Page 59 of The Last Debutante
“If you dislike your situation so,” he said, propping one foot on the rock where Daria was standing, “find another occupation.” He stepped up onto the rock, so close that they almost touched.
She snorted at his suggestion. “I am not allowed to have anoccupation,Jamie. I am to receive callers and take tea and dine when asked. What else could I possibly be?”
“I donna know,leannan,” he said softly. “Whatever interests you. But I donna think life will come and rap on your door. You’d best go out and find it, aye?”
“It’s not like that in England,” she said, her frustration rising along with her pulse. “That’s not what is expected.”
“Expected by whom?” he asked, his gaze on her mouth.
“Everyone!” she exclaimed, casting her arms wide.
A smile softened his face. “What doyouexpect?”
“Me?”
“Aye, you,” he said, pushing her braid over her shoulder. “What do you expect for yourself?” He put his hand on the side of her face. “I’ve watched you befriend a boy who canna hear, a man who canna speak. You found a wife for Dougal, and you have endured captivity with grace and humor, insisting that you be allowed into our society. So why, in England, do you sit about and wait for a man to claim you? Make your own way, Daria.”
Her heart whispered,Claim me,but she folded her arms. “What are you suggesting?” she asked quietly. “That I not marry?”
“Ach, I didna say that, did I?” he asked with a grin. “But I would no’ care to see you wait like a lamb for someone, anyone, to find you and know what treasure he holds. Leap, lass. You’ll either fall or fly, but if you donna leap, you will waste your time on this earth. Be brave, Daria. Be courageous.”
Be brave.It was what she longed to be, and in that moment, with his hazel gaze staring into hers, Daria took his advice to heart. She suddenly rose up and pressed her lips to his, shaping them around his, softly biting his bottom lip. She was brave. She was courageous! And when Jamie responded with what sounded like a growl, she was flying.
He dropped his fishing rod and basket and grabbed her in a tight embrace, returning her kiss with an ardor that surprised and aroused her. A tide of scorching pleasure rose up in her; her mind suddenly flooded with images of him lying naked in her grandmother’s house, of that sultry, languid kiss when he’d been half out of his mind.
She threw her arms around his neck and pushed her hands through his hair, causing his hat to fall. He eagerly delved into her mouth, his breath mingling with hers, sending fire racing through her veins. He cupped her face, angling it so that he could deepen the kiss, keeping her anchored to him and the evidence of his arousal.
Daria pressed into him, her breasts against his chest. Jamie suddenly lifted her from her feet and whirled her around, putting her back against a tree and crushing into her, his hips moving seductively against her. She slid her hands down his hard chest, her hips pushing back against his hardness.
She cared for nothing but the boundless pleasure of that kiss, that arousal of her senses to heights she had never before experienced. He dropped his hand to her waist, spanning her ribs, then sliding up to the soft mound of her breast that filled his palm. His fingers dipped into her shirt, grazing her nipples and sliding into the warmth of her cleavage a moment before he dragged his mouth from hers and dipped down. Swiftly undoing some buttons, he then pulled her breast into his mouth.
Daria gasped at the extraordinary sensation, rising up, pushing into his mouth. He teased her rigid nipple with his tongue and his teeth, sucking and nipping at her as his hands slid down her body, between her legs, driving her past rational thought, past the point of actually breathing.
Then a distant sound suddenly drew Daria back to the present.Voices.“Jamie,” she whispered, and pushed his head away from her breast. She could hardly hear through her labored breathing.
“Wha—”
Daria quickly pressed her hand to his mouth. Jamie let go of her then, turning to survey the area around them as she quickly straightened her clothing. She was aching for him, her body quivering with unholy desire... but also with fear. Someone or something was out there.
She heard it again.
So did he. Jamie held out his hand to her, indicating she should stay where she was, and moved quickly down the path.
But Daria had no intention of being left behind for the faeries and witches to find her. She scurried after him.
He’d climbed up to an outcrop and was lying on his belly. When Daria scrambled up beside him Jamie started and pulled her down, crushing her into his side, his hand over her mouth.
“Uist,”he whispered.“No’ a word.”
Daria nodded. He removed his hand from her mouth but kept his arm hooked around her.
Below them was a gorge, and she saw a man on horseback and Mamie standing beside him.Mamie!Before Daria could gasp, Jamie quickly clamped his hand over her mouth again, drawing her even more tightly into his side.
Mamie and the man were having an animated conversation, judging from the way her hands flew and the rise and fall of her voice. Daria couldn’t tell what she was saying. The well-fed man leaned over his saddle and said something that made Mamie drop her hands and glare at him. Mamie said something else and then whirled about, her cloak flying out behind her as she began to march down the rocky path to the river.
The man watched her go, then slowly turned his horse about. As he did so, he suddenly looked up to where Daria and Jamie were hiding and paused. It seemed to Daria as if he were looking directly at them. Neither she nor Jamie moved.
The tense moment passed. The man turned his attention to the path and spurred his horse, moving up the gorge and disappearing around a stand of trees.
