The Devil Wears Tartan by Karen Ranney Read Free Book Online Page B

been curious, and this could be a very informative and interesting interlude.
    This time, when he bent down to kiss her, she found herself turning toward him, and when he would have drawn away, she placed her palm against his cheek.
    The look they shared was disturbingly intimate. As if he knew what she was feeling, and felt the same: confusion, pleasure, surprise, and a curious yearning. She wasn’t hungry or thirsty, but she wanted something, some basic need that must be satisfied. The strangest feeling of all was that she knew he could satisfy it.
    Her hands slid down to rest on his clothed arms, her gaze on his face. Somehow it didn’t seem important anymore that she was nearly naked or that he was a stranger.
    He drew away from her touch, and just when she thought he might leave her, he merely removed his jacket and began unbuttoning his shirt.
    She wasn’t prepared for him to undress in front of her. At first she didn’t know where to look, but he didn’t appear disturbed by her curiosity.
    Before he removed his shirt he divested himself of his shoes, and then let his kilt drop to the floor. She concentrated on the tester above her for a few moments before she felt the mattress give, a sign that he’d returned to her side. Only then did she look in his direction again. His shoulders were bare.
    Her glance raced down his chest.
    Davina realized she’d never seen so much bare skin at one time. Certainly not masculine skin. Even when she’d bedded Alisdair, she’d done so with most of her clothes on. Nor had he undressed at all.
    Marshall was naked. Dear God, he was naked.
    Nor had he extinguished the lamp.
    Oh my.
    Perhaps she should have remained maidenly and reticent and kept her eyes closed, but curiosity kept them open. His shoulders were broad, his arms muscled in a way that hadn’t been revealed by the shirt. His hips were narrow, but that was all she had a glimpse of before he kissed her again. Now there was no choice of keeping her eyes open or not. Her lashes fluttered down along with her senses. She went spiraling out of control, to a land of darkness and delight.
    He touched her again, but this time she was naked. How very odd that she couldn’t remember how her gown had been removed. Her arms were raised over her head and then placed around his neck, as if he somehow knew that she needed to hold on to him as a point of reference, an anchor.
    Her breathing came faster, as if to keep up with the pounding of her heart. The world seemed to swirl around her in waves of color. He deepened the kiss, or she could have been the one who insisted upon touching his tongue with her own.
    How deliciously he kissed. How utterly wonderful she felt.
    When he kissed her throat, it felt as if it were right and proper. She arched her head back to give him room to trail a path of kisses from her ear down to her collarbone and across to her shoulders and then, blessedly, delightfully, wantonly, and wonderfully, to her breasts. When his mouth surrounded her nipple, she gasped.
    His hands were everywhere, his fingers skimming across the flesh of her stomach, her thighs. His palmpressed against her left hip, and she wondered at the sensation. How could she feel so many things at once? He kissed her right breast and tongued the nipple, and then pulled at it gently.
    Surely that sound didn’t come from her?
    He pulled back and looked at her. What other sight in this garish room was as beautiful as Marshall Ross? His brown eyes flashed with light; his mouth was smiling slightly; his cheeks were bronzed with color.
    She reached out her hand and pressed her fingers against his lips. He responded by kissing them, and then smiling at her.
    Words felt almost forbidden in those silent, enchanted moments. Her breath felt tight in her chest, and her blood felt as if it were beginning to boil, heating in her body and causing all manner of curious sensations. She wanted to smile. Then to lay her cheek against his and extend her arms