Or had he simply required her for his revenge and rescue, and he acquiesced now because she was willing and convenient?
Dani tried to remember what he’d said about her.Gorgeous, clever, brave... These were favorable sentiments, to be sure, but hardly a declaration of love.
I don’t want to ask you that,he’d said,because I don’t want to know.
He’d said this about remaining in the marriage. He didn’t want to know whether she wanted to dissolve the union. But why didn’t he? Knowing things was his bloody favorite.
“You told me not to think,” he said. “Yougave me permissionnot to think. You ordered me not to think about any of it. For now. For tonight.”
She regarded him. “Yes, I did.”
“So, I’m allowing myself this. I’ve stopped thinking. I want only to bring you pleasure. For an hour or so. Can we pretend for a little while that we don’t know every answer?” He’d sat up in bed and leaned forward, propping his arms on his knees. His biceps bulged and the muscles of his back rippled. He looked at her over his shoulder.
Do you love me?Dani asked in her head. She should not have to ask this. He should say the words. Then again, she had not said them. She thought what she’d felt for him was love, but too many lies had been revealed for her to comprehend whom she was loving. It was too soon.
But was it too soon for this? For tonight?
“Dani?” he whispered miserably, shaking his head. She could see him retreating; he was moments away from dragging himself from the bed.
She reached out and kissed him. A soft, sensual kiss on the hard rock of his shoulder. A nuzzle. Another kiss. She breathed against his neck.
“I’m the worst sort of blaggard,” he moaned, reaching for her.
“Yes,” she said, falling into him.
He made a growling noise and scooped her against him, kissing her deep and hard, their way from the start. The discussion had cooled her desire but his kisses stoked the flames, and she felt the delicious burn rise in her body like a blush. She rubbed her breasts against him, feeling the tickle of hair on his chest. She traced the plates of his muscles; the hard ridges twitched when she touched him.
He’d leaned her back in a sort of diagonal flop. She wanted more—she wanted to be beneath him. Dani shifted, swimming across the coverlet until their legs tangled. His breeches were rough, and tight, the texture felt good—but she wanted themoff.
While he ravaged her mouth, she slipped a hand down his body and grabbed hold of the waist of his breeches. Shoving, she managed to work them down two inches. He jerked away with a hard kiss and sought to capture her hand. Catching it up, he entwined their fingers. He growled a warning.
Fine, Dani thought, if not her hand, then her foot. She bent her right leg and angled it up to the sagging waist of his breeches, hooking it with her heel. She tugged downward, gaining another two inches. Bannock made a noise of frustration and released her hand to snatch her foot.
“Do not,” he warned.
She jerked her leg, trying to free her foot, but he held her fast.
“Lay still,” he ordered and punished her with a delicious roll of his hips.
She jerked her foot again. This time, it slipped from his grasp. She tucked her heel in the waist of his breeches and pushed them farther down. Now his bottom was exposed and she felt his erection drop, hard and hot, against her belly.
He reached to pull them up again, but Dani shimmied higher on the bed, cradling his heat with her burning center. She raised her hips. He went still; his breath caught. She pumped.
He let out a groan and ground against her. In swift, angry kicks, he peeled off his breeches. When he was naked, his mouth slid from her lips and he dropped his face into her hair.
She wrapped her arms around him and raised her legs to his haunches. They were squarely aligned. The sensation was so rich and heavy and pleasurable, her mind faded into a pearlescent white. Their breath was audible; little sounds of pleasure. Blindly, he sought out her hands and entwined their fingers, stretching her arms above her head.
She wanted this. It wasn’t why she’d come into his room, but it was why she’d stayed. Was it entirely right or wholly wrong? She couldn’t remember. She knew only her desire for him—an urgent need for every part of him to join with every part of her. She wanted oneness.
His ear was beside her cheek and she turned her head to trace the whorl of it with her tongue.
“Kiss...?”she begged softly.
He made a miserable sound.
“Kiss...?” she repeated again.
Bannock dragged his face from her hair and did as she bade. While he kissed, he rocked against her. What before had felt so very good, now felt essential.
