of his voice or that he really did care about her happiness. Whatever it was, it made her eyes bubble over with tears. “I do not know if I should laugh or weep. Oh, Tristan, my uncle has been behind everything horrible in my life. I never knew! He loved my mother. Did she know? There are so many questions I have. Neill told me my uncle wanted her killed after he discovered she was supposed to be seeing another man besides my father. I do not believe it. My parents loved each other. I hate Neill for saying such things about her, for killing her and Mr. Cavanaugh and Steven and the rest.” She began to cry, softly at first, and then a little harder. She needed to purge herself of this sorrow and shock. She trusted Tristan to hold her through it. And he did, for soon she felt better and wiped her eyes. But a whole new worry overcame her, and she told him she was afraid of what was to take place between them.
“We will wait.”
She loved him for his patience, but she didn’t want to wait.
“I will tell ye what ye can expect then, aye?” he said in his sorcerer’s voice.
She nodded helplessly. She needed to know. Who better to tell her but the man who would be doing all the things he talked about to her?
“I will kiss yer mouth and share yer breath,” he told her in a throaty tone. “I will kiss other parts of ye, as well, like yer chin and yer neck.” He ran his fingers over her chin and then down her throat, softly, slowly, turning her blood to fire. “Mayhap down the valley between yer breasts. Here.” He feathered the tips of his fingers over her shirt and down the valley of which he spoke. She closed her eyes.
“I will cover these taut nipples with my mouth and score them with my teeth.” He traced her hard nipples through the fabric of her shirt. She gasped when he gently pinched one tight bud between his thumb and index finger until she moved her scantily clad legs, aching for something she had no idea about, but yearning for it, nevertheless.
“There are many places I would like to kiss ye but thinkin’ of these things makes me want to slip off the rest of yer clothes and mine with them.”
She felt her blood coursing through her veins, rushing to her heart. His touch awakened every nerve ending. She went tighter in some places she had wondered about. She was discovering what pleasures they provided when he touched her. She moaned and moved to his slightest touch, and then he leaned down and kissed her mouth.
She gasped into his mouth and he smiled against her lips.
He took his time kissing her, licking her lips, her tongue while he tunneled his fingers through her hair. His kisses grew deeper, more passionate until she went soft and willing in his arms.
She wanted to weep again, for she could feel his heart in his kisses. He loved and desired her deeply.
What more could she ask for?
She thanked God for him and did not flinch when he broke free of their kiss, his breath, quick and shallow, and kissed her chin, then down her throat.
She felt as if her pulse beat was in her veins, keeping her enraptured and not frightened when he held her against himself, letting her feel all his hard angles. They entwined their legs and kissed in the candlelight. He kissed her throat again and kissed a path to her tight nipples. He swooped down upon one, closing his lips around the peak. He delighted in one round breast and then the other.
She almost didn’t recognize herself when she instinctively tugged at his trousers. What was she doing trying to release him when she was afraid? Wasn’t she?
He pulled at her shirt and she helped him peel it over her head. The more she removed, the wilder he became. Her thin chemise that had been tucked into her hose fell to her knees. With her hose, her scars were well concealed.
But not for long.
He didn’t give her a chance to feel ashamed of her body when he slipped the hem of her chemise over her thighs and higher! He worshipped every inch of her that he exposed with his hungry gaze and curious fingers.
“Tristan?”
“Aye, love?”
“What if you do not like what you see?”
His gaze softened on her along with his smile.