“That’s what ye wanted?” Ava said breathlessly.
He raised one of his hands from her arms. It slid up her neck, in the softest fashion, then cupped her cheek. She leaned into it, wanting that touch firmer, needing his grasp on her to be as full of need as hers was on him.
“I have wanted nay other but ye fer years, Ava.” He confessed, his cheeks pinkening to a healthy color.
A sudden rush of happiness filled Ava’s stomach. How could it be possible? He threw himself at every woman, seduced them all into his bed, yet he did it all whilst wantingher?
“How could ye want me?” she whispered.
“Och, fer God’s sake, can ye nae see when a man is in love with ye!?” his voice cried with passion.
Ava felt the breath stolen from her. Without knowing what to say, she raised her hands up his arms again and gripped his shoulders, pulling him toward her. Their lips crashed together in an instant kiss.
Ava felt herself bent back as Kai’s hands gripped her hips, molding her body to his. His torso was strong against her own body. She was aware of everywhere they touched, the heat of his kiss, the brush of his tongue, how his fingers dug into her hips as her breasts were flattened through her gown onto his chest.
He angled their heads together, deepening the kiss even more. With her breath gone, she would have happily starved herself of air just to keep kissing him, to keep tasting him, as he dominated her mouth. When he pulled back, Ava was trembling with desire for him.
“Kai…” she whispered between gasping breaths. “I…” She should tell him about Blair. Now was the time to say she had agreed to marry another man, but she could not tell him. She couldn’t ruin this moment. Instead, she made her confession. “I love ye.”
The smile that spread across Kai’s face was so sudden, it lit up his features entirely.
He kissed her again, but this time softly. Though he still dominated the kiss, directing her and showing how he could pleasure her with his tongue, everything was slower and more delicate now.
“Dinnae go,” he murmured between kisses. “Dinnae find a guest chamber fer the night.”
“Ye wish me tae…”
“Stay here,” he pleaded, pulling back from the kiss to look her in the eye.
She had no intention of going anywhere now she had found him.
“I’ll stay, just one thing,” she whispered, kissing him across his cheek and down his neck. “Dinnae stop this. Please, Kai. Dinnae stop kissing me or making me yers.”
He hesitated. She saw the worry in his eyes and it made her stomach knot tight.
“I dinnae want tae hurt ye,” he whispered, his words barely audible at all. “The first time… hurts a little.”
“I dinnae care.” She shook her head. “I want tae be with ye, Kai. Please.” Of course, she worried that the moment he touched her intimately, it would it bring old fears to the surface. But she was quite certain it wouldnae.
Nay, nae when I am with Kai.
“Please,” she whispered again.
He bent toward her, his forehead resting on hers.
“Ava, ye realize, if ye and I share this now, I will never be able tae let ye go back. Nae tae him.”
Dinnae say his name.
She barely managed to hold herself back from the words.
“I dinnae want tae go back,” she confessed in a rush. “I want tae stay with ye, Kai. Like this.”
His expression softened to something so intimate that she was sure a heat was consuming her from the inside. It was as if a raging fire had taken control of her whole body.
He kissed her again at these words, sweetly this time, molding their lips together and tipping her head back. As her body tipped with the movement, she ended up flat against the furs with Kai above her. He braced himself on one arm, his bandaged backto the ceiling as he kissed her, his other hand bunching into the skirt of her gown that was still damp from the snowflakes outside.
When he moved his lips to her neck and kissed down, reaching toward her cleavage, Ava became increasingly breathless. She couldn’t bear the thought of him stopping now, not after what he had shown her in the kitchen.
