mostly healed.’
That wasn’t a no. She worried about whether or not he was in pain. He might not tell her, even if he was.
Bram’s mouth rested beside her ear, his hot breath taking her thoughts apart. She could almost feel the heat of his bare skin and it both fascinated her and frightened her. She couldn’t stop her intake of breath when his kiss grazed the line of her jaw.
‘I’m going to sleep with you this night, Nairna. The way I should have done, these past seven years.’
Chapter Six
‘Are you afraid?’ he asked. He didn’t want her to be. He wanted to hold her in his arms this night, to forget the years of torture and darkness.
‘Yes,’ she murmured. ‘Not of … being with you, but—’ Her words broke off and her face flushed. ‘We don’t really know each other. It seems strange.’ Her face turned to the ground, her cheeks red with embarrassment. ‘I’ll try not to let that interfere.’
Her honesty was like ice water upon his desire, reminding him that she’d been with someone else before him. She knew what it was to join with a man and she spoke of it as though it were something to be endured instead of enjoyed.
It darkened his mood even more. ‘Did he hurt you?’
The question came out before he could stop himself. He needed to know what had happened between them.
She shook her head slowly. But there was a sadness behind her eyes, and he sensed that her husband had not brought her pleasure within their marriage bed.
Jealousy snarled inside him. ‘What was it like … with him?’
She sat on the mattress and drew her knees up, holding them to her chest. ‘Bram, I don’t want to talk about those years. I’d rather forget them.’
He exhaled slowly, feeling cruel for even bringing it up. She didn’t appear to have enjoyed her previous marriage bed. Likely she was in no hurry to repeat the experience.
It frustrated him, because he didn’t want her to lie back and endure his affections. He wanted her breathless and willing. He wanted to taste her skin, to tempt her in ways that his imagination had conjured.
His gaze drifted over her body, resting upon the full curves of her breasts, the swell of her hips. ‘You’re as fair as I remember, a ghaoil.’ He sat beside her and she tried to venture a smile.
She gently touched his bared chest. At the warmth of her fingers against the scarred flesh his body responded with aching lust. She rested her cheek against his heart and he touched her hair, lifting her face to his.
He kissed her lips softly, moving down to the sensitive part of her throat. Goose flesh erupted upon her skin, and she let out a breath of air.
‘Are you all right?’ he murmured.
‘Just nervous.’
It seemed that the more he touched her, the more uneasy she became. He tried to kiss her again, pressing her back onto the mattress. At the touch of his hands upon her legs, she shivered, suddenly turning her face away.
He knew he’d done something to bother her, but he didn’t understand what it was. He stroked her long legs, moving higher. Nairna’s face reddened and her shoulders trembled. She was reacting strongly to his touch and her fingers curled tightly as she felt him caress her knees.
When he reached her inner thighs, she jerked away. ‘I can’t. I’m sorry.’ She clamped her knees together, clutching them as she shuddered. ‘It tickles.’
It was the last reaction he’d expected; frankly, he didn’t know what to do now. He’d broken the mood and it was clear that she wasn’t at all aroused. Like a fumbling adolescent, he’d done everything wrong.
Frustration and anger boiled inside and he turned away so she wouldn’t see his annoyance with himself.
‘Bram,’ she said, her voice filled with remorse, ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to react that way, but my legs are sensitive.’
He felt the shift of the mattress as she lay down beside him. Nairna reached out to his shoulder. ‘Will you let me touch you now?’ she asked.
He rolled over, staring at her. Her deep-brown hair, like the warmth of polished walnut, fell against her linen shift. Pale milky skin held not a single freckle from the sun and he well remembered the taste of those soft lips.
Her hands moved over his chest and she directed him to turn onto his stomach. He felt the warmth of her lips upon his neck and a tremor brushed through him. She kissed his scars, tracing over the years of pain as if she could eradicate them with her fingers.
A slow heat built inside him; letting her explore his skin was a different form of torture. His body was heavy with need and he couldn’t endure much more of this.
Bram rolled over and sat up, her legs straddling his waist. He took possession of her mouth, as if to show her all of the desire he’d held back over the years. The taste of her was like sunlight to his shadows and he drew her closer. She was soft, warm, and he imagined lifting her hips to impale her with his shaft.
Her tongue tangled with his, and at her unexpected response his hands started shaking. He had caressed his way down to her bottom, and between her legs his fingers encountered moisture.
He wanted to delve inside her, to tempt her into surrendering. But it was too soon for that.
He could feel the control slipping away and pulled back, afraid of losing awareness. His breathing was shallow, his body rigid with need.
Uncertain eyes met his, as though Nairna didn’t know why he’d stopped. But it was too similar to the night when he’d let his mind slip into the shadows. He didn’t trust himself to join with her, not when his mind was dominated by lust.
He might hurt her again, when that was the last thing he wanted. For a moment, he rested his hands upon her spine, hoping to regain command of himself. But his hands wouldn’t stop shaking.
‘I’m sorry for earlier,’ she whispered. ‘I never meant to offend you.’
She misunderstood the reason why he’d stopped, but he didn’t correct her. He didn’t want to reveal how close he’d come to the edge again.
He pulled her shift down lower, ignoring his body’s needs, and locking away the desire he longed to quench.
‘Are you all right?’ she asked, reaching for him.
He could see the hurt confusion in her eyes, but there was nothing he could say to ease her embarrassment. He couldn’t control his shaking hands, or his body’s fierce response to her.
‘It’s late, Nairna. Go to sleep.’ He turned away from her, wishing he could master his physical reactions.
Staring at the empty spaces between the wooden boards, he felt the warmth of her breasts pressing against his back. Her arm moved around his waist and he shoved back the instinctive need to touch her.
He
