His hand took hold at the back of her neck and his lips pressed against hers with a strength that turned her shiver to a tingle. She startled again when his tongue invaded her mouth and she braced her hands on either side of her to steady herself. Surprisingly, the more her tongue sparred with his the more she enjoyed the kiss. It hadn’t been intentional; she had meant to avoid his brash invasion, instead she seemed to have fueled something inside herself.
His other hand slipped around her waist and eased her back on the sleeping pallet following down on top of her, the kiss uninterrupted. The heat from his hard body drifted into her and strangely enough comforted her. Fear tingled at the recesses of her mind but his kiss held it at bay.
When he drew his mouth away she felt a moment of loss but then he brushed his lips over hers as if teasing her.
“My kiss is the first you have ever tasted?” he asked in a whisper that sent tingles rippling across her passion-plumped lips.
She nodded realizing a heathen had been the first to kiss her and oddly enough she wished he would kiss her again and as if hearing… he did.
She couldn’t lie still a minute longer. It was as if something inside her nudged her and without thinking her arms wrapped slowly around him. She had never felt such strength before, his thick muscles as hard as stone and yet his flesh smooth to the touch. She didn’t think, she wanted only to explore and so her hand slipped up beneath his long hair and along his neck where her fingers began to roam ever so gently.
Cree was off her in an instant, his bare chest heaving as if he was breathless. She couldn’t be sure if it was anger or passion she saw in his eyes. And she quickly scurried to sit up suddenly feeling defenseless lying prone while he stood so close towering over her.
She waited and as she did fear began to crawl over her turning her skin damp and causing her heart to pound. What had she done wrong? He had kissed her but when she had touched him… the thought struck her like a slap in the face.
He doesn’t want me to touch him. Most everyone avoided being touched by her, as if she would inflict them with her horror. And yet he had wrapped himself around her to sleep or had it been because he didn’t trust her and so kept watch over her that way?
Whatever it was she had been a fool to respond to his kiss. He was a heathen; he cared for no one. He would have his way with her simply because there was no other woman but her to assuage his need. And there had been need, she had felt it swell against her as they kissed. Why hadn’t she kept her hands to herself? He would have taken her and it would have been done with or would it? Could she truly admit to herself that she had enjoyed his kiss and had been sorry to have it end? Then she recalled Flanna’s warning not to touch the devil or she’d become a slave to his passion.
She quickly recited a prayer for her sinful action and turned her head away from him. Lord forgive her, but she wished Colum had never caught Cree for then life would have gone on as always. And she could have continued to pray and dream that somewhere there was a man brave of heart and soul who would love her.
Not knowing what to do and not wanting to see anger or disgust in his eyes she stretched out on her side, her back to him and shut her eyes. There was nothing she could do. She was trapped here with him just as her voice was trapped somewhere never to be set free.
Cree stared at her back fighting to control the urge to rush over to her and… damn but he had had his way with more woman than he could remember so why not have her and be done with it. He made a fist and pressed it to his gut. He had felt as if he had been punched quick and hard when he had kissed her, the kiss having stolen his breath.
She tasted sweet and so delicious that he could have drunk of their kiss forever. He had known in an instant how innocent she was, her kiss unsure, her tongue darting in fright and uncertainty. He had felt the wild thumping of her heart against his chest, felt when her body grew languid with passion and knew that she would surrender to his touch, but then… she had touched him and everything changed.