Page 134 of The Highlander's Kilted Bride
But a moment later, he pulled back. Again.
Frustrated, she tried to pull him back down, but he resisted, his mouth curled up in a wry smile.
She couldn’t help scowling at him. “Why are you stopping now?”
“I’m not. I just want to see something else.”
He grasped the hem of her kilt and flipped it up to her hips. Charlie blinked, a little shocked to be so suddenly exposed.
Well, mostly exposed.
Kade glanced up, his eyes glittering with laughter. “Well, that answers the question of what you wear under your kilt.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I know it makes me something of a failure as a true Highlander, but it wouldn’t be very comfortable riding a horse without some sort of undergarment. Besides, Mamma would have a fit if I didn’t wear them.”
He huffed out a chuckle. “Let’s leave your mother out of the discussion, shall we? These are very pretty, Charlie, if unconventional. Almost like men’s smalls.”
“That’s what they basically are. Our seamstress made them from a boy’s pattern.”
Kade’s hand drifted over the delicate fabric of her undergarment, which tied at the waist and had legs extending halfway down her thighs. The modified garment protected her while riding and she didn’t have to wear a shift. She’d have been happy with a plain garment, but Mamma’s seamstress had insisted on trimming the legs with lace and using blue ribbon ties at the waist.
He smiled as he slipped his fingers under the silly lace trim. “I don’t know too many Highland lads who would wear lace and ribbons on their smalls.”
Charlie narrowed her gaze. “If you laugh, Kade Kendrick, I swear I will murder you.”
His smile turned into a full-on grin. “Sweetheart, I love them. And I especially love what’sunderthem.”
She felt herself blushing. Even though she was covered, the material was thin enough that he could certainly see her intimate parts. She’d also grown damp, which she found both embarrassing and exciting.
When he cupped her sex a moment later, she went breathless.
Kade glanced up. “All right, love?”
“Y . . . yes,” she managed.
“Excellent.”
He began to gently stroke her through the thin fabric. Instinctively, her knees parted, giving him greater access. Her body grew hot and tight as he caressed her, and it took all her strength not to squirm like a mad thing in his arms.
But just as she began to arch against his hand, pushing into the delicious ache building between her thighs, Kade stilled, lightly cupping her.
Charlie blinked and then peered up at him. “What’s wrong?”
After another gentle caress, Kade eased her kilt down over her thighs, smoothing it with a hand that wasn’t quite steady.
“Nothing,” he replied in a gravelly voice.
“Then why are you stopping?”
“Because if we go on like this, I will very quickly have you flat on your back on that big, comfortable bed over there. And then I’ll bury myself deep inside you, love. Of that you can be certain.”
Her stomach seemed to do a little flip at that unnerving and yet terribly exciting image. “Oh, and would that be such a bad thing?”
Then she winced. Somewhere along the way, she’d sent her modesty catapulting out the window. Not that she really cared about her modesty at this point. She wanted Kade—all of him—more than she’d ever wanted anything in her life.
He drew in a harsh breath before answering. “No, it would be an excellent thing, especially for me. But it’s not how I want to do things with you, Charlie.”
“Then how do you want to do things?” she asked, rather perplexed.
