Page 10 of Kiss Me, Macrae

With a harsh groan of satisfaction, he tightened his arms to align her body more fully to his, lifting her to her toes. The deep rumble of his voice made her insides hum with hunger and heat.

Where did all the heat come from?

She didn’t understand her intense response to this man—a man she knew only as Macrae—but even more confusing was her total willingness to be consumed by it. Once she was in his arms—once his lips touched hers—she didn’t even try to resist it or deny it.

And he knew.

With a skill born of pure confidence and masculine need, he took possession of her. His lips rubbed back and forth over hers, warming them with velvety friction. When he made a short sound in his throat, she knew instantly what he wanted and without hesitation, she opened for him. His tongue swept past her teeth to glide erotically against hers and her legs gave way. Only his fierce embrace kept her upright.

With fire in her blood and a delicious swirling ache in her core, Allegra gave in to the overwhelming need to have more of him—taste more of him.

She pulled back from the kiss, but only so she could tilt her head and press her mouth to his throat. Her lips found the soft warmth of his pulse just below the hard line of his bearded jaw. Breathing him in, she touched her tongue to his skin.

The sound he made was guttural and so very male. His arms tightened, nearly squeezing the breath from her.

She wished they were wearing less clothes. She’d give anything to feel his rough hands on her bare skin again, to smooth her fingers over the muscled planes and ripples of his abdomen, to explore the surface of his broad back. She must have expressed her frustration somehow because a warm chuckle vibrated in his chest.

She stilled. What was she doing?

Clearly, losing her mind.

It was a glorious sort of madness, but for what? All this desperate need and reckless fire could not lead to anything good. Not for her.

“Nay, lassie,” he whispered roughly, making her skin tingle. “Dinnae pull away just yet.”

Allegra’s stomach trembled. Despite the desire raging through her, she lowered her arms from around his neck.

His groan of dismay nearly had her changing her mind, but she forced herself to step out of his arms, ensuring her boots found proper footing this time.

The look he gave her was fierce with promise. Rather than being worried by his sudden ferocity, she was forced to hide an impulse to smile. She couldn’t fear him when his eyes still held so much heat and longing and his lips were full and glistening from their kiss.

“There’s only so long I’ll allow ye tae resist what’s between us,” he growled.

Shaking off her body’s visceral reaction to his gravelly tone, Allegra met his gaze. “Allow me? You’ve no choice in the matter. I do not repeat my mistakes.”

Golden flames flickered in his green eyes. “There’s no mistake. We’re fated.”

Something inside her vibrated to the deep assurance in his words. Despite the sudden weakness in her thighs, she forced sternness into her tone. “I don’t believe in fate.”

He held her gaze, as though seeking something there.

She closed herself off, making sure he wouldn’t find it.

Then he gave a short bow of his head. “I’ll be seein’ ye soon, lassie.”

“That is not going to happen,” she replied, only to see his lips curve in a barely there smile that still managed to send a rush of heat through her blood.

Though she didn’t expect it to be as difficult as it was, she turned and walked away. She didn’t have to look back to know with a bone-deep certainty he stood watching her until she was out of sight.

Chapter 6

Baird Macrae stood in the corner of the Earl and Countess of Darrow’s most elegant drawing room. To his left was a pedestal holding a giant porcelain vase filled with lush hothouse flowers and to his right was his oldest and closest friend.

“What’s got you so tense tonight, Macrae?” Darrow asked, his pronunciation revealing the English schooling that had all but swept his burr beneath a rug. “You seem impatient. It’s verra unlike you.”

Baird didn’t want to answer.

Milling about the room were close to a dozen of their closest neighbors. They’d all been invited to Darrow House for a small but formal dinner and everyone was dressed in their finest—Baird included. He’d practically grown up with the people around him, saw many of them frequently when he wasn’t away from home as he had been in the last weeks.