lanky body during their time apart. When her gaze met his, the many moons of separation dissolved into a heat of need she didn’t completely comprehend except that she liked it.
She’d always felt immune to men, until she’d met Derric Corbett. Her attraction to him was raw and wild, and it opened her up in a way she’d never experienced.
This spring, she’d coerced him into going off with her on a journey to find Coira. Her older sister Lora had run away and joined Clan MacLintock, and Lora had been desperate to be reunited with her. Their mother had passed on, and their father didn’t have the time or inclination to take care of such a young child. Lora had been raising her, or near enough. So Dyna had promised to bring the wee lassie to MacLintock land.
The lassie’s father had happily agreed, the old bastard.
Derric had gone with her, along with a few guards. Their trip had been uneventful, but something had seethed between them the entire time. She’d wanted to touch him, to kiss him, but they hadn’t had much time alone. Until they brought Coira home. Derric had led Dyna outside to say goodbye, and he’d said it better than any other goodbye had ever been said.
With his lips.
He’d left her with a kiss—a searing, passionate kiss that had made her feel an indescribable need, something that had overpowered her senses and her reasoning. A need to taste him, to feel his hardness against her. That need had insisted on being released in some way.
But then he’d left.
He’d only been back for a few moments, and he was already affecting her the same way.
Damn it all. She would never allow herself to be controlled by a man, even if he wasn’t trying to control her.
And yet, at the same time, she had the odd urge to allow Derric to control her completely, without a speck of clothing on.
She lowered her bow as Derric dismounted in front of her, tying the reins of his horse on a nearby bush, his long blond locks swaying in the wind. The man even had an interesting hair color. Most of the time it appeared blond, but it bore hints of red on sunny days. Not nearly as red as Joya’s, but still red. He strode toward her, his wide grin telling her that he recalled the way they’d parted as clearly as she did. Did he feel the same strange rush of heat?
Then she couldn’t help it. Her gaze raked over his body from his handsome head to his toes. Hellfire, the quirk of his brow said he’d caught her. Had she no shame?
“I see you’re as pleased to see me as I am to see you.” He stopped in front of her, his green eyes searching every part of her, then he set his hands on her shoulders. Leaning forward, he lowered his lips to her ear and whispered, “Just say aye, lass.”
She wanted to deny him, if only because he was so infuriating, but instead she found herself leaning toward him. Reaching for him.
His response was a growl as his arms wrapped around her, tugging her so close that their bodies melded together. She yanked him closer, whimpering with delight when his mouth finally met hers, his tongue stroking hers.
She gave him better than she got. His response was to lift her off the ground and hold her against his body, so close that she could feel his hardness through the rough fabric of his trews. Her nipples peaked, begging to be set free of their constraints.
He ended the kiss, and as a last attempt to save face, she pushed against him and said, “Enough.”
He winked. “I don’t for one moment think ’twas enough for you. I see you haven’t forgotten our last meeting either.”
Her gaze narrowed, and he took the warning for what it was, stepping out of her reach. “Now be nice, Diamond. I know you’re happy to see me. I assume you don’t greet everyone like that.”
“Nay, I don’t. And why do you still insist on calling me that?” She wasn’t sure whether to be offended by his pet name for her.
She crossed her arms to keep from reaching for him.
“Diamonds are the most beautiful jewel of all, are they not? The clearest and the hardest.”
“And I’m clear and hard?”
“Clear? Nay, that word is all wrong for you. Mysterious and beautiful fit you better, so mayhap I should call you sparkly. Hard? Well, let’s just say