Page 52 of A Virgin for the Highland Beast
Hunter’s laugh was hearty and made her anger dissolve. “Tryin’ to cool that hot head of yers,” he answered as he stepped closer.
Emma’s heart fluttered wildly in her chest as he brushed a strand of her hair that clung to her face away.
“I dinnae have a hot head.” Emma tried to sound irritated but found it impossible, with Hunter so close.
“Aye, ye do,” he said as he brushed the back of his fingers across her cheeks. His gaze was filled with a longing that spoke to her soul.
“Ye see, this is exactly what I’ve been talking about.” Emma’s voice trembled slightly, a mix of cold and raw emotion. “One minute ye’re as cold as the ice in this lake, the next it’s like… like ye actually want me.”
She pushed away from Hunter, trying to hide the vulnerability that came with her admission. Climbing out of the water caused little goosebumps to spread across her skin. If she didn’t get back to the castle, Hunter just might be right about her catching a cold.
“Emma wait,” Hunter said.
“No. Ye cannae do that. Ye cannae toy with me, using warmth to soothe me, only to walk away when it suits ye. It’s tormentin’. Do ye have any idea what it’s like to be expectin’ somethin’ more from someone who clearly doesnae want the same?”
Her words hung in the air, a poignant echo of her fragmented heart. She climbed to the loamy spot she’d been trying to reach and plopped down.
Wrapping her arms around her body, she wondered what possessed her to come and speak to him. She’d had a brilliant speech all ready for him, but not a single word she thought to say managed to come out.
Hunter moved to her side and sat down. The size of his body broke the breeze, giving Emma just enough warmth not to want to go back inside. But she couldn’t look at him, knowing that there was a chance he’d reject her again.
“Ye think I dinnae want ye?” Hunter asked, his voice a whisper. “From the very first glance, me thoughts have been consumed by the need to have ye. Every action I’ve taken since has been in the desperate hope to protect ye and keep ye here wit’ me. I never meant to instill fear in ye.”
Emma turned her head, locking eyes with him. “Scared? I’ve never been scared of ye, nae even when I first saw ye. It’s nae fear that keeps me awake at night—it’s the unbearable silence between us that I cannae seem to fill.”
Hunter let out a low curse, raking his hand through his hair as he drew his attention back to her.
Emma’s body tingled as the anticipation wreaked havoc on her body. Without a word, Hunter cupped her face and pulled her to him. His tongue caressed her lips, a silent plea for her to open them.
Emma didn’t struggle against his passionate kiss but added more fuel to the fire. This is what she’d come here to do. It was what she desperately wanted.
As their lips clung to each other and Hunter’s hands began to explore with a tender urgency, Emma’s shivers from the cold transformed into a different kind of trembling. The heat of his body, pressing insistently against her own, chased away any remnant of the evening’s chill. With exquisite slowness, Hunter’s kisses trailed from her lips down her neck, causing her breath to hitch.
Gently, he lowered her onto the soft, loamy bank of the lake, the earthy scent of the damp ground mingling with the charged air between them. His fingers deftly hiked up the hem of her sopping wet dress, and she couldn’t help but gasp at the intimacy, her body arching towards him, silently begging for more.
“What are ye doin’?” Emma asked, her voice pitched with excitement and tainted with longing.
“Did ye want me to stop?” Hunter asked, his fingers gliding over the tender flesh of her inner thighs.
Emma shook her head as each touch jumbled her thoughts and scrambled her reason. She couldn’t trust her voice, and the last thing she wanted was for him to stop.
“Good,” Hunter whispered in her ear.
Arching her back to reach his lips, Emma’s hands wrapped around his neck to draw him closer to her. She wanted to taste the whiskey still lingering on his tongue. A small gasp escaped her the moment Hunter’s fingertips breached the sensitive place between her legs.
Her body tightened around Hunter’s intruding fingers. The sigh that escaped his lips caressed and warmed her earlobe. It was a sensation she didn’t expect to experience, yet the deeper Hunter pushed, the more she craved his rough touch.
“Am I hurtin’ ye?” he asked, his teeth grazing her neck as he spoke.
Uncertain how her voice would sound, Emma remained silent and lured his lips back to hers. Greedily, she took what she wanted from him.
His body pressed against hers, pinning her to the loamy soil. But her mind wasn’t worried about the dirt clinging to her wet hair. Her thoughts were focused on Hunter’s fingers pumping in and out of her body as if he were playing her like a harp.
The sensation flowed through her fingertips to the top of her scalp and down to her toes. Never in her wildest dreams did she think a man could give her so much pleasure, especially not one who had such a hard shell around his heart.
“Hunter,” she whispered, her voice straining as she tried to keep her wits about her.
The throbbing in her loins matched the pace of her frantically beating heart.
