The Betrayal - By Ruth Langan Page 0,31

his kisses took her higher and higher.

The hands holding her were almost bruising as they moved over her with a hunger that spoke to an answering hunger in her. And all the while that warm, clever mouth plundered hers.

She was hot where he touched her. So very hot. Yet icy needles slithered along her spine with each brush of his mouth on hers. She absorbed the rush of heat.

She moaned when he lifted his head, breaking contact. But instead of pulling away he merely changed the angle of the kiss and took it deeper, causing her to sigh with pleasure.

Her blood heated and pulsed and her breathing became ragged as his strong, clever hands moved over her, touching her everywhere, unlocking feelings she’d never even known existed. She wondered that her frantically beating heart didn’t simply give up from exertion.

Grant could feel the change in her. She’d gone from surprise to a gradual awareness of herself as a woman. From surrender to desire. From desire to need. A need that was as compelling as his. Now what he wanted, what they both wanted, was within their grasp. They need only to take it.

Still he held back, concerned with her welfare. “Think, Kylia, what it is we’re about to do.”

“I can think of nothing else, Grant.”

Nor could he. He nearly smiled, but this was far too grave an issue for levity. “Once we do this thing, we can never go back.” He stared deeply into her eyes and saw the little fear that flickered there.

“You worry over me. Over my virtue.”

“One of us must look out for you.”

“Aye. And for that I’m grateful.”

His tone roughened. “It isn’t your gratitude I desire.”

“Nay. It is this.” She lifted her face to him. In her eyes was a look of such love, it nearly melted his heart. “I have no wish to go back, Grant. Only forward. With you.” She lifted herself on tiptoe and pressed her mouth to his throat.

Such a simple gesture, but the tenderness of it was his undoing.

The blood roared in his temples. His vision was nearly blinded by a mist of passion. His heart beat a thunderous tattoo in his chest. With each touch of her, each taste, the need grew until he was beyond thought, beyond reason.

With a growl that seemed more animal than human he drove her back against the trunk of a tree and savaged her mouth with kisses that left them both gasping for breath. Though this change in him had her fearful, she clung to him, offering more, wanting him to end this terrible need inside her.

Needs unlike any she’d ever experienced writhed and twisted, demanding to be satisfied. Deep inside, a small fist pulsed and throbbed like a hollow ache. Her breasts felt swollen and tender, as her body strained toward his.

He ran hot, wet kisses along the smooth column of her throat, sending delicious curls of pleasure down her spine. But when his mouth dipped lower, to capture her breast, she could do nothing but gasp his name.

Despite the barrier of her gown, he nibbled and suckled until she moaned and writhed in his arms. “Grant, please…”

He lifted his head. “Do you wish me to stop?”

“Nay. I…” She couldn’t speak over the dryness in her throat.

“Tell me that you want this, Kylia.” He waited, afraid to breathe. If she should change her mind now, he would surely die.

There was a light in her eyes he’d never seen before. A gleam of desire that had her tossing aside her cloak and reaching up to twine her arms around his neck. She drew his head close for a slow kiss as she whispered against his lips, “I want this, Grant. Only this. And you. Only…”

He cut off her words with a kiss so hot, so hungry, it seemed to steal her breath.

And then there were no words as he tore her gown aside in his haste. It pooled in the grass at her feet while he untied the ribbons of her chemise. As the fabric parted, he studied her in the moonlight. “Oh, my sweet Kylia. You’re even more beautiful than I’d imagined.”

He ran soft, nibbling kisses across her shoulder to her collarbone, then lower to her breast. He could feel the way she shivered, and he gathered her close, taking her nipple into his mouth.

She was seized with the most unbelievable wave of heat that nearly staggered her. She had a need to touch him as he was touching her. She reached blindly