Highland Wolf (Highland Brides #10)(20)
When his free hand suddenly slid between them to cover a breast and knead the excited flesh through the cloth of her gown, she broke their kiss on a gasp, and threw her head back to suck air into suddenly starved lungs. Bereft of her mouth, the Wolf immediately trailed kisses down her throat and Claray shuddered and moaned, her fingers gliding into his hair to cup his head as this set off a whole new round of excitement and need inside of her.
She felt his hands tugging at the top of her gown, felt it loosen, and then he reached up to cup her head again, drawing it back down so that he could cover her mouth with his own once more. This time, Claray kissed back. Unsure what she was doing, she simply emulated his actions, allowing her tongue to tangle with his. It brought a growl from his throat that made her shiver, and then his kiss became hungrier and deeper, almost violent as his hands began moving, caressing her everywhere.
He kneaded her back, urging her flush against him again, then let his fingers slide over her arms, and her sides, before his hands suddenly clasped her waist and he lifted and turned her to straddle him. The moment he’d settled her there, his hands shifted down and around to clasp her bottom. He then squeezed her cheeks through her gown, his fingers meeting in the middle and brushing against her core through the cloth.
Claray gasped into his mouth at the touch and began to suck frantically on his tongue in response. When he released her bottom to tug at the top of her gown, dragging it off her shoulders, she let her hands drop to help him. The moment the wet cloth slid away to pool around her in the water, his hands claimed her breasts through the thin cloth of her shift.
Claray broke their kiss on a cry at the touch, her hands grasping his upper arms and then moving down to his wrists, urging him on. She looked down then to see that the thin linen of her shift had gone almost transparent. She could see the pink of her breasts and the darker rose of her nipples as his fingers squeezed the full globes and his thumbs ran back and forth over her hard, excited nipples.
Watching him touch her so intimately only added to Claray’s excitement and she found herself shifting in his lap, mindlessly rubbing herself against the hardness she could feel beneath her. When the Wolf gasped in response and claimed her mouth again, she kissed him frantically back and continued to move against him until he suddenly released her breasts and rolled them in the water. Only his hand under her neck kept her head from being submerged.
Distracting her with kisses, the Wolf dragged her closer to shore until her head was out of the water and then broke their kiss to move upright. Kneeling with his legs on either side of her he then let his eyes slide over her, hot and hungry.
With her wet gown tangled around her waist and hips, Claray knew her upper body was as good as naked, her breasts visible through the thin, damp linen. Rather than being embarrassed, she found herself excited by his expression, and arched invitingly, her arms reaching for him in silent invitation. Claray wanted his kisses again. She wanted him touching and caressing her. She’d never experienced the excitement he was stirring in her ere this and she wanted more.
“Kiss me,” she pleaded in a whisper when he continued to stare at her.
Much to her relief, he bent to cover her mouth with his again. This kiss was rough and demanding, increasing her excitement. It had her wrapping her arms around him again. He shifted to lie on her, his body pressing into hers everywhere. Despite that, she found herself digging her nails into his back, wanting him closer still, though she thought that was impossible.
When he ground against her through the bunched-up material of her gown, she cried out into his mouth and drew her knees up on either side of his hips to lift herself into the caress. She was almost mad with need, and didn’t protest when she felt him tug her gown over her hips and push it down her legs.
When one hand clasped her behind and held her in place as he ground against her again, she wrapped her legs around him and groaned. The Wolf squeezed the cheek of her bottom almost painfully in response, and slid his hand between them to drag the hem of her shift up to her waist. When his hand then slid between her legs to touch her unimpeded by cloth, Claray froze in shock. Her legs instinctively tried to close, but his hips held them open and then his fingers began to move.
Continuing to kiss her, he rubbed and circled the center of her pleasure, driving the sudden anxiety out of her and replacing it with an excitement and need like none she’d ever known. Soon Claray found her heels digging into the river’s sandy bottom, lifting her hips into the caress in a mindless search for something she didn’t understand but knew was almost in reach. Her entire body grew taut and began a fine trembling, and she simply couldn’t manage to return his kisses anymore. Instead, she simply kept her mouth open, accepting his kiss as her attention focused on what she sensed was coming. And then, just as she was sure she was about to find out what she was climbing toward, the Wolf withdrew his touch and she felt something probing her opening.
For Claray, it was like a bucket of cold water had been poured over her. Fear and dismay immediately pushed every other thought and sensation from her mind. Even as she felt something trying to push into her, she let her hips drop back to the riverbed, turned her head away to break their kiss and gasped an uncertain, “M’laird Wolf?”
He stopped at once and froze above her, his eyes wide with what looked like realization, and then he moaned and let his head drop to rest in the curve of her neck. They stayed like that for a moment, both breathing heavily, and then he pressed a kiss to her neck, pushed himself up off of her and strode out of the water, growling, “I’ll leave ye alone to clean up.”