Free The Highlander by Elaine Coffman Page B

her.
    "You take liberties you have no right to take."
    "It's worth it, whatever the risk," he said, placing his hands on each side of her head and leaning over her.
    "What do you think you are doing?"
    "I'm looking at your lovely face."
    She snorted her disbelief and almost laughed. "Flattery is an overused tool to seduce a woman."
    "Perhaps you are right. The straightforward approach is always best. I want to kiss you until you beg me for what we both want." He leaned forward and she knew he was going to kiss her, but he stopped mere inches away. Sophie could not move even if she wanted to, for everything within her seemed to fold in on top of her.
    It occurred to her that this was the situation every girl in the convent dreamed about, and prayed would one day happen.
    Would she be a fool to end it now?
    She felt no shame in staring directly into eyes as green as the grass at Versailles. And she thought it utterly sinful for a man to have such eyelashes—when most women would die for half of what he had.
    His mouth was so close to hers, all she had to do was pucker and they would smack together. She could feel the warm sweep of his breath dancing over her cheek. She wanted him to kiss her, wanted to feel the hard press of his chest against hers. She wanted him so much that merely thinking about it made her lips burn for his kiss and her breasts harden, while farther down, everything seemed to melt.
    She sighed with relief when he claimed her mouth, and she dug her fingers into his hair and pulled him closer and kissed him back with all the passion and feeling she possessed.
    His hands were beneath her now, holding her firmly against him as he stroked and caressed her until she could feel his arousal was as great as hers, and the proof of it pressed hard and hot against her.
    She wanted to mate with him, and his body's reaction told her he wanted to make love to her. She arched against him, feeling a sense of frustration. She wanted...she wanted...
    Only he knew what it was that she wanted. Only he knew how to ease the pain of desiring someone to the point of desperation. She tried to hide her discomfort, but it was obvious she was too unsophisticated when it came to love-making, or concealing anything from him.
    As if reading her thoughts, his hands began to caress her with a slow, escalating tempo, dropping lower with each rotating move. Warm, firm hands cupped her buttocks and lifted her upward and inward until their bodies were aligned perfectly. Through layers of dress and bedding she could feel him, harder now than before.
    The pressure of his kiss increased, and all her defenses melted at the onslaught. Where did he learn to do all the things he did with his hands and his hps? She felt like a rag doll without the stuffing. Her body was limp now, and she relaxed beneath him.
    He seemed more intensely aware of her now, in the physical sense at least, and his reaction to her sent secretive little cries pulsing from her throat. Bathed in a sense of warmth and faint excitement, she felt a deep, throbbing sensation of desire begin to swell and expand, until she felt the slow, steady build of inexplicable pressure.
    For a brief moment she had an inkling that Jamie knew exactly what was happening to her and knew, as well, what to do to stop this maddening spiral of acute desire that seized her.
    Never had she known a man could be so gifted with the touch of his hands. The indolent movement of his palm traced heated circles against her sensitive skin. Their bodies might not be joined, but she knew that somehow they had reached a point of fervent mating of mind and passion.
    He wanted it.
    And she wanted him to take it.
    It was somewhere between the mating of mind and passion that a cooling draft of air washed over her and she realized he had smoothly exposed one breast. Now she was torn between showing him her horror at what he had done, and praying he would go on and make it a matched pair.
    He took the decision away from her