Kenneth shook his head, gaze fixed on the horizon. “It’s too late, Halvard’s men could be with us at any time tae escort her tae Raasay.”
“Nay,” Callum gave a snort of disapproval. “It’ll be too late only if ye dinnae act.”
At last, a grin quirked Kenneth’s lip. “Ye speak some sense. Ye’re right me good friend. This night I shall put yer notion tae the test. I’ll approach Lady Selene and make an end tae this wondering and speculation once and fer all. If she is fer me as ye suggest, the devil can take the Laird Halvard and his disapproval.”
Callum laughed. “Och, aye, lad. I’m glad I’ve at last talked some good sense intae ye.”
They were both in good spirits as they rode back to the castle in the gathering dusk.
That night, after supper, Kenneth went in search of Selene. To his delight he found her alone in the solar standing near the window, moonlight falling across her hair.
He had given much thought to how he might approach her, but one glance at her standing there, her face lit by moonlight, all his strategies and tactics dissolved into longing. All he could see were her eyes turned to him as he entered the room and he found it impossible to think beyond her beauty and how much he wished to make her his.
He could no longer fight the pull he felt toward her, as if some mysterious force hauled him inexorably to her side.
“Kenneth,” she said lightly, “I was not expecting I’d see you here. I thought you were conferring with Callum in the study.”
Stepping closer, he drew in a breath, catching a drift of her musky, lavender scent.
“Nay. ‘Tis ye I wish tae speak with, Lady Selene.”
She smiled up at him and he felt his heart melting and sensed unwanted movement in his groin. He ground his teeth. This was not the moment for his shaft to grow hard.
“Oh? What is it ye wish tae discuss. Have ye heard further from Halvard?”
He shook his head, almost lost for words.
“I have a wager fer ye,” he blurted, stepping closer. “A simple enough thing. The winner shares a cup of wine with the loser.”
She lifted a brow. “And what, pray tell, is this wager you wish me tae participate in?”
“Aye. I’ll wager I can kiss ye without touching yer lips.”
She blinked. “That’s ridiculous. Of course, you will only kiss my cheeks, making it easy for you to win your silly wager.”
“Is it?”
Nodding, she laughed, appearing not at all offended by his presumption.
“Well, d’ye agree wi’ me foolishness?”
She tossed her head. “I’m always up for a wager I am certain to win.”
He leaned in slow, and sure with the appearance of a confidence he did not feel at all.
Brushing a kiss to her earlobe, his tongue teased her emerald earbob. She giggled as he placed a series of kisses as light as a butterfly’s wing across her cheekbone and over the bridge of her elegant nose.
She hitched her breath and, emboldened, he kissed along her other cheekbone. His tongue dipped into the delicate shell of her ear and she gasped in a tiny breath.
He took the kisses to her eyelids, soft and gentle, noting how her breathing was becoming ragged and high in her chest.
She moved against him and he was almost undone by the softness of her breasts against his arm.
Her lips were so near, parted in such an invitation, he was beyond ready to lose any wager the stars might throw his way. One kiss. That was all he wanted.
Was that not so?
It was too much. His shaft was growing hard, he could scarcely breathe. All he wanted was to seize her in his embrace. To kiss her lips, to wind his tongue with hers, to taste her and hold her tight, to hear her moan softly in her throat as she returned his kiss with a passion equal to his.
