Page 26 of Wedded to the Scottish Duke

She was not prepared for his touch, but neither did she stop it.

His hand slid around her waist, and she inhaled sharply.

“The problem…” He paused again, making her wait on tenterhooks for what he was going to say. “… is that no one has given ye a reason to obey them, have they?”

“You arrogant?—”

“Want that reason, lass?”

“Enough!” she protested, but he was leaning toward her again, that smile curving his lips.

“One taste, one reason…”

“I hate you.”

“No, ye don’t. Sweetheart.”

He was too close now. It was too much to refuse. She wanted to hate him, but she couldn’t. When his hand slipped down to her hip and drew her forward, something broke between them.

He moved his lips toward her own, but she didn’t pull back. When he kissed her, she rose on her tiptoes, ready and waiting to feel his lips on her own.

CHAPTER 8

Celia’s kiss was like fire.

The moment she kissed him, Keith was a man unleashed, as if that purring panther nestled somewhere deep in his chest was now pouncing, determined to have her.

He wrapped his hands around her waist, splaying his fingers as far and as wide as he could possibly get them, to feel as much of her as he could. Her body curved against his, her breasts squished against his chest. Her hands were just as intoxicating as any whisky. She gripped his shoulders as if she couldn’t get enough of him, then as he kissed her, pushing the boundaries, parting her lips to take control, her hands slipped down to his biceps, her fingers gripping them hard.

He teased her tongue with his own. When he felt her nails dig harder into his arms, it was all he needed to push harder.

I am not a soft man when it comes to passion.

He backed her up fast. She collided with the wall, safe from any pain because of the arm he had wrapped around her waist. It gave him all the opportunity to press his body harder against her own, feeling her breasts against his chest.

He dominated her mouth, nipping her lips and pushing her as far as she could possibly take that kiss. She didn’t pull back, nor did she make any attempt to push him off her. In fact, her hands now trailed down his arms, gripping as much of him as she could reach.

I can’t stop.

She was too much to resist.

He took hold of her hips and ground against her. The way she gasped into the kiss showed just how much she loved that feeling too. He pulled back just an inch, only to feel her nipping his lip. He smiled into the kiss.

He liked a woman who could take control, but with Celia, at this moment, he wanted all the control.

He pressed her back against the wall, dominating the kiss. When her hands slid further down his arms, he took hold of them, shifting and clasping them with just one hand, then pinning them above her head, so her body was open to him. She gasped into their kiss but didn’t stop.

With her now so stretched, he could feel every part of her body. He could feel her hips brushing against his own as he sucked on her tongue.

Then there was a sound nearby. He halted, jerking his head back, though he didn’t release his grip on her wrists, nor did he step back from her.

I could take her, but then what?

She would not be his first lover. God, he wanted Celia more than he’d ever wanted any other woman in his life, but if someone was out in this garden, then it was certainly not the place to do it.

Also, Lady Celia, a lady of the ton, might not take kindly to the idea of a brutish Scottish lover, even if she was interested in rebelling enough to kiss him.

He released her hands and planted his palms against the wall on either side of her.