Page 42 of Kidnapped by a Rogue
She did not know what to do with all the emotions swirling inside her—regret mixed with this painful longing. To cover her confusion, she stooped and picked one of the bluebells. The color matched his eyes. When Finn took the sprig from her and stuck it in her hair, her gaze fixed on his full, sensuous lips. She wished she knew what it was like to be kissed by that mouth.
When she lifted her gaze and their eyes locked, it was as if a flame shot between them, connecting them with a ribbon of white-hot fire. Her chest felt too tight to breathe, and she asked herself what would happen if she ignored the voice that always warned herbe cautious, be careful, be safe.
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The desire Finn had been resisting since the first moment he laid eyes on Margaret Douglas burned through his veins like whisky on an empty stomach. It was wrong to want her like this when she was his prisoner. It would be worse still to act upon his desire.
When the longing in her eyes told him she wanted him too, that nearly did him in. But Margaret had such a kind and gentle spirit that he feared he would sully her by the violence of his lust for her. It was lucky for them both that they would part today. He could not last much longer without giving in to the need building between them.
He ought to be galloping to Huntly with her now. Delay was dangerous. And yet he found himself incapable of moving with her standing so close and looking at him with such longing in her large brown eyes. Even if he could pry his feet off the ground, he could not bear to cut short this last hour he would have her to himself. After today, he wouldneversee her again.
“We won’t be alone again,” she said, echoing his thoughts.
He saw her intention in her eyes even before she moved, and he could have turned away. He knew he should. But when she took a step closer, his resistance melted like candle wax to a hot flame. Then Margaret rested her hand on his chest, a light touch that had the force of a ten-foot wave crashing him against the rocks.
“Kiss me,” she said, looking up at him with her lips parted.
One kiss. Surely there could be no harm in one kiss freely given. He knew that was a lie even as he lowered his mouth to hers. Though he barely brushed his lips against hers, a jolt of need shook him to his core and made him forget any thought he had of taking just one sweet kiss.
He lifted her off her feet and crushed his mouth against hers. When he thrust his tongue inside, she responded with a moan that sent him reeling. If she’d only pushed him away, he would have stopped. Instead, she wound her arms around his neck, spread her fingers in his hair, and kissed him back with a fervor that sent all his blood to his cock.
Lust blinded him to all reason and consequences. He backed her against the nearest tree. He ran kisses along her jaw and sucked on her neck while his hands feverishly sought the soft curves and dips of her body, as he had in his imagination a thousand times.
“O shluagh, ye feel even better than I imagined,” he moaned in her ear as he cupped her breasts. But she had on far too many clothes. “I need to see you.”
Somewhere in the far recesses of his mind he knew that if they took this any further, there would be no turning back, but his whole body pulsed with his need for her. He jerked her bodice down, revealing two small, perfect breasts with rosy tips begging to be touched. When he paused to drink in the sight of them, Margaret suddenly went rigid and crossed her arms over her chest.
He leaned his forehead against the tree trunk, panting, and squeezed his eyes shut. He could almost feel the soft mounds and hard nipples of her breasts against his palms. Slowly, he lifted his head to look into her face and try to understand what had suddenly gone so wrong. Her lips, red and swollen from their kisses, were as inviting as ever.
But when his gaze reached her eyes, the fear in them stopped him cold.
“I didn’t mean to frighten you,leannain,”sweetheart. He cupped her cheek and ran his thumb across it. “I would never hurt you.”
“I’m the one who asked ye to kiss me,” she said, dropping her gaze.
“And that’s all ye asked for,” he said. “I shouldn’t have pushed ye for more.”
“Ye didn’t push me.” When she lifted her gaze again, her eyes no longer held fear, but regret. “I’m sorry, but I can’t do this. I just can’t.”
“I know,” he said. “I’ve known from the start.”
Some nobleman with vast lands and wealth would make her his wife and the lady of his great castle, while Finn had nothing to offer her but an afternoon of pleasure. That would never be enough for Margaret. For the first time since he was a lovesick lad of sixteen, Finn was not certain it would be enough for him.
Luckily, they would part today, and he would never know the answer to that question. Still, he suspected it would be a long, long time before he forgot Lady Margaret Douglas.
CHAPTER 12
In a daze, Margaret touched her fingers to her lips. Good heavens, what had happened to her? She could still feel the sensation of Finn’s mouth on hers, his hands running over her body, and the unfamiliar, blinding rush of desire.
And yet she could not recall pulling up her bodice, straightening her skirts, or waking Ella, though she must have done all those things, for she was now walking down the trail with Ella and Finn, who was leadingCeò. One glance at Finn’s clenched jaw told her he had decided to walk rather than ride to avoid touching her.
“’Tis less than a half-mile now,” he said, with his eyes fixed straight ahead.
She tried again to understand how she had come so close to disaster. How could she nearly risk pregnancy and another miscarriage just to lie with a man she would part with before the day was over? From the moment Finn crushed his mouth against hers, she lost her reason. She had never felt anything like that mindless, all-consuming passion before.
Fortunately, she had come to her senses just in time. But her body still tingled with the sensations, and her arms longed to reach for him.
She could see the clearing at the end of the wood ahead of them when Finn suddenly shoved her and Ella behind him and drew his sword.
