The Highlander's Haunted Kiss Read Online Free Page B

for better access to the sweetness of her mouth. The scent of cinnamon and exotic spices clung to her skin and her night rail. The softness of her curves was unfettered by the complicated garb women wore during the day. He kissed her carefully, slowly, so as not to startle her. He wanted to draw out the moment for as long as possible. If only he could take her away from here, out into the misty forests where time seemed to stand still.
    She sprang away from him suddenly, her hand lifting to her mouth as if she could take back the kiss. Or stifle all future kisses.
    With wide eyes, she studied him, her color high. Her gaze tracked his. The scent of her filled his nostrils.
    â€œYou will leave this chamber and not return,” she ordered, her voice steady even though her hands shook as she wrapped her arms around herself. “You must not take such liberties again.”
    â€œNo woman commands me.” He needed to remember his duty to his clan. Discover if she was a nuisance visitor or if she posed a real threat. “You may stay in my chamber only by my leave. I protect the entrance to this doorway always. I keep you safe from it, as I do every other soul who comes near it.”
    â€œI am sure I can have the door sealed.” She frowned, having no idea what might come through that door if he wasn’t on guard with his brothers at all times. “And I have a legal right to these lands,” she argued in that charming accent he now understood was American.
    â€œThen we will meet tomorrow to discuss it.” He would learn her purpose and test his theory about why she could see him clearly when other trespassers of her era could not.
    She had been surprised to learn that he was a real man and not a ghost. Yet he had been equally stunned to find out she was a flesh-and-blood woman herself. Lily Rothmore Desalles was not a
Sidhe.
That didn’t mean she wasn’t his enemy. But what if his foes had started using mortals to carry out their unholy work?
    â€œWhere?” she asked, hugging herself tighter, her dark hair catching the firelight in a way that made copper strands appear. “I will bar the trap door so you cannot return that way.”
    â€œI want you to bar that door like your life depended on it, Lily. And we shall meet at the forest’s edge just before sunset, where you first saw me.” He had more options for dealing with her there. Close enough to his clan to call for help should she plan an ambush. Near enough to
Sidhe
lands that he could step into a magical place between realms where time did not follow the usual law of nature.
    If he had a chance to kiss Lily again, he would ensure they were in a place where he could draw out the moment for hours. Days even, without her knowing.
    His body responded to the thought instantly, his hunger for her roaring to life with new fierceness.
    â€œWhen?” Her voice quivered a little, and he wondered if he’d somehow betrayed the direction of his thoughts.
    â€œSunset.” He would learn everything he needed to know from her then. “We may speak without reservation on neutral terrain.”
    Her eyes dipped to the floor for a moment before returning to meet his gaze with new determination.
    â€œFine. But first, how did you know about me?” She clenched her teeth for a moment. “What made you think I was an innocent?”
    The lady was full of surprises.
    He grinned. “Do all American females speak so boldly?”
    â€œObserving proper decorum has brought me naught but heartache.” Her jaw flexed and her lips pressed into a hard line. “Besides, it is imperative that I know what gave me away.”
    Interesting. He tucked away that bit of knowledge to chew on later.
    â€œIt wasn’t any one thing.” He savored the memory of that conversation. “But the sum of several. You seemed fearless in your defense of your right to Invergale. Yet when the conversation turned a