His hands released her wrists and pulled the linen cap off her head. He jerked the tie off the end of her braid and ran his fingers through the strands to free them. He didn’t jerk his hands through her hair, but combed the remains of the braid out with careful stokes that didn’t pull her scalp even once. His control over his strength astounded her, but it also touched her with a sense of tenderness.
“Why didn’t you?”
Jemma could have bitten her tongue in half, but she could not take the words back. Gordon finished freeing her hair and lifted a hand full of it. He buried his face in it, inhaling the scent, which brought to mind how tender he had been with her last night. There were extremes inside the man, much like herself.
“Because I plan to court ye, just as I told ye.” He raised his face away from her hair, and his expression lacked the mocking arrogance she had seen so often on it. Now his blue eyes were filled with something deeper, something that sparked hope in her that he wanted more than her fertile body for his seed.
“I’ve been watching ye race that mare across the edge of my land for months. Every damn person wearing me colors knows that I’ve turned me back on things that I should have been doing to go up there and catch a glimpse of ye. So when yer brother’s bride made her way onto my land, it was too tempting to bring her here so that I might negotiate with yer brother for the chance to discover who ye are.”
“But all we do is fight.”
He growled softly and covered her lips with one of his hands. “Nay, lass, there is something else that we do very well, too. Kiss, and I’m wanting to discover just how far that passion runs in ye.”
He lifted his hand away from her mouth and pressed his lips against hers. It was the kiss that she had been longing for since the last one they had shared. This time he didn’t tease her but took her mouth with a hungry motion that pressed his lips against her with enough pressure to force the breath from her. Something about his strength drew her closer to him, and enjoyment blossomed inside her. She wanted to move with him, mimic his motions and learn the skill of kissing.
“That’s right, lass, kiss me back.” His voice was deep and hungry. His hands pushed into her freed hair to hold the sides of her face steady. The tip of his tongue swept along her lower lip before gently probing her open mouth for entry. She shivered, her body pulsing with needs that raced across her mind too quickly to be sorted into any manner of understanding. She could only experience them and bask in the delight trying to drown her. But she craved more, needing to touch him in return instead of waiting for him to decide where to stroke her. Hunger made her bold.
She sent her own hands up into his hair. It was soft and silky against her fingers, bringing another form of bliss to her senses. But she craved his hardness, her hands seeking out his shoulders and the hard muscles that covered them. His tongue speared down into her mouth, sliding along her own, and her passage suddenly became the point of focus for all the desire coursing through her. At the top of her sex, her clitoris began to throb with the same tempo as her racing heart. Her body was too full of needs to remain still. Her hips lifted, seeking out more pressure against that throbbing point.
“Exactly, lass. We seem to please each other when we stop talking.”
He leaned down to press a soft kiss against the swell of one breast where it was uncovered above the top of her dress. She jerked, too overwhelmed by the amount of sensation to contain the response. His fingers followed, smoothing over the tender flesh before delving into the valley created between her breasts by her stays. The hooks that kept her bodice closed took him little time to open. He pushed the wool aside to leave her corset open to his gaze. He found the tie that held the front of her stays together and released the knot with a quick motion of his fingers.
“I want to know what ye look like, lass. The idea has haunted me.”
She should tell him to stop. Her mind told her to forbid him to continue unlacing her bodice, but her body demanded that she remain silent.
“We bring out the extremes in one another.”
His fingers froze for a moment and his eyes flashed with hunger. “Aye, lass, we do. Just think of how much better it might become.”
He pulled the sides of her stays apart. She shivered when the air brushed across her breasts with naught but thin linen covering them.
“I wouldn’t know.” And she lost the battle to remain still, her hands coming up to cover her chest. She really couldn’t stop him from doing what he pleased with her, but there was a part of her that trusted him not to force himself on her. She wasn’t even sure where that idea had come from, only that she could not see the man who had taken the time to smell her hair as a savage who would take her innocence by force.
It was a fragile trust, but one that made it possible to fend off the fear that was trying to steal into her mind.
“Trust that I know that, lass.”
“I’m trying to.” Her voice became a whisper. There was no way to hide her uncertainty. But approval flickered in his eyes, giving her enough confidence to continue staring at him.
Trust him? She chewed on that thought.
He leaned down and kissed first her right hand where it cupped one breast. Beneath her palm her nipple was hard and aching for its turn to discover what a kiss felt like against its peak. But Gordon moved to her other hand to allow his lips to linger on it. He moved lower to where her chest rose and fell with her breathing. Another kiss landed on her belly, the warmth of his mouth easily making its way through the fabric of her chemise to her skin. Sensation ripped through her, drawing a sound of delight from her lips. But it also raced down to her passage where hunger renewed its grip on her.
Gordon nuzzled against her chest, kissing and moving upward until he gently dislodged her hands with his head. Once again her fingers were in his hair, and he turned to tease the side of one breast with his lips. She quivered, anticipation drawing her muscles tight. She had never been so aware of her nipples. The soft pink tips were alive with need so hot, her chemise felt heavy and suffocating. Gordon slid one hand up her body, crossing over her ribs, and then cupped the soft mound of her breast before his lips took command of her nipple.
She arched up off the bed, unable to remain still. There was too much heat, too much sensation to endure. A thin cry escaped her lips, and she heard an answering growl from him that made her fingers curl into fists in his hair. The fabric of her chemise became wet, sticking to the hard point of her nipple. Gordon licked over it, teasing
