He stood so very still, as if her thoughts diffused through the room, and he strained to hear them.
Isla would have thought him unmoved except for the flexing of his right hand, as if he fought the urge to reach for her.
And yet, he did nothing.
Merely waited.
Isla willed him to act. Any movement that would justify a response from her.
He lifted an eyebrow.
Do ye want something?that eyebrow said.If so, ye will need to claim it yourself.
A challenge.
Of course.
“Damn you,” she hissed.
It marked the first time in her life she had uttered such words aloud.
His lips twitched at her cursing.
There’s my lass, his gaze said.The woman who exists for me alone. The one who would say, “to hell with heaven and earth,” just to have me.
She would never curse in front of Colonel Archer. Only Tavish saw this uncensored side of her.
And he knew it.
His eyes glittered, sparking in the dim light—the final burst of heat needed for combustion.
Two steps and Isla was flush against that potent chest.
Her fingers threaded into the thatch of his hair, mercilessly pulling his head down to hers.
The touch of his mouth landed like a torch to dry heather.
Flames engulfed them both.
Isla moaned.
His large hands whipped around her waist, pulling her hard against him, a groan rumbling his chest.
Isla whimpered in return.
This was no tentative brush of a kiss.
No. It was a branding. A claiming.
Once, at Malton Hill, Isla and Matthias had witnessed engineers blasting through a hill to create an offshoot of the Kennet and Avon Canal. Though they were nearly a quarter-mile distant, the ensuing roar of sound had vibrated her breastbone and shuddered the earth.
Isla felt like that detonation of gunpowder—her balance jolted and smoke billowing from her skin to touch the sky. The explosion obliteratedevery thought but Tavish and the delirious pleasure of threading her fingers into his hair.
Angling his head between her palms, she feasted on his lips—sucking first the top, then the bottom into her mouth—teeth clicking in eagerness.
He growled his approval.
An arm braced under her buttocks, he lifted her backward not once breaking their kiss. Her spine encountered the bedpost, her feet barely touching the ground.
