Page 15 of An Allusive Love
He bent his head, and that thick lock fell over his brow again. She wanted to reach out and push it back. So she did. It was soft under her finger, his skin smooth and warm. He looked up, his cerulean gaze a combination of heat and bewilderment.Shehad caused it, and the idea made her giddy.
“No and no.” She looped her finger into his belt and pulled him forward a step.
“What?”
She licked her lips. Her mouth had suddenly gone dry. “No, I shouldna keep looking. No, he’s no’ the one for me.”
Brodie nodded, his gaze now on her mouth, one brow arched in question. She swallowed.
“The only one in my heart is ye, Brodie MacNaughton.” Kirstine lifted a finger and traced the square jaw, ran it down his neck. Her heart hammered in her ears as loudly as the drums during the May dance.
“Me?” Confusion skittered across his face, and then he nodded in understanding. “As yer best friend.”
She gave him another tug, and his weight set them both off-balance, pulling her forward. When her back settled against the tree, his hands planted against the trunk and framed her face.
“That and more,” she whispered. Her eyes closed as her courage slipped, and her knees tried to buckle. The rough bark bit into the skin between her shoulder blades.
“Look at me, Kirsty,” he said, his voice soft and placating. “I care for ye as much as I do my own sister. But ye’re my best friend, it would be like kissing Brigid.”
Her lids flew open. Frustration and anger replaced the hesitation. Was she not pretty enough? Not flirtatious enough? What did all those other females have that she didn’t?
“Is that what ye’re worried about?” She pushed away from the tree. Brodie stumbled backwards, and she grabbed a handful of his shirt in both fists. When she pulled him down to her and pressed her mouth to his, Brodie stilled. His lips were velvety soft, and Kirstine was sure this was what ecstasy felt like. A low growl sounded from deep in Brodie’s throat, and his hands wrapped around her waist to pull her roughly against him. Lightning struck through her center.Merciful heavens!She’d kissed a boy or two, a chaste kiss from one of her rare suitors. There was nothing chaste about this encounter, nothing boyish in Brodie’s embrace.
Kirstine drew back, her body trembling, and gazed up at him. His expression had lost all humor, a storm brewing in his blue eyes. Her stomach twisted a bit at her own brazenness, but she didn’t regret her actions.
“See if Mairi can boil yer blood like that.” She moved past him to make a dramatic exit and save a scrap of her dignity.
A hand grabbed her elbow, and he eased her back against the tree. She closed her lids to block him out, embarrassment heating her face. Now he would appease her, spare her feelings.
“What the devil just happened, Kirsty?” His voice was husky, and it sent her pulse racing again. “That was no’ the reaction I had expected. Did ye feel it too?”
His hand cupped her cheek while his thumb stroked her skin. A shiver ran through her as it brushed over her mouth. She concentrated on her breathing, then opened her eyes. He studied her as if they’d just met, and he liked what he saw.
“Aye, I felt it. And it was nothing like kissing a brother.”
“No,” he agreed, “and ye’re right.”
His breath was warm against her face. She tried to calm thethudof her heart. “I am?”
“Mairi could never boil my blood like that.” His gaze focused on her mouth again. “But let’s make sure it wasna some chance spark the fairies flung at us for their amusement.”
Both hands cupped her face now, and he bent again, claiming her mouth. The blood pounded in her head. Heat rushed through her, and the only sensation she knew was his lips on hers, his touch, the fire licking at her skin.
Her hands lifted to his neck; her fingers slid into the dark curls.More, I need more, her body pleaded. His lips moved across her cheek, nibbled her ear lobe.
“By the saints, ye taste divine,” he whispered. “I dinna understand what has happened between us, but I canna deny this stirring inside me. It’s as if ye’ve bewitched me.” He pulled back and held her gaze. “How long have ye kent?”
“Forever.” The word had slipped out before she could stop it.
“Like a woman loves a mon?” he rasped in her ear, his warm breath fanning her cheek. “Are ye sure?”
Again, she nodded. “I ken my heart, Brodie.” She shivered as his lips grazed the sensitive spot just below her ear.
“I need time to understand these new feelings, but I canna imagine life without ye, Kirsty. So let’s see what happens.” He closed her eyes with his mouth, and she breathed in his virile scent. Leather and soap and pine.
“There is no’ a mon to compare with ye, in my opinion.” A tempest brewed inside her. “I’ll give ye time, but I canna wait forever.”
He pulled her from the tree and held her close, his mouth creating a fiery path down her neck. “Iwasjealous, I expect. It’s an odd sensation, and I dinna like it.”
