Devil of the Highlands Page 0,31

him not to stop, and she wanted him to kiss her, but he touched her with nothing but his hands, squeezing, kneading, plucking then rubbing by turn, until Evelinde thought she couldn't bear it another moment. Just when she opened her mouth to protest, to ask him to at least kiss her as he touched her, his hands slid away, and he turned to scoop up more salve.

Evelinde bit her lip to keep from speaking and clenched her fingers to keep from reaching for him as he warmed the salve. When he turned back, he ignored her upper body altogether and instead turned his attention to her lower legs. He massaged and caressed her feet, her ankles, her calves, her knees…

Evelinde watched him turn away to collect more salve, aware her breathing had become uneven and labored. It was a combination of what he was doing and anticipation of what was yet to come, then he turned back, and his hands glided over her legs just above the knees. Evelinde was stiff as a board, her entire body waiting. When his hands moved higher and crested over her upper thighs toward the juncture between her legs, she gasped and caught her hands in the linens she lay on.

She did not know if it was the salve, or his massage that was doing it, but her aches and pains were completely gone; the only sensation she was experiencing was pleasurable anticipation.

"Relax," he growled again, and Evelinde sighed as his hands moved back down her legs: rubbing, massaging, and kneading the kinks out of her muscles. This time, when his hands began to move higher along her thighs, she didn't stiffen up but squirmed slightly, her legs easing open under his touch.

What he was doing was making her eyes droop closed so she was peering at him through bare slits. She watched his face, noting the concentration and care on his expression and once again wished he'd kiss her. Evelinde liked it when he kissed her. She liked to taste him when his tongue thrust into her mouth, she liked the way it rasped across her own. These thoughts frittered away like cobwebs, and she gasped and found herself clutching at the linens again as his hands moved over her upper thighs, his fingers brushing lightly across the flesh at the apex.

Evelinde was suddenly aware that as he'd massaged her he'd spread her legs wider, leaving her open to him. A flash of embarrassment claimed her, but not enough, she thought, to make her close them and hamper his touch. And then his fingers brushed over her core again, and her legs snapped closed, stopping the caress and trapping his hand at the same.

It was an instinctual reaction. Evelinde couldn't have stopped it had she tried. Biting her lip, she opened her eyes and found him looking back at her. They stared at each other for a moment, neither of them moving, then, still meeting her gaze, he used both hands to ease her legs open again and shifted to kneel between them so they couldn't close. As he did, his plaid slipped until she was perilously close to seeing the hardness that was presently raising the cloth.

Evelinde watched him silently, aware her chest was rising and falling in rapid shallow breaths, as his fingers brushed over her skin again. Her legs tried to snap closed but were prevented by his presence, so instead she closed her eyes and clenched her fists and moaned, her hips instinctively trying to shift and arch as his fingers danced over her flesh.

If she'd thought he'd built a fire in her by the riverside at d'Aumesbery, it was nothing compared to what he was doing now. Evelinde actually began to ache with a need she didn't understand and had barely tasted at the river. Her hips began to move of their own volition, the urge so strong his hold could not completely stop it. And then he suddenly withdrew those magic fingers.

Evelinde's felt the absence keenly, and her eyes shot open at once. She met his gaze and saw the smile curve his lips before he suddenly leaned forward to dip his head between her legs, replacing his hand with his mouth. She cried out with shock and started to sit up to grab for his head and try to draw him away, but then his tongue rasped over her heated, sensitive flesh, and she froze, even her breathing stopping. A second rasp sent the breath