The blanket had fallento her lap, forgotten, leaving only the shift between them. Maia should care. Should push him away and cover herself.
But she couldn't seemto make her hands cooperate. Couldn't seem to do anything but kiss him back with a desperation that terrified and thrilled her in equal measure.
This was desire.The thing she'd read about but never experienced. The thing that made heroines in her books do foolish, reckless things.
She understood now.Oh, how she understood.
Ewan's kiss consumed her,demanded everything from her, and offered something darkly wonderful in return. His tongue swept into her mouth, tangling with hers in a dance she didn't know but somehow followed anyway. Every nerve ending in her body felt alive, sparking with sensation.
When his handmoved from her waist to trace up her ribs, stopping just below the curve of her breast, Maia gasped into his mouth. The sound seemed to inflame him further; his grip tightened in her hair, his kiss turned almost punishing in its intensity.
This is wrong.This is wrong. Stop. Stop now.
The voiceof reason finally broke through the haze of desire fogging her brain.
Maia wrenchedher mouth away from his, gasping for air, her chest heaving. "Wait, stop, I cannae."
Ewan's eyeswere black with desire, his breathing as ragged as hers. For a moment, he looked almost feral, like the predator she'd sensed in him from the beginning. Like a man who'd take what he wanted regardless of consequences.
Then he blinked,and some of that wildness receded.
His hand loosenedin her hair, though he didn't remove it entirely. His thumb stroked once, twice, against her scalp in what might have been meant as comfort.
"Lass."His voice was hoarse, wrecked.
"Nay."Maia pushed against his chest, needing distance, needing to think clearly without his heat and scent overwhelming her senses. "Ye, I, we shouldnae have done that."
She couldn't finish.Couldn't find words adequate to describe what had just happened, what she'd just allowed to happen. What she'd wanted to happen, God help her.
"Ye kissed me back,"Ewan observed, his voice still rough but steadier now.
"I—"Maia's face flamed. "That doesnae matter! Ye're me captor! Ye killed me friend! I shouldnae want ye."
"But ye do."It wasn't a question. "Want me, that is."
The blunt statementmade Maia's blush deepen until she thought her face might catch fire. "That's nae true. Ye cannae just kiss me that way. It's nae proper."
"I think it does matter, actually."Ewan's hand finally fell away from her hair, but he didn't step back. Didn't give her the space she desperately needed. "Ye want me, lass. Despite everythin'. And that terrifies ye."
"I daenae want ye,"Maia lied, but even she could hear how unconvincing it sounded.
Ewan's lipscurved into a knowing smirk that made her want to hit him. "Ye're a terrible liar."
"And ye're a terrible person!"The words burst out of her, sharp with frustration and confusion and a desire she didn't want to feel.
Her voice broke.Tears burned behind her eyes, threatening to spill over. What was wrong with her? How could she have kissed him like that, kissed him like she was starving for his touch, when Mollie was dead because of him?
"I'mthe worst kind of person," she whispered, more to herself than to him. "The worst kind."
Ewan wasquiet for a long moment, studying her with those dark, unreadable eyes. Then he spoke, his voice carefully controlled. "I need to tell ye somethin', lass. About the fire. About yer friend."
Maia lookedup at him through tear-blurred vision. "What?"
"The reason I'm tellin'ye this now… " He paused, seeming to choose his words carefully. "… is because the ride back to the castle is long, and I cannae have ye actin' out. I need ye compliant, nae fightin' me every step of the way."
"I daenae understand."
Ewan's jaw tightened."Yer friend. The maid. She's nae dead."
