Chapter Twelve
Erskine is kissing me.
Laura was consumed by the heat of the moment. Erskine’s nip to her lip made her open her lips to him, and as his tongue reached out to brush her own, she gasped into that kiss.
She was too confused, too bewildered to try and reason what was happening. All she could think of was his kiss and how she wanted more of it.
His hands were nestled on the crook of her waist, the fingers splayed and pulling her closer to him. Laura was amazed by the feel of his body against her own. Her breasts, already flattened by the linen binding, were now flattened all the more, pressed against him. With a hand on his collar, she just kept pulling him down toward her, as her other hand rested on his chest, marveling at the feel of the strong muscle beneath his waistcoat.
Laura had never known such a kiss. One of his hands left the curve of her waist and lifted to her neck. She felt his fingers cradle her head to the side, weaving through her short locks and urging her to open her mouth more to him.
As their tongues danced together, Laura did not want the moment to end. For a brief minute, there were no worries in her world. There was nothing to fear, just as long as Erskine kept kissing her. Yet soon, doubts crept into her mind.
His hand that had been around her waist dropped lower, and his palm caressed her rear. Her eyes shot open, and she pulled apart from the kiss, just an inch, so she could look at him.
“I don’t understand,” she said quickly, seeing his green eyes wide in surprise that she had stopped the kiss.
He wants a highland lass. Why is he kissing me?
“Ye daenae understand?” He looked tempted to laugh. “Ye have been confusin’ me for weeks!”
“Confusing you?” she repeated in amazement, just as his hand that was in her hair began to play with the tendrils. She yearned to lean into that touch. “What do you mean?”
“What do you think I mean!?” he cried again, then his hand in her hair pulled her back toward him, and their lips connected for another kiss.
Laura stopped trying to pull away, too entranced by his touch. She slid both of her hands up his chest now. It made him growl into their kiss before she looped her arms around his neck. The height difference between them meant he had to bend quite far down—to her surprise, his arms looped around her waist, and she found herself lifted from the ground. She gasped against his lips as he walked somewhere.
She didn’t open her eyes to see where they were going; too concerned with just continuing the kiss. It was intense, full of need. His lips were moving against hers with such urgency that she just wanted to succumb to him.
Suddenly, she realized where he had walked the two of them. She felt her back against a tree. He held her tightly to it, pressed between him and the bark, and she was even more aware than before of the strength of his muscled chest now against her.
She didn’t want it to stop.
When one of his arms left her waist, she was startled to feel his hand loop around her knee and bring it up by his hip. Her hands moved from around his neck in response, digging her fingers into his shoulders and the muscle there. Now, with her leg around his hip, their kiss was more intimate than before. As he pushed against her, she could feel something pressing against her breeches.
Her eyes shot open as she realized what it was—his arousal. She must have made a small sound of surprise through their kiss as he abruptly pulled back from her, his green eyes just as wide as hers.
For a minute, they just stared at each other, both panting heavily.
Laura had a hundred questions she wanted to ask, but none would come. She was too busy thinking of what his lips had felt like against hers and how her leg was still hooked around his hip.
“In the name of the wee man…” he muttered, then jumped back.
Laura was amazed as she dropped to her two feet again and scrambled against the tree to keep her balance and stand straight. She just stared at Erskine as he stumbled back from her, his eyes now turned away from her on the loch. She raised a hand involuntarily to her lips, touching them as they still tingled from where he had kissed her.
Why did he pull away?
“Erskine…” she spoke softly, earning his gaze again. He was still breathing heavily, with his hands on his hips now.
“That…shouldnae have happened,” his words made a dead weight drop in her stomach.
“Was it so bad?”
“What? Nay!” he snapped, then turned in a quick circle, covering his face with his hands for a moment. “Believe me, there was nae a thing bad about that.”
“Then, why should it not have happened?” Laura’s voice was clipped, but she kept her gaze on him, determined to hear the words.
You cannot kiss me like that and then reject me. Please.
