His hand found the sensitive skin of her inner thigh, fingertips tracing patterns that made her gasp.
“But ye’re nae stoppin' me, are ye, lass?”
“That’s nae fair,” Leona managed, though her voice was barely recognizable. “Usin' me body against me.”
“Nothin' about this is fair.” He lifted his head to meet her eyes, and the raw hunger in his own made her shiver. “But it’s honest. This thing between us… it’s the most honest thing either of us has.”
He kissed her again, slower this time but no less devastating. His tongue swept into her mouth, tasting, exploring, claiming. Leona kissed him back with equal fervor, pouring all her anger and fear and desperate longing into it.
When they broke apart, both panting, Murdock’s hands went to work on her bodice again with surprising dexterity. The laces came completely undone this time under his skilled fingers, and he pushed the fabric aside, baring her shift-covered breasts to his gaze.
“Beautiful,” he breathed, and there was something almost reverent in his voice despite the hunger in his eyes.
His hands cupped her through the thin linen, thumbs finding her nipples and circling them until they pebbled. Leona bit her lip to keep from crying out, arching into his touch.
“Nay,” Murdock said roughly. “Daenae hide yer sounds from me. I want to hear what I do to ye.”
He lowered his head, mouth closing over one nipple through the fabric. The wet heat of him made Leona gasp, then moan as he sucked gently, his tongue working the sensitive peak. Her hands fisted in his hair, holding him to her.
“Murdock,” she breathed. “Please.”
“Please, what?” He switched to her other breast, giving it the same attention. “Tell me what ye want, lass.”
Everything. She wanted everything. Wanted his hands on her, his mouth, his body. Wanted him to make her forget why she’d been angry, forget why this was a terrible idea, forget everything except the way he made her feel.
But she also wanted more than just this. Wanted his heart, his trust, his love. Wanted the impossible thing he kept insisting he couldn’t give.
“I want…” she started, but the words died in her throat as his hand slid higher up her thigh, fingertips brushing against the damp linen of her undergarments.
“Ye’re already wet for me,” he said, satisfaction clear in his voice. “Have been since I kissed ye, I’d wager.”
He wasn’t wrong.
Shame burned through her even as pleasure sparked at his touch. She shouldn’t want this so desperately. Shouldn’t have responded to him so easily when he was being insufferable and controlling and refusing to give her what she truly needed.
But her body didn’t. It only cared about the way his fingers were teasing her through the fabric, about the promise of pleasure she knew he could deliver.
“Let me touch ye properly,” Murdock murmured against her ear. “Let me remind ye what I can give ye.”
He didn’t wait for permission. His hand slipped beneath the linen, finding her slick and ready. Leona’s hips jerked at the contact, a sound escaping her that was pure need.
“That’s it,” he encouraged, his fingers sliding through her folds. “Let me hear ye.”
He found her sensitive bundle of nerves and circled it with maddening lightness. Leona’s hands clutched at his shoulders, her breath coming in short gasps. It was too much and not enough all at once.
“More,” she heard herself beg. “Please, Murdock, more.”
“As ye wish.”
He increased the pressure, his fingers working her with skilled precision. His other hand came up to cup her breast, thumb flicking over her nipple in time with his strokes. The dual sensation made her head spin.
“Look at me,” Murdock commanded, his voice rough. “I want to see yer face when ye come apart.”
Leona forced her eyes open, meeting his gaze. The intensity there nearly undid her. He was watching her like she was the only thing in the world that mattered, like her pleasure was his sole focus.
“That’s it,” he murmured as she began to tremble. “Let go for me, lass. Let me see ye.”
His fingers moved faster, the pressure perfect, and Leona felt herself climbing toward something vast and overwhelming. Her thighs trembled, her core clenching around nothing, her whole body tightening like a bowstring drawn taut.
