“I couldn’t risk just anyone walking in and finding me here,” she explained when he frowned at her. “And I knew you’d not agree to meet me again.”
“Whatever this is,” Diarmid told her, “it’s a terrible idea.”
“Sitric as good as agreed to the betrothal today,” she said, sitting on his bed. As though the image of her anywhere near his bed didn’t drive him mad.
“I donotwant all the sordid details of you kissing some other man.”
“I didn’t kiss him.”
“Then how did you get him to agree?”
“He didn’t agree, exactly.” Her tongue darted out to lick her bottom lip, forcing Diarmid to move farther away from the temptress. “I felt so badly that all I could think about was you, that I told him he deserved someone who would smile with him. And then he said he expected that we would be getting betrothed.”
“Wait.” Diarmid ran a hand down his face. “You tried to tell him that you shouldn’t marry at all, and he decided that meant it would work?”
“Yes.”
Then her words sank in. Diarmid moved slowly back toward the bed. “You tried to refuse the betrothal?”
“He’s a kind man,” she replied. “I don’t want him to spend his life married to someone who doesn’t want him.”
Diarmid’s heart pounded against his chest as he neared her. He should end this now. Before he destroyed the alliance. Before he put her family at risk. Instead, he asked, “Who do you want, princess?”
Her eyes went cloudy, her breath heavy. “You.”
He should tell her they both had responsibilities, people who were counting on them. He should do anything except throw her down on that bed beneath him.
And yet, somehow, that’s exactly what he did.
*
His mouth crashedover hers again, his hands sliding with insistent pressure up her body to cup her breasts. Last time, his kiss had made her melt. This time, it set her on fire. She arched into his touch, wondering when she’d cease enjoying the feel of him above her.
That thought seized her, and she remembered being stuck beneath Torna—uncomfortable and in a good deal of pain once he’d entered her.
Diarmid stilled atop her, his eyes searching her face. “Are you alright?”
She swallowed down some of the panic. Diarmid was nothing like Torna. “I just recalled the last time I was in this position,” she whispered, mortified at her confession, “and it wasn’t a terribly pleasant experience. Torna—”
“I’m going to stop you right there, princess.” His husky voice stirred those butterflies right up. “First, that bastard has no idea how to pleasure a woman, as I’m about to show you.” His soft lips laid a trail of kisses from her forehead to her neck, his hands circling her nipples, sending a buzzing sensation straight to her core.
“And second?” she managed, her hands reaching for his broad shoulders.
“Neversay another man’s name while you’re in my bed,” he growled. “Agreed?”
She nodded. “So, it won’t hurt?”
His wicked grin lit up her world, his eyes sparkling with mischief in their shared moment. “No,” his voice broke. “It won’t hurt.”
She took his stubbly face in her hands, the short hairs tickling her fingers as she pulled him back for another kiss. His hands unlaced her gown with expert swiftness, a fact she chose not to dwell upon. When he’d laid her bare, he pulled away, his hooded gaze raking over her lustfully.
Then he devoured her.
His mouth went to her breasts, his teeth gently tugging on one, stiffened nipple before bathing it with a wet kiss. Nothing she’d ever done with Torna had felt this incredible, had filled her with such aching desire—an ache that now pooled at the center of her legs.
As though reading her thoughts, Diarmid’s lips moved down the delicate skin of her belly. His fingers brushed the very place where she burned for him, teasing her. A soft moan escaped her as he massaged that sensitive area between her legs. She felt his smile against her skin, could see it in her mind’s eye.
He pressed a hot kiss to her hip before she felt himthere. She was ready to sit up and protest, when he started sucking on her. Instead of a protest, she let out an oath that made him chuckle, the vibration of it only intensifying the pressure building within her.
