“I’m not accustomed to a woman like you,” he said.
She was tempted to ask what sort of woman he was accustomed to. Instead, she asked, “What do you mean by a woman like me?”
“You’re such a delicate lass,” he said, brushing her cheek with the back of his fingers. “I’m afraid I’ll hurt ye without meaning to.”
She blinked against a sudden threat of tears. No one had worried about her in such a long time. Without pausing to think about what she did, she laid her hand on his chest. She felt the steady beat of his heart against her palm.
He covered her hand with his. “Promise you’ll tell me if I hurt ye?”
“Aye,” she said.
“If I’m slow to hear ye,” he said, and gave her a wink, “just hit me over the head to get my attention.”
“I wouldn’t want to hurt ye,” she said, and gave him a small smile. “I’m tougher than I look.”
“Are ye, now? We’ll see about that,” he said with a wicked glint in his eye.
His expression grew serious again as he ran his finger over her collarbone and along her skin above the neckline of her shift.
“I like to touch ye,” he said. “I want ye to like it as well.”
Alison drew in a shaky breath as his lips followed the line his finger had traced along her bare skin. She could not reconcile this man with the Beast of Wedderburn, who broke down her gate and challenged every warrior in the castle. At least she understood the Beast.
This other Wedderburn who teased her with gentle touches confused her. She suspected he might be even more dangerous.
“I want to hear ye say my name,” he said against her ear.
“Laird Wedderburn.”
“Nay, my Christian name.” He rested a hand on her hip, firm and possessive. “Do ye know it?”
He dragged the tip of his tongue down the side of her throat, and she felt her nipples tighten.
“David,” she said on an exhale.
When he leaned back, the heat in his eyes made her heart skip a beat.
“I like how it sounds on your lips,” he said, dropping his gaze to her mouth. “Say it again for me.”
She swallowed. Her voice came out barely a whisper. “David.”
Tension curled in her belly as he leaned over her. A startled yip came from her throat when his chest touched hers, making her all too aware there was nothing between them but the thin shift. But then his mouth was on hers and drove every other thought from her head. Her resistance melted as his soft, warm lips sent tingles of pleasure to her belly and down her limbs.
When he pulled away, a sigh escaped her. The man certainly knew how to kiss a lass.
He laced his fingers in her hair and stared down at her. The intensity of his green eyes was unnerving.
“What do you want from me?” she asked.
“I want to make ye quiver with need until ye can’t help crying out my name when I’m buried inside ye,” he said. “I want to give ye such pleasure that every day ye long for the night so that ye can come to my bed again.”
She snorted. “That will never happen.”
“It will,” he said.
When pigs fly.
“I want ye willing,” he said with a slow smile, “and that ye shall be.”