A Very Highland Holiday - Kathryn Le Veque Page 0,139

her tongue. Tavish nearly groaned.

“I won’t be able to stay long. I promised my grandmother I’d be home for the new year.”

“You can’t disappoint her,” she whispered with a hint of sadness.

“No.” He lifted his hand to her cheek, then tucked a red-gold lock of hair behind her ear. Grazing his fingers along the outer edge, he felt her tremble. His body reacted, twitching with need for her. “I don’t wish to disappoint you either.”

She pushed her hands up his chest and clutched his coat. “Then I think you’d better kiss me.”

Tavish curled his hand around her head, cupping her as his mouth claimed hers. She pulled at him as her lips and tongue met his in a fierce dance of desire. He put his other hand on the small of her back and pressed so that their hips came together.

His fingers met a pin in her hair, so he pulled it free. Then another and another. Her curls began to tumble over his hand. He continued until there was nothing left but the feel of her silken tresses between his fingers. Pulling back, he gazed down at her. “Beautiful,” he murmured.

She twined her hands around his neck and tugged until their lips met once more. The heat of the fire to his left combined with the scorching need lighting through him. He wanted to peel her clothes away until she was bare before him. Then he would worship her body with his hands and mouth until she quivered with desire. Then he would bring her pleasure until she cried his name and came apart.

Summoning a strength he wasn’t sure he possessed, Tavish broke the kiss. “Elspeth, I should go.”

She didn’t release him. In fact, her grip tightened around his neck. “Don’t. Please. I want you to stay.”

“If I stay…” He stared down at her. “If I stay, I’m going to take you over to that bed.”

An exhalation of relief passed through her kiss-swollen lips. “Good.”

“Should we handfast, then?” he asked.

“What is handfasting but a promise to try to determine if we are suitable for marriage? I promise to expend every effort.”

Tavish couldn’t help but grin. “You are a singular woman, Elspeth. I promise to do the same. Starting right now.” He looked down at her ivory gown with its embroidered stomacher, assessing how to undress her.

Elspeth plucked the pins from her stomacher and took them to the table, where she set them down. Tavish joined her as she removed the stomacher and placed it atop the pins. Then she turned to him. “Better?”

“Slightly,” he said wryly.

She gave him an apologetic smile as she untied the front at her waist. “This is the one dress I own that requires help.”

“Why did you wear it here?”

“Because I wanted to impress you.” The statement was so simple, so honest, he couldn’t think of what to say. So he kissed her instead.

“You look beautiful.”

“Help me take it off,” she whispered.

He lifted the gown over her head and laid it over the back of one of the chairs. She was already untying the quilted petticoat, and a moment later, he swept that from her in the same fashion. After depositing it on the chair, he helped her remove the panniers, grateful they were a rather narrow variety and saying so.

“I am thankful I have no need for the wider kind.” She stopped and stared at him. “You’re a lord. If we are handfasted, will I need wider panniers?”

He laughed softly. “No.”

She smiled in relief as she began to unlace her stays.

Arrested by the sight of her in stays, shift, and stockings—she’d apparently removed her shoes earlier—it took a moment for Tavish to act. He took her hands and gently pushed them aside. Taking over the task of loosening her stays, he pulled at the laces, the sound of them coming free an erotic whisper in the air.

When he was finished, she turned. “You’ll need to loosen the back.” She swept her hair over her shoulder, giving him access.

Distracted by the pale column of her neck, he managed to coax his fingers to work, plucking at the laces until the stays were sufficiently loose. Then he gave in to temptation and pressed his lips to her nape. He kissed along her neck and shoulder, then down across the blade of her back until he met her spine. She shivered.

Gripping the stays, he pulled them over her head and dropped them to the floor. Her shift was made of a thick linen, likely because it was