The Highlander’s Rescued Maiden by Anna Campbell

Chapter 6

Will Mackinnon was offering to kiss her.

Every drop of moisture evaporated from Ellen’s mouth. She was excited, but she was also afraid. Because while she might be innocent, she was no fool. Will had excellent manners and a way about him that was far too winning, but he was still a man. Her experience of her father told her that men followed their inclinations, with no care for who they damaged in the process.

Will might read any kisses as encouragement to take more. To take everything.

She liked him more than anyone she’d ever met, and that chiseled face with its devil-may-care smile was etched in her soul. He was so beautiful, in a potent, masculine way that turned her knees weak. And he was strong, too, which made his gentleness even sweeter. None of which meant she’d let him seduce her.

But what about a kiss or two?

If she spent the rest of her life on this godforsaken island, it was likely she’d never meet anyone else who she wanted to kiss. She was desperate for something to dream about when Will left her, as he must. He might talk about taking her away, but that was just a fantasy. She was trapped here until her father released her. And after ten years, she knew that was never going to happen.

Ellen made a helpless gesture. “If ye do this…”

An understanding smile curved his lips. Those glittering hazel eyes saw far too much. Including how she thrilled at the thought of his lips on hers. “It’s just a kiss. I know that.”

“I dinnae want…”

“You dinnae want me to mistake what you’re inviting.”

“Aye.”

“Ye have my word that when you ask me to stop, I will.”

That wasn’t as reassuring as it might be. She’d never kissed a man, but long-buried female instincts insisted that she’d like Will’s kisses. It might be harder to ask him to stop than just summoning up the words.

“Have ye kissed a lot of lassies, Mr. Mackinnon?”

He responded with a grunt of laughter. “My fair share. You’re no’ in the hands of a novice. I’ll do my best to give satisfaction, Miss Cameron.”

He mocked her. Given that she sounded as if she negotiated the price of a loaf of bread, she couldn’t blame him.

“I’m no’ worried about that. I’m worried whether I’ll measure up.”

“I’ll make allowances for your inexperience.” His lips twitched. “I’m sure a girl who can carry on scholarly discussions with great men across Europe can master the basics. Most people pick up the knack without too much trouble.”

“I appreciate your patience,” she said with a touch of irony. His teasing made her feel less on edge. “What do I need to do?”

“First ye need to stop calling me Mr. Mackinnon.”

Silly to blush at that, especially as she was sure that there would be many much more blush-worthy moments to come. “I suppose ye want to call me Ellen.”

“If it’s permitted.”

And silly to demur over him using her Christian name when he was going to put his hands on her. Nonetheless, granting him the privilege felt like removing a layer of protection that she mightn’t be able to get back.

“It’s permitted.”

“Excellent.” He stood and stretched his hands out. “Come here.”

Nerves clenched her stomach tight as she stared up at him, hoping to heaven that she was right to trust him. “Can I change my mind?”

“Anytime.” His gaze remained steady. “But that would be a pity when you’re so curious, and ye have me here to answer your questions.”

Her lips quirked in self-deprecation. “I’m being a nitwit, aren’t I?”

This time, his smile conveyed a disturbing tenderness that sliced a jagged rift in her heart. There had been so little kindness in her life. “A few collywobbles are to be expected.”

“These collywobbles feel like elephants rolling over.”

“My advice is throw yourself into the breach.”

Her lips trembled as she smiled back. “Of course it is.”

“You’re no’ the only person eager to find out how it would be between us.”

“Oh,” she squeaked, although she shouldn’t be surprised. Hadn’t he declared an interest in her from the beginning? What was different with Will Mackinnon was that for the first time, she was interested in return.

With jerky movements, she uncurled her legs from the seat and rose to take his hands. Heat radiated up her arms from his firm grip. She gave a sharp gasp, and her gaze flew up to meet his. Hazel eyes seared into her, and for a long moment, she couldn’t breathe as her heart crashed against her ribs over and over.

Ellen wasn’t a small woman, but Will towered over her. She hadn’t been this close to him before. When she finally managed to gulp in enough air to feed her starving lungs, she caught his scent. Rich and salty, and clean like the ocean.

The ocean kept her prisoner, so she shouldn’t find that scent so evocative, but a shudder of pleasure rippled through her. “What should I do now?”

“Follow my lead,” he murmured, stepping nearer. He released one of her hands and cradled her face, tilting it toward him.

His touch held the same tenderness that she’d seen in his smile. Disquiet stirred in her stomach, just because this reaction was so devastating. Heaven help her, Will hadn’t even kissed her, yet she was close to melting into a puddle of warm honey at his feet.

His hand was gentle on her cheek and before she could question the wisdom of her action, she nestled her face into his palm. His expression changed, became more intent, and a great wave of trepidation swept through her. But before she could force her wobbly legs to move, he bent his auburn head and brushed his lips across hers.

The contact was soft as a feather, as mighty as the blow of a hammer. Her heart turned over in her breast, and every cell in her body tingled. A needy whimper escaped, as he lifted away.

He lifted his other hand to her face, holding her still. But all thought of retreating had fled with that glancing kiss, over far too soon.

“More?” he whispered, the words a puff of warmth across lips that felt preternaturally sensitive. She caught the fresh taste of his breath.

“Aye, please,” she whispered back.

She closed her eyes, all the better to dive into the turbulent sea of unparalleled sensation. He lingered, applied a fraction more pressure. Her lips moved against his and clung for a charged instant. This time when he withdrew, her whimper held a note of complaint.

Ellen opened her eyes to meet a gaze the deep green of the rock pools under Bortha’s cliffs at low tide. His eyelids were heavy, and his lips were softer and fuller. The changes lent him a dissipated air, and her shiver contained elements of fear and a far more insistent arousal.

He began to kiss each feature, as if he learned through touch what so far he’d only known by sight. His lips traced her cheekbones and the bridge of her nose and the arch of her eyebrows. Everywhere he touched, he lit small fires.

Ellen made an impatient sound deep in her throat and stepped closer, sliding her hands up his arms to broad, sinewy shoulders. When at last he returned his attention to her lips, she sighed and leaned into him. On a soft growl of encouragement, he explored her lips with a thoroughness that set her blood rushing. Only when she copied him did she recall him asking her to follow his lead.

So when the tip of his tongue traced the closed seam, she started but didn’t withdraw. When he did it again, she obeyed the silent command and parted to let him in.

He slipped his tongue into her mouth in a flickering foray that wrenched her out of the pervasive fog of pleasure. “Oh…”

He lifted his head. “You dinnae like it?”

“It’s…strange.”

“I want to taste ye.”

Heat surged into her face, and her fingers dug into his shoulders. “That sounds even stranger.”

“Are ye feeling daring?”

“Aye.” Ocean scent flavored her deep breath. “Aye, I am.”

“Open your mouth for me.”

Satisfaction lit his gaze, as if a sunbeam struck one of those mysterious sea pools. Another surge of arousal washed over her. The swift carnality of what they did caught her unprepared.

He released her face and twined his arms around her. Without thinking, Ellen fitted herself to his embrace. His touch had an extraordinary effect, as if her bones dissolved and she became all soft surrender.

Will’s lips met hers with a heated purpose that made her stomach clench with longing. When his tongue darted into her mouth, the sensation made her shake. This hot intimacy was unlike anything she’d ever imagined. Her knees turned to water, and she was grateful that he held her so tight. Otherwise she feared she must crumple up in sheer delight.

Tentatively she rubbed her tongue against his. His rumbling approval was the sweetest music she’d ever heard. More confident now, she joined him in the sensual dance of the kiss until she pulled away, dazed and breathless. “Will, that’s…”

He was breathless, too, and the smile he gave her felt like more sunlight. “You’re sweeter than honeycomb.”

She’d given him pleasure, too. The thought made her happy.

Ellen dared to rise up on her toes, seeking more of those miraculous kisses. The world flared into bright flame, as she lost herself in the incandescent pleasure of a man’s mouth on hers. Not just any man. Will Mackinnon who had banished her loneliness with his smile.

When he drew away at last, her heart was galloping fit to burst free of her ribs and a throbbing and unfamiliar weight had set up in the secret parts of her body. She slumped against him, her hands laced behind the strong column of his neck.

“We should stop,” he said in a guttural voice that roughened his smooth baritone to gravel.

In his arms, Ellen felt whole and perfect as she never had before. But his words awoke her old uncertainties.

She slid free of his hold and struggled to find her balance. After that astounding pleasure, she was woozy-headed. When she stumbled, shame flooded her, poisoning her earlier joy. Worse when he caught her arm to save her falling.

“Ellen, what is it?”

Her pride had helped her survive her childhood as her father’s broken daughter and ten years of cruel exile. She grabbed for her pride to protect her, as it had protected her before, but those desperate kisses had placed pride out of reach.

Before she could stop herself, she responded honestly. “Is it because I’m a cripple?”

He looked puzzled. “What the hell are ye talking about?”

She should break away. After all, she could stand on her own two feet, however faulty those feet might be. Hadn’t she spent her life proving that?

But the touch of Will’s hand offered her the only warmth in the whole world, despite the fire blazing in the hearth. She couldn’t muster the strength to reject his support.

“You dinnae want to kiss me anymore because I’m…defective.” It hurt to say the words, so they emerged like an accusation.

“Good God, what the devil are ye thinking?” He sounded appalled. A muscle jerked in his lean cheek. “And you’re no’ defective. Ye might walk with a limp, but that doesn’t destroy your value as a person.”

She wrapped her arms around herself to control the shaking. “Aye, it does,” she mumbled, avoiding his eyes.

“I’d dearly love to knock your father to the ground and kick him in the teeth while he’s there,” Will said in a grim voice that she hadn’t heard before.

That wrenched her attention back to his face. He looked furious. “Ye would?”

“Aye. Horsewhipping is too good for the swine. You’re an exceptional woman. He should be proud to call ye his daughter. This rejection is his loss, not yours.”

“But I’m lame.”

“For pity’s sake, that doesn’t make ye a lesser being. You’re beautiful and clever and brave. What does it matter if you cannae dance?”

“Or run or jump or skip.”

Compassion tempered the rage in his eyes and for once in her life, pity didn’t make her flinch. “I’m sure you miss doing those things, but I think you’re marvelous, just as ye are.”

She studied him and couldn’t mistake his sincerity.

All her life, she’d battled against her father’s assessment of her as fundamentally flawed. Did Will offer a different view of her infirmity? As part of a complete picture that wasn’t quite so bleak? “You’re being kind.”

To her surprise, humor set attractive creases around his eyes and curved the mouth that had just taken her to heaven. “Hell, no. I’m never kind.”

Surprised, she found herself smiling back. “No, you’re a villain of the worst sort. I’ve always thought so.” She made a forlorn gesture, even as she teased him. “So why did ye stop kissing me?”

As he shook his head, his laugh was rueful. “I forget how innocent ye are.”

She frowned. “You ken I’ve never kissed anyone else.”

“That’s damned exciting.” He paused. “You’re damned exciting.”

She didn’t understand what he was trying to tell her, but at least now she accepted that he hadn’t stopped because she was lame. “Ye can kiss me again,” she said in a faltering voice.

“That’s no’ a good idea.” When he speared one hand through his thick red hair, her fingers itched to smooth it. “And, no, that’s no’ because I don’t want to, but because I want ye too much.”

Shock thundered through her. “You’re saying you’re…aroused?”

His laugh held a beguiling note of self-mockery. “Like the very devil.”

“Oh.”

“Oh, indeed.”

“We’re here alone…”

He groaned and closed his eyes. She couldn’t doubt that this worldly man was in torment. Over her. Over unloved, awkward, faulty Ellen Cameron.

How delicious.

“Dinnae remind me. I gave ye my word I’d act the gentleman.”

“You didnae kiss me like a gentleman.”

He’d kissed her as if he wanted to devour her. It had been the most thrilling experience of her life.

Will’s eyes opened to reveal a blazing stare. His touch had made her burn. It turned out that those brilliant green-gold eyes could achieve the same effect. “You’re so enchanting in my arms that you grind good intentions to dust. I stopped because I couldnae trust myself to respect the limits you placed on me.”

Good heavens above, she should be terrified. After all, nobody could save her if he chose to follow his inclinations. But she wasn’t terrified. Instead her lonely heart yearned toward him. Because although he’d come close to losing control, he’d stopped. For her sake.

Will Mackinnon turned out to be that rarest of beasts, an honorable man. Which presented a problem Ellen had never imagined she’d face.

“Are ye saying you willnae kiss me again?” The prospect of living without his kisses struck her as tragic.

He slumped onto the window seat. “That would be wise.”

“Because I tempt ye.” Despite his barely hidden despair at their dilemma, the idea seemed preposterous.

“Aye. Too much.”

Her elation fading, she sank down beside him. Now that he’d kissed her, she wanted him to kiss her again. And again. But she knew what happened between men and women. She knew that hungry kisses were the overture to sexual congress.

He hadn’t kissed her like a gentleman. He’d kissed her like a man who intended to take her to bed and join his body with hers.

“I cannae risk a child,” she said in a deliberate tone. “My father would kill me if he ever discovered that I was here alone with ye. He already counts me as a disgrace to the Camerons.”

Will studied her, his gaze reaching right to her soul. “Are ye saying you’d like to go further?”

Wanton blood rushed into her cheeks, but she managed to keep her voice steady. “I’m saying I liked kissing ye and perhaps I’d like to discover what other pleasures we can enjoy together. I’m also saying it’s impossible. Even if my father didnae kill me, what life could a child have here? It would be too cruel to subject another living being to this captivity. Or my father would remove any child from my care and foster it somewhere that the shame doesn’t attach to the Laird of Inchgallen.”

“That would break your heart.”

“Aye, it would. No’ to mention I wouldn’t consign my worst enemy to my father’s care, let alone a child of my body.”

Will continued to study her with that unwavering attention that felt like a caress. “Ye know,” he said slowly, “there are things we can do together that won’t result in a baby, and that will leave you as virginal as ye are now.”