Page 37 of Grace in Glasgow (Seduced in Scotland #3)

A buzzing in her extremities told Grace that it was time to leave.

She dipped into a curtsy and tried to move around him, but he reached for her arm and brought it up to his chest. Grace was breathing heavily as she stared into his eyes, and she had half a mind to push at him, only she didn’t want to.

Her gaze fell to his mouth and she thought about the last person she had kissed and how little it had affected her, while just being near James caused a riot in her chest. Before she knew what she was doing, she leaned up on her tippytoes and pressed her mouth to his, suddenly too weak to fight her urges.

Instantly, James pulled her against his chest, kissing her furiously. His mouth was punishing, likely to teach her a lesson about going off by herself, but Grace didn’t care what he intended for her to learn from it. He was kissing her and that was all that mattered.

The aroma of citrus was now an aphrodisiac as she inhaled greedily, taking in the scent of him only for him to pull back, his forehead leaning against hers.

“What if something happened to you?” he asked roughly. “For God’s sake, Grace, if you insist on going through this world alone, you have to take care of yourself.”

“I know.”

“No,” he said. “I don’t think you understand.”

Her brow pinched, trying to decipher his words.

“I don’t?”

He closed his eyes, his hands moving over her back, as if trying to memorize the feel of her.

“No.” He exhaled. “You’re too important to too many people and to think of you in distress, alone… It guts me.”

Grace’s heart expanded, aching at his confession. Ashamed for going to Gallowgate alone, she brought her hand up to his bearded cheek and pressed her mouth to his, slowly and deliberately. His kiss tasted like home.

When she pulled back, she saw such reverence in his eyes that it scared her. But then she spoke.

“I’m sorry for causing you distress.” He dipped his chin to acknowledge her apology but it didn’t feel like enough. “Truly, James. I do not wish to ever cause you anguish.”

A soft laugh escaped him.

“Grace, every day I am in anguish.” His hand came to her neck, his fingers gripping the back of her head. “Every moment spent in your presence is a special hell, knowing that I can’t touch you, or even tell you what you mean to me.”

Grace’s pulse surged. She wanted to tell him that she felt the same way, but she knew it would only lead to conversations she neither was ready for nor wanted.

She already had a dream and she didn’t want to replace it and so instead of talking, she began to unbutton his shirt.

If she couldn’t tell him how she felt, she could at least show him.

But his hands wrapped around her wrists, stopping her. Gazing up, she feared he wouldn’t let her, but then a hint of a smirk showed at the corner of his mouth.

“Mrs. Cramer might wake and discover us. Come.”

For the second time, he took her hand and led her up a staircase and she was grateful.

All she wanted to do was to make love to him, curl up against his solid form, and sleep for ages.

It was when they were alone together, naked and exhausted, that she had found the greatest peace of her life and she needed it now more than ever.

By the time they reached his room, she had noted a number of things.

His house was well lit, but darkly decorated.

Moss green hallway walls led to a large bedroom with a dark floral and vine pattern.

A marble fireplace sat on the right wall, with a massive bed on the left, covered in an olive-green plaid blanket, woven with a blue and red stripe so intertwined it almost appeared purple, like the heather Grace had seen in fields surrounding Glencoe.

On the far wall was a window, familiar in shape as Grace had often stared at it after her baths, though it was always dark. She went to it and gazed out across the street to her own window.

“I’ve looked for you from my room, but you’re never here.”

“I’ve seen you.”

She spun around.

“You have?”

“Aye,” he said, reaching her. He took her hand and placed it against his chest. “A number of times.”

Emotion crept up her and fearful of her own reaction, she kissed him, her hands going back to the unbuttoning that he had interrupted downstairs.

He allowed her to take her time, his own hands moving over her as they kissed.

Once his chest was exposed, she let her fingers touch his skin, but it wasn’t enough.

Finally, he stepped back and shrugged out of his clothes, while she undressed herself, thankful that she had worn one of her simpler gowns.

He was nude by the time she was only in her chemise, and staring at him in the dim firelight, Grace wondered if there had ever been a more perfect specimen.

The way the shadow played against the contour of his muscles seemed to exaggerate all of him and she was in awe of him.

From his corporeal gaze, to the clean line of his beard, the ripples of his abdomen and below, she was sure there had never been a more beautiful man.

One who exuded care, intelligence, and above all, a touch that could not only heal, but could cause such a visceral reaction in herself.

She wanted to cause that same feeling in him and with a courage and audacity she didn’t believe she possessed, she took a step toward him. Then knelt.

James let out a shaky breath. She didn’t know exactly what she was supposed to do, but she knew what she wanted to do and reaching up to touch him, his hand instantly went to her cheek, his thumb moving back and forth as if she were some sort of pet.

Oh yes, a small voice echoed in her mind. Let her be that, just for tonight.

Grace leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the tip of his length, mesmerized by how silky he felt here.

He let out a choked breath, and emboldened by this response, she brushed her tongue against the very spot she had just kissed, remembering how he had licked her.

Her tongue swirled and she had barely closed her mouth around him when he spoke shakily.

“ Grace .”

A multitude of feelings could be heard in his tone.

Pleasure, shock, surrender. She was kneeling before him, but he was under the spell of her touch and a burst of love and craving coursed through her body as she continued to do just as she wanted, exploring and tasting this man that she cared for so much.

All of a sudden, James’s fingers tightened in her hair and he stepped back, holding her away from him as he panted, his chest heaving up and down erratically.

“Not yet,” he rasped, as his hand dropped from her hair and reached for her hand.

He helped her to her feet, but then instantly picked her up and, moving around the room, he brought her to his bed.

The moment her shoulders touched the plaid beneath her, a series of zings went through her heart and Grace had never been more certain of anything in her life.

This was where she was meant to be, here in this man’s bed, touching and kissing and discovering every part of him.

James’s hands came up to the neckline of her chemise and without hesitating, he tore the thin fabric in half, causing her to gasp.

She had half a mind to scold him for doing so, but then his mouth was on the tip of her breast and she was lost to her own pleasure.

Her hips moved up just as his hand found her and he began to move his finger in and out while she panted with want.

“Yes,” she breathed as he kissed down her stomach. Her back arched when his tongue replaced his fingers and she moaned. “ Yes .”

He was not slow, but precise, and with his other hand high on her breast, teasing her nipple, Grace felt the pleasure she sought crash over her fast and heavy. Her body convulsed and she tried to pull away, but he held his place, until it subsided.

She wanted to fall asleep. Her body was boneless, but as he crawled up over her, he moved to her side.

“Not yet,” he whispered, moving her arm over his chest. “I need you, Grace.”

Dazed in a heady afterglow, Grace nodded and allowed him to pull her thigh up and over his body. When she felt the still rigid length of him enter her from beneath, her brow twitched. Her hands went to his chest as his went to her hips and slowly he moved her, teaching her how to ride him.

Now this was a position she had never considered, but as she began to move of her own volition, she began to chase the sensation that was once again building within her.

“God, Grace,” he ground out. “You’re perfect.”

She smiled lazily, but soon her eyes closed as she began to move quicker. It was close, so close and she wouldn’t let it go.

“Yes.”

Grace’s fingers dug into his solid chest and she moved in a bizarre way, not up and down, but not side to side either. It was a mix, a swirl of sorts as she felt him swell within her. Yes. It was coming again and she let it come over her again, crying out his name as it did.

James’s body tensed beneath her and his fingers dug painfully into her hips as he moved her off him swiftly.

Grace rolled onto the bed, the aftershocks coursing through her like little electric spasms while James’s rigid back convulsed for several seconds until he finally slumped back.

Reaching for her, he pulled her body close to his and they both fell asleep almost instantly, both seemingly aware that this was the only place in the world either of them wanted to be.

Some hours later, before the sunrise, Grace woke up with a jump. Pressed up against his naked body, Grace felt a finger circling around her shoulder.

“Shhh,” James whispered, the dying fire giving the room a haunting glow. “You’re all right. But you need to wake up.”

She shivered and pressed herself against him, annoyed that her slumber was disturbed.

“I do not.”

“You do. It’s nearly three in the morning. You must return to your aunt’s house, lest you be discovered missing.”

Grace grumbled and buried her face in his chest.

“I don’t care.”