“How do I ken I can trust ye?” she breathed. “How do I ken that ye willnae turn away from me again, once something else happens? Because ye are a laird, Aiden.”
“Am I? Hadnae noticed.”
She rolled her eyes, biting back a smile. “What I mean is that there’ll always be something. Always, there’ll be a thing that could come between us. Some strain or pressure or fear. There’ll be nay escaping it. And ye say that ye willnae leave me again?”
“Never. This past week has been like living in hell. I cannae eat properly. I cannae sleep. I cannaework, either. All I do is lounge around and drink too much whiskey.”
Hannah huffed. “I lay in bed and watched a spider spin a web on the ceiling.”
He chuckled, leaning forward to rest his forehead against hers. “We’ve both been productive, then.”
She let her eyes flutter closed, leaning into his warmth.
“I daenae have to marry, ye ken,” she breathed. “I am independent. Nae many women are lucky enough to be spinsters. I can run me distillery. I daenae have to marry. And perhaps I shouldnae. Perhaps I should stay, look after Violet, and?—”
“But what do ye want, Hannah?” he interrupted.
She opened her eyes slowly, peering up at him. His eyes were open too, staring down at her.
“That’s what I care about,” he continued, voice softening. “I care about ye. But what doyewant?”
Hannah swallowed hard, the lump in her throat refusing to dislodge. “Ye,” she whispered tightly. “I want ye.”
His eyes widened, just for a split second, then hunger took over his features. She barely had time to notice the change before he lunged forward, pulling her into his arms and crashing his lips onto hers.
She made a muffled sound of pleasure against his mouth, winding her arms around his shoulders in an attempt to pull him closer. He growled low in his chest, and that was the only warning she had before he swept her into his arms.
They stumbled together into her room, and he kicked the door shut with his heel. The gust of wind as he did so made the fire shiver, but the room remained pleasantly warm.
He paused, pulling his lips from hers, and glanced at the fire.
“Romantic,” he remarked.
“Violet thought I might be cold,” Hannah whispered, voice cracking.
Gently, he set her down on her feet and let his hands drift up her sides to cup her face. Her eyes fluttered shut, sinking into the sensation.
“Beautiful,” he rasped. “Ye are the most beautiful lass in the Highlands. Nay, I think ye are the most beautiful lass in the whole world.”
“Lies.” She chuckled, a slow smile spreading across her face. “All those women in the world? I cannae possibly be the most beautiful.”
He clicked his tongue. “I didnae say that yewerethe most beautiful. I said that Ithoughtye were the most beautiful.”
She opened her eyes and glanced up at him, just in time to see his lips coming down onto hers. Tilting back her head, she relaxed her jaw, kissing him back, pressing forward with her tongue to meet his.
His hands slid down the line of her back, finding the laces of her kirtle almost immediately. Lifting her arms to loop around his neck, she let him loosen the laces until the garment hung around her. Then she dropped her arms and let him slide it off her shoulders.
The material fell heavily, pooling around her ankles and leaving her in her shift. Despite the fire, she shivered. Then she stepped back and out of the garment.
“Now ye,” she breathed.
Wordlessly, he unfastened his tunic, tugging it off without further ado and tossing it away to crumple in the corner. Shelet her eyes fall on the impressive planes of his chest, covered in tufts of downy dark hair. The hair trailed down his stomach and between the V of his hips, dipping under his waistband.
He dropped his hands to his kilt next, but then hesitated, glancing up at her. “Yer shift,” he whispered.
Hannah swallowed. Goosebumps ran up and down her body, making her shiver. There was no mistaking the heavy desire pooling in her gut. She could almost feel his hands on her already, trailing up and down her body, stroking, caressing, massaging.
Something about this intimacy would be different, she knew that already. A sort of tension rolled off Aiden’s shoulders, an anticipation that raised the hair on the back of her neck and made her shiver.
