Read Online The Highlander's Triumph by Eliza Knight - Free Book Online Page B

other reasonable answer for how she was feeling. She was completely at a loss as to how to react. She knew the consequences of becoming embroiled with Brandon. Knew them to the core of her being. And yet, she was willing to risk much in order to have just one taste.
    O ne delicious memory forever engrained in the recesses of her mind. A recollection she could pull out whenever another man touched her. A fantasy to dream about when she lay awake at night wondering what might have been.
    An herbal tisane. That was what she needed. Something to soothe her nerves and calm her feverish state.
    Groaning in frustration, she slowly touched her fingertips to his waist, ignoring the spark that shot up her arms to tingle in her breasts. Never had a man spurred such a reaction from her.
    “Ye’ll have to hold on tighter than that. I fear ye’ll fall with the slightest breeze.”
    A shift in the wind caused cool air to whip over her cheeks and stir her hair. But she didn’t wobble.
    “Well, if not the wind, then a faster pace,” Brandon conceded. He gripped her right hand and tugged it around his middle, placing it palm-flat on his rock hard middle. Ridges of sinew met her fingertips and she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from making an appreciative noise. Most of the men she’d been made to entertain were soft about the middle, not gloriously built of muscle. He pulled her left hand about him, forcing her to pin her chest to his back, her already pebbled nipples scraping against yet more muscle.
    Dear Lord, this was going to be a most sensually painful trip.
    “There ye have it, lass. Better?”
    “ Oui, monsieur .”
    ’Twas much improved—if she wanted to melt into a trembling mass of desire. Immeasurably better if she wanted to make a fool of herself by appearing upon the steps of Eilean Donan thoroughly flushed and ready to strip herself bare just so she could beg Brandon to put an end to her quivering center. As if to torment her all the more, his buttocks flexed again as he urged the horse into a faster gait, but this time, with her pressed even closer, she felt the movement of his rock solid form down there .
    A whimper escaped her lips.
    “Are ye all right, lass?”
    Mariana coughed. “Mmm-hmm.” Riding a horse had never been so sensual, and she was afraid she’d never be able to ride one again without her body bursting into flames.

    Brandon gritted his teeth— an action repeated so often since first laying eyes on Mariana, that his jaw muscles grew sore.
    The lass was plastered to his back, and no amount of layers kept him from feeling her breasts, pressed hotly on either side of his spine. He stiffened his back, urged Checkmate to go faster, but it didn’t help. If anything, he felt the plush globes more keenly. The more he tried to pretend she wasn’t riding with him, her legs spread wide around his body, the more he was conscious of her.
    Mariana cleared her throat, t he action vibrating her chest. Brandon suppressed another groan.
    “How long until we reach Eilean Donan?” Her voice was tight, as though she suffered and could not wait out the hours.
    His thoughts exactly.
    “Not long. Within the next two hours.”
    “Why then, did we stop to camp?”
    “It was nearing dark, and many were tired.”
    Thinking back on it, they should have ridden the entire way , exhaustion be damned. If they had, the attack would never have taken place, because they would have been safe behind the walls of the island castle. Archers could have taken out the Ross warriors one by one as they crossed the bridge in hopes of gaining access to the heavily fortified castle.
    “I see. Is the ride dangerous…in the dark?”
    “Aye, lass, but ye will be safe. Rest.”
    Mariana seemed to take his command to heart, no longer speaking, her cheek pressed against his back. The wind was harsh, whipping in gusts, and he suspected she was glad to have him as a shield. Thunder cracked overhead. Rain. The last thing they needed.