Free Highland Vow by Hannah Howell Page A

fled his mind. She lay on her back, her beautiful thick hair spread out around her to dry in the sun. Her lithe frame was clothed only in a thin linen chemise that reached to just below her knees. Despite his efforts to control himself, his gaze slid from her full breasts to her tiny waist. He paused to stare hungrily at the faintly visible shadow between her long slim legs. Even her feet were pretty, he thought dazedly as he silently knelt by her side.
    Elspeth slowly opened her eyes and smiled at him and Cormac knew he had reached the end of his tether. “Ye look like a beautiful nymph who has crawled from the chill depths of the river to honor the sun with her presence.”
    Her heart skipped alarmingly at the husky flattery, and she tried to dim the allure of the words by saying, “’Tis barely a brook.”
    Cormac grinned as he unbuckled his sword, tossed it aside, then yanked off his boots. “Would ye belittle the first poetry this poor mon has e’er uttered?”
    “Nay,” Elspeth whispered, praying that he was not about to give her yet another lesson in the torturous art of being aroused, then left unsatisfied as she welcomed him into her arms. “Was that what that was?”
    “Aye, but I think ye may be the potion that can make this mon trill words as bonny as any minstrel has.”
    He kissed her and she quickly wrapped her arms around him, wondering if this time she could hold him until they were both beyond reason. His kiss was slow and thorough yet there was a strong hint of desperation behind it. If he left her too soon this time, she was sure she would just roll over and weep.
    “My bonny Elspeth,” he murmured against her throat as he unlaced her chemise, “ye should push me away.”
    “Why? Ye always seem to manage that all on your own.”
    “Nay, not this time.”
    “Are ye sure?”
    Cormac crouched over her as he eased her thin chemise off her shoulders and tugged it down to her waist. The sight of her full breasts, the rose-hued tips hard and beckoning, had him fighting to catch his breath. Her skin was smooth, unblemished cream and he licked his lips in anticipation of the taste of it. When he curved his hands around her breasts and lightly stroked the puckered nipples with his thumbs, she shuddered, her beautiful eyes darkening with her need.
    “Oh, aye my green eyed temptress. This time only ye can stop this.”
    Seeing the hungry way he stared at her breasts as he continued to taunt the aching tips with his fingers, she threaded her fingers through his hair and gently tugged him closer. “Then there will be nay stopping this time.”
    He groaned with a mixture of resignation and delight as he dragged his tongue over her taut nipple and she caressed his ears with a soft gasp of pleasure. She tasted as sweet as he had known she would. When he drew that tip deep into his mouth and suckled, she cried out and clung to him. Cormac felt her passionate response in his very bones and wondered if he would have the strength to go slowly.
    Elspeth was nearly desperate to touch him, to be rid of the clothes that hid his flesh from her hands and lips. She cursed her fingers, which proved strangely clumsy as she struggled to unlace his doublet. A soft sound of relief and encouragement escaped her when Cormac paused in his delicious assault on her breasts to help her.
    With so many males in her family, Elspeth was no stranger to what a man’s body looked like. When Cormac shed the last of his clothes, she studied him with eyes gone wide with admiration. He was all lean, hard muscle. Broad shoulders, a flat, hard stomach, trim hips, and long, well-formed legs—all warranted her attention and admiration. His skin was smooth and glowed with health, a creamy, lightly golden tone that begged for her touch. A thin arrow of reddish brown hair began just below his navel, blossomed around his rather impressive endowments, and lightly dusted his strong legs. It was no wonder Isabel clung to him so tenaciously, she