Black Richard's Heart (The MacCulloughs #1) - Suzan Tisdale Page 0,59

closer. “Lass, I can assure ye that I am fully capable of joinin’ with ye.”

“Then why were ye goin’ to walk away?” she asked, wholly confused with him.

Raking a hand through his hair, he finally blurted out his answer. “Because, ye be so tiny, so frail and weak! I be afraid I will hurt ye!”

It had to be the most ridiculous thing Aeschene had ever heard.

Dumbfounded and bloody well angry, she reached out and placed a gentle hand on his arm. “Och! Richard,” she said with as sweet a smile as she could manage at the moment. “Ye foolish, foolish man.”

In the next instant, she slid her hand down his arm until she found his hand. Taking it in her own, she found his little finger and bent it as far back as she could.

“Och!” Richard cried out. She was certain ’twas more out of surprise than actual pain.

Letting go, she found his upper arm again and pinched the tender skin nearest his armpit. Just as hard as she was able, and gave it a twist for good measure.

“Bloody hell!” he ground out, yanking his arm away from her.

Oh, she would give her right leg to be able to see his expression! She imagined he was angry as well as a bit stunned. “Did that hurt?” she asked, feigning a sweetness she didn’t truly feel at the moment while batting her lashes at him.

“It bloody well did!” he replied angrily.

With a curt nod of her head, she said, “Still think ye that I am weak and frail?”

She might as well have said ‘take me now.’

Black Richard was upon her in an instant, his large hands wrapping around her waist and pulling her toward him. The thought to ask permission to kiss her never entered his mind. His lips claimed hers, to which she surrendered quite enthusiastically.

Her fingers found their way around his neck where she clung to him for dear life. He heard her soft moans of pleasure which acted as fuel to the fires of his need and desire. There was no reason to ask her if she wanted him as much as he wanted her, for he could tell by the way she held on to him, in her heavy breaths, and in the desperate way in which she was kissing him.

When he had imagined this moment — and he had imagined it nearly every waking and sleeping hour since seeing her for the first time — he had thought he would take his time, slowly exploring every glorious inch of her body. But Aeschene would have none of that. Quickly, she began inching her way back to the bed, never once letting go of him.

As soon as her back touched the bed, she was struggling to free herself from her night dress. A moment later, it was falling to the floor at their feet. All the while, her lips pressed against his, her tongue twinging with his.

Quickly, he loosened the ties of his trews. With a need he didn’t think possible at this stage in his life, he fought to get his feet out of his boots. Aeschene refused to let his mouth leave hers.

Shucking out of the boots and trews, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. Her skin was as smooth as silk against his calloused hands, her hair just as soft as he had dreamed it would. She smelled of lilacs and musk, a scent that nearly made him dizzy with desire. Gently, he laid her down and climbed into the bed next to her.

With a near frantic frenzy, he caressed her thighs, letting his hands wander over her delicate skin. When he cupped one breast in his hands, she moaned most seductively as she arched upward, a quiet plea for more.

Frantically, she pulled at his tunic in an attempt to remove it. “Nay,” he whispered against her cheek. He did not want her to feel the scars that covered his torso. Thankfully, she did not argue.

Any previous thoughts to take his time flew out the window along with his good senses. “This might hurt,” he muttered against her ear.

“I do not care,” she replied breathlessly as she pressed her hands against his shoulders to pull him closer. “I want ye, Richard.”

Those four little words were nearly his undoing. In one fluid motion, he rolled to his back, bringing her with him. There would be time later to explore her more thoroughly, more intently. For now, they were two desperate