Chapter 7
Mairiana could not believe Darack was asking if she wished to kiss him. "Nay! You are the last man on earth I would allow to kiss me."
His brows shot upward. "And why is that? Am I hideously ugly?"
"Now who is being silly?"
He watched her for a long moment, his brows quirked innocently. "You think me handsome?"
She rolled her eyes. "Do not fish for compliments. 'Tis not an attractive quality."
His expression changed, becoming speculative. "'Haps you would like me to kiss you so you can forget all about Alec Lindsay."
Her heartrate sped up as panic grabbed hold of her. She leapt to her feet and paced away. Not because she feared Darack, but because she was so captivated by him… and she should not be. She had to get away from him.
Standing now, he gradually moved closer. "'Haps you could get some revenge."
"Stay back," she warned.
He paused and shrugged. "Why let Alec control your life?"
"He is not."
"What would make him angrier than you kissing another man?"
She twisted her mouth and glanced aside. "He would never know of it."
"Nay, but you could imagine. 'Twould be like saying…to hell with you, Alec. A lot more men besides you find me irresistible."
"What… you—?" she broke off. Had he just said he found her irresistible?
"Aye." He smiled, moving closer. "As I said already, you are beautiful, even if a bit maddening at times."
Her heart pounding with excitement, she narrowed her eyes. "No more maddening than you, sir."
Darack placed one hand at her waist, and with the other, he cupped her nape. He yanked her against his chest. His lips came down on hers, forceful and commanding. Good heavens! Darack's scrumptious mouth was hard and soft at the same time. Gentle one moment and forceful the next. His wicked tongue flicked at the part between her lips, but 'twas not the way Alec had done it. She suddenly found Darack's demands impossible to resist. When she opened her mouth, he darted his tongue inside, again with a forceful gentleness that completely disarmed her and made her dig her fingernails against his hard shoulders.
She'd had no idea a kiss could feel like this. 'Twas how a rogue's kiss was different from a normal man's. It shot flames and chills through her, dragged the strength from her knees, compelled her to sink to the floor beneath him. How could she respond this way? She was not a loose, immoral woman. She had only just escaped her barbaric fiancé. How could she be here, devouring every kiss this outlaw gave her? When she came to herself, she realized he was holding her up, pressed against the stone wall. What the devil was wrong with her?
Grasping at self-preservation, she turned her face away, breaking the kiss—though everything in her railed against it—trying to regain her senses and her strength. But Darack dropped his lips to her neck and placed dreamy kisses across her skin, suckling at her tender flesh, trailing his tongue downward. Saints… the delicious tingles of pleasure which showered over her. She should shove him away or tell him to stop. But her arms were wrapped around his shoulders. And she was not herself.
"Tis a fever," she whispered.
"What?" he murmured against her throat.
"I'm ill. I have a fever." Surely, that's what it was.
He chuckled, drew back a few inches and looked into her eyes, his own midnight-dark and filled with mirth. "In truth?"
"Aye, what else would cause me to be so insensible and feverish?"
His grin remained. "I do wonder, m'lady."
What was that tone he took with her? As if he thought her daft.
"I believe you," he said, placing her feet upon the floor. "You retain your virtue." He released her and walked away. She slid down the wall to the floor, hugging her drawn up knees. Saints, what had he done to her? She'd never experienced anything so powerful and sharp. Was it passion? Why should she feel passion for Darack? She'd obviously felt none for Alec. Whathadshe felt for him? She'd found him attractive and ideal. Like a perfect man, she'd thought. The full-grown embodiment of her girlish fantasies. A charming prince come to life. But 'twas not so. He'd deceived her in every way.
And Darack, outlaw rogue, had kissed her and made her feel astounding things. Her body still felt afire from touching his. Out of her control. She wished—against her will—that he would do it again. Good lord, she even shocked herself. She was mad, surely!
