Page 117 of Blood & Claw

“Aye, we should,” she whispered, even as her belly tightened. “But I don’t want to.”

He gave her a smoldering look that made her pulse leap once more like a bounding hare.

She held his gaze. “Who knows what the next few days will bring?”

“We will rescue Kayla.” His eyes glinted then. “I gave you my word, and I’ll fucking honor it.”

Pressure rose under her breastbone. She believed him. “And when we do, the task I hired you for will be complete. Tonight might be one of the last we spend together … alone.” She dragged in a deep breath before adding, “I don’t want to waste it on sleep.”

Silence followed her admission, drawing out before his thumb skimmed across her lips once more. He was staring at her mouth again, his breathing fast and shallow. “We shouldn’t.”

“Maybe not,” she breathed. “But I don’t care.”

Strangely, she wasn’t afraid of rejection. Her humiliation at Harvest Fire seemed to belong to someone else. The attraction she’d felt for Lewis paled compared to this. Kayla had told her to trust her gut, and she would.

“Have you done this before?” His voice held a rasp.

She shook her head. “Does it matter?”

“I’ve never taken a virgin … I’m not sure I’m the right choice for—”

“You are,” she cut him off. Their gazes locked then. “I won’t break.”

His pupils dilated, his irises turning from honey brown to bright gold. Aye, the clag-doo was in there, and it had just responded again. It should have alarmed Ailsa—especially after seeing him shift earlier—yet a delicious shiver rippled through her instead.

And then, before she had time to say anything else, he hauled her onto his lap. Pulling her head down, he kissed her savagely.

Darach’s response was so swift and fierce that it caught her by surprise, but she didn’t flinch, didn’t cry out. Instead, she kissed him back with the same ferocity. Their teeth clashed, their tongues dueled. His mouth was hot, and he tasted faintly of smoke and the trout they’d eaten earlier.

His body was hard and strong against her, and when his hands slid possessively down the curve of her back and grasped her arse, she groaned.

He growled back.

His mouth plundered hers now. Blood roared in her ears. Need clenched hard between her thighs. She wanted him so much.

As the kiss continued, it became hard to tell where want ended and something darker began.

Carelessly, she hurled herself into the abyss.

Reaching out, she fumbled with the laces on his leather vest.

“It’s cold,” he murmured against her lips. “Are you sure you want to do this naked?”

“Aye.” She bit his lower lip, nearly groaning at the metallic taste of his blood. Just a drop and she was ravenous. “I have to see you.”

His breathing caught, and then his eyes glinted bright gold. “Right.”

Extricating himself from her, he reached for more wood, piling it onto the fire pit. And as the flames licked at the darkness, heat caressing Ailsa’s face, she watched him make a nest for them using their cloaks.

He heeled off his boots then, removed his vest and tunic, and began to slowly unlace his breeches.

All the while, his gaze never left her face.

And then, he gave her a slow smile and beckoned to her.

30: COME UNDONE

RISING TO HER feet on shaky limbs, Ailsa began to undress. Her body felt strangely weak, her fingers fumbling, but she managed to wriggle out of her long woolen tunic and the shift she wore beneath. Both garments were still damp from the rain. And then, she stood there before him, naked save for the serpent arm ring adorning one bicep.