Page 31 of The Dragon Laird’s Obsession

Her chest rose with her next heavy breath now. “I cannae breathe,” Ailis choked, and once the words began, she could not stop them. “I daenae ken what arrangements me brother has made. I daenae ken what will happen once we wed. I daenae ken what ye expect of me and why ye even agreed to any of this.”

Her voice wavered. She hated that too.

Gordon’s expression shifted, but she pressed on before he could speak.

“It is me duty.”

“Daenae speak to me of duty!” she argued, stepping close to him as the words raked out of her.

Gordon thundered, his mouth pulling harshly, “Ye think inheritin’ a castle makes a man whole?”

Ailis’ breath faltered.

“I was cast out,” he said, voice roughening. “Raised to hate the very name I carry. Shaped into a weapon for a man who cared naught for blood save how it might serve him. I belong nowhere, Ailis. And ye certainly shouldnae be here.”

The words struck with such force that her anger stumbled. Their breathing was ragged as they glared at each other, and the thrumming race in her pulse slowly took over from everything else she felt.

This is madness.

He was too close to her… close enough that she smelled the fresh scent of linen and earth that clung to him.

His gaze dropped to her mouth while he stared at her too, and her mouth parted before she could think. The air between them tightened until she feared an explosion would happen. The heat in the moment pressed against her skin and stole her breath.

Every part of her was aware of him, and delicious tingles filled her. She should step away from him and walk off; instead, she stared at his mouth. His lips were close and shaped in that grim, unsmiling line that made her want, absurdly, dangerously, to know what it would feel like to press her lips against his.

Gordon panted too. His chest rose and fell with a heavy rhythm that made Ailis suspect he was just as troubled as she was. When the silence stretched longer than another second, she turned to walk away.

Gordon caught her wrist before she could pivot fully. His fingers circled her skin, warm and steady, as she glanced over one shoulder to look at him.

His eyes seemed darker now, and his gaze dropped to her mouth. A brief flicker of hesitation followed before he tugged her all the way to him, dipped his head, and sealed his lips on hers.

The smallest sound broke from her before she could stop it, and Gordon went still for the span of one heartbeat, as if that sound had struck straight through him.

Then he kissed her deeper.

Longer than he should have.

Longer than she should have allowed.

Ailis’ thoughts scattered beneath it. The stable vanished. The mare. The hay. The quarrel. All of it disappeared beneath the heat of his mouth and the impossible truth of his body, so close to hers.

One more second… one more breath.

She let out a soft, helpless sound against him, and just then a woman’s voice cut through from beyond the stable door, shattering the moment as they sprang away from each other.

CHAPTER NINE

Ailis discovered that a kiss could be far more troublesome than a betrothal.

The betrothal had been simple. Her brother had bargained her away without her consent. Gordon had stood there, with his hard face and colder voice, and agreed to it.

And Ailis had decided she would make him regret every moment of it. But this… this kiss was different.

This kiss had ruined everything.

She panted as Marion walked closer to them, her brows arched as the question Ailis knew she wondered about left her lips.

“What are ye two up to?” Marion asked again as they stepped away from each other, pretending they were not reveling in the sinful pleasures that overpowered common sense.