Highland Knight Read Online Free Page A

tempted him. As he started to lower his mouth to hers, he felt her tense, saw her beautiful eyes start to widen, and knew she had guessed his intent.
    “Dinnae e’en think about it,” she said, pleased with the hard, cold tone of her voice, for she did not feel either at the moment—did, in fact, feel almost eager to taste his kiss.
    “Ah, but I am thinking about it.” He brushed his lips over hers, felt her bare her teeth, and warned, “’Twould be verra unwise to bite me.” He rested his full weight on her, firmly securing her beneath him, and captured her face between his hands. “I but mean to assuage my curiosity.”
    Before she could say anything, he covered her mouth with his. Avery fought to ignore the warm, soft feel of his lips, fought to still the slow heat seeping through her veins as he gently nibbled at her lips. When she pressed her lips together to refuse the prodding of his tongue, he nipped her bottom lip. Despite all her efforts not to, she gasped, and his invasion was complete. One stroke of his tongue was enough to kill her plan to bite him. Avery found herself in a desperate battle against her own swiftly rising desire.
    Avery was suddenly glad that she was pinned so firmly to the bed. She did not want this dark marauder to know how much she wished to rub her body against his. Or how she ached to touch his smooth, dark skin, to feel the warmth of his strong back and broad chest beneath her fingers. Or how her fingers also itched to be buried in his thick black hair, its rich softness tempting her as it brushed against her face. Avery just wished she could hide how her breath had quickened, how her heart beat faster, and how her mouth had softened so welcomingly beneath his.
    As her passion soared, so did her fear. Avery did not understand. The man intended to dishonor her then toss her back to her family, hoping they would all feel her shame. He accused and insulted her brother, thus her family and her clan. He was a complete stranger to her, a man who had accepted her as payment for a wager. She should feel nothing except perhaps, disgust and fear. Instead, one kiss and she was inflamed. She wanted to tear off the soft leather loincloth he wore, wanted to touch and kiss every strong inch of him, wanted him inside her with a fierceness that made her womb ache.
    When he finally lifted his head, she kept her eyes closed. Her mother had always teased her father about how easily she could read his lustful thoughts in his eyes. Avery had her father’s eyes and strongly feared Sir Cameron would be able to read her passionthere. She winced faintly when he grasped her chin firmly in one big hand, but still she did not open her eyes.
    “Look at me, Avery,” Cameron demanded, not surprised to hear the husky thickness of his voice.
    It astonished Cameron to feel so keenly alive with need, his body throbbing with an unrelieved hunger. There was nothing about Avery Murray that should stir his desire. She was too slender, too impertinent, and too emotional. Yet he wanted her with a need stronger than he had ever felt before. The excuse that he had been celibate so long any female body would do, rang hollow in his ears. She called to something deep within him and he wanted to see if she felt any hint of the same. He already knew that her eyes revealed her feelings, and he was eager to look into them. The fact that she was pressing them closed so firmly her brow wrinkled only made him all the more determined.
    “Open your eyes, lass,” he ordered again.
    “I cannae,” she replied. “I have swooned from an excess of disgust.”
    Cameron would have deeply felt the sting of that insult except for the fact that her voice was as thick and husky as his own. She was clearly going to be stubborn, however. A little subterfuge was definitely called for. He shifted a little, easing his weight off her body just slightly, and looked toward the door.
    “Ah, Donald,” he said, watching Avery closely, “why have ye