"'Tis different when a wee sister is involved. He will protect you, your reputation, and your future at all costs."
"Humph. He ignores me most of the time, but were he himself, Brodie would wish me to be happy."
Torr shook his head. "I could never make you happy, lass." His voice softened, as did his gaze. "In case you've forgotten, I'm cursed."
"Not if you—" she broke off.Not if you love me.But mayhap he couldn't. He did not care for her as much as she cared for him. "I will never belong to any other man. I have wanted you, Torr, for... a lifetime." Her voice faltered as she told him her deepest truth. "I'll never love anyone but you, whether you feel the same or not."
His eyes darkened, and his jaw muscles flexed. "Do not say these things to me," he rasped through clenched teeth, then closed his eyes and turned his face aside.
Reaching a hand up, she slid her fingertips along his stubble-covered cheek. "I speak the truth," she whispered and stood on tiptoe to press her lips to his hard, prickly jaw.
The moment his resistance broke, he exploded into action, lifting her and depositing her upon the bed beneath him.
A thrill raced through her, and she gasped. What would he do? Slightly apprehensive, she stared into his eyes, the color of a twilight forest. She did not have to wait long to find out. He captured and devoured her lips in a hard-driving kiss such as she'd never known existed. A kiss that delved past her heart and into her soul. 'Twas more tempestuous than a violent summer gale blowing in off the sea. She could scarcely breathe.
He pulled his mouth away and pressed his forehead to hers. "Do not offer me such things as I'll never have."
"You will... I am yours." With sudden clarity, she was keenly aware of how his big, hard body pressed down into hers in all the right places. Though she was clothed, he was completely naked. Arousal sung along every thread of her being. Tentatively, she traced her palm down the smooth, hot skin of his back toward his hip. He growled, his darkened gaze delving into hers. The curtain of his tawny hair cast most of his face in shadow, but she perceived his intensity.
Using both hands, she caressed his lower back. Some instinct buried deep within her impelled her to tug at him, pull him closer to the juncture of her thighs.
He moaned.
Saints! He was gorgeous and his lustful expression enthralling.
He watched her, daring her, beneath half-mast lashes. "You torture me, lass," he said through clenched teeth. "I ache for you."
"I ache also." A strange one in her lower belly. She had only suffered this ailment when around Torr.
"'Tis a mad yearning," he said, his voice gruff.
A thrill shot through her. "Aye." Near breathless now, she moved her hand up and stroked a palm against his cheek, his stubble rasping her skin. How she wished to kiss every inch of his handsome and precious face.
Growling, he shoved himself off and lay down beside her, covering them with the blanket. "You're an innocent, Cat," he muttered. "The daughter and sister of lairds. You're an important lady, nay some tavern wench. Your destiny is to wed a chief or someone with a title. I cannot steal your future away from you."
Even though she appreciated his sense of honor, everything in her rebelled at his words. She shook her head. "I have no future with a chief like MacPeter. My life would be over. Can you imagine the misery?" Tears pricked her eyes. "And I have no concern for titles. I only want you. And I thought you wanted me."
"Aye. Of course, I want you. You've tempted and teased me without mercy."
She'd tried, but naught had worked thus far. He resisted all temptation. "You like me, do you not?" she asked in a low voice. She knew she sounded vulnerable but couldn't help it.
Scowling, he blew out a breath. "Cat—saints preserve me—you're so naïve." He seemed at once exasperated with her yet understanding. "Indeed, I like you, but 'tis nay a question of liking."
She knew she was the one woman destined for him, regardless of her naiveté.
"What is it a question of, then?" she asked. "I can please you and make you happy if you will only give me a chance."
"You are nay free to be with me. Your clan and your family will dictate which man you must choose."
Suddenly, she felt hopeless. Crushed. If Torr wouldn't intervene and foil her mother's plans of marrying her off to the beast, no one would. Brodie didn't care and mostly ignored her. The clan and her mother simply wanted to use Cat to pay for protection. Mayhap Torr was a dream out of her reach.
A tear slid from her eye, but she quickly wiped it away.
"Och." Torr slipped his hand around her neck, pulled her near, and kissed her forehead.
Tears blurring her vision, she blinked and searched his eyes at close range. Did he feel anything at all for her?
"Cease the tears, lass. I cannot abide it."
