He kissedher like he was starving and she was salvation, claiming her mouth with an intensity that left her knees weak and her heart racing.
Hector pulled backwith great effort. Gabriella leaned in, wanting more, but he held her wrists firmly in his hands.
“This arrangement of ours,”he said, his voice strained. “This marriage in name only…” His gaze commanded hers to remain on him. “Are ye certain that’s what ye truly want?”
The question hungin the air between them, weighed with possibility and danger.
Gabriella’s mouthwent dry as she met his intense stare, seeing the barely leashed desire there, the careful restraint that seemed to be fraying with each passing moment.
“I…”she began, then faltered, her pulse racing as he took a step toward her.
“Because if ye are,”he continued, his voice dropping to that low, dangerous rumble that sent heat spiraling through her, “then ye should ken exactly what ye’re choosin’ to refuse.”
He pulled her closer.The candlelight played across his features, highlighting the sharp angles of his face, the predatory grace in his movements.
His voice was rough,low, thick with hunger.“I’ll show ye what ye’ll be missin’ out, lass.”
20
Gabriella was still in her chemise, the soft linen clinging to the swell of her hips, the roundness of her breasts outlined by firelight. Hector stood facing her, his shoulders squared, his plaid hanging loose around his waist, his chest rising and falling with deep, steady breaths.
“Hector…”
He didn’t answer.Instead, he reached for her, one calloused hand rising to grip her jaw—gentle but firm enough to remind her who was in charge here. His thumb brushed over her bottom lip, his eyes dark, dangerous,wanting.
“Ye kenwhat I see when I look at ye, Gabriella?” he asked, his voice quieter now, rougher. “A woman who plays brave but is burnin’ inside. Burnin’ for me to peel her apart.”
Her lips parted,but she had no words. Not when he was looking at her like that. Like she was a secret he’d been waiting all his life to uncover.
“Ye wanted rules,”he growled, brushing his mouth across her cheek. “Fine. We’ll follow ‘em. I willnae take ye… nae ‘til ye beg me. But dinnae think for a second that I willnae teach ye what beggin’ mewillfeel like.”
The promisein his voice made her knees tremble. This wasn’t just about desire anymore—it was about trust, about surrender, about letting someone past every wall she’d ever built.
And just like that,she melted.
He dippedhis head and kissed her—not with tenderness, but with hunger. The kind of kiss that left no room for questions. He took her mouth, claimed it, devoured it, and her knees nearly buckled. His hand slid into her hair, fisting the strands as he deepened the kiss, his tongue stroking hers, coaxing and demanding all at once.
She feltherself drowning in his scent, his warmth, the taste of him. There was no steady ground left beneath her feet, no control she could cling to.
Her fingers grippedhis arms because she feared she might fall without them. But falling didn’t feel like losing anymore. It felt like flying.
When he broke the kiss,her lips tingled, her heart thundered.
“Strip,”he said.
She stared up at him,her chest rising and falling rapidly.
“I said, strip, Gabriella.”
Still breathless,she obeyed. Fingers fumbling slightly, she untied the laces at the top of her chemise, then slid the fabric down her shoulders. It slipped down her body and pooled at her feet, leaving her bare under the glow of the fire.
Hector’s eyesswept over her slowly. Reverently. But when he looked back at her face, the reverence vanished.
“Turn around. Hands on the post.”
She hesitated.
“Now.”
