But she did not.
“I will do as I please,” she said instead, the words leaving her with more conviction than she had expected.
A muscle ticked in Aaron’s jaw. He moved before she fully registered it, closing the distance between them and guiding her backward with a deliberate slowness until she felt the solid frame of the carriage against her spine.
His presence closed in around her, his heat enveloping her. His hand was still on her wrist, though he no longer held her back.
“Unfortunately for ye,” he murmured, his voice dropping lower than she had ever heard it, “ye cannae do whatever ye wish.” He paused, his dark gaze flitting across her face before turning back to her lips. “Ye are under me protection. For now.”
Edith’s breath caught. The words landed somewhere between a warning and a dare, and she found herself unable to look away from him.
If he had said it hours ago, she would have argued. She would have reminded him exactly how temporary his protection was and how he had no claim to her outside their arrangement.
Yet standing here now, with the evening wrapped around them and his hands warm on her skin, she found herself wishing the words meant something entirely different.
Her breathing slowed. She leaned in despite herself, rising on her tiptoes until her words could brush against his ear.
“Me Laird,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “That isnae the same as being yers.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Aaron had never shivered at a woman’s words. Ever.
It must have been the cold night air.
The words she had spoken were a dangerous dare. There was no denying the fact that she wanted him to claim her. She had said those words in the softest tone, and his ear still tingled from the brush of her breath.
Damn me.
His gaze dropped to her mouth before lifting again, locking onto hers.
“Is it nae?” he asked.
Edith’s lips parted slightly, though she did not respond. She did not need to.
He released her wrist, his hand moving slowly to her jaw as his breathing slowed, giving her enough time to move away if this was not what she wanted.
She did not move. Not even an inch.
Her eyes closed for the briefest second as his touch lingered on her skin, and she rose on her tiptoes, waiting. Tempting him.
His grip tightened on her jaw. He wanted this as much as she did. Probably even more.
He leaned in until his lips crashed against hers, and she kissed him back instantly. Her fingers curled into the front of his tunic, pulling him closer as though the space between them caused her discomfort.
There was nothing careful about this kiss. Nothing restrained or withheld.
Edith moaned into his mouth, the sound carrying into the night around them. The cold air no longer mattered. Her skin was hot against his, his body hard against hers.
His free hand found her waist, drawing her in until she melted against him, and her tongue found its way into his mouth, undoing whatever remained of his composure.
He broke away only long enough to glance toward the carriage door standing open behind her, the dark interior offering the only privacy the empty road allowed.
She clawed at him as he helped her into the tiny space, too cramped to accommodate both of them.
The urge to claim her was primal.
He knelt between her legs as she raised her hips, pulling off her undergarments beneath the layers of her gown. His breath caught at the fairness of her skin, even in the dark, and his fingers slowly trailed up her thighs.
