Free The Highlander's Curse by Katalyn Sage Page A

Oh, and his lips were soft and warm, surprisingly perfect
despite the scratchy stubble along his jawline and chin that sort of tickled—
    I
bolted upward, gaping at him. “Oh my God, I kissed you!”
    “Ye
did. Did ye no’ mind that ‘til now?”
    “No I didn’t.
I’m so sorry. I can’t believe I did—”
    “Elizabeth,
it’s naethin’. Dinna fash yerself.”
    “Are
you sure?”
    He
nodded and pulled me down so I laid against him again. We both laid there,
silently listening to the forest, and to Broch and Duff snoring away.
    “I’m
still sorry. I don’t normally go around kissing complete strangers.”
    He
chuckled. “Ye prob’ly dinna usually drink like ye did earlier either. Whisky
can make the most respectable person turn verra…friendly.”
    Ha.
Friendly. That’d been me alright. That had to have been the first time I’d
gotten drunk enough to not even realize what I was doing. Usually it was the
other way around: Guys at a party getting a little too frisky after downing a
drink or two. Who knows what I would have done in that condition if the Scot
had come on to me. “You know, I’m actually surprised you haven’t tried to get
me out of this shirt yet.”
    Cailen
tensed and sat straight up, accidentally making the plaid fall. “Och, I’m
sorry.” He quickly grabbed the cloth and worked on re-wrapping us in it,
shifting as he did. He laid down more this time, pulling me in so that I could
lay closer to him as well. “I dinna ken what kind o’ man ye’re accustomed tae,
but I wouldn’ae e’er suggest that ye—that a lady— should bare herself tae
me.”
    I lifted
my head so that I could look at him. “Are you telling me you’ve never tried to
feel a girl up?” Yeah, right.
    “Well,”
he said with a shrug. “I’m no’ so sure what that means, but I gather from the
way ye said it that it means tae umm…well, tae lie wi’a woman.”
    God,
the way he said wooman . My pulse could slow down already. Really.
    “More
or less,” I replied. “It’s what leads up to it. It means to touch her, in the
hopes of getting her into bed.”
    He
shook his head, mortification plain on his face. From where I laid, I could
feel that another part of him wasn’t mortified at all, and that was growing
increasingly obvious. “Elizabeth,” he said, a little strained. “I’ve held many
lassies, but ne’er for the hopes o’ takin’ her. I couldn’ae shame ye that way,
and especially no’ since ye’re in ma care. I wouldn’ae dae that e’en tae a
whore.”
    “A whore ?
I take it you know a lot of prostitutes?”
    “Nae!”
he stammered, his eyes widening. “I just meant that I couldn’ae dae that. Tae any woman.”
    “Are
you telling me that you’re never going to have sex?”
    Cailen’s
face flamed as red as I’d ever seen it, which wasn’t nearly as much as mine did
whenever I was embarrassed. “No’ unless she’s ma wife, and I dinna think that
likely tae happen.”
    Something
in his expression actually made me believe him. That this rugged Scot could
honestly be telling me that he wasn’t going to get laid until he was married.
It made feel safer— and not at all upset —that this powerful man wouldn’t
even consider sex with me as a possibility.
    I
placed my cheek against his chest again, relaxing as his heartbeat slowed to a
normal, steady thump. I cuddled as close as I could get to him, watching the
fire lick into the air as I slowly dozed to sleep.
    ****
    Och, that woman.
    Cailen
laid there with Elizabeth’s tiny body against him, breathing in her delectable
scent, and unable to ease the ache in his groin. She’d fallen asleep some time
ago, but with her soft curves pressed against him, he’d never felt more awake.
Nor more alive, for that matter. Even last night, watching her lay there in his
shirt, he’d felt an inexplicable sense of pleasure at seeing the bonny lass
wearing something that belonged to him. And tonight, seeing her pert arse poke
out from under the