Page 31 of The Darkland

Mara had noidea what Kirk meant by his strange statement. And he never gave her the chance to ask. One moment she was gazing into his stone gray eyes, and in the next his mouth was consuming her luscious lips with a hunger. It was the first time a man had ever kissed her, slow and warm and insistent, and before Mara realized her actions, small hands were weaving themselves into his hair.

He was oh so tender with her, like a tiny fragile flower. He tasted gently, tickling her lips with his tongue until she opened wide to his seeking warmth. Mara gasped, squirmed, and gasped anew as his massive arms pulled her against his chest. Focused on the new experience of his wonderful mouth, she was unaware when he lay her on the bed, partially covering her with his enormous body.

One hand still held her tightly as the other forged into virgin territory. Delicately, he touched the swell of her breast, listening to her purr like a kitten. Feeling bolder, he gently enclosed the entire breast, his kisses more passionate, more forceful, as she responded. He released her lips, intending to taste every inch of her beautiful face when she suddenly turned the tables on him, peppering his jaw and cheeks with hot little kisses.

“Dear God,” he breathed, caressing the firmness of her breast as she attacked his face. “Mara, Mara… you’re a hellion more than you know, lass.”

She heard him, kissing his eyes, clinging to him with a fervor. For a sheltered young lady who had known little of the ways between men and women, it was apparent that Kirk brought out her animal instincts. Fingers anchored in his dark hair, she was in the process of raining kisses across his forehead when he suddenly lowered his head, dragging his mouth over the swell of her breasts.

The too-long surcoat was loosening. Kirk pulled Mara away from his face, forcing her back onto the mattress as his hands sought her bare breasts. She moaned softly as he pinched a nipple, rolling it into a hot little bud. Consumed with the need to taste her, to suckle the life from her pert breasts, Kirk realized through his haze of lust that the neckline of the surcoat was too constricting for his needs. But the moment he moved to lift her skirts, she balked.

“Nay!” she gasped, slapping at his hands. “Not… not that!”

He frowned with concern. “Not what, love?”

Panting with desire and a surge of fright, she tried to squirm away from him. Kirk grasped her wrists to prevent her from leaping off the bed.

“What is the matter?” he asked, his voice gentle but firm. “What have I done, Mara?”

She refused to look him in the eye, her cheeks flushing bright. Seeing her obvious discomfort, and fear, Kirk gently kissed her hands, hoping to ease her. Not a moment ago she had been alive with awakening desire; now she was withdrawn and fearful. And he would know why.

“Tell me, lass,” he whispered, straightening the neckline of her surcoat where it drooped. “I would know what I have done to upset you so.”

She struggled with herself for a moment. Finally, the bright blue gaze lifted hesitantly. “I… I do not want you to touch me… there.”

“Where?”

She lifted an eyebrow with as much force as she could muster. “There.”

He understood immediately. “I wasn’t going to,” mostly truth, although it had been his next target after her delicious breasts. Still clutching her wrists, he pulled her toward him in a gentle, comforting manner. “Mara, you realize that when men and women mate, at some point, touching is necessary. And when we marry…”

“I never said I’d marry you.”

He acted as if he hadn’t heard her. “Whenwe marry, it will be necessary for me to touch you there in order to produce children. It’s perfectly natural, lass. Why does it frighten you so?”

Her expression was suddenly filled with shame and she turned her face away. True to her forthright nature, however, she made no attempt to cover the truth. No matter how humiliating. “The soldier in the inn… he touched me there and it was painful,” she could feel his gaze on her. “I hated every minute of it.”

Kirk was quiet a moment. “You told me that he did not take your maidenhood.”

“He did not,” she forced herself to look at him. “But his fingers…theytouched me.”

He did not say any more. Pulling her stiff body against him, he lay back on the soft pillows, holding her tightly. Mara gave in to his comfort, his heat, sighing with contentment as he gently caressed her.

“Are you angry?” her voice was small.

“Why should I be?” he said softly. “I understand your fear and I am sorry that you are frightened of something that can be quite wonderful. Obviously, your first experience was dreadful. But you must realize that it will be different with me.”

“Why?”

“Because I will be gentle, lass. I shall take the time needed to introduce you into the world of desire.”

“But it will hurt, will it not? My mother told me once that it is painful for a woman to lose her virginity.”

“I have heard that it is,” his voice was quiet as he turned, capturing her against his chest and gazing down into her wonderful eyes. “In truth, I have never bedded a virgin before. I suppose this will be a new experience for the both of us.”

She raised an eyebrow and he caught a glimpse of her stubborn nature returning. “You speak as if I have already agreed to this. I told you quite clearly that I did not want to marry you.”

“Would you rather have someone else?”