Awash in sensation, she dissolved in his arms, succumbing willingly to his exquisite plunder. Her body sighed with relief. She’d been fighting desire and attraction for too long. His kiss had shattered whatever fragile barrier had existed to protect her from the truth. There was something so right, so perfect, in the feel of his mouth on hers.
She could no longer deny it. And neither could he. The fierce pounding of his heart against hers told her that he was just as affected as she.
His strong hands covered her body, roaming over her back and waist with a firm caress as if to memorize every inch of her, leaving a trail of fiery sensation in his wake. He skimmed over her hips and cupped her bottom, nudging her ever closer, moaning when he found that perfect fit.
A sound of voices down the corridor, not that far away, startled her. She protested against his mouth, and Alex lifted his head, breaking the kiss. Her breath came hard as their eyes met in the darkness.
“Someone’s coming,” she whispered in a breathy voice that seemed not her own.
“Ignore them,” he said in a tight voice. “Perhaps they’ll leave.”
Meg knew that hidden in the shadows they could not be seen unless someone was almost on top of them. The voices drew nearer. She broke their stare and lifted up on her toes, attempting to look over his shoulder. As if he knew what she planned, he lowered his mouth to hers again, preventing her from doing anything other than reveling in the exquisite feelings wrought by his mouth moving over hers in a slow, sensual dance.
She would have forgotten all about the sounds, but a voice called out, “Who’s there?”
Alex’s body tensed. She might not have noticed if she hadn’t been practically molded to him.
“Giggle,” he ordered with his mouth still pressed against hers.
Appalled, she pulled back her head. “What!”
“Do you want them to see you? Just do it.”
Meg did her best imitation of a simpering maid and tried to laugh. Apparently, it wasn’t good enough, because Alex rolled his eyes and slid his fingers under her arm. Meg gasped with shock, only to giggle in earnest when he began to tickle her.
It worked. Meg heard a man say “find a chamber” and “tryst.” The sound of voices retreated, punctuated by the firm slam of a door only moments later.
Meg’s cheeks burned when she realized what those men had thought and could have seen. But something wasn’t right. Questions began to form. With the masque going on tonight, this part of the palace should be deserted. Who were those men? One of the voices had sounded familiar. She turned to study Alex, realizing that he was watching her with a strange expression on his face. He never had explained what he was doing lurking in the shadows. She opened her mouth to question him, but, sensing her transient thoughts, Alex pulled her closer, driving all lucidity from her mind as his mouth came down on hers again.
Meg gasped at the unexpected invasion of his tongue. She heard his groan as he plundered the soft recesses of her mouth with the warm, seductive stroke. For a moment she stilled, not sure what to do. This couldn’t be proper. Nothing that felt this wantonly delicious could be. But the intense sensations shooting through her body soon brought her past the point of caring.
Her body felt liquid, dissolved in the dark heat of his mouth and tongue. He stroked deeper and deeper, until anticipation filled every part of her body. His mouth moved over her jaw and down her neck as he ravaged her with heated kisses that sent her skin aflame.
A soft moan of pleasure escaped her lips. Meg couldn’t believe the throaty sound had possibly come from her. His mouth moved across her chest, achingly close to the edge of her bodice. Her body softened in response, melting deeper into his hold. She could feel the hard chisel of his muscles crushing her body to his. All that warmth. It was going to her head, she felt so dreamy.
She’d never felt like this before. Helpless. Mindless. At the utter mercy of a force much stronger than rationality. What had she done, unleashing something she could not control? All she could do was respond, melting against him, giving herself over to the heat that flamed between them.
Slowly, tentatively, she reached up and grabbed his shoulders to steady herself, but perhaps also because for some strange reason she yearned to feel his strength under her fingertips. To test his impossible hardness, to see whether he burned as hot as she. He did. His shoulders were as hard as rock. Her hands spread across their wide breadth and slid down the steely muscles of his arms. Instinctively the muscles flexed, and Meg felt the strange urge to pull off his doublet. To see the bare layers of hard muscle under her fingertips. God he was magnificent.
Touching him only made her want more. Drunk with wanton urges, she couldn’t get close enough. Stretching up against him, she pressed her breasts to him and her nipples strained against the granite wall of his chest. For a moment, she even wondered how it would feel to rub herself up and down against the hard naked planes of his chest. Skin to skin.
As if he could read her thoughts, his kiss grew more demanding, deeper, harder, wetter—as if he sought to devour her. The rough stubble on his chin tore the soft skin around her mouth. His hips circled against her, pressing her back even harder against the wall. His hand came up to cup her breast, and Meg moaned again, delirious with pleasure.
The massive evidence of his arousal pressed into her stomach, demanding. An odd wave of heat gushed below her abdomen. Heavy with desire, she felt a strange urge to move against him, to rub her tingling flesh against the rigid column pressed so firmly against her, to ease the restlessness quivering uncontrollably in her body. The world had seemingly spun out of control, and Meg fought to hang on.
Meg was innocent, but not ignorant. Inquisitive by nature, she understood what happened between a man and a woman—privacy was not a Highland way of life. She’d also sought to further her education by studying the mating habits of animals. She’d never dreamed that her body would compel her to the deed. But she wanted him deep within her, filling her with his heat. Surely she was wicked, and that she craved him between her legs would assuredly send her to eternal damnation. But, oh, what a way to fall.
Through the haze of pleasure, her mind sounded caution. He was not the man for her. But her heart urged him on, knowing that nothing could be more right than kissing him, making love to him.
This was how it felt to lose control.
The bubble burst. One lucid thought brought her back to reality. What was she doing? It was too much: his fervor, her inexperience. The intensity of her own response.
This was passion at its most terrifying extreme. This was passion unlike anything she’d experienced before, the type that could make her lose her head. The strength of her desire for Alex was nothing like what had come before. Her heart hammered with sudden panic, with a sudden fear of the loss of control.
Ewen’s handsome, smiling face swam before her eyes.
Only once before had she allowed emotions to cloud her judgment, but it had been a lesson well learned. The mistake with Ewen had nearly cost her everything. She couldn’t let it happen again.
