But she was offering him the one thing he didn’t deserve: happiness.
He turned away. “There are things you don’t know.”
She drew closer, putting her small hand on his chest again. His body shook at the contact. “Then tell me.”
“I can’t.” The Guard. Gordon. He could speak of neither.
Her mouth tightened. “It has something to do with William, doesn’t it? You think your feelings for me are a betrayal. But I never belonged to William. I barely knew him. You are choosing the memory of your friend—a ghost—over the flesh-and-blood woman who loves you.”
To prove her point, she slid her arms around his neck, lifted on her tiptoes, and pressed her soft body against his.
Jesus. His body jerked at the contact. He felt as if he were jumping out of his own damned skin.
Instinctively, his arm circled around her waist, holding her to him. Her soft, feminine curves fit in all the right places.
“You are the most stubborn man I know. But you know something, I can be stubborn, too. I want you, Magnus, and I intend to fight for you.”
Their eyes met in the semidarkness. It was a mistake. He felt the pull. The irresistible temptation. His head lowered. Just one kiss. One little taste. Was that too much to ask?
He let his lips fall on hers for only a moment. But even the fleeting contact was enough to harken danger. His senses exploded. Her lips were so soft and sweet. She tasted of passion and desire held in check for too long. His body hammered, ached to deepen the kiss. But he knew that if he didn’t pull back soon, he wouldn’t be able to.
Still, he couldn’t force himself to break the contact, needing to absorb just a little more of her sweetness…
Suddenly, he felt her tiny fist pound on his chest. She tore her mouth away with a cry. “Stop! Damn you, stop!”
What in Hades? Magnus gazed down into fierce blue eyes glistening with unshed tears. “What’s wrong? I thought you wanted me to kiss you.”
“I do, damn you. But did you hear nothing I said? Why are you holding back? I want you to kiss me like you started to in the forest. I want you to kiss me like you did the woman at the wedding. I want you to touch me. Talk to me. Tell me everything you want to do to me like you did when you thought I was Joanna. I want you to stop treating me like a—”
“Virgin?”
Magnus snapped. He captured her fist from his chest and pinned it behind her back, dragging her against him. He knew it was wrong to begrudge his dead friend what was rightfully his, but he did.She should have been mine. There, he’d put it to words. Damn his soul to hell for it.
Her eyes widened. “Nun, that’s what I was going to say.” Nun. Virgin. What difference did it make? “Just once,” she pleaded. “Just once can’t you kiss me—touch me—like you did them? Or do you not feel the same for me?”
Her gaze met his, challenging, but also uncertain. It was the uncertainty that did him in.
Damn her. He was past caring. All the desire, all the lust he’d held in check came bursting forward in a hot rush. He was a man, not a saint. If she wanted raw and base, he was going to give it to her. Even if he had to go to hell afterward.
He slid his hand down to cup her bottom, hauling her against him.
She gasped at the forcefulness of the contact.
“Do you feel my passion for you, Helen? It’s nothing like I felt for them. God, do you have any idea how badly I want you?” Her eyes widened, but he didn’t care. She’d put this game in motion; she’d see it through to the end. He took her hand and guided it to him, wrapping her fingers around his thickness. Despite his anger, he groaned at the sensation, pulsing harder. “One little pump in that dainty little hand of yours and I would explode. But as fine as that sounds, that’s not what I really want.”
He pushed her back against the rocks that had hidden her a few moments ago, pinning her with his weight.
He didn’t kiss her. Not yet. Instead, his lips and tongue found the velvety-soft skin of her neck and throat. He devoured—ravished, the hard flutter of her heartbeat urging him on.
Her breath started to hitch as his hand moved over her body, claiming every inch of her. He cupped her breast, his mouth right by her ear. “You know what I really want?”
He took her nipple between his fingertips, twisting it gently to a tight bud.
She shook her head, her breath coming fast.
He was hot and aroused, and past the point of restraint. There was no rein on his passion now. Nothing to hold him back.
His mouth dipped lower, to the edge of her bodice. He pushed the fabric aside just enough to let his tongue flick out and lick the hard bead of her nipple.
