. He did not drag his eyes away from her. Arran noticed the erect bud of her nipple poking through her night dress, and he dipped his head to flick his tongue over it.
She clutched his arm, her nails dug in, and a mixture of pain and intense pleasure fired through him. He withdrew his finger slowly, so he could take off her night dress completely.
Yvaine’s body was perfection. Her hips curved slightly, just the right size, and her skin was a creamy, inviting complexion. His eyes feasted on all of her, and he rounded his hands over her hips greedily.
