“Trying to get rid of me, Mr. MacKintosh?”
The descending twilight left the room cast in shadow, making it difficult to read his expression. His calloused fingers teased at her cheek, like a butterfly’s wing. “Nay, lass. Merely offering distractions.”
Now she was more confused. “Distractions?”
“I meant options.” He muttered something under his breath she couldn’t make out. “Och, lass, ye’ve got me thinking like a schoolboy. Muddling my mind wi’ other thoughts.”
“Such as?”
“Such as the sort I shouldnae be having.”
There was levity in his tone as if he meant to tease. However, it was forced enough for Piper to understand exactly what he was trying not to think about.
While it was all she wanted to consider. All she hoped to explore with him. Rash and reckless as it might be, she wanted him to lead her down that path. Thus far, he’d stunned her with the simplest kiss and left her lightheaded by doing no more than lifting her from a horse.
Connor dwelled on distractions and options, while she dreamt of that kiss that should have been hers. She longed for it. Given the current outlook on the subject, if she were going to have it…
She’d have to take it for herself.
She grasped his tie, and before he could react, tugged him forward. Their mouths met with the same shocking impact of that first brief kiss they’d shared. No gentle glide this time, but a fierce joining that nearly sent her reeling. Then his lips parted—perhaps to speak or protest—and her senses spun out of control.
Chapter 10
In all my wildest fantasies, there was nothing to compare to the sharing of a true, impassioned kiss. It was as if all sight and sound beyond him and the pounding of my own heart faded away. Even if I rode Dandy as fast as the wind, it would never beat so fast!
~ from the diary of Piper Brudenall, September 1895
He hadn’t imagined the sweetness of her lips. Raspberry and wine. More luscious than the delectable dessert. They parted beneath his, warm and welcoming as she wrapped her arms around him. Unable to help himself, Connor traced the edge of her upper lip with his tongue, then the bottom. A little shudder shook her, her arms tightening around his neck. Her tongue slid along his, tentative and trusting.
Connor allowed himself a moment to luxuriate in that sweet kiss before raising his head. “Dinnae.”
Sloe eyed, the lass tossed back her head. “Dinnae what?”
The words taunted and teased and damned if the minx didn’t reprise that kiss. Soft, honeyed lips teased his, rousing his appetite for more.
Raising his face in a silent benediction for help from above, he tensed against the rush of desire that seized him as Piper licked the length of his throat. A low rumble of warning shook his chest. She refused to heed it. Instead, she ran her tongue along his jaw and she bit—bit!—him on the chin.
The vixen.
His fingers slid into her hair and urged her head back. Staring down at her, he took in the hint of satisfaction and mischief in her eyes. “Ye ken no’ what ye do, lass.”
His voice was not even his own, but a thick, rough growl.
She smiled broadly when she well enough ought to be terrified. “I have an idea or two.”
She might as well have been Lucifer on his shoulder urging him to wicked deeds. There wasn’t an ounce of will in him with the desire to rebuff her challenge. With every fiber of his being, he longed to strip her bare and have his way with her. That was the scoundrel in him, the devil.
Regrettably, his conscience sat at attention on the opposite shoulder determined to talk sense into him. Regardless of her pseudonym, she was no widow. No woman of experience to dally with. For all her aptitude as siren and enchantress, Piper was innocent in so many ways. More in need of a helping hand than a pathway to ruin. He couldn’t press his advantage with a clear conscience.
Alas, he couldn’t help but kiss her again either.
Curling his fingers at the nape of her neck, he stroked his tongue along hers. A low moan of satisfaction shook his chest. Hers? His? She was heaven, soaring and light.
Ah, she was going to leave him in a living hell of need.
Tearing his mouth from hers, he gasped for air and strength. Bloody hell, he wanted to help her and see her safe. That should be all. It should be enough.
It wasn’t.
