“I know ye’re peekin’,” he suddenly intoned.
Startled, she lurched, losing her precarious balance on the bed.She made a grab for the curtain, but it only opened wider.Losing her footing completely, she clung to the fabric with a death grip to keep from falling.But her weight was too much for the frail velvet, and the curtain began to rip with agonizing slowness.
In the time it took her to gasp in a mortified breath, he’d leaped from the tub to come to her rescue.
What exactly happened, she wasn’t sure.There was a flash of flesh and then a tangle of slippery limbs and shredded velvet, terrified yelps and determined grunting.They touched each other in a dozen improper ways.But in the end, after a confusion of grasping and twisting, clinging and holding, he managed to keep her from crashing onto the hard planks.
“Are ye all right?”he asked.
She nodded.But it was absolutely not true.Her heart was pounding like a fuller’s hammer against her ribs.And it wasn’t only from nearly falling off the bed.
He was holding her upright against him, but her feet didn’t touch the floor.Tendrils of his hair dripped water onto her bosom as he tipped his head down to hers.His dark eyes looked like boundless pools as he gazed at her in concern.His nostrils flared, and his stubbled jaw clenched as he held her safe in his powerful arms.Her thinly veiled breasts were crushed against his wet chest.And lower, she could feel the bulge of his naked loins pressing against that part of her that had burned with yearning.
He exhaled in relief, and she felt his sigh all the way down her body.
With a half-smile, he murmured, “I wish I could say the same for the cur—”
She didn’t take time to think.
She acted on instinct.
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she surged forward to press her lips to his in a kiss of relief and gratitude.At least shetoldherself it was only relief and gratitude.
Chapter 11
So astounded was Adam by Aillenn’s kiss, at first he didn’t respond.
He felt wretched for frightening the poor lass into losing her balance.For causing the destruction of Pitcairn’s bedcurtains.For shocking the woman with his nakedness.For manhandling her in his efforts to keep her from falling.
The fact that she was kissing him was at odds with his guilt.
But it didn’t take long for that guilt to dissolve in the onslaught of her affection.And it didn’t take long for his body to respond.Perhaps too eagerly.
Her lips were supple yet demanding.Engaging yet tentative.She tasted of wine and blancmange and her own unique flavor of desire.
He filled his nostrils with the clean, damp, spicy scent of her, and exhaled a shuddering breath spiced with longing.
She explored his mouth with her tender tongue, exclaiming with soft sounds at each new discovery.Pressing her fingertips into the nape of his neck, she pulled him closer, deepening the kiss, gasping with urgency.
This was dangerous.
They were in a risky situation.Mellowed from the bath.Besotted with wine.Alone.Half-naked.
She was losing control.And he could feel his own restraint slipping away.
Already his cock pulsed with anticipation.
But Adam was not a man to take advantage of a woman’s weakness.His Rivenloch sense of honor was strong.
So despite the fire burning in his loins, he broke off the kiss.
“We should not…”
The hurt in her liquid eyes silenced him.“But I want to.I want this.”
He lifted a corner of his lip in a rueful smile.“So do I.But at least let me get dressed.”
“Nay.”
