“Trust that I know that, lass.”

“I’m trying to.” Her voice became a whisper. There was no way to hide her uncertainty. But approval flickered in his eyes, giving her enough confidence to continue staring at him.

Trust him? She chewed on that thought.

He leaned down and kissed first her right hand where it cupped one breast. Beneath her palm her nipple was hard and aching for its turn to discover what a kiss felt like against its peak. But Gordon moved to her other hand to allow his lips to linger on it. He moved lower to where her chest rose and fell with her breathing. Another kiss landed on her belly, the warmth of his mouth easily making its way through the fabric of her chemise to her skin. Sensation ripped through her, drawing a sound of delight from her lips. But it also raced down to her passage where hunger renewed its grip on her.

Gordon nuzzled against her chest, kissing and moving upward until he gently dislodged her hands with his head. Once again her fingers were in his hair, and he turned to tease the side of one breast with his lips. She quivered, anticipation drawing her muscles tight. She had never been so aware of her nipples. The soft pink tips were alive with need so hot, her chemise felt heavy and suffocating. Gordon slid one hand up her body, crossing over her ribs, and then cupped the soft mound of her breast before his lips took command of her nipple.

She arched up off the bed, unable to remain still. There was too much heat, too much sensation to endure. A thin cry escaped her lips, and she heard an answering growl from him that made her fingers curl into fists in his hair. The fabric of her chemise became wet, sticking to the hard point of her nipple. Gordon licked over it, teasing the sensitive point through the fabric before reaching up to grab the neckline of the garment and pulling it down to expose her flesh completely.

“So sweet, lass. Like summer berries.” He lifted his head and watched her face while his thumb glided over the wet tip of her nipple for the first time with nothing between their skin. “That’s a favorite thing of mine, summer berries. Something that I enjoy feasting on.”

His voice dipped down until it became husky. His eyes darkened, but she gained only a momentary glimpse of them before he returned to her exposed breast. She felt his breath passing over the wet skin of her nipple, rippling across skin a hundred times more sensitive than she could ever recall it being. His hand gently closed around the soft mound of her breast, pushing the hard tip upward in offering. Gordon took that tempting morsel between his lips, sucking the entire nipple into his mouth while Jemma gasped with shock.

It felt too good. Pleasure surged through her, wiping away any doubts that still lingered. Her hands slid down to his back where they might press him toward her. His tongue flicked over the tip of her nipple, back and forth while he continued to suck on it. She arched up, her back joining the effort to make sure he knew she wanted him to continue. She was suddenly too hot with the wool of her skirts and his kilt between them. Her fingers plucked at the fabric of his shirt but couldn’t pull it down so that his warm skin might be hers to touch. He slid one arm beneath her waist and pulled her tightly against his body before rolling over onto his back. The bed shook, and Jemma ended up straddling him with her knees sinking down on either side of his hips. He gently pushed her up so that she sat upright, and that pressed her body weight down on her open sex and the little bead of her clitoris.

“Gordon—”

“I want to see ye, lass.” He found the tie that held her waistband closed. He worked it through the eyelets quickly before sitting up and pulling her skirts right up her body and over her head. He tossed them over the edge of the bed and lay back down on his back with his hands working on the padded roll that helped support her cartridge pleated skirts. It followed her skirts onto the floor and he reached up to tug her open corset down her arms.

“Much better.”

“Is it?” Her chemise was free to flow around her body now but the fabric was thin, allowing the light to illuminate her curves. The neckline had risen back up to cover her breast, but the wet fabric was translucent.

“Aye, lass, but not quite perfect yet.”

She shivered, seeing the truth of what he craved in his eyes. She had never thought about whether or not her body was attractive. The knowledge that Gordon wanted to bare her and see what she looked like without anything to shield her sent a shiver down her body. He felt it, and his hands landed on top of her thighs, moving in soothing strokes along them. It was pleasing, the feeling of his hands on her legs, but at the same time startling. She nibbled on her lower lip with indecision.

“This is perfection.” His hands slid all the way to her knees and beneath the edge of her chemise. He continued on up her thighs, his hands against her bare skin. It was too much, and she stiffened, pulling one knee over his body.

“Ye need to learn to trust me, Jemma.”

His voice was deeply serious. He captured her waist and lifted her up once more to set her down on her back.

“You cannot expect me to simply do what you command. Not when we are talking about—”

“About being intimate?” He pinned her down with his weight but didn’t move up her body so that their faces were even. Instead he remained lower on the bed, his hands returning to her thighs to stroke them with even motions.

“You are not my husband.” She didn’t say it unkindly. “I cannot shame my father. Understand that, please.”

His eyes flashed with something that looked like a challenge. “Ye think I do nae comprehend honor? Marrying ye is the simple way to gain what I want, lass. This is no about that. ’Tis yer trust I want to earn at this moment.”

He raised her chemise, pushing the fabric up to bare her thighs. His hands slipped back down along the length he’d uncovered until he cupped each knee, his fingers spreading over each one before gripping lightly.

“But making ye mindless with pleasure when ye don’t have to lie in me bed and submit to me touch, now that’s the challenge I’m taking up, too.”

“That’s sinful talk.”

He pushed her thighs apart with the grip on her knees, spreading her once more and keeping her that way by placing his body between her open thighs. She gasped as the night air brushed against the folds of her sex. A small portion of her chemise still covered her mons, but it held very flimsy protection against the determination glittering in Gordon’s eyes.

“It’s honest, and isn’t that more in keeping with God’s law than everyone pretending that touching doe nae feel good?”

His hand moved over her belly, rubbing and kneading the place that was so full of excitement.

“Tell me ye don’t like having me hand on ye, or better still, prove yerself the creature I believe ye to be and tell me the truth.”

He rubbed her belly again, and pleasure rippled through her. It was deep and hot in a way she hadn’t even imagined her body might feel.

But she liked it and craved more of it.

“I can see the enjoyment shining in yer eyes, Jemma, just as ye can see how much I like touching ye.” His hand slid down to cover her mons. She gasped as pleasure spiked through her. It was hard and forced the breath out of her lungs. Her clitoris pulsed with sensation that was almost acute.

“I can smell how hot yer body is for mine.”

His hand slipped over the edge of her chemise to gently stroke the folds of her sex. Just his fingertips touched her first, but she jerked with the contact because it was so strong. A bolt of need tore into her so strongly she whimpered. Her hands fisted in the bedding beneath her, and Gordon had to press his other hand down on top of her to keep her in place for his fingers.

“Tell me, Jemma, tell me to stoke yer sweet flesh some more. I promise ye, it gets even better.”

“Better?” Her voice was harsh and breathless, but her clitoris begged for what he promised. Her question gained a flash of his even teeth as he smiled and made another pass of his fingertips across her slit. This time, he slid two fingers into the folds and swept them down to the opening of her body. He only touched her clitoris through the twin folds of her sex, but that sent a flame of pleasure up her passage.

“Aye, better, lass. Shall I show ye what pleasure it is that couples defy the Church to gain?”

“Yes.”

She felt as if she might die if she didn’t know the answer. Her heart was pounding so hard, her hearing became nothing but a rushing of her own blood. Her back arched, trying to lift her hips up so that she could gain the pleasure he hinted at. She wanted it, craved it so greatly that nothing else mattered.

“I want it, Gordon.”

“Then ye shall have it, lass, from my hand.”

She craved attention on her clitoris. The little button throbbed at the top of her sex, making her mindless with need.

“God, ye’re wet.” Now his voice was raw with need. She heard it and knew exactly what it was. He pushed her chemise up to bare her and leaned forward to suck on her clitoris. His mouth was impossibly hot around the sensitive nub. But she didn’t have time to care that she might be burned. He sucked on her clitoris and worked his finger in a small circle around the opening of her passage. The motion pushed her over the edge into a swirling pool of pleasure that was so intense she felt it tearing her apart. It was blinding and almost deafening, but she still heard her own cry echoing off the ceiling. Every muscle tightened, straining toward his mouth. The walls of her passage clamped down while the pleasure broke deep inside her.