Highland Hero by Hannah Howell Read Free Book Online Page B

“I dinnae think I have kept it a verra close secret. Nay, especially not during this last week we have been together.”
    “Not since ye were certain that I was innocent, that I wasnae working with Simon.”
    “Aye, though it shames me to admit that I held such suspicions about you.”
    “Dinnae be shamed. I held them about ye from time to time too.”
    Lucais laughed even as he moved his kisses to the pulse point in her long, graceful throat. “I want ye, Edina MacAdam. God’s tears, I want ye so badly that I wake in the night all asweat with the need. I think ye want me too.”
    “I should say nay and leave just to dim that arrogance.”
    He lifted his head to look at her, smiling faintly when he saw the amusement in her expression, but then he grew serious. “But ye willnae say nay, will ye?” He stroked her cheek, a little surprised to see that his hand was shaking.
    “Nay, I willnae say nay. It may be unwise, reckless, e’en stupid, but I willnae say nay to you, Lucais. I fear I havenae got the strength to do as I should.”
    “Thank God for that,” he said as he stood up, and scooped her up into his arms. “Although,” he added as he walked to the bed and gently set her down on it, “I should prefer to think that ye arenae weak, that this isnae happening because of weakness. I should prefer to think that ye just have the strength to reach out and take what ye want.”
    “That is a much better way to think on it,” she murmured as she welcomed him into her arms.
    A soft groan rose from the very depths of her body as he kissed her. There was such passion in his kiss, such sweet tenderness, she was lost in it, so lost that she paid no heed to the removal of her clothes. With each touch of his hands on her body, with each heated kiss, he kept her blinded until they were both naked. It was not until he took off his braies and slowly lowered his body onto hers, the feel of his flesh meeting hers for the first time searing away the haze his kisses had encased her mind in. She shuddered and blushed beneath his gaze as he looked over every exposed inch of her.
    “Ye are lovely, sweet Edina, all black silk and white linen.”
    “Ye arenae such a poor sight yourself, Lucais MacRae,” she said, smoothing her hand down his side, the feel of his warm, hard skin sending her reeling.
    He touched a kiss to her breast and she gasped, the warmth of his lips flaring through her body. She could feel a faint tremor rippling through him and knew he was caught as tightly in the grip of desire as she was. The way he touched her, caressed her skin with his lips, told her that he was struggling to go slowly. When he enclosed the hard tip of her breast in his mouth and drew on it, she decided she did not have the will or the strength to go slowly. She slid her hands down his back to cup his taut backside and laughed huskily when he came alive in her arms, all hesitation gone.
    A heedless passion took control of her. She met his every kiss and touch with one of her own, equaling the ferocity of his lovemaking in every way. There was a wildness to their need for each other, and she reveled in it. It was not until she felt him press to enter her that a hint of sanity broke through. She wrapped her body around his, gasping with a strange mix of pleasure and pain as he joined their bodies. When he broke through the barrier of her innocence, the sharp pain of that loss made her cry out, but it became of little importance very quickly.
    Edina held him close, smoothing her hands over his broad back as she savored every sensation caused by the unification of their bodies. It was as if her body had been sleeping for twenty years and had suddenly been brought to life. When she shifted, drawing him deeper within herself, she heard him groan and felt him shudder. It was only then that she realized he was so taut that she could feel the veins standing out on his arms.
    “Arenae ye supposed to do a wee bit more?” she asked with a mixture