The Hawk: A Highland Guard Novel Read online

  He knew what she was trying to do with her little game, but it wasn’t going to force him to change his mind. This didn’t mean anything, damn it. And he was going to prove it. If she wanted pleasure, that was exactly what she was going to get. More pleasure than she could stand.

  She might have started this game, but they were going to finish it on his terms.

  He dug his fingers through her sodden hair and dragged her face to his, covering her mouth in a long, deep kiss. Relief surged through his body in a hot, heavy rush.

  He devoured her with his mouth as she stroked him. Tongues twisting deeper and deeper in the frantic need to consume. Yet it did nothing to take the edge off the hunger still pounding inside him.

  He shouldn’t be doing this. Not when he felt like this. Angry and teeming with a strange, frantic emotion he didn’t understand. He didn’t feel like himself. Something wild and uncontrollable was building inside him. He felt the pressure in his chest. A heaviness expanding with nowhere to go.

  He sensed the danger, but didn’t heed its warning.

  It’s only pleasure. Lust, nothing more.

  Yet every wicked stroke of her hand increased his frenzy, his body already primed to the breaking point by her teasing touch.

  One last time.

  He sure as hell was going to make it count. He pulled her hand off him before it was over too soon and drew her against him, easing her down on the stone under him.

  His hands covered her body. Her breasts, her bottom. Squeezing, clutching, pressing her closer to him, desperately trying to ease the hunger and the dangerous emotions coiling inside him.

  She melted into his hands, arching and pressing her body to his. If there had ever been any restraint in her responses, it was gone. She met each stroke of his tongue, each touch, with a wild abandon he couldn’t have imagined.

  But like oil to a flame, it only fueled the fire raging inside him.

  He was kissing her. Touching her. Molding her body to his. Hip to hip. Chest to chest. The hard bead of her nipples raked his chest as she moved against him.

  But it wasn’t close enough.

  He wanted to feel her warm skin sliding against his. He wanted to see her naked—completely naked—for the first time. No chemise, no tunic, no braies to come between them.

  Clothes. He needed them off. He wrenched his mouth away and tore off his shirt. Her eyes widened, taking in every inch of his naked chest and arms. She shouldn’t look at him like that. The raw hunger in her gaze was only making him hotter.

  His braies came next, and then, before she could object, he shimmied her chemise over her head.

  Jesus. He sucked in his breath, feeling as if he’d just been poleaxed.

  She was beautiful. Not skinny, but lithe and delicate. His eyes gorged on every slender inch of creamy skin. Small, pert breasts. Slim waist and gently curved hips. And her legs … her legs were perfect. Long and trim, with smoothly shaped muscle.

  Maybe this hadn’t been such a good idea. It would be a long time before he would be able to get this image out of his mind.

  Unable to wait a moment longer to be separated from her, he dragged her against him, kissing her, as their naked bodies met for the first time. His body flamed at the contact, at the sizzle of skin meeting skin.

  He cupped her breast, her bottom. She was so damned soft he couldn’t stop touching her. All subtlety gone, he slid his hand between her legs. Kissing her as he slid his finger inside the soft molten heat. He groaned. Desire plunged through him in a hot, heavy wave, dragging him down. So hot. So wet. She moaned and writhed against him. Pressing her hips to his hand and crushing her breasts harder against his chest.

  He slipped in another finger, opening her wider. But the stroke of his fingers wasn’t enough. He wanted to be inside her more than he’d ever wanted anything in his life.

  She moaned again, this time more insistently, and pressed her mound to his arousal, seeking more friction. The sensation of her dampness sliding over his throbbing cock nearly made him lose his mind.

  So close.

  Don’t. He gritted his teeth against the urge to plunge inside her.

  But God, he wanted to.

  One last time. He couldn’t quiet the drum of the words in his ears, driving him on.

  “Please, Hawk—”

  “Erik,” he demanded. He wanted—needed—to hear her say his name. Their eyes met. He felt that sharp tugging in his chest. “Erik,” he said again.

  “Erik,” she repeated softly. The smile that turned her mouth and filled her eyes made the pressure that had been building inside him shatter. “Please, I want this.”

  His head was spinning, her innocent entreaty wreaking havoc with his mind. He knew how good it would be. How tight she would be around him. How her body would grip him.

  He couldn’t think of anything but being inside her. It was the only thing that mattered. It was the only thing that was going to feel right. The only thing that was going to stop the hammering in his chest and put an end to the maddening hunger.

  He put his hands on either side of her shoulders, bracing himself over her, and positioned himself between her legs. Their eyes met and held. Neither one of them said a word. They didn’t need to. He gave her one last chance. She read the question in his eyes and nodded.

  He didn’t hesitate. His body was no longer listening to reason, but acting on its own, careening forward with only one purpose in mind: to make her his.

  Mine. The instinct was primal and irresistible.

  His body shook with anticipation as he slowly pushed inside.

  Ellie knew she should tell him to stop. Despite the haze of passion that had gripped them both, she knew he would.

  But she didn’t want him to.

  She loved him—Erik. He’d told her his name.

  She loved his brash cockiness. His incorrigible grin. The innate sense of honor and nobility that he hid behind a roguish facade. She loved his warmth, his kindness, and his thoughtfulness. She loved the sense of freedom she had when she was with him. The adventure. The excitement. But also sitting next to him on a hillside watching the waves crash against the rocks.

  Joining with him seemed the perfect—the only—expression of that love.

  She knew this meant something. He cared for her. He had to. When he held himself over her, the look in his eyes had taken her breath away. Fierce. Possessive. Intense. It was a primal claim that could not be denied.

  She belonged to him, and he to her. Fate had brought them to this place: it was meant to be. He was her destiny.

  She gripped his shoulders, feeling the silky head of his erection nudge at the sensitive folds between her legs. A fresh wave of dampness rushed through her at the incredible sensation.

  She wasn’t quite sure how well this was going to work. He was much too big. But somehow she had to trust that her body would adjust to accommodate him.

  Piercing blue eyes held her from behind a face more fierce than she’d ever seen it. Jaw clenched, muscles hard and taut under her fingertips, he seemed to be fighting against an invisible foe.

  He pushed, opening her with the tip of his erection.

  She gasped at the sensation. And then again when he pushed in a little deeper.

  It felt strange and wonderful. The heat. The connection. Her body stretched tight. Him filling her.

  She felt her body soften, opening around him, dampness guiding him inside.

  Maybe this would work after all.

  When she thought he’d gone as far as he could go, he held her gaze and gave one final push. “I’m sorry,” he grit out from between clenched teeth.

  She felt a sharp pinch and cried out. Her body tensed at the unexpected twinge of pain. But he soothed her with his mouth, kissing her until her muscles relaxed and passion once again held her in its erotic embrace.

  The hot, frantic feeling took over again. The feeling that she needed to move and feel him against her.

  Her fingers tightened around the hard bulg