Page 24 of Taken By the Highland Villain

Above her, Jude made a guttural noise. “Ye ought to ask afore touchin’ a man like that.”

“What did ye think I was plannin’ to do?” Valerie blinked up at him, perturbed by the tone of his voice.

His jaw was clenched tight, his hands flexing, and his eyes hot as he watched her.

She furrowed her brow. “Ye dinnae need to look as if I’m killin’ ye.”

“And if ye are?” Jude’s voice was strained. “Do ye have any idea what yer touch is doin’ to me, lass?”

“Nae at all.” Valerie ignored the flush rising to her cheeks as her mind suggested all the ways her hands might touch or affect the man before her. “Now, I just need to take one more measurement here, from yer instep to yer inner thigh.”

Her hand slid up from his ankle to a point some inches above his knee. She made a quick mark, her nail tracing lightly across his skin as she did so.

She was teasing him, and she knew it, but there was something intoxicating about it, about the sounds he made and the way he was responding to her.

He tries to act aloof, as if naught affects him. Perhaps he doesnae want to be touched by anything. But underneath his cold, gloomy, gruff exterior, there’s warmth and life in him still.

Jude made a sound like a growl, muffled curses shrouded in it. Valerie rose and turned to make a final note.

She’d no sooner written down the measurement than Jude’s hand descended on her shoulder and turned her around. “Are ye finished?”

“Aye…” Her gaze flicked to his face, and a blush stained her cheeks as his eyebrow rose.

He kens what I was doing. Or at least he guesses.

“Ye play a dangerous game, little seamstress, testin’ a man’s control like that.” Jude’s voice was soft, a hint of a growl. “I warned ye, ye shouldnae test my limits.”

“’Twas part of the process and needed to be done.” Valerie held his gaze. “And ye never said, My Laird, what the consequences of testin’ ye would be, so I dinnae see any reason to be concerned about them.”

“A statement like that, one might think yewantto find out. Are ye really that bold, lass? That willin’ to challenge a wolf in his den?” Jude’s voice was deceptively gentle, low and rasping in his throat, making it impossible to tell whether he issued a warning, a challenge, or a threat.

Whatever his intention, Valerie had never been one to back down.

“I’m certainly nae afraid of a challenge or a consequence, My Laird. And I’ve always thought if ye want such to be a deterrent, ye would do well todemonstrateyer meanin’.”

“As ye will.”

Before she could say anything more, Jude pulled her close, tilted her head back, and claimed her lips in a searing kiss.

CHAPTER 11

He hadn’t plannedto kiss her. Her touch on his inner thigh had been like a spark against tinder, igniting his blood with desire andneedsuch as he could not recall feeling before.

Perhaps Valerie felt some of the same heat and desire he did, because there was no resistance as he pulled her close and claimed her lips with his own. Her hands came to rest on his chest, but she made no effort to push him away.

Her lips were soft as silk or satin, and she tasted of tea and fresh bread. The scent of heather and something more subtle mingled around her, filling his senses. The warm, lithe softness of her body pressed against his was more intoxicating than any whiskey he’d ever tasted.

He tilted her head for better access to her mouth, and she moaned against him, her head lolling back to grant him the connection he craved.

Her hands slid across his chest and up to his shoulders, leaving trails of warmth as they molded to the muscles and slid across the skin. Her fingertips were callused, Jude noticed, rough with irregularities caused by pricks of needles and the wear of handling thread and cloth for countless hours.

Somehow, the knowledge and the feel were far more enticing than the softest and smoothest of touches could ever be.

He glided one hand up to stroke her cheek, then across to caress the silken tresses that had escaped from her braid while she worked. He considered undoing the braid, then abandoned the attempt in favor of sliding his hands across her back and up to her shoulders. He stroked his hands down her arms, then back up so his thumbs could caress her breasts.

Valerie gasped and arched into his touch, bringing her body closer to his. The heat of her body pressed against his growing arousal made him moan.

Suddenly, Valerie jerked away, breaking the kiss and the embrace with a gasp. Her eyes were wide with a maelstrom of emotions Jude wasn’t sure even she could name, and her face was flushed with a tangle of embarrassment, desire, and something else.