Reluctant (Heroes of the Highlands) (The MacKays #3) Read Free Page B

lips without seeking entrance. He claimed her mouth as his, thrusting and retreating in a strong, moist action that sent dizzying thrills through her veins.
    Arousal slammed into her with a wet and instant rush. All her life, she’d fantasized about being kissed like this. She’d been ashamed of her desires. Of her needs. She’d wanted to drive a man so mad with wanting that he couldn’t help himself. She’d wanted to be officially kissed. Thoroughly kissed. And she’d been murdered before she ever had the chance.
    His arm allowed her to slowly drop a little, sliding down his body. His sex pulsed between them she could feel the heat of it even through her robes. It made her gasp, though her gasp seemed to resemble a moan and was swallowed by his lips.
    It felt glorious to have her mouth ravaged like this. The beast savored her like a doomed man would his last meal, which, she supposed, he was.
    Once her feet touched the ground, he released her hair. A ripping sound permeated the pleasure-drugged fog of her thoughts. Cool air kissed the skin of her back. If she didn’t act now she’d be as naked as him in a moment.
    She wasn’t ready for that. Not with him. What was she doing? This man was a monster. A murderer! And she was allowing him to kiss her senseless.
    Panicking, Kamdyn did the only thing she could think to do. She jolted him with her magic, dropping his giant body into an unceremonious heap on the earth.
    ***
    Someone was saying his name. Which was odd because he no longer had one. But whoever called for him was distressed. Afraid.
    His body hurt everywhere. It felt like someone had tried to rip his soul from him and his skin barely managed to fight them off and contain it.
    Who would dare? He swam through a dark current to the front of his eyelids and willed them to open. He would gut the fucker and shove his entrails down his throat while he still lived.
    Did the doomed villain now threaten whoever called for him? Did she need his protection?
    He furrowed his brow. He protected no one who could not defend themselves. He didn’t have time for the weak. For the useless.
    Soren. Soren, wake up. Please wake up.
    He would protect her . The woman who belonged to that voice. He would protect her with his life. With his blood. With his beast. She belonged to him now.
    He groaned. Where did these instincts hie from? They screamed through him with an intense ferocity. They were weak. They were soft and humiliating. He wanted rid of them.
    Now.
    Light exploded into his eye and he could feel his pupil contract. The only illumination came from a lone candle, but even it seemed too much.
    “Soren, are you dead? Did I…already?”
    His vision swam into focus. Maybe he had died, for never in his life would the angel crouched above him have reached for his face. She was small. Her features so perfectly delicate, he thought they might shatter if touched by a brute like himself.
    His vision stung and blurred, reminding him to blink. He tried, but only one eye succeeded, because she held open the other lid with her finger.
    “Oh! You’re alive. I’m so relieved.” Her lilting brogue conveyed pleasure with a voice made of equal parts sweetness and sunshine. Her hair was on fire. Wait. Nie , it was just the color of flames and piled on top of her head in a curly sort of disarray. He liked it, but it made him want to find what held it there and release her fire curls down her shoulders.
    He scowled and tried to scrub his muddled mind clean of such strange and disconcerting thoughts.
    She frowned back at him. The expression didn’t look like it belonged on a face such as hers. Clear, sea-green eyes, filled with concern, looked down at him from a face so pale, the pink patches of friction on the flesh around her mouth arrested his notice. He squinted at her moist, swollen lips. A memory tried to struggle to the surface of his murky vision.
    The girl’s eyes widened and she let go of his eye to cover that soft mouth with her