The Sinner

mouth. He suckled her breast as if his whole being was focused on drawing sensations from the depth of her soul. It was too much. She clawed at his shoulders, not certain herself if she was begging him to stop or begging him not to.

Then he ran his tongue along the underside of her breast and pressed kisses over her ribs. His hair left a trail of sparks as it brushed across her skin. Anticipation grew by leaps and bounds when his kisses moved lower, down her belly and over her hip, and he wrapped his arm around her thigh.

At last, he rested his hand on her mound and found the sensitive spot between her legs with his thumb. She sank into the whirl of sensations. What this man did to her!

She tensed when she felt the heat of his breath and his tongue move close to where his hand was. He’d done this before, but she still couldn’t quite believe it. She dragged her head up from the bed. Her breath went shallow as he moved his hand away to kiss her between her legs. Then he shot her a sizzling look that made her insides squeeze.

“Ye know ye like this,” he said in a low voice that vibrated through her.

Like it? She loved it. She dropped her head back down on the bed. If she had to spend some time in purgatory for this, she was willing.

She sucked in her breath as he ran his tongue over that same sensitive spot. Oh, my. She clenched the bedclothes in her hands and gave herself over to the storm of sensations as Alex licked and sucked and ran his tongue over and into her. She tried to be quiet, but sighs and moans and a kind of pleading sound came from her throat.

She tossed her head from side to side, but Alex was relentless. When she felt herself rising to a peak, he clutched her body tighter. He would not let her move away from him until her body spasmed into an explosion of pleasure.

She shuddered when he ran his tongue lightly up her stomach. When he stretched out beside her, she turned into him, still shaken from the intensity of her release, and wrapped her arms around him. She buried her face in his neck.

“I’ve been wanting to do that for days,” he said, as he ran his fingers up and down her side and her back.

“That felt so good that I’m certain it must be verra sinful,” she said against his skin.

She felt the low rumble of his chuckle. “Nothing is sinful between a man and wife, but if it pleases ye to think it is, then I won’t argue with ye.”

When she scooted closer, his shaft pressed against her belly, reminding her of his need. And just like that, she wanted him all over again. She pulled him into a deep kiss. Alex groaned in her mouth as she rubbed her palm up his shaft.

He needed no more encouragement. When he rolled her on her back, she wrapped her legs around him. She closed her eyes against the rush of pleasure as he slid inside her. When she opened her eyes again, he held her head between his hands and stared down at her.

“I missed being with ye like this,” Alex said, as if the confession was torn from him against his will.

“I missed ye too.”

With their eyes locked on each other, he started moving in and out. His breathing was ragged, and his face strained. She knew Alex prided himself on his control, but she sensed that he was barely hanging on to it—and she wanted it to snap. She wanted to feel his raw need, to know that he was as affected as she was.

As he moved faster and deeper, she gripped his shoulders and wrapped her legs more tightly around him. She had so many emotions swirling inside her—desire, affection, hope, longing—that she felt as if her chest might burst.

I love you. The words were in her mind and almost on her lips.

Waves of blinding pleasure coursed through her as he thrust inside her again and again. He cried her name as he drove deep inside her one last time.

Then he collapsed on top of her, his weight heavy but reassuring. He was hers. At least for now, he was hers.

After a short while, he rolled to his side, bringing her with him. Her limbs felt limp, as if they would bend in the waves like seaweed. She lay with her head on his chest and his heart thundering in her ear.

Something profound had happened, and it had altered her forever. It wasn’t that she had agreed to wed him, though that would certainly change her life. God help her, but there was no avoiding it—she had fallen in love with him. Was she alone in this, or had Alex felt as much as she did when he was inside her?

Alex lay on his back with one arm about her and his other hand holding hers on his chest. Glynis watched his profile while he stared at the ceiling.

“What are ye thinking?” she finally asked.

“That it’s strange to be married without Connor, Ian, and Duncan knowing it,” Alex said.

She swallowed back her disappointment. “Ye are close to them, aren’t ye?”

“Aye. The four of us have been through everything together,” he said with a smile in his voice. “They are the first ones I will tell.”

“What about your parents?”

He blew his breath out. “I’ll tell them when I see them.”

Would his parents not be pleased with the marriage? Did they have someone else in mind for him?

Alex turned toward her and cradled the side of her face with his hand. “We shall wed properly when we return to Skye,” he said, with his eyes intent on hers. “I’ll send word to your father. As soon as he arrives, we’ll say our pledges again before witnesses and have a great wedding feast at Dunscaith Castle.”

“I’ll meet your parents at this wedding feast?” she asked. “What are they like?”