Highland Wolf by Hannah Howell Read Free Book Online Page B

angry.
    “So, do you intend to set your lord after me?” he asked again.
    “Why? Have ye been doing something that would harm Dunncraig?”
    He noticed that she did not say anything about harming MacKay. “No. I but wondered why the man pays me so well to make carved mantels and fine furniture yet the people in the village are but one bite away from starving.”
    “That is a puzzle easily answered. The fool thinks he should live like a king, that all that is grown, made, or earned in Dunncraig is meant solely for his comfort. Ye have been inside this keep for a fortnight and at the village before that. Ye shouldnae have to come peeking in here to ken that hard truth.”
    Annora felt her breathing quicken as Rolf pressed just a little closer. She could sense that he spoke the truth, just not the whole truth. She could also sense that he was no threat to Dunncraig and its people. If he was a threat to Donnell and his minions, she did not really care. None of that alarmed her. What did was that she could sense his desire and, as he pressed even closer, she could feel the proof of it. The fact that she liked how it made her feel astonished and frightened her.
    “I willnae say anything to Donnell, so ye may release me now,” she said, feeling quite pleased with how calm her voice sounded when she was trembling inside.
    “Are you sure you wish me to let you go?” James brushed a kiss over her forehead and felt her tremble faintly. “I do not think I want to. I think I am going to kiss you, Annora.”
    “I dinnae think that would be wise.”
    “You may be right, but at this moment I do not care. I just want—”
    Before she could say a word his mouth was on hers. It was soft and warm. She not only tasted his desire but felt it flow into her, heightening her own. It was as if, for just a moment, his heart and soul were bared to her, his feelings mingling with and strengthening her own. The emotions in the man were strong, and not all good ones, but his desire for her was real. Despite knowing that a man’s desire could be a shallow, fleeting thing, she did not hesitate to open her mouth when he nipped gently at her bottom lip. The stroke of his tongue inside her mouth was enough to make her toss aside all caution and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Whether his desire was shallow, deep, or even devious, she did not care. She just wanted him to keep on kissing her.
    He pulled her hard against his tall, lean body, his hand moving down to her backside to push her close to his groin. The feel of his long, hard manhood pressing against her in a pantomime of the act he so clearly craved should have had her running for her life, or at least for the sake of her virtue. Instead, Annora pushed back and heard herself moan softly.
    When he ended the kiss, Annora briefly followed the retreat of his mouth, trying to bring it back to hers. A tiny flicker of common sense halted her and she slumped back against the door. She could feel how hard he struggled to rein in the desire that had flared between them and knew she ought to be pleased about that. Unfortunately, common sense did nothing to douse the fire his kiss had started. She also wondered why he had stopped when she had been so willing.
    “Do you hear that?” he suddenly asked, his whole body tensing as if prepared to fight.
    “Hear what?” she asked, still trying to shake the haze of desire from her head.
    “Someone is coming this way.”
    Annora was just beginning to panic when he grabbed her by the hand and started dragging her toward the wall near the small fireplace. “We must get out of here,” she said.
    “That is exactly what we are going to do.”
    She watched in amazement when he stopped, pressed a few bricks surrounding the fireplace, and the wall moved inward. The only thing she could think of as he dragged her into a very small room was that it was a good thing that Donnell obviously did not know everything about Dunncraig. She was sure the man would