Page 44 of Kilted Seduction
By the time the need for breath drove them apart, his blood was singing with a heady blend of desire and concern, as intoxicating as the finest wine or mead. His erection was stiff against his leggings, aching with need.
Then his eyes caught sight of the bandages, and he felt the fire recede a little, and his sense return. Thora was injured. He needed to be careful.
A tug on his shirt made him look down to meet Thora’s gaze again. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes half-lidded with desire. Her hand tugged at his shirt gently. “Please… Aedan… more…”
He knew what she was asking, and he yearned to give it to her. However, now that he’d had a moment to breathe, he also knew it would be a mistake. For one thing, there was no guarantee that such exertion wouldn’t tear open the wounds in her shoulder and arm and do her more harm.
For another, Thora might want him now, but she was also under the influence of the medicine she’d been given, her mind addled by herbs, pain and the blow she’d received. If he gave in to her request now, he would never forgive himself for taking advantage of her state.
And Thora would probably never forgive him either. He couldn’t allow such a fate to come to pass.
“Aedan…” Her hand slid clumsily down his shirt to his belt.
“Nay. Nae any o’ that.” Aedan caught her hand before she could let it drift any lower to start undoing his belt. He caught the flash of hurt and unhappiness in her gemstone-colored eyes and bent to kiss her forehead. “’Tis nae that I dinnae want tae lass, fer I dae, and ye can see it well enough.” He offered her a wry look and a pointed glance at the prominent bulge in his leggings. “Even so, I willnae risk injuring ye further. I’ll nae be grantingthatwish until the healer says we may.”
Thora made a frustrated sort of mewling noise that almost made him laugh. “I… Aedan… I want…”
This time he did chuckle. “Och, I can see that well enough.” Aedan lowered himself onto his side and did his best to ignore the aching hardness pulsing in his groin.
Gently, he slid his hand from her cheek, down the column of her throat, the traced a feather-light touch across the tops of her breasts, mindful of the bandages around her left shoulder and arm. “Dinnae fret, lass, there’s plenty o’ other ways o’ finding pleasure.”
Plenty of other ways, and he was fairly certain she was unschooled in a man’s touch. She was far too shy about her modesty to have known the pleasures and the touch of a lover.
Thora blinked at him. “I… what…”
“Relax. Ye dinnae have tae dae thing. Just let me tak’ care o’ ye.” He lowered his voice to a rough, husky whisper, lettinghis breath ghost over her skin. She shivered at the feel, and he smiled. “Dinnae worry lass, I’ll nae leave ye wanting.”
Color bloomed across her cheeks, leaving her complexion looking like rose petals on snow, surrounded by a halo of glimmering night. “I…”
“Just relax…” He slid his hand under the top of her dress, to cup her right breast and tease the nipple gently. “Relax, and let me enjoy ye, and give ye pleasure in turn.”
She wanted him. She also knew that it was unwise to want him, but she couldn’t remember why and she wasn’t sure she cared.
Everyone else in her family had found a lover, who’d become a spouse. Aedan Cameron was handsome and strong and honorable. He would be a good partner, and a good lover. Why not follow the course of her desires.
Her shoulder hurt still, but it was nothing compared to the desire that sent sparks dancing in her blood and made her mouth go dry as she watched him shift into a comfortable position. Or at least, a somewhat more comfortable position than the one he’d adopted earlier.
She wanted him. She tugged at his shirt again. “Aedan…”
“Patience, little trickster.” His laugh was low and rich and deep, like treacle. Then his hand slid lower, dragging the fabric of her dress downward to leave her breasts exposed to his heated gaze.
His hand slid lower, to caress her belly, and Thora’s muscles quivered at the sensation. It felt… she couldn’t describe it. Like sparks darting from the trail of his fingers to her core, to pool in her gut.
Then his mouth fastened over her right breast, even as his hand continued to trace random patterns on her belly. Thora gasped, and would have squirmed, but his hand and his weight kept her from doing more than shifting restlessly against him as Aedan used lips and teeth and tongue to tease the sensitive mound into a hardened peak. She whimpered as his teeth scraped lightly across the now taut nipple, followed by a wash of his tongue and a breath of cool air that made her feel as if her belly muscles were all contracting at once.
Need pulsed through her, need and heat, mingled with pleasure. Pressure built low in her core, moisture pooling in her sex as she moaned his name. “Aedan…”
“What is it ye want, little trickster?”
“Ye.”
“Aye… and what dae ye want me tae dae?”
“Touch me…”
His hand caressed her belly, lower but not low enough. “I am touching ye.” He bent to tease her left breast with a little nip of teeth and the tip of his tongue, and Thora shivered again, muscles quivering under the sensation.
“Nay… I mean… please… touch me…” Her cheeks burned, flushed furiously at the idea of saying the words out loud. “Please… lower…” She flexed her thighs and rocked her hips a little, hoping he’d realize what she was hinting at.
