Read Online Kilts and Daggers by Victoria Roberts - Free Book Online Page B

couldn’t get enough. She succumbed all right, and she didn’t do it in half measure but with fervor.
    For some odd reason, she had no desire to back out of his embrace. She knew she should. This wasn’t right. The kiss had to be so wrong. As if reality slowly crept back in, she arched her body against him, seeking to get free.
    She pulled back and her mouth burned with fire. She panted between slightly parted lips. “How. Dare. You. Kiss. Me.” Then, in one forward motion, she grasped his jaw and reclaimed his lips with hers.
    He crushed her against him, kissing her with no mercy. Without warning, he lifted his head and they parted by mere inches. “I. Donna. Like. English. Women.” His voice was low and rough, as if he were in pain. With a primal growl, he lowered his lips to hers again, and she was made to endure the cruel ravishment of Fagan’s mouth.
    Her wild frenzy only seemed to increase his. He caressed her lips with demanding mastery. The harder and deeper he kissed her, the more she wanted. Grace had never dreamed a kiss from any man would feel like this.
    Her hands explored the breadth of his shoulders and his powerful muscled chest. He was raw, primitive. He was a Highlander in every sense of the word and form. When an innocent moan escaped her, he pulled back.
    There was a heavy silence.
    Fagan disturbed her in every way. She knew an attraction to him would be perilous, but the idea sent her spirits soaring. As his gaze traveled over her face, she glanced down, pulling herself away from her ridiculous preoccupation with his emerald eyes. He lifted her chin gently with his finger, and his breathing was heavy.
    â€œâ€™Tis foolish for an English lass to fall in love with a Highlander. I donna want to see Elizabeth hurt.”
    Grace detected a thawing in his tone. She nodded, almost forgetting he was speaking of Elizabeth. “I thought the same.”
    â€œThere could ne’er be anything between them.”
    â€œI know,” she whispered.
    He dropped his hand and cleared his throat. “Good. Now that that’s settled, I’ll get the mounts.”
    * * *
    Fagan was mindless with lust. It had taken all of his strength to pull away from Grace. He wasn’t sure where he came up with the brilliant idea to kiss her, when all he had really wanted was for her to hold her tongue. He was tired of her and her raging ire toward him. When he had enough sense to stop kissing her, he felt humbled just looking at her. She’d given him the greatest of gifts.
    Grace had been completely honest in her response to him.
    He grabbed the reins to the mounts before he lost all sense of reason. She slowly approached him, and he didn’t ask for permission before he had lifted her onto her horse. In that uncomfortable moment, she couldn’t look him in the eye, and he wasn’t sure what he would’ve said to her if she had.
    They rode back to the castle without a spoken word between them. The sun had started to set, and before long, light would be lost. Fagan hoped it would be dark enough soon to mask the troubled expression that he knew crossed his brow, because he’d begun to wonder just what he wanted from Grace. When he quickly stole a glance, a look of tired sadness passed over her face. Her glowing, youthful happiness had faded. He knew he was the cause and that unsettled him.
    They rode into the bailey, and as soon as the stable hand took away their mounts, Grace approached Fagan. Uncertainty crept into her expression, and for a brief moment he was surprised she didn’t flee.
    â€œThank you for taking me with you. Ruairi’s lands are beautiful.”
    â€œAs are ye, Grace.” He wasn’t sure why he said the words, but he wanted to see her smile return. He needed to bring her bright eyes back to the way they were before he snuffed out the light.
    She looked up at him with an effort. Her voice was low, soft. “I don’t understand