AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He groaned. “I’m trying to be clear about my motives. I don’t want to hurt you.”
Her chin went up and her blue eyes glowed with heat. “What if I hurt you?”
He shouldn’t have laughed. It made her mad, and that wasn’t his intent at all. “I’d assumed that was a given. Judging by how much I want to see you naked right now, I’d probably walk through burning coals to have one last chance in your bed before I leave.”
“You are assuming an awful lot,” she said, the words icy with disdain. Still, in some little corner of his brain that wasn’t thinking about sex, he recognized the flicker of uncertainty in her eyes.
“Wrong,” he said flatly. “I’m asking. Maybe another man would take first and ask questions later. I don’t know. But you’re Finley’s sister, and I don’t want this to get weird.”
“I’ll have to think about it.”
The disappointment that gripped him was unprecedented. “So not tonight?”
“Not tonight,” she said firmly. “We could try kissing, though. If it doesn’t go well, we wouldn’t have to fool with the rest.”
“The rest?” Did she really mean to dismiss sex so cavalierly? Her nonchalant assumption that intimacy between them might be ho-hum set his teeth on edge…and awoke his fighting instincts. “I agree,” he said sharply. “Let’s get started.”
She huffed, a little startled sound. Her gaze darted wildly around the kitchen. “My ankle might be broken. I don’t think that’s wise.”
“You’ve been flitting around the island all afternoon. Don’t be absurd. Besides, I promise not to kiss your ankle…at least not yet.”
It was amazingly gratifying to see gutsy little Bella twist in the wind. His suggestive comment turned her face red as the tomato on the kitchen windowsill. She sputtered and grabbed for her crutch.
Casually, he moved it out of her reach. “You won’t be needing that, my dear.” He stood up from the table and watched her watch him. It was almost impossible not to smile. She was both intrigued and terrified. He could see it in her eyes and on her face.
His libido took a momentary backseat to tenderness. Scooping her into his arms, he carried her through to the living room where Finley’s large comfy sofa awaited them. “Don’t be afraid, lass. I’ll not do anything you don’t want me to do, I swear.”
When he sat down with her in his lap, he was exceedingly careful not to bump her poor bruised foot. Tonight was about pleasure, not pain.
Bella plucked at a loose thread on his shirt pocket. “I’m not very good at…this,” she whispered. “It’s messy and unpredictable, and I never know how to let go and enjoy myself.”
Her candor took him aback. “Only kissing,” he said. “Remember? No need for nerves.”
“You won’t make fun of me? Or tease me?”
He realized she was serious. Pulling back, he scowled at her. “My God. What kind of men have you been with? I might tease you in certain situations, but it won’t because you’re not good at kissing or sex. You’re amazing, Bella. How can you not know that?”
“You’re yelling again,” she said timidly, though her smile was smug. By now she had discovered the extent of his arousal. It was hard to miss with her hip pressed up against him.
He’d had it with talking. Some things were better communicated tacitly. Carefully, he unbuttoned her top. Her baby-blue bra was trimmed with black lace. He traced the top edge with a single finger, his chest heaving. This was a bad idea. A very bad idea. Somewhere between the kitchen and here, he had lost control. He wanted to lay her back on the long sofa and move on top of her.
When he slipped one bra strap down her shoulder, her eyelids fluttered and closed.
“No,” he said hoarsely. “Don’t go away. Stay with me.” He bent his head and eased her down against the arm of the sofa so he could reach her lips. When he covered her mouth with his, she whispered his name. The sound went straight to his gut, hardening his erection a millimeter more.
Knowing that sex was off the table for tonight lent a sort of youthful unabashed experimentation to the moment. Her lips were pressed firmly together. He teased the seam with his tongue until she opened and let him in. The taste of her was intoxicating.
He had forgotten to dim the lights. Cinnamon whined from the study where he had closed her up while they ate dinner. Though Finley’s cottage was nice, it was hardly a luxury suite at the Ritz. Yet somehow, the room narrowed to a quiet, erotic bubble of intimacy that held only the two of them.
Bella curled her arms around his neck. “You’re nice when you’re not bossing me around,” she murmured, nipping his bottom lip with sharp teeth.
Shuddering, he dragged her closer. “I hope that means we’ve passed the kissing test.” He slipped a fingertip beneath her bra and caressed one taut nipple. Danger. Danger. The sound blared in his head rudely.
She had told him no. He intended to respect her boundaries. One more kiss. That was all…
* * *
Bella floated on a cloud of euphoria. Her whole adult life this kind of moment had eluded her. Yet here was Ian, the contrary Scotsman, turning her world upside down.
