Page 23 of The Cruel Highlander's Healer
“Maybe ye want to spend more time with me,” his voice was a low growl.
He was close enough that she could feel them rumble through his chest. The words made her breath hitch, but she forced a sarcastic smile onto her face.
He kidnapped ye.
Eliza reminded herself, using those words to give herself the strength to resist.
“Aye, I’m sure all the lasses fawn over their kidnapper,” she said with a grin.
“Ye might be surprised,” he shrugged his shoulder. “It’s nothin’ to be ashamed of. Plenty of lasses have wanted their chance to bed me.”
Eliza rolled her eyes, “and I bet ye scare them right off with that terrible nature of yers.”
Something flared in his eyes. The space between them had already been thick with tension, but somehow, it seemed to pulse.
Her heart raced faster, and heat crept up her neck and into her face. He didn’t step closer, if he did, they would have been touching. But somehow, she became even more aware of his presence than she had been a moment before.
The smell of him, all musk and danger, drifted the small space between them, cloying at her nose. She wanted to inhale it, craving to bury her face into him as he ravaged her.
Get control of yerself, lassie. Daenae go throwin’ yerself at a man like him.
“I daenae think I scare ye off.”
His words rumbled through her.
“I only want to help the bairns.” Eliza’s words sounded hollow, the lie in them apparent even to her own ears.
The Laird chuckled darkly. “We’ll see about that.”
Before she could react, his large hand lashed out. It wrapped around her head, gripping in her hair as he pulled her body against hers. Eliza didn’t even have time to luxuriate in the feeling of it before his mouth claimed hers.
Heat rushed through her, painting everything in her red with lust. Her veins felt like they were on fire as their mouths moved together.
His hand fisted in her hair, and his tongue darted out, claiming her mouth.
She reached her arms up, coming onto her tiptoes to wrap them around his neck.
With sure steps, the Laird pushed against her, backing Eliza up until her back hit the wall. She was nothing more than the feeling of his lips on hers, of his hand gripping her hair as the other roamed down her back.
She wanted more. Needed more. She wasn’t sure how she would ever get enough of this feeling. She needed….
Just as quickly as it all had started, suddenly the Laird wrenched away from her. Cold air rushed through, touching all the places that his warmth had just been.
Eliza’s eyes flashed open in surprise, finding Laird MacKinnon several paces back in the room. He stared at her, frank amusement written on his handsome, brutish face.
“I guess ye’re like the other lasses after all,” he said, the side of his mouth ticking up in a smirk. “We’ll be goin’ to Auld’s village in two days’ time. Make sure ye’re ready early in the mornin’. I willnae be waitin’.”
Eliza’s mind was spinning, having a hard time making sense of his words and everything that had happened within the last few moments. The Laird didn’t wait for her to respond as he turned and strode from the room.
With a shaking hand, Eliza touched her lips. They were swollen from the force of their kiss. Even though she was entirely alone in his study, she could still feel the touch of him. She could still feel the way his hands had roamed her body, and the pressure of his mouth on hers.
As the truth of it all settled over her, embarrassment washed over her, cold as ice. It stifled all the desire that had been coursing through her, like snow in her veins.
“What the hell did ye do, lass?” she asked aloud, but the only response was the crackling of the fire and the still rushing beat of her own heart.
CHAPTERELEVEN
“It is too damned hot in this damned castle,” Conall grunted, throwing back his covers.
