Page 49 of The Beastly Earl

The sight of Ewan's tall frame filling her doorway made her heart skip a beat. Heat quickly spread it's way across her skin as his blue-gray gaze swept over her. The cheek muscle beneath Ewan's eye patch twitched as desire flared to life across his face.

"I came to see if you were all right," he said gruffly. "You seemed troubled at dinner by the talk of the two women."

"It was nothing," she said with a shake of her head.

"So the an dara sealladh didn't come to you?" The harsh note in his voice made her flinch, and he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand in a gesture of regret. "Forgive me, Louisa. I have no right to ask that question."

"I don’t mind. But if I'd seen something this evening, I would tell you."

As she had earlier, she debated whether to share her the confusing visions with him. She discarded the idea almost as soon as it fluttered through her head. The an dara sealladh had shown her nothing but puzzle pieces she'd yet to put together. It was doubtful he would be able to make any more sense of it than she'd been able too. Almost as if he could read her thoughts, he narrowed his gaze at her.

"Do not lie to me, Louisa. I can forgive mistakes, but not lies." The sharp words made her jerk as she looked up at him.

"If the an dara sealladh had touched me tonight, I would tell you," she confirmed once more.

It was the truth, but it didn't make her feel any less guilty about other things she'd kept from him, particularly who she really was. Although her reasons had been well-intended, she knew her deception would anger him deeply. He studied her for a long moment before he accepted her assurance with a sharp nod.

A sudden tic appeared in his cheek muscle below his missing eye, as the assessment in his gaze became another emotion entirely. The raw, potent hunger glittering in his blue-gray eye made her draw in a swift breath. Awareness darkened his features at the sound, and he slowly reached out to slide his fingers through her loose hair.

"Your hair is as soft as a piece of silk."

The gruff note in his voice was hypnotic as she tried to find her voice. Her breathing grew ragged as she stared up at him. Lips parted slightly, she drank in the warm male scent of him as she silently begged him to kiss her as he had earlier in the day. The sudden image of him caressing every inch of her with his mouth made her heart skid out of control and set her heartbeat pulsing rapidly through her.

She knew she should simply bid him goodnight, but the memory of how exciting his kisses made her feel stole the air from her lungs. With the impulsiveness her family was known for, Louisa didn't think, she simply closed the small space between them and reached up to lightly run the tips of her fingers over his mouth. A low rumble whispered out of him as he caught her hand and pushed it away from his mouth.

"Do you enjoy playing with fire, lass?"

The harsh rasp of his voice made her heart race faster as she heard the answer to his question in the back of her head. It increased the level of heat coating her skin. Trembling, she took another step forward despite the voice in the back of her that denounced the movement as being nothing short of madness. The danger she was courting paled in comparison to the passion swiftly taking control of her senses.

She no longer cared how rash her behavior. All that mattered was how much she needed his touch against her skin. It was a craving that grew in strength every time he came near her. The physical nature of it was exciting, but it was the way he looked at her that made her heart beat frantically in her breast.

"I've played with fire all my life," she whispered as she went up on her toes to brush her lips over his lightly. "But until you, I never really understood how a simple touch could make it consume me—make me feel alive."

At her husky reply, he stiffened against her. Tension stretched between them like a taut bow string ready to be released. With an abrupt, rough movement of his artificial and natural arms, he pushed her backward into her room. The abrupt movement made her heart sink as humiliation crawled through her.

In the next second, her despair became jubilation as he followed her into her room. Desire tightened his battle-scarred features, and her heartbeat skidded out of control while a delicious exhilaration sped along every single nerve ending in her body. The sensation intensified as the quiet thud of the door closing behind him was accompanied by the soft brush of metal against metal as he turned the key in the lock.

She dragged in a sharp breath of anticipation, and his gaze narrowed at the sound. As she stared up at him, a hard tremor coursed its way through her at the hunger blazing in the blue-gray depths of his eye. Frozen where she stood, a wild, unexpected pleasure edged its way through her. The spot between her legs tightened and throbbed with a stark need, but something else threaded its way through her that alarmed her almost as much as it excited her.

He'd not even touched her yet, but the anticipation of his caress rolled through her with a force that made her feel alive in a way she didn't fully understand. All she knew was how desperately she needed him. In two quick steps, she closed the small distance between them. With reckless daring, her hand wrapped around his neck to tug his head downward to kiss him.

Beneath the palm of her hand, the hard, fast beat of his heart pounded its way through his chest into her fingertips. Her impetuous caress caused a dark, dangerous growl to roll out of him before he took control of the kiss. His mouth dominated hers as his tongue slid past her lips to tangle with hers in a masterful manner that made her blood run hot and fast.

The warm touch of his hand sliding upward over her hip and side to cup one breast sent a small shudder of delight through her. White-hot desire streaked across her skin at his caress, and the tips of her breast grew hard and stiff as she ached for him to take her into his mouth. With a quick movement, she pushed herself away from him and took a step backward.

His face hardened into an unreadable mask at her hasty retreat from his arms. Instinctively she realized he thought she meant to end this wild, unrestrained moment between them. She shook her head in a silent gesture of reassurance as a small smile touched her lips. Slowly, but surely, she untied the ribbon holding her robe closed then slipped out of it to she faced him in only her nightgown.

The moment the robe drifted down to the floor, the stony façade on his features relaxed. Something undefinable darkened his face. It made her heart skip a beat as she tried to read his expression. Whatever the emotion had been, it disappeared in a flash as a fiery hunger blazed in his eye. The way he looked at her caused the spot between her legs to tighten to an acute demand for her body to join with his.

Tension radiated off him, and she swallowed hard as her fingers pulled at one of the nightgown's shoulder ribbons. The moment the wide strip of material drifted off her shoulder, the front of the French silk garment fell forward to reveal her breast. She swallowed hard at her recklessness, and her fingers fumbled slightly as they undid the ribbon on the opposite side of her neck. She should be ashamed of her wanton behavior, but she was past caring as to how outrageously she was behaving. All she wanted was to surrender herself to the fire of his caresses.

The silk nightgown feathered its way downward across her sensitive skin. A low groan echoed out of him as his gaze swept over her bare flesh. The sound caressed her skin as if he'd actually touched her. She took a step backward toward the bed with her hand stretched out in a beckoning gesture.

In a flash of movement, he tugged her into his hard embrace. The scent of pine and leather filled her senses. It emphasized the masculine strength of him as his mouth conquered hers. The soft kid leather covering his artificial hand pressed into her back as his natural hand cupped her breast. The heat of him soaked its way through her pores and spread its way through every cell in her body. He bent his head to brush his lips over the top of her breast.

The light caress made her inhale a gasp of anticipation. She'd barely released the sound of delight when his tongue swirled around the tip of her rigid nipple. Pleasure cascaded over her in a wave at the way he was raising her desire to a fevered pitch. A second later, his teeth lightly abraded the stiff peak then gently nipped at the sensitive flesh. She released a strangled cry of delight as he repeated the action.

Eager to feel his bare skin against hers, her fingers pushed his jacket off his wide shoulders. He froze against her, and she reached up to lightly touch his cheek as she steadily met his gaze. She didn't look away as she slowly undid the buttons of his shirt to slide her hand over his chest. Hard muscles rose and fell at a rapid rate as her fingers glided over the flexible steel that was his chest.