A Lass to Love (Brides of Scotland #1) - Tammy Andresen Page 0,5
to flutter wildly. “It will only take a moment,” she croaked.
He looked down at her hand and then up into her eyes. His gaze was no longer warm but burning hot and heat exploded within her. Without another word, he grabbed the net from her hand and then before she’d uttered another thing, he jumped over the side of the boat.
She let out a little yelp, until she realized he still held the rail with one hand. He dangled down the side of the boat like an acrobat or a monkey. How did he manage it? The water slashed and suddenly the net reappeared, the gull inside. “Miss MacFarland, take the net. Colin, help me back over.”
With trembling fingers, she plucked the handle from his hand, the gull giving a long cry. “There, there,” she soothed. “We won’t hurt ye.” She looked up to see Colin pulling Tom back over the side.
The moment his feet hit the deck, he slapped Colin on the shoulder. “Forgive me friend but I have to crow a bit. It turns out you just haven’t been doing a good enough job with those rescues. When you do them right—ouch!”
The gull had stuck his beak through the net and clasped onto Mayweather’s finger. “Oh dear,” she cried, pulling the net and the gull away. “Are ye all right?”
It was Colin’s turn to slap Mayweather on the back. “That’s what ye get.”
Colin wrapped his other hand about his finger. “I think I understand.”
Tom stared at Fiona as she shoved the net into Colin’s hands and then raced to his side, reaching out delicate fingers to take his. Her skin was achingly soft and her hand so pale and tiny next to his. Gently, she pulled his away to assess the damage done by the bird, her light touches a balm in and of themselves. “Ye poor thing. Are ye all right?”
He tried, and couldn’t remember, a time anyone had touched him with such gentleness. Not since his mother, surely, and she’d died ten years prior. “I’m fine.” Why did his voice sound so rough?
She ran the pad of her forefinger from the base finger to the top and then back down the other side. Tingling radiated from her touch. “I don’t see any broken skin or feel broken bones.”
“It’ll just bruise.” He shifted closer, catching an aroma of heather on the ocean breeze. Did she scent her clothes with the flower? He drew in another deep breath, his hip brushing hers. His cock responded, growing harder.
“I’m so glad.” She looked at him then and he realized he’d been correct earlier. Her eyes did in fact sparkle like emeralds. “Thank ye fer rescuing the creature.”
Colin loudly cleared his throat. “Now that that’s settled, why don’t ye take the bird. Can the two of ye not hear the damn thing?”
Tom looked up to realize the gull was squawking terribly, trying to escape the net. How had he missed that?
Fiona dropped his hand and reached, not for the handle but for the net, wrapping her hands around the gull’s body and maneuvering his head over the top of the net to calm the bird’s fears. “Colin, would ye go get a crust of bread and a lobster trap if ye have one?”
“I do,” Colin answered. “I’ll be right back.”
Tom watched as Fiona gently tucked the bird against her body, softly cooing to the animal. He was jealous. He’d just been the recipient of that touch and it was amazing. But also, he’d thought he and Fiona had been sharing a moment. It turned out, he’d gotten a much smaller portion of her affection than the gull. Still, he knew he’d be remembering her touch well into the night. The experience had been like bread for a starving man.
Which was odd, women touched him often. But not like that. They touched with passion, with excitement, but not with care. Not like he was precious in any way.
“What will you do with the animal?”
She looked up from the bird. “I’ll fashion a cage and feed him daily while his wing heals and then I will let him go again.”
“Not keep him as a pet?” he asked, wanting to step closer but not wanting to be bitten again.
“No,” she answered. “He’s a wild animal and meant to be free.”
Tom nodded, his hand reaching out for her elbow despite his best intention not to touch her. “Just like some men I know.”
She looked up at him, her face pulling into taut lines. “I know