“No.” She shook her head with more certainty than she felt. “I can’t.”
The glint of amusement in his eye was replaced by a spark of something else. Steely determination. She had a horrible feeling the seductive dance of the past few days was over.
He hadn’t moved. He was still leaning back with his back to the bench, by all appearances relaxed. Then why did she have an image of a coiled snake ready to strike? He leaned toward her and her pulse shot through the roof of her heart. “Why not? Aren’t you curious, Ellie?”
She shook her head. He looked just like the predator he was named for, and she felt like a tasty hare.
His eyes slid over her body, lingering on her breasts. Her nipples hardened under the weight of his heavy gaze. His eyes darkened dangerously. She knew what he was going to do, but was helpless to do anything but wait—unable to breathe—until he did.
He reached out and grazed her arm with the back of his finger, stroking with the barest touch. Her breath hitched harder in lungs that seemed to have forgotten how to work.
Her heart pounded and her senses flared as his finger traced along the curve of her hip, to her waist, and to the gentle swell of her breast.
Oh God. Her entire body quivered in anticipation.
Her breath released in shallow little gasps. She could feel the heat of his hand through the thin linen of her chemise. So close. She whimpered, and her body shuddered when he finally touched the place she wanted him to, circling the throbbing tip of her nipple with the hard pad of his finger.
“I can make you feel pleasure,te bheag. More pleasure than you ever dreamed.”
She was feeling it now. Her thighs pressed together against the tingling, against the dampness, as her breasts grew heavy and hot and her nipple strained against the pleasure of his big hand.
His seductively light touch was driving her mad. Desire licked her body with flames of liquid heat. She was hot. Restless. Needy. Every nerve ending clamored for the pleasure he promised. She wanted his hands all over her, grasping, gripping, and marking her with passion.
She wanted to give in to temptation.
Pleasure for pleasure’s sake. Nothing more. Could she forget about everything else and just enjoy the experience?
This is what he did. Made women weak with pleasure. But she wasn’t like other women. She was too sensible to let herself get carried away.
He must have sensed her struggle. His hand settled around her breast, cupping her, squeezing gently as he pinched her nipple between his finger and thumb. “Let me show you, Ellie. Let yourself enjoy the pleasure I can give you. Just a little taste,” he said. “I’ll stop whenever you want me to.” His gaze held hers.
She didn’t know why but she trusted him. Or maybe it was that she wanted what he offered so badly, she would believe anything.
She made her decision. For once she didn’t want to think. It wasn’t as if she was in any danger of losing her heart. She knew better than to let her emotions get involved. But this was her chance to taste passion, something she knew she would not find in her marriage bed.
It was wrong perhaps. A sin in God’s eyes. But she swore to be virtuous for the rest of her life if she could just have this moment. This would all be over soon. These idyllic few days would be forgotten. She would return home to her father and marry Ralph, as was her duty. But right now, she wanted this.
She wanted him.
The waiting was torture. Those little gasps of hers were driving him wild. Erik could sense her passion straining under the surface, ready to break free. Christ, she was practically shattering under his fingertips.
His breath was hard and heavy as he cupped her breast in his hand, pinching her little nipple to a tight bud, wanting to feel it in his mouth, pressing against his tongue as he nibbled and sucked.
He was as hard as a rock. The past few days had been difficult enough. Being near her. Touching her. Smelling her. Seeing her blossom like a flower in the sun. But God’s blood, watching her in the sauna had taken his lust to new heights. He couldn’t think of anything more erotic than seeing her lounging on that bench. With her eyes closed, flush cheeks and damp tendrils of hair around her face, she looked like a woman who had just been very thoroughly ravished.
He couldn’t stop himself. His patience—admittedly never long—had reached the end of its tether. He wanted her, and she wanted him.
Why was she so hell-bent on resisting him?
He wasn’t used to being denied, but Ellie did so at every turn. The desire sparking between them was out of control. He could hardly think about anything else.
Even his mission seemed to have crept into the background, though the attack was only days away. Maybe it was that urgency driving him now—the knowledge that the time with her would soon be at an end.
If his desire seemed unusually intense, Erik knew that it was only because of the circumstances. He wasn’t used to spending so much time with a woman he was attracted to and not giving in to that attraction. He wasn’t used to not getting what he wanted. It surprised him how much fun he’d been having in spite of it.
He hadn’t gone this long without a woman since the training on Skye he’d done with the Highland Guard. But then it hadn’t been voluntary, merely a consequence of the lack of opportunity. He frowned, knowing that hadn’t been the cause of his abstinence this time. He’d had plenty of opportunities to relieve the tension. Why hadn’t he?
Because he wanted only her.
