teach her. There was no way around it, to her immense relief. There simply was no but.
“Ye can touch yerself, can ye not?” he rumbled. “Ye can feel yer own… flesh?”
Her hand flew to her throat in absolute shock. She felt its pressure as sure as when she was alive. In response to that realization, she jerked it to her side again, and hid both hands in the flowing folds of her robes.
His face gave the notion of a triumphant smile without the slightest movement of his lips. Though his tattoo did wrinkle devilishly beside his eye. He stepped closer, bending his head so it was right next to her ear. “What do ye say, lass, are ye up for… an experiment?”
Chapter Ten
Kylah swallowed. Failed. And did it again. She was attempting to swallow her heart which kept trying to escape through her throat. What if she could do it? And yet, what if she couldn’t? How awful would that be… for both of them?
She pulled back a little and looked at him. He was so certain. Self-assured to the point of arrogance. He knew so much about pleasure, did he? What if…
“What if it doesn’t work?” she worried aloud. “What if—they’ve broken me?”
“That’s really up to ye, isn’t it?” The gentleness in his dappled eyes softened the hard truth of his words.
A storm brewed within her. How could she be broken if she did not allow herself to be so? How could she let the pain they inflicted upon her ruin any chance at pleasure? If it existed, didn’t she deserve it? Didn’t she need it more than most? If it was to be had, if it was a part of her body, she should be claiming it. Owning it.
“Tell me what to do.”
His nostrils flared at her whispered order, but he held completely still. He took a few breaths deep into his chest and let them out slowly, his gaze conflicted and intense.
“S-should I be… undressed?” The idea left her cold and terrified.
His brows drew together. “Eventually, but ye often doona start out that way.”
“Oh.” she felt suddenly very awkward, and moved closer to his imposing body, instinctively seeking his warmth.
“Gods how I wish I could touch ye,” he groaned.
The same desperation he expressed vibrated through her body. “Tell me what would happen if you could. If you were. Where would you begin?”
“That’s easy, lass,” he said huskily. “I would start with yer infuriating, tempting mouth.”
She covered her mouth with diffidence. “Infuriating?”
He grunted with amusement. “Aye. I’d stop yer incessant questions with my own lips as I’m tempted to do time and again.”
“Oh?” she asked from behind her hand. How long had he been tempted to do so?
“Move your fingertips,” he cajoled. “Run them across the ridges of your lips where they meet yer skin.” She did so, discovering that her mouth felt fuller and warmer to her now than it ever had. Keeping her touch feather-light, she traced the two peaks beneath her nose and enjoyed the sensation of her breath escaping through parted fingers. Her lower lip had more sensation in it than her upper and she lingered there, looking to him for further direction.
His eyes hungrily tracked each movement of her fingers and in a moment of impulse, she slipped one into her mouth and wet it on her tongue. She took the soft hiss of breath through his teeth as an affirmation.
When he spoke again, his voice was tight and low. “Next, I’d explore yer jaw, and the hollow of your throat. It can be very sensitive there.”
Kylah ran the backs of her fingers across her jaw, mirroring the action he’d attempted to perpetrate only moments before, before dropping beneath her chin. She sucked in her breath. It was like the entire surface of her skin awakened and came alive. Starting with the skin on her cheek and spreading downward in a wave of delicate sensation. Her chest became flushed, her nipples constricted, her belly tightened and beneath it, a shameless quiver began, stunning her into stillness.
“What de ye feel, Kylah?” he prodded.
She searched her mind, which had somehow deserted her. “Awake?” No. That didn’t seem quite right. “Aware.”
“Yes,” he sounded pleased, but she couldn’t look at him. “That is the beginning, now ye must discover more.”
She swallowed hard again, feeling her throat work beneath her fingertips. “What would you—discover next?” she queried.
That dark chuckle speared through her again, weakening her knees.
“I’d run my hands over yer shoulders and down yer arms, taking yer