His voice was soft but his eyes glowed with hunger. If she had ever believed the tales of wild men in the woods, he embodied such myths right then. He bent his knees and stretched out his arms with his hands curled into talons.
“I cannae chase ye if ye are nae running.”
He dragged one foot across the ground like a stallion pawing with impatience. Her hands tangled in her skirts, gripping the fabric, before she really decided what to say.
“Keir…”
“I’m only going to count to five and then I’m going to run ye down.” He took one step toward her and she broke, turning and running out into the rain. Her heart raced as her mind began keeping count.
One…two…three…four…
She didn’t dare look behind her. She raised her skirts to her knees and ran. The rain soaked her hair, cooling her skin that had turned hot. The contrast sent more sensation through her. The back of her neck tingled as though she could feel him bearing down on her. It grew and grew in intensity until she risked a look over her shoulder.
A shriek left her lips because Keir was almost upon her, his powerful legs closing the distance between them on silent strides. He didn’t stop running; just captured her in hard arms that tossed her up…up and over his shoulder.
He snarled with victory and continued on to a dense grouping of trees. She struggled, caught up in a storm of sensations and feelings. He tossed her down but cradled her before she hit the ground. Her cloak spread out beneath her and he reached for the clasp to keep it from pulling against her throat.
“My prize.”
He nuzzled against her neck, poised just above her. She quivered, her body shaking with need and hunger. She reached for him, craving contact more than she ever had before. She understood what the ache in her passage needed now and it made her too hungry to be docile.
“My captor.”
He lifted his head and stared at her. She reached up until she found the skin above his collar, slick with rain. She pushed her hands along the thick column until she reached his collar and pulled on the ties to open it. He didn’t give her time to stroke the skin she bared. His mouth sought hers, demanding a hard kiss. She responded in kind, gripping his head to hold him in place while her lips demanded as much from him as he took from her.
He pulled her doublet open, the fabric groaning in protest. She didn’t care. Her back arched and she offered her breasts to him. The lace of her corset popped when he pulled the knot loose.
“I’m going to ravish you.”
“Yes!” She gripped his shoulders and cried out when he licked over the swell of one breast. His lips closed around the nipple, shooting fire into her chest. She arched with it, surging up off the cloak. More thunder echoed across the woods, and this time she felt it against her wet skin.
Keir pushed her back down, imprisoning her with his strength. His tongue teased the tip of her nipple, toying with it before he sucked it hard and deep into his mouth.
“Yes!”
There was nothing else in her mind save for that single word. She hit his shoulders, growling through her teeth as she repeated it. He pulled his head up and there was a faint pop when her nipple freed itself from his grasp.
“Yes?” He was demanding but she didn’t care. She needed it, needed to feel his strength. He was part of the violent storm and she wanted to be swept up into it.
“Hard and fast, Helena? Is that how you want it?” He captured her wrists and pinned them above her head. The wind brushed across her bare breasts and nothing had ever sent hunger like it through her before. There was a wildness in the sight of him above her and the feel of his hands gripping her wrists, but there was the secure knowledge of how tenderly he’d taken her the night before to give her the faith to trust him.
“I’ll toss yer skirts above yer waist and sink into ye….”
“Yes!” She was demanding now, her voice full of expectation. “Do it!”
He released her hands and she reached for his hair, pulling the strands into her grasp. He hissed but enjoyment flickered in his eyes. Her skirts were raised with one quick motion of his hands. She spread her thighs eagerly for him, her knees bending,