His words shocked her as much for his honesty as for the desperation she heard in his voice.
Her aunt Eleanor had once told her that the most precious thing a woman possessed was her maidenhead. If a woman was lucky, she would get to choose who she gave it to.
If not, ‘twould be her father’s choice.
Ryan’s face drifted through her mind and she fought the urge to cringe. If they failed to make it to England, he would be her fate.
He would never make her feel the way Ewan did.
Her body was hot and shivery. Needful.
What if no man save Ewan ever made her feel this way again? If she turned him aside, she would go to her husband with her body intact.
Ryan cared not a whit about her virginity, ‘twas only her coffers that concerned him.
But Ewan...
He needed her. She felt it deep inside.
She’d always wondered what it would be like to lay with a man. In her mind, she had always pictured a soft-spoken troubadour who won her heart.
But it was the quiet bear who called out to her.
Don’t.
The word hovered in her mind. If she did this, it would change her forever. She would no longer be innocent. She might even conceive his child.
But something deep down inside told her that carrying this man’s child would be far from a hardship.
In the end, it was her curiosity and desire that got the better of her. Her mother had always said it would lead her astray.
Tonight it had led her to Ewan MacAllister and here she was where she wanted to be.
“Make love to me, Ewan.”
Seven
Ewan was dumbfounded by Nora’s words. He had expected Nora to turn him away, not welcome him to her body.
She wasn’t supposed to want him.
A decent man would pull away from her. But he wasn’t decent.
He was feral and hard. The kind of man who took what he wanted without thoughts about tomorrow.
It was what had gotten him into trouble with Isobail. He had acted in the heat of passion and then paid dearly for it.
Decorum and he were strangers.
He’d never been that kind of man. He’d left manners and refinement to his brothers, while he had made his own way without those strict bindings that society and his mother would have placed on him.
Now he wished he did know the words to tell her how much this moment meant to him.
How much she meant to him.
He’d been so long without the comfort of a woman’s body. So long without the warmth of a tender caress.
How could he walk away now? Especially since her sweet, precious taste was branded on his tongue. The silken heaven of her mouth was more than he could resist.
