Page 35 of The Highlander's Twisted Deal
“Ye are me betrothed,” he said, his voice low. “Mine. What part of that do ye nae understand? I willnae stand by and listen to some fool tell ye to smile or press himself against ye as if ye were his to touch.”
Ava made herself turn around. Stepping back would be a mistake, a sign of weakness.
He’s a man, nae a wolf.
However, it was hard to remember that when staring up into his face. There was definitely a wolfishness about Callum’s features, something in the point of his nose and the slant of his eyebrows. Or perhaps the twist in his smile, making him look wry and lopsided all at once.
It was so painfully endearing that Ava wanted nothing more than to reach up and trace the outline of his lips.
“I’m nobody’s to touch,” Ava responded. “I can take care of meself.”
He gave a chuckle, low in his chest. Ava was so close to him that she could feel it reverberating through her own body. It sent shivers down her spine and made the aching feeling in her gut intensify.
“I’m sure ye can,” Callum said, his grin widening to reveal pearly-white teeth.
Ava found herself wondering what those teeth would feel like on her skin. Not biting down, of course, just… just running over the surface, just enough for her tofeelit.
She swallowed hard, and the movement seemed to stick in her throat. “Ye are an arrogant man, Callum McAdair,” she heard herself say. “A wee bit overconfident, I’d say.”
His smile only widened. “Aye, I’ve heard that said. I’ve also heard it said that women like confident men. Arrogant men, even, if they ken how to handle them. Just like men may like women with green hands, women who could put them to sleep in an eyeblink.”
She cleared her throat. The ache inside her had evened out to a steady, intense throb, sending pulses of heat through her chest.
It wasn’t painful or uncomfortable by any stretch of the imagination. Not only was it pleasant, but she wanted more of it. Much more.
Callum tilted his head, making himself look more foxlike than ever. “Can I trust ye to fetch us a cup of mint tea? Or will I sleep deeply if I do that?”
“I only do that to men I dinnae like,” Ava heard herself say, amused.
He was close enough to touch, close enough that one deep breath on her part would make their chests brush against each other. Callum didn’t seem to blink, never glanced away from her even once.
I want him.I want him more than I’ve ever wanted anything ever before.
“If ye want something,” Callum said, his voice low and slow, and she could have sworn that he’d read her mind, “ye will have to make the first move to get it. I’m not a man who forces himself on the unwilling.”
She lifted her eyebrows. “Do ye expect a round of applause for that?”
Again with the chuckle. “Nay, but it does mean I willnae go any further than this.”
Ava lifted her hand, feeling as if somebody else were moving her body. Her fingers grazed the firm swell of Callum’s chest, seeking out the triangle of warm skin at the collar of his shirt. She could feel his heartbeat speed up under her touch, and it made the thing inside her ache more powerfully.
“I’m nae in the habit of begging,” Ava whispered.
Callum blinked, seemingly for the first time since they’d started talking. “Nay, I can imagine ye arenae,” he muttered.
The next thing she knew, she was crushed against him. Callum’s strong arm wrapped around her waist, his wide palm splayed across her back. His long fingers curled around her jaw, and he was kissing her.
It was a harder kiss than before, more desperate, somehow, but Ava didn’t care. She tangled her arms around his broad shoulders, trying to pull him closer still, although they were already pressed as close to each other as possible.
“I’ve wanted ye for so long,” Callum growled, his lips skidding across the base of her neck. Ava could have sworn that she wasn’t breathing at all. “I need to ken that ye want this, too. I need to hear ye say it.”
“I want ye,” Ava breathed. The room was spinning, like she’d drunk one of her potions. She hadn’t, of course, but surely this was what it would feel like. “I want ye, but not a babe.”
She was barely aware of being lifted off her feet until the soft tangle of the bedsheets pressed against her back, and she found herself lying in the box bed with Callum up on his knees over her, his fists pressed into the mattress on either side of her shoulders.
“There’ll be nay babe,” he promised firmly. “Any man worth his salt kens how to stop it from happening.”
He bent down and kissed her again, careful not to crush her with his weight. It was a softer kiss this time, and Ava wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him down. The ache inside her had steadied to a wanting throb, curling around the pit of her gut and pulsing in the place between her legs. It was more powerful than she could ever have imagined.
