Well, when she puts it that way… Who am I to refuse?Adam kicked off his boots with ease, undid the silver and gold brooch that held his plaid together at the shoulder, carefully stashing it in one of his boots, then stood up to look at her. “Ye know once I unwind me tartan, I willna put it back on until after I swim. With or without ye, lass.”
“With or without me, is it?”
“Aye.”
She perched her hand on her hip. “Do what ye will.”
Aye, he would indeed. He stripped the plaid off with enthusiasm, leaving only his linen shirt on. Thank the Lord it covered his manhood enough not to expose him to the elements, and of course, Kali’s unwavering gaze.
“We are near even now,” he observed with a chuckle. “And might I add, lass, if ye choose to swim in that shift, yer legs may get tangled up in the material and ye might drown.”
She snorted, her lovely hair trailing down her back and curls tumbling over her shoulders. “How fortunate it is I have ye to remind me of such things. Might I offer the same advice to ye? Yer arm might become entangled in yer shirt if ye…”
Adam practically tore his shirt off. “Is this better, lass?” He stood in all his glory, proud to give Kali a full view.
Her gaze hadn’t moved from his face. And considering she had probably never seen a nude man before—at least he hoped she hadn’t—she handled herself with unprecedented grace. “I see ye have made yer decision.”
“Aye. Should I regret it?”
She visibly swallowed, a hint of a crack in her controlled facade. “No regrets.” Now her attention shifted, and her gaze moved slowly down his torso and stopped on his stomach. “Ye are…unbelievably muscled.”
“Muscled?”
“Aye. Solid as a…a seashell.”
“Seashell? I can crush a shell between me fingers.”
“All right. A rock.”
Oh, there was a certain part of him that felt as hard as a rock right now. He winced at the reminder, his manhood throbbing with the need for relief that only one woman could give him. An honorable woman. One he would never deflower before offering his hand in marriage. But Kali Bane was not available for him to take as wife, so he would have to settle for this intimate time together.
He grinned at her. “I am a rock.”
Her gaze dipped down to his manhood for a split second, then rushed back to his face. “Ye are a scoundrel, Adam MacKay. And I am quite aware of nature, what males and females do together. There are chickens and geese at my father’s house, even a few sheep and pigs. One cannot ignore the obvious.”
Then it should be obvious he wanted to make desperate love to her over and over again. “Do ye swim or no’?”
“I swim.” Kali delicately raised her shift up her thighs, and Adam, riveted and ever hopeful he would get to see the perfection of her body, waited, his mouth instantly dry.
The shift floated to the ground, leaving Kali naked and shivering before him.
“Jesu!” He wet his lips, his insides frenzied with lust. Her breasts were generously sized, more than a handful, and those dusk-colored nipples were hard and begging to be caressed and licked. Her flame-colored hair was cooled only by her porcelain skin, like fire and water paired together, or Heaven and Hades.
A flat stomach beckoned his eyes lower, to the red curls crowning her womanhood. What he would give to thrust inside that fire and claim her for himself. To lift her graceful legs and encourage her to wrap them tightly around his waist and squeeze him so hard that he exploded inside her.
He met her gaze, a touch of uncertainty apparent in her eyes. “Come.” He held his hand out to her, beating his unbound desire back. She needed him to be steady right now, to show her how to break free from the restraints she had suffered all her life.
She placed her hand in his, and they ran into the water together, laughter filling the air around them.
His heart sang with joy and contentment. This stolen moment with her reminded him of childhood, of the best years of his life, when his family had been whole. His mother alive and healthy, his siblings happy, and his sire proud and morally unshakeable.
If Kali could make him feel this way now, what would it be like to be married to her? To share his whole life with her? To sire children with her? To wake up every day next to her in bed and know life was worth so much more with her at his side? The sad reality that he’d never find out, stole his breath away.
Chapter Twelve
Curled up on a blanket with another one wrapped around her naked body, Kali watched as Adam turned two fish on the spit over the fire. Nothing could outdo this night. She had never felt more alive, more free. All because she’d dared to say yes to a ride with a man she counted as a trusted friend. Though she wished he could be more.
“Tell me about your sisters,” he said, wearing breeches he had gotten from the cabin, but no shirt. His tanned skin and powerful frame, confidence and cocky grin, were almost too enticing. “The middle one is Ariana, and Keara is the youngest.”
