Page 97 of The Texan Duke
He did, his tongue touching hers, exploring. She felt herself open to him, both his kiss and his invasion.
The sensation was shocking.
Her body was no longer hers. Somehow he commanded it, was able to harness her breath and cause her heart to beat like a shuttered bird in a tiny cage.
Even more sensations were layered atop the first. She didn’t expect the pinch or the slight twinge of discomfort. She made a sound and Connor stopped moving.
“Am I hurting you?”
No. Yes. No.
She shook her head, but he didn’t move, merely braced himself on his forearms.
“Elsbeth.”
What a very strange time to want to weep. She wrapped her arms around him, wondering if she could explain. What she was feeling was something she hadn’t anticipated, a yearning, a need to tell him how she felt.
He mustn’t think that she would have done this with anyone. Only him. Only Connor.
In loving him she’d given him the only gift she had to give, her innocence. She wanted him to value it, to accept it, and in return give her something she might hold dear for the rest of her life: affection, if only for this moment.
He kissed her cheek, the corner of her mouth, the edge of her jaw, holding himself still as if to allow her to become accustomed to his size.
She was heating from inside, and she needed, wanted, must raise her hips. When she did, he raised up, kissed her lips. She met his downward stroke, her body knowing what to do without her mind’s acquiescence. It felt as if she’d done this before, that she knew the rhythm and movements of this dance.
This. This is what she wanted. This feeling. This knowledge that something was going to happen and that it was going to burst from deep inside her. Not only emotion, but physical sensation. Her body’s transformation from innocence to experience, from yearning to completion.
Then she lost herself, wonder stripping her of breath as she wrapped her arms around his neck and held on.
He stiffened above her, kissing her, the two of them joined in pleasure and passion.
Finally, it was over, Connor moving to lie beside her, his breath as fast as hers. She reached out, placed her hand on his good shoulder, needing to continue that connection with him.
This shattering interlude had propelled her from virginity to knowledge. It had done something else as well, something she hadn’t expected. She felt as if he were wedged into her heart now, in a way that meant he would be nearly impossible to remove.
Chapter 30
Where the hell had she disappeared to now?
Douglas had informed him that Elsbeth had taken herself off to Inverness, only an hour’s journey from Bealadair.
“Miss Elsbeth said she’d be back in three days, Your Grace. I’m sure she will. She never breaks her word.”
“Do you know why she went to Inverness, Douglas?”
The stablemaster had looked surprised at the question.
“No, Your Grace, she didn’t tell me that. Nor did I ask.”
The look Douglas gave him meant Connor shouldn’t have been curious, either.
He was a damn sight more than curious. He was angry.
He’d even gone to Glassey, but the solicitor had not been forthcoming with any information.
“Yes, she’s in Inverness, Your Grace.”
“Why?”
