He nearly groaned. It pleased him that he was the only man she’d ever kissed—provided she told the truth—but such innocence couldn’t be faked, surely, and what would she have to gain by such a falsehood? Nay, he was allowing past transgressions to color the present, which was hardly fair to his bride.
And that she said she didn’t know anything of kissing made him want to snort. The lass was a born temptress. She kissed with a mixture of bold vixen and sweet innocence that inspired so many conflicting reactions that he was tongue-tied and cross-eyed.
“I think you have it just right,” he murmured. “But just in case, perchance you could practice a bit more on me.”
She shook with nervous laughter, the sound tinkling over his ears like little silver bells.
“Kissing can be wondrous if done correctly,” he said. Even as he spoke, he thought on how long it had been since he’d truly enjoyed something as sweet as a simple kiss.
“Correctly?”
“Aye.”
“Show me.”
He grinned and pulled her lower, then bent and pressed his lips to the pulse at her neck. She jumped and then let out a breathy sigh just before melting against him. He nibbled a path to her ear and licked the lobe like she was a delicious treat.
Her fingers dug into his arms. She was turned in his lap so that her bound br**sts were pressed tight to his chest. It was killing him, now that he knew what lurked behind that binding.
“Oh aye, kissing is nice.”
There was no way in heaven or hell that he was going to content himself with lying beside her in the bed all night. He’d promised himself and her that he wouldn’t do anything to hurt her or make tomorrow’s journey uncomfortable, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t indulge himself in the feast of her silken skin.
He tugged at the sleeves of her gown until her shoulders were bared. She immediately went still and then pushed away from his chest, her mouth pursed as if to protest. She opened her mouth then sealed it shut as she continued to look at him.
“I want to look at you. Then I’m going to show you that there’s quite a bit more to kissing, not to mention a lot more places that kissing brings pleasure to.”
“Oh.”
The word slid from her lips with breathless excitement. Her pupils flared and a flush danced across her throat and cheeks.
“What do you want me to do?”
He smiled. “Not a damn thing, lass. I’ll be doing what needs to be done. All you have to do is lie back and enjoy it.”
CHAPTER 6
Rionna couldn’t help her reaction to Caelen’s husky drawl. It prickled over her skin, eliciting a feminine longing deep within. And then he stood, nearly carrying her upward as he set her away from him.
Before she could process the emptiness that suddenly besieged her at the loss of his touch, he began inching her gown up her legs, baring her ankles and then her knees.
She felt sinful and brazen and it perplexed her that she decided she quite liked it. Who would have ever accused her of being sensual? A woman to turn a man’s head?
An indecent thrill sent chill bumps racing across her belly as the gown inched higher. She quite liked that, too. Panic scuttled through her chest about the time Caelen finally pulled the gown free of her head.
Clad now in her most intimate underthings, hardly barriers to his seeking gaze, heat scorched over her flesh and her cheeks tightened as she blushed furiously. He looked at her as though he wanted to devour her whole, like he was a beast closing in on his prey. She should be afraid, but what she really felt was … anticipation.
“I should do this slower so that I can savor the sight of you, but I’m an impatient man, and I can’t bear the excitement a moment longer. I simply have to see you, lass. I want to touch you so much, I’m shaking with it.”
She’d never been a woman to swoon. She’d never fainted in her life, but her knees were precariously weak and she was so light-headed that she feared falling right over.
She had no sense of herself. She felt as though she were floating in some delicious dream she never wanted to awaken from. Only, her dreams had never been this erotic, and they certainly didn’t include a magnificent warrior standing before her, trembling because he wanted her so. Staring at her like she was the only woman in the world.
With urgency he hadn’t displayed so far, he quickly divested her of the last remaining material and suddenly she was clad in only the binding around her br**sts. A shiver overtook her though she was far from chilled.
He stared at the binding for a long moment before lifting his gaze. “ ’Tis a travesty to hide such a wealth of feminine beauty. Are you ashamed?”
Her cheeks tightened in mortification. “Nay, I mean aye. Maybe. They’re inconvenient,” she finally managed. “They get in the way.”
Caelen chuckled, his voice husky with amusement. “I’m torn between forbidding you to ever hide them and only allowing you to reveal them to me.”
“You … You like them?”
“Oh aye, lass. We men are fond of such things. However, I’ll like them more when I get this binding from around you.”
He turned her around and gently untied the ends. Holding one of the strips of material, he walked around to the front and then began unwinding, transferring from hand to hand and reaching around her until her br**sts pushed forward and at last, sprang free from confinement.
He stared unabashedly, though he didn’t just focus on her br**sts. Finally, she was completely nude, and he took his time, sweeping his gaze over her body from head to toe. Then he stared into her eyes. His breath came out in a ragged exhale.